You’ve just launched your crowdfunding project, but you’re looking for influencers to help you spread your message and get your project off the ground. Social media is an excellent place to find and reach out to them, but there is a right and wrong way to do it. Before you start spamming in vain, check out the following steps to social influencer outreach. You’ll get the promotion you’re looking for, and build valuable networking relationships too.
Create a list and do some research.
Do your homework and put together a list that include influencers and users who would be open to supporting and sharing your project. When you find a user that fits the bill, take a glance at their following and follower lists to help you find more tweeters to work with.
Find a good way to approach the subject and make it as natural as possible.
You’ll only have a short amount of time and space to get your project across. Find a way to approach the influencer and get them interested enough to take action. Be clear with what you’re doing, what you hope they’ll do and how urgent it is.
Keep track of who you reach out to and when.
I recently backed a Kickstarter project. The team recognized me as something of an influencer and tweeted at me to share it…but they didn’t stop at one tweet. They tweeted at me 14 times in the span of two hours. When I told them I’d already supported and promoted the project, they apologized, but then they sent a similar tweet to me again just days later. Not having a system made them look sloppy and left me with a poor impression of them. Establish some system that will help you keep track of all of that (like a spreadsheet or a clearly organized Word doc) and then share it with everyone who might be reaching out to influencers on behalf of your team.
Send your thanks and then let it be.
If you’ve struck gold and managed to get an influencer to share your project with followers, be sure to drive home how much you appreciate it. Thank them for their help, make a note of their assistance, and then leave it at that. They’ve already taken the time to share your info, so you don’t want to overstep your bounds and keep asking for their help. Make a note of how and when they helped and, unless they indicated otherwise, don’t reach out to them again. Instead, save their information so that you can reach out to them again in the future should the opportunity arise.
So, you’ve got social influencer outreach covered, but you still need help promoting your project. Find inspiration with our guide here.
