The remaining days and hours in a campaign or project can be excruciating. Whether it’s an attempt to secure those last few essential pledges on a KickStarter campaign, or a mad scramble to get those final few votes in an online/social contest like the SMB Challenge, it can be difficult to reach out to potential supporters in such a small amount of time. If you’re facing the final hours of a project, here are five tips to help you rally the troops and get the support you need.
Make an Emotional Connection
Yes, you’ve turned to current fans and customers for support, but how well do they really know your business and employees? Use this as a chance to introduce your business on a deeper level and make an emotional connection with your customers and potential supporters. Behind-the-scenes videos of employees hard at work, photos of a team outing or the history of your business in your own words can all help make that connection and get customers even more invested in your success.
Be Transparent About Your Progress
Kickstarter, Indiegogo and the like make it easy for you and potential contributors to keep track of where you are at in funding or meeting your goal. But you can’t rely on potential supporters to check it out on their own. Let supporters, potential supporters and casual fans know exactly where you’re at in terms of meeting your goal. This could encourage current supporters to donate or vote more, and could also sway fans on the fence to donate or vote for your cause.
Share the Goal
Why have you entered this contest? Why do you need this funding or prize? Of course, you know exactly how you’d use it, but your customers probably don’t. If you’re going to use the funding to expand your business, refurbish your business or recruit more employees, then let your supporters know. Being honest about your goals raises your chances of finding support and makes supporters feel more confident about lending their funds, pledges or votes.
Call in a Favor
Have you reached out to everyone in your professional network? Take a second look. Perhaps a former employee has gained an impressive following in the professional and social realm. Or maybe you’re still on good terms with a past, satisfied customer. Take the time to reach out to these contacts, tell them about your goal and ask for any support they can offer. Sometimes a simple request for a retweet, or a few personal requests for support, is enough to change a project’s fate.
Make the Rounds in Your Community
Whether or not your business extends beyond the city it’s headquartered in, use your community as a way to connect with other businesses. Make a point to get to know and build a friendship and partnership between your business and others in the community, and then use this relationship to ask for votes or support from other community members and business owners. This will be a network that you’ll be able to come back to in the future, and it will foster a sense of comradery that will encourage other businesses to turn to you in the future. The more businesses you can friend, the larger your local support base will be!
Just beginning your project campaign? Here are 10 ways to get your campaign off to the right start.
