First impressions are important, are they not? When you’re running a crowdfunding campaign, your campaign page is often going to be investors’ first time hearing about your business and your product.
However, writing a perfect crowdfunding campaign page isn’t as simple as including a bio and asking people to invest in your campaign. Adding a bit of nuance to your page, telling your story, and of course making it marketable and compelling will make it so that investors are more willing to read your story and potentially make an investment in you.
Crowdfunding made easy with the help of Honeycomb Credit
Unlike with other crowdfunding platforms, the Honeycomb team is with you every step of the way, from the moment you decide to crowdfund to long after you’ve accessed your funds. Our expert crowdfunding coaches will customize your strategy so you can make the most of your crowdfunding campaign from start to finish.
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Have a story to tell about your business
Investors in Honeycomb campaigns aren’t just looking to get a return on their investment (although that’s certainly a unique part of it), they’re looking to support a small business owner whose story they feel drawn to.
This is why when writing your campaign page, it’s important to not just talk about the “what” of your business - tell us about the why. Why did you decide to start your business? Is it a love of the craft? Because it’s a part of your family’s legacy? Because your business does something good for the environment?
Each of these have been compelling reasons for starting a business that have led to successful crowdfunding campaigns. Breweries like Swedesboro Brewing Company combined their passion for brewing with the desire to build community to create the first brewery in their small town. Valley Tavern is a neighborhood pub in San Francisco led by a second-generation pub owner, whose father immigrated to the U.S. with only $500 in his pocket. Little Spark Refill Shop ran a campaign to expand their zero-waste retail model across Cleveland, opening two shops in less than a year.
Explaining the “why” of your business, what connects you to the greater community and to your potential investors, can take a bit of thought, but will go a really long way in compelling people to invest in your campaign.
Have Excellent Visuals that Tell Your Business’s Story
Not to go too heavy on the cliches, but when it comes to crowdfunding a picture is worth a thousand words. Just picture a potential investor browsing through a business’s campaign page - if there are no pictures on the page you can just see their eyes glazing over in real time before they move on to a glossier campaign to support.
Not only do pictures and videos capture investors’ attention, they also give you an opportunity to tell the story of your business and lend credibility to your campaign. After all, people want to invest in what they can see.
If you’re a new business just getting started and don’t yet have a production space, you’re not out of luck. Photos of yourself and your products (even just a prototype), your business’s logo, your early days of starting your business (how about that office setup in the garage?) will work wonders. This helps people relate to your business as a work-in-progress, and they might be compelled to become a part of that by investing in you.
One business that did this effectively was Gordo’s Tacos and Tequila, a restaurant in Pittsburgh located at the top of the Monongahela Incline. The restaurant was still being constructed at the time of the crowdfunding campaign, so their campaign page featured mouthwatering photos of their tacos as well as renderings of what the completed space would look like after the capital was raised.
Crowdfunding campaign pages that have a video on them raise 105% more money than those without videos.
Luckily, every crowdfunding campaign with Honeycomb gets a professionally-shot video done of their business and project. This video gets shared on the campaign page itself, and we also boost it to our social media following and post it on Youtube to get maximum exposure for each campaign.
Show the support and credentials you already have
Here’s where you get to show off a bit. Investors in Honeycomb campaigns might be interested in supporting small businesses, but they can be just as shrewd as any kind of venture capitalist who wants to put money into an entrepreneur’s dream. They want to have some assurance that their investment will turn into something.
This is why it’s important to show any credentials your business might have which would show first of all that you’ve got external sources backing you up. This could be any awards your business or products have earned, your profit margins, or examples of your growth.
Other ways you can show credibility for your business is to show partnerships you might have with other businesses or organizations in the area.
Press attention is also a great way to show your business is going somewhere - if you’ve been written up in a local paper, included in a “Best Of” list, or anything like that, that’s going to matter to potential investors.
Compostable LA is a great example of a campaign page that used their community partnerships to show off their credibility. They mention their partnership with LA Compost, as well as several press mentions not just in local publications, but also in publications in the environmental stewardship industry.
Share your campaign page!!!
Now that you’ve put all that hard work into crafting a beautiful campaign page, don’t let it just sit there! A key aspect of running a successful campaign is utilizing your campaign page to its utmost potential by putting it in front of as many potential investors as possible.
Send links to it in your email marketing, post about it on social media, text it to people you know are interested in supporting you. It takes a few reminders for people to invest in a campaign - so be persistent!
You might feel like you’re being annoying when you blast your crowdfunding campaign on your social media or to your customers, but trust us, you’re not. It just seems like that to you because you’re the one making all that content and sending it out. The average customer might not even notice what’s going on, unless they’ve seen it on their feeds multiple times. This is why it's super important to share your campaign page as widely and as often as you can.
Marvin Bowe of Swedesboro Brewing Company noted that he’s still getting customers interested in investing in their Honeycomb campaign, long after their campaign ended. That just goes to show that your customers need to be reminded constantly about the opportunity - especially since it’s only available for a limited time!
Ready, set, crowdfund!
The campaign page is just the start of a fantastic journey that can lead to capital for your business, increased revenue, and a stronger relationship with your customers. Also did we mention that Honeycomb’s crowdfunding experts help you with every step of the crowdfunding process, including writing your campaign page? Learn all about Honeycomb Credit crowdfunded small business loans, and fill out the form below to find out more!
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