running a successful campaign
Over the course of your fundraise you’ll be speaking to hundreds of investors; your pitch is your most crucial tool. In 2-3 sentences you should be able to answer:
- What does your company do?
- Why should someone invest in your company?
- Why should someone invest in you—the founder?
"Black Momma aims to be a great purveyor of tea to the masses, with quality tea directly sourced from plantations around the world. Our founder Vanessa also has a successful e-commerce business selling vodka, teas, and agave via her personal website, Amazon, eBay, Overstock, and others. Her products currently have 26,000 customers and totaled $2.5 million in online sales last year."
Why it worked:
Black Momma’s founder was able to pitch her company and herself. She leveraged previous successes to earn the trust of new investors and provided the concrete numbers to back it up.
Have a designated point-person for:
- Social Media
- Emails & Newsletters
- Investor Questions
YoloRum set aside 5 team members to focus entirely on investor marketing, outreach and support for a two week period. In those first two weeks, they raised over $300,000.
Why it worked:
Thanks to their “investor team,” YoloRum was able to create a concentrated fundraise period with consistent momentum. Investors were provided multiple touch points through social media and emails. Investor questions were also answered promptly.
All fundraises inevitably hit a plateau. Create a timeline of “attacks” to reignite investor enthusiasm. When investments slow down, try the following:
- Press Releases & Features
- Promotional Events
- Major Investor Announcements
- Exciting Product/Progress Updates
Hops & Grain nailed a feature about their campaign progress in Marketwired, Brewbound and Austin Business Journal. The press helped push them over the $1 million threshold.
Why it worked:
When Hops & Grain needed an additional $300,000 to reach the $1 million threshold, they lined up this major press release. The buzz created additional momentum and spurred on investors outside of their immediate community.
With $200,000 remaining to meet their $1 million goal, Legion M set an earlier than expected closing date. They set a countdown clock and blasted their network—investors came rushing in.
Why it worked:
Legion M crafted a FOMO (fear of missing out) event. Investors who were previously on-the-fence were kicked into gear and had to make their decision.
Once your campaign launches, you’re going to need all the help you can rally. Look to your friends, family and fans. Find the community that will stick with you through thick and thin.
Make a list of 100 potential investors to contact in your first seven days. Consider these contacts your low hanging fruit who’ll spark the initial momentum of your campaign. Include:
- Friends and family
- Local community members
- Customers, fans and users
- Angel investors
Happy Tax blasted their contact list within the first seven days of their campaign. This led to several angel investors committing larger investments when their campaign was just starting out. This gave them the momentum needed.
Why it worked:
The early momentum Happy Tax built with their personal contacts encouraged the Wefunder community (who hadn’t heard of them before) to hop on board. This strong head-start built credibility and intrigue.
Tailor your messaging and meet investors on their own playing field. Ask yourself, what is the most effective way to connect with them? Are they:
- Fans on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter?
- Professional Connections on LinkedIn?
- Old school and prefer a phone call?
Meow Wolf leveraged their massive Facebook following and with a single post (which was personal, funny, and inspiring). It helped raise $1 million in 48 hours.
Most investors require multiple touch-points before they’re willing to actually commit money. Craft a lineup of events to frequently get in front of them and back on their minds. Try:
- Hosting a live-stream
- Organizing a promotional event
- Arranging meetups
Equity crowdfunding allows businesses to raise money from a large group of people at smaller investment amounts. In return, that group of people get a financial stake in that company.
Check it out: The Investor FAQ
The Investor FAQ is a useful tool to help educate investors who’d like a more detailed explanation about equity crowdfunding. It’s also helpful if they just have questions as a Wefunder user!
Nope. On Wefunder, you’re not donating; you’re investing. That means you can now directly put capital into your favorite restaurant or that tech startup you think is a winner. You’re no longer just an avid fan, you’re an owner. Plus you get owner perks, too: discounts, food credits, free merchandise, etc.
Check it out: What if... Oculus Rift?
In 2012, VR pioneer Oculus Rift closed a Kickstarter campaign of $2.4 million. Two years later, Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion. If the donations had instead been investments, Kickstarter backers would have seen a 154x return.
This can be philosophical or practical—as long as it’s personal. Make sure investors understand your passion, motivations, and why you want them to be part of your success.
You, the fans, are the MOST IMPORTANT thing to our company, and that's why we ask you to join us and become a part of the revolution, the movement, the first fan-owned professional wrestling lucha libre company.
Minds.com and Minds.org are powerful destinations that people want to be a part of because they feel they are capable of reaching the top. The company is a literal manifestation of the people’s contributions to the network, and now we are taking this principle to the next level by opening up ownership to the world.
