10 Steps From Concept to Launch

Generating new leads for your early business idea or a crowdfunding project campaign

How to generate new lead and create raving fans before launch.

Imagine if a complete stranger asked you to buy into their crazy idea or a brand new product? Would you be sold right away? Without knowing anything at all about the person or the reason behind their product. I don’t think any sane person would, hence why pre-launch activities are so important. You been working so hard to create something exciting, so don’t let it fail at the last hurdle. People need to become aware of you and your product, gradually, before they part with their money to buy your product or an idea.

Too often entrepreneurs overlook the basic concept of generating early interest for their idea and collecting emails of people who may be interested in what they are offering. Let’s face it, if you haven’t got any leads interested in your campaign before your launch, your campaign is most likely will fail to attract funding.

Here is how to go from no subscribers to lots of warm leads in matter of weeks.

1. Identify who are your potential customers. Knowing who your potential target audience is, is the first part of figuring out how to find them and attract to your email list. In order to do that you need to look who is an ideal customer of your business, and aim to target them in the best way possible. This is called customer identification and profiling : Who is your ideal customer? What are their pains / worries? What triggers their attention? What language can we use to attract their attention?

2. Create a landing page. A simple page that will tell them very briefly about your idea and the core benefit you are offering them. Stick with one simple problem and solution that you are offering with your potential product / offer. The who idea is to identify if your website visitor is interested in your subject matter. At this stage you are only asking them to express interest in what you are offering.

3. Start with creating awareness for your brand / new lead generation page via social media channel, online groups. Use your existing network, social media channels to generate initial interest. You need to start attracting some interest in what you have created, by getting some feedback from your potential customers.

4. Turn your Cold Leads into warm prospects — as you continue to generate interest and new leads you need to have a plan of how you are going to turn those leads from cold to warm by building awareness and trust with them, to turn them from someone who didn’t know anything about your idea into fans and supporters of your project. Keep focusing on the problem you are solving for them and solution you are able to deliver. If you identified their pain points correctly, offering the right solution should be a breeze.

5. Email sequences. Before you launch your lead generation page, make sure you have mailing system set up, such as MailChimp, Drip, Active Campaign or any other system that you feel comfortable with. Connect your web page with your email provider, and set up email sequence that will nurture their interest, into curiosity and desire. Build up excitement for your campaign which will launch in xx days.

Check out our Pre-Launch Checklist here!

6. Build trust. Trust is a big deal, and once you have got it you better not take it for granted. Every entrepreneur should thrive on trust and integrity. If your trust or integrity is hindered to the potential prospect, they will stay well clear of your campaign. So make sure you use best email practices and a reputable mailing system. Don’t forget to add your business name, business address, your name. Include Unsubscribe button and let them know how you got their email address. Remind them they opt in to your mailing list via your page. Keep your branding and messaging consistent so your new lead can recognise you easily.

7. Use social media wisely. Social media is a great way to build awareness and generate new leads. Most platforms are free and offers many great features to get your message out there. Make sure you set up your business profiles on social media platforms where you think your potential customers will be. Use features such as video, pictures, description, links to your landing page. The newest craze is Chat Bots for Facebook, which creates automated messages or sequences to communicate via Facebook Messenger. These are just some of the few tools you can deploy for your lead generation.

8. Once you have launched your campaign, always tag your most important post to the top of your page, so new visitors can find your campaign easily. Also make sure you upload actual videos on Facebook and Twitter, so your visitors can simply play the video content without having to leave the page they are browsing. This will dramatically improve your video views and sharing of your content.

9. Use paid advertising. If you are feeling stuck with lack of opt-ins and visitors to your social pages, look into boosting your posts with targeted ads. Also, use techniques such as re-targeting of your content to people who have previously engaged with your website or your previous posts.

10. Stats and analytics. Always use analytics to learn from your previous campaigns and email shots. This is the single most important part of your marketing and success in crowdfunding, is knowing who are looking at your adverts, web page or your campaign, how many people are clicking the links, and how many people are converting. Our favourite tool to use is GoSquared for web analytics or simply built in social media tools. If your page isn’t converting, revisit it and try different techniques. Maybe your content isn’t compelling enough, or clear. Maybe your Call To Action button isn’t big or bold enough. Maybe you are not giving enough reason for your visitor to leave their email address. Build, test and improve as you go along.

Remember to be patient and consistent with your lead generation activities. It may take some time, but always built, test, learn and reiterate from what you learn along the way.

Presented by CrowdVelocity — an an online platform for entrepreneurs, curious early-adopters, investors and business experts working together to realise the potential of great ideas.

Check out our Pre-Launch checklist here and subscribe for more Crowdfunding tips!