Social Media and Promoting your Crowdfunding Campaign was a presentation given by Manolis Sfinarolakis, the Founder of Reality Crowd TV Media Corporation, at the University of Hartford.
Learn practical strategies for leveraging your existing customers and social media presence to magnify the impact and reach of a Crowdfunding campaign. We’ll review:
• How to engage your target market on social media
• Where to find the most influential social media prospects
• How to convert them into your own brand ambassadors
• Practical strategies and tools for driving traffic to your Crowdfunding campaign.
Instructor: Manolis Sfinarolakis, Reality Crowd TV Media Corporation
Social Media and Promoting your Crowdfunding Campaign
1. SOCIAL MEDIA & PROMOTINGYOUR
CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN
By Reality CrowdTV Media Corporation
Presenter: Manolis Sfinarolakis, Founder, Reality CrowdTV Media Corporation
2. AGENDA
Introduction to the Seminar Speaker (5 Minutes)
What is Crowdfunding? Review (5 Minutes)
Develop your Crowdfunding Social Media Strategy (15 Minutes)
Selecting your Crowdfunding Social Media Dashboard (10 minutes)
Assigning your Crowdfunding Social MediaTeamTasks (10 Minutes)
Create your Crowdfunding Social Media Accounts (10 Minutes)
Identify your Crowdfunding Social Media Project KeyWords (15 Minutes)
Build your Crowdfunding Social Media Crowd(15 Minutes)
Engage your Crowdfunding Social Media Crowd (45 Minutes)
3.
4. INTRODUCTIONTOTHE SEMINAR SPEAKER
Manolis Sfinarolakis, Founder, Reality CrowdTV Media Corp.
Member of Crowdfunding ProfessionalAssociation (CfPA), Crowdfund Intermediary Regulatory
Advocates (CFIRA), and National Crowdfunding Association (NLCFA)
Multiple speeches given on the topic of Crowdfunding in states across the U.S., including
Connecticut, NewYork, Georgia, Denver, Seattle,Texas, Washington D.C., and Florida
Insurance Industry experience withThe Hartford Insurance Group within the Internal Audit
Department. Received SEC Press release on October 23rd onTitle III EquityCrowdfunding.
Big 4 Accounting Firm experience with Deloitte &Touche. Auditing S-1 documentation for
broker/dealer that raised 1.2 billion during IPO.
BS in BusinessAdministration, Concentration in Accounting from University of Connecticut
5. WHAT IS CROWDFUNDING?
“Crowdfunding is converting social capital into actual capital through the
internet.”
6.
7. DEVELOPYOUR CROWDFUNDING SOCIAL
MEDIA STRATEGY
Why: Why should people care about your project? This is where you develop a message
and communications plan to clearly articulate what the mission, vision, and social impact
you are trying to convey.
Q1: How many of you can clearly articulate what the mission / vision is of your company?
Who: Who is your target market / customer? This is the group of people who likely would
care about what you are doing because they care about the same issues. Identify this
market and begin to build relationships with them.
Where: Where does your target market / customer congregate? You should be laser
focused on spending your time and energy where your likely backers are.
8. DEVELOPYOUR CROWDFUNDING SOCIAL
MEDIA STRATEGY
Examples of Where (Industry Specific):
LinkedInGroups
Facebook Groups
Competitor Groups / Pages / Communities
Google Plus Communities
BackersHub.com (Syndicate of Kickstarter Backers)
Forums (KickstarterForum)
BiggerPockets.com (Real Estate Specific)
Social media Hashtags across all platforms
Ecosystem / Service Providers / Non-ProfitOrganizations Specific to your Industry
9. SELECTINGYOUR CROWDFUNDING SOCIAL
MEDIA DASHBOARD
Manages your social media campaign by aggregating all social media channels in
one place.
Ability to get notifications when you get mentioned, commented on, favorite,
liked, etc.
Schedule posts well ahead of time, even months in advance if you have the
content available.