Social media done right is a useful way to connect with investors that’s cheap and fast. Here’s what to do:
- Recognize which platform works best for you. Social media platforms are not one-size-fits-all. For instance, Balance wrote several thought-pieces which they shared through Facebook, while the visually-driven fashion house Vaute relied heavily on Instagram.
- Create a bank of pre-written content. Schedule your posts ahead of time so they’re consistent and frequent. Some founders find it useful to use tools like Buffer to schedule their social media.
Some tips on different platforms:
- Facebook: Post regularly, don't spam, use retargeting ads.
- Instagram: Use eye-catching pictures and spiffy one liners.
- Twitter: Keep hashtags to a minimum, connect with other industry leaders.
- LinkedIn: Reach out to professional contacts, write a thought-piece about crowdfunding and your company.
Orthogonal’s founder wrote a blog post on LinkedIn outlining the investment opportunity and his company’s philosophy.
I invite you to participate, own a stake, and be an early investor in Orthogonal, a holding company that I have been working on for the past year. We believe doing good for the planet, and making money, go hand in hand.
Contact bloggers (thought leaders in your industry) and local news outlets. You can use USNPL to find media outlets in your area. While press releases are useful, you should also think about creating press worthy events which are self-promoting.
Legion M gained Stan Lee and invited investors to a house party at the Tony Stark mansion, featured in Iron Man.
Why it worked:
The event spurred coverage, created investor content, and made fans go crazy. It not only got new eyes on Legion M, but also validated their credibility within the film community.
Skip ahead to the Legal Guidelines to see what you can and can’t say.
When you fundraise, you can plug in your own Google Analytics to track profile views and conversion rates (who actually invests after viewing your profile). Check out the Google Analytics Installation Guide for a how-to on setting it up.
We’ve added support for utm-like parameters so you can segment your Wefunder traffic and figure out which promotions are driving the most investors.
If you include wf_campaign, wf_source, or wf_medium parameters to your Wefunder profile URL we’ll pass corresponding utm_campaign, utm_source, and utm_medium parameters to your Google Analytics pageviews.
Example: Visiting the company profile...
https://wefunder.com/democat?wf_campaign=demo
Will trigger the pageview:
/wefunder-analytics/democat/viewed_profile?utm_campaign=demo
We also support Google AdWords and Facebook Ads tracking pixels. If you provide a retargeting pixel, we’ll include it whenever someone visits your company profile. And if you provide a conversion pixel, we’ll include it whenever someone completes an investment.
Check out the Google AdWords and Facebook Ads Installation Guide for a how-to on setting it up.
View a list of your investors on your dashboard. See the status of their investment, and any personal notes they’ve sent you!
If investors are submitting questions on your profile, that means you’ve already got their attention. They’re a valuable lead—a slow or ill-formed answer is a wasted opportunity.
Oodles made it their policy to answer all investor questions posted on their profile within 72 hours.
Why it worked:
The answers were well-researched, thorough, prompt. Oodles successfully used investors’ questions as an opportunity to demonstrate their expertise and commitment to investors.
Posting updates is a fun and easy way to keep investors informed and create a community experience. Wefunder users can also see your updates on their newsfeed—even if they haven’t invested in you (yet). Use those updates to also get fresh eyes on your campaign.
Use your newsfeed to post an update.
Neurohacker posted 24 updates during their fundraise.
Why it worked:
Don’t take it from us—see what Cameron Grable, an investor in nine different startups on Wefunder, says:
"Investors want to know they're valued. Even though it might not seem like a particularly important business decision, even though one might assume that investors aren't emotionally compelled to gratitude like that, they certainly are."
It’s illegal to advertise your fundraise before the Form C is filed with the SEC. Oh, and never say the SEC has "approved" your offering. They don't like that.
All investors must have equal access to your campaign information. For example, if you livestream a Q&A with investors, you must upload a recording of that Q&A to your profile page.
You cannot discuss the terms of the offering outside of the Wefunder website. While you may mention you are fundraising on Wefunder, make sure to direct potential investors to your profile page for contract details.
Marketing is often about creating hype but when it comes to equity crowdfunding, hyperbole can get you in trouble (the SEC will come calling). Stick to the facts. Repeat it with me: stick to the facts!
1) These numbers include startups currently live on Wefunder if they pass their minimum target.
2) Some startups use two different laws at the same time (i.e., Regulation D and Regulation Crowdfunding).
Join 178,288 investors who funded 208 startups with over $66 million1
View Reg D, A+ and Reg CF Breakdown
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