The rule of the amplifiers refers to the word of mouth effect that happens when backers and visitors to a crowdfunding campaign start to share on the creators behalf. That needs a well designed communication strategy.
This effect is the most powerful communication tool in any campaign. It will give it credibility and increases dramatically the chances that visitors will convert to backers.
The three key elements for the rule of the amplifiers
1. Social networks
Communicating in social media is essential for crowdfunding campaign. It will be the basis of the community around the project and drive traffic to the campaign via links.
Some tips I recommend for the communication in social media for a crowdfunding campaign are:
- Be original and creative so you don’t become background noise. It’s not enough to post 10 times a day “please help me”. It’s much more productive to give insights into the day to day of the campaign, the progress you’ve made, any news…
- Add a link, video or images to your post. On Twitter, messages with links and or images generate much more engagement and are more shared that those without them. And, obviously, your most important link during a campaign is the one to the chosen platform. In pre-campaign, I recommend linking to a landing page explaining the project. Other social media platforms promote (such as Instagram and TikTok) promote video content. Make sure you produce short videos (they don’t need to be too polished) to share on those platforms.
- Add a call to action. It’s important to be clear on what you expect from your followers and people that might come across your content. You need your help: first of all contributing to your campaign and, once they’ve done so, spreading the word about it.
2. Rewards for groups
A great tactic to promote the collaboration amongst your backers and the word of mouth is to create a reward for groups of people. It generates a snowball effect, as individual backers are incentivised to share the campaign with their contacts and those contacts will contact their own, and so on, feeding the rule of the amplifiers.
For example, in the campaign for Crumbs Brewing we created some of the bigger rewards with quite a lot of beer at a discount vs. the basic rewards. Several groups of friends took that as an invitation to gang up and get the beer at a cheaper price.
3. Incentives to share a campaign
Ah, the good old referral scheme. What a great way to play with the rule of the amplifiers. Several campaigns have used them to greater effect. Kickstarter has a page with the best practices if you’d like to set up one using their tools or even third party tools.
If you’re missing the mark of the 1-3 rule… look for feedback!
If you’re following all of these tips to promote your campaign and you’re not meeting the 1-3 rule of crowdfunding*, it’s time to ask your community.
*That is, you’re not getting a conversion rate over 1%.
Any feedback about why people are not backing you up is really valuable. It could help you improve the design of the campaign, the copy of your communications or even introducing new rewards.
The key 3 points for the rule of the amplifiers
- Keep in mind the three key elements of the rule
- Keep communicating and incentivise your followers. What’s in it for them?
- If you’re not meeting the 1-3 rule ask for feedback to improve your campaign.
Wrapping it up
Getting your campaign to get to some degree of virality is not easy. Hopefully, the rule of the amplifiers will help you with some tips to do so. If you have any questions about this or you need support for your campaign, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
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