Examples of Dashboard: Hootsuite, BufferApp, SproutSocial
10. SELECTINGYOUR CROWDFUNDING SOCIAL
MEDIA DASHBOARD
Hootsuite Demonstration
Connect up to 5 Social Media Accounts for no cost
For $9.99 a month, connect up to 50 Social Media Accounts
Analytics Platform Built in
Scheduling Functionality
Ability to Customize Dashboard and Search on specific HashTags / KeyWords for your
industry
Engage directly from the dashboard (i.e. respond real time)
11. SELECTINGYOUR CROWDFUNDING SOCIAL
MEDIA DASHBOARD
Other FreeTools & Add Ons
JustUnfollow Demonstration –Twitter Specific
Quickly follow your target market
Quickly unfollow those who don’t follow back
Copy the followers of your competitors / target market
ThunderClap.IT Demonstration
Run a campaign to broadcast 1 message by enlisting the followers of your friends, family, and
target market
Individuals implicitly give permission by logging on and clicking yes to allowing you to
broadcast 1 message to their Facebook, twitter, andTumblr followers.
Free of charge, with a premium edition available.
Other Social Media Dashboards
BufferApp
SproutSocial
12. ASSIGNINGYOUR CROWDFUNDING SOCIAL
MEDIATEAMTASKS
Build on the Strengths of the Members of yourTeam
Content Creators
Social Media Dashboard Admin
Engagement Specialists (Platform Specific)
Supporters, Fans, and the Crowd (Brand Ambassadors)
13. ASSIGNINGYOUR CROWDFUNDING SOCIAL
MEDIATEAMTASKS
Twitter
Growth: 100+ followers per day (minimum)
Demographic: Highly targeted list of individuals on twitter meet the following criteria: (Will be adjusted with more specific detail
around the company once a client is identified):
Individuals who are in your specified industry space
Develop the brand to appeal to topics of your businesses mission
Media who are in the communities in your space
Angels,VC, Startups, Investors, Entrepreneurs, Crowdfunders, etc.
Engagement:Through close collaboration with you and your team, we will understand the priorities of your company and drive
traffic to your established sales funnel to use social media as an added channel to accomplish your business goals.
Visually stimulating twitter feed that invites participation from others
Conversational in nature, injecting personality into the brand
Conversations that lead to genuine business inquiries will be sent to you or a member of your team in established protocols that you
provide us to operate within
Think of us as an extension of your team and your brand to supercharge your presence and exposure
Leverage other accounts as appropriate (assuming no brand conflicts) to expand your reach
TwitterChats: Participating in targetedTwitterChats and/or creation of industryTwitterChat and management of content &
engagement in each chat.
14. ASSIGNINGYOUR CROWDFUNDING SOCIAL
MEDIATEAMTASKS
Google Plus
Growth: 10+ followers per day (minimum)
Demographic: Highly targeted list of individuals on Google Plus meet the following criteria (Will be adjusted with more specific detail around the company once a client is
identified):
Individuals who are in your specified industry space
Develop the brand to appeal to topics of your businesses mission
Media who are in the communities in your space
Angels, VC, Startups, Investors, Entrepreneurs, Crowdfunders, etc.
Engagement: Through close collaboration with you and your team, we will understand the priorities of your company and drive traffic to your established sales funnel to use social
media as an added channel to accomplish your business goals.
Visually stimulating Google+ Posts that invites participation from others
Conversational in nature, injecting personality into the brand
Conversations that lead to genuine business inquiries will be sent to you or a member of your team in established protocols that you provide us to operate within
Think of us as an extension of your team and your brand to supercharge your presence and exposure
Leverage other accounts as appropriate (assuming no brand conflicts) to expand your reach
Google+ Brand Page: Manage content & engagement on the business page.
Google+ Hangout: Establish a weekly show through google hangouts for brand (if appropriate). Example: Crowdfund Capital Advisors
Google+ Community: Participating in targeted communities and/or creation of industry community and management of content & engagement in each community.
15. ASSIGNINGYOUR CROWDFUNDING SOCIAL
MEDIATEAMTASKS
Facebook
Growth: 100+ followers per day
Demographic: We will use targeted advertising campaigns in Facebook in order to reach your specified community or space. (Will be adjusted with
more specific detail around the company once a client is identified):
Individuals who are in your specified industry space
Develop the brand to appeal to topics of your businesses mission
Media who are in the communities in your space
Angels, VC, Startups, Investors, Entrepreneurs, Crowdfunders, etc.
Engagement:Through close collaboration with you and your team, we will understand the priorities of your company and drive traffic to your
established sales funnel to use social media as an added channel to accomplish your business goals.
Visually stimulating Facebook posts that invites participation from others
Conversational in nature, injecting personality into the brand
Conversations that lead to genuine business inquiries will be sent to you or a member of your team in established protocols that you provide us to operate
within
Think of us as an extension of your team and your brand to supercharge your presence and exposure
Leverage other accounts as appropriate (assuming no brand conflicts) to expand your reach
Facebook Fan Page: Manage content & engagement on the business page.
Facebook Groups: Participating in targeted groups and/or creation of industry group and management of content & engagement in each platform.
16. ASSIGNINGYOUR CROWDFUNDING SOCIAL
MEDIATEAMTASKS
LinkedIn
Growth: 10+ connections per day
Demographic: We will use direct engagement using your personal linked in account in order to reach your specified community or space. (Will be
adjusted with more specific detail around the company once a client is identified):
Individuals who are in your specified industry space
Develop the brand to appeal to topics of your businesses mission
Media who are in the communities in your space
Angels, VC, Startups, Investors, Entrepreneurs, Crowdfunders, etc.
Engagement:Through close collaboration with you and your team, we will understand the priorities of your company and drive traffic to your
established sales funnel to use social media as an added channel to accomplish your business goals.
Visually stimulating LinkedIn posts that invites participation from others
Conversational in nature, injecting personality into the brand
Conversations that lead to genuine business inquiries will be sent to you or a member of your team in established protocols that you provide us to operate
within
Think of us as an extension of your team and your brand to supercharge your presence and exposure
Leverage other accounts as appropriate (assuming no brand conflicts) to expand your reach
LinkedIn Business Page: Manage content & engagement on the business page.
LinkedIn Groups: Participating in targeted groups and/or creation of industry group and management of content & engagement in each platform.
17. ASSIGNINGYOUR CROWDFUNDING SOCIAL
MEDIATEAMTASKS
Business Development – Online
Meetup.com: Build a nationwide meetup group network for events.
BiggerPockets.com: Real Estate related business development
FounderDater.com: Early Stage Startup business development
Instagram: Retail outlets w/ visually appealing content business development
Pinterest: Retail outlets w/ visually appealing content business development
YouTube: Visual content marketing platform business development
Other: Customized according to specifications of the client
Business Development – Offline
Real Estate Investor Association Partnerships
Co-working Partnerships
Incubator Partnerships
Accelerator Partnerships
Non-Profit Partnerships
Government Partnerships
University Partnerships
Service Provider / Vendor Partnerships
Media Partnerships
Sponsorship Sales
Other: Customized according to the needs of the client
19. IDENTIFYYOUR CROWDFUNDING SOCIAL
MEDIA PROJECT KEYWORDS
Hashtags and Keywords are establishing your Brand in a Particular Space
#HASHTAGS
KeyWords: What would people search for if they wanted your product or service?
What is your industry key buzz words?
Flow through to your website, press releases, blog, etc.
20. BUILDYOUR CROWDFUNDING SOCIAL
MEDIA CROWD
Social media should begin the moment you iron out your mission, message map,
and communication plan.
Socialize your existing crowd & customers that you will be executing a crowdfunding
campaign.
Educate them on what crowdfunding is.
Build a new crowd through social media over a 3 to 6 month period BEFORE you launch
your campaign.
Make them your customers if you have an existing business that provides goods /
services, and once your customers, funnel them into your crowdfunding campaign for
extra “Customer Appreciation” rewards.
Focus on Influencers who can promote you and become your BrandAmbassadors; Case
Study on Diabetes Stigma Project.
Tools to measure influence: Klout Score.
21. ENGAGEYOUR CROWDFUNDING SOCIAL
MEDIA CROWD
In order to receive engagement,YOU have to be engaging.
Inject personality in your brand by having every day conversations with people whom
are interested in what you do. You don’t have to always talk about your product or
service. Sometimes, customers just like it when you say “Good Morning”
Only post links 15 – 20% of the time. Most of your content should be conversations,
pictures that are inspiring / positive, or infographics in your industry that inform your
target market about the industry you are in.
Identify #HashTags that are highly social, such as #MediaChat, #UsGuys, #BevChat,
etc. Participate in the weekly twitter chats.
Examples of EngagingContent: Reality CrowdTV Most Retweeted Post
Examples of EngagingGoogle Events: Virgin Startup Google Hangout
Examples of how a Conversation Leads to Interview & Introductions: Cheryl Conner
Forbes
Examples of how thought leadership in LinkedInGroup gets Leads: RE CF Consulting
22.
23. INTERACTIVE SESSION: AUDIENCE
BUSINESS CONSULTATION
Recap from each group of lessons and insights learned.
General questions on “how to” use social media to promote crowdfunding.
Let’s talk about someone’s business and apply what we learned.