The kind of brand that gathers: authentic engagement with your true crowd
The brands that gather will do much better when they launch a campaign. And even if an equity crowdfund isn’t in your sights, becoming a brand that gathers is a way you can remain beloved in your customers’ eyes.
We want to start off by saying that you don’t have to be self-promoting to engage your crowd! This article will talk through ways to authentically engage with your true crowd.
First, a story. Amanda Palmer started her artistic career in the Dresden Dolls. In that time, she remembered her label being disappointed that an album only sold 20,000 copies. If you know her story, you’ll know that she successfully crowdfunded an album in a campaign that set records and changed her business model forever. There were 20,000 backers. It’s a story that often comes up in crowdfunding. Here’s the thing: Amanda has always been a gatherer first and an artist second. She now has 15,000 patrons on Patreon. She writes to them almost daily and records patron-only “voice rambles” for them every few days. She’s been doing something like this since before she was a big deal.
While you may not be a musician, the ability for your brand to attract and keep and love your crowd is still very important. The concept of the raving fan has been around for a while: fans who love you enough to rave about you will attract other fans. Another concept that continues to make the rounds is 1000 True Fans. This too can be applied to more than just artists.
So, if you’re following along and we’ve been sufficiently convincing, you’re probably thinking: Ok, but how?
We’re glad you asked.
Identify your true crowd
You may have heard terms like target audience, target customer, and customer avatar. This is sort of like that.
Let’s start with some questions to help you figure out who your true crowd.
Who did you start your business to help?
Who do you help the most?
Who loves you the most?
Who is the epitome of the people you love having in your crowd?
If you can point to them, it makes it a whole lot easier to engage with them.
You could probably write an email to one person, right? There’s not much difference between that and a newsletter to your whole crowd, if you’ve picked the right person.
When a company starts preparing for an equity crowdfunding campaign, we have them list out their first 50: the first people they’ll reach out to to ask for funding. It’s not a terrible idea to start thinking of who this might be…even if you’re not doing an equity crowdfunding campaign anytime soon. Imagine if you knew who to email first when a new product drops, when you need a case study, or when you want to test something out in a safe space.
Authentic engagement
Some companies have already figured this out. But for those who haven’t, here are a few ways you can get started.
Start sending emails
You’re probably collecting email addresses somehow. With permission, you can start sending monthly emails. You can set up a free account with Mailchimp to send emails. They can be styled or you can keep them simple and personal.
Post to social media
Even though basically everyone is scrolling through it daily, many brands don’t use their social channels. Figure out what platform suits you best and set yourself the goal of posting regularly. Whether it’s images, video, or something written, get into the habit of talking to your crowd. Use free tools like Canva and Buffer to create graphics and schedule posts.
Hold local events
These take a tad more on the logistics side but a simple meetup, shopping event, or talk can be a great way of gathering your crowd. Using something like Eventbrite, Meetup, or Facebook Events, you can easily make an event and invite your crowd. This is terrificpractice for an equity crowdfunding campaign AND you’ll get to build your relationship with your crowd.
What to actually say
We promised that you didn’t have to be self-promoting. So what do you send? What do you post? What could the event be around? Think of ways that you can love on your crowd:
- offer an exclusive discount or a subscriber-only offer
- share news that would be relevant to the people who follow you
- solve a common problem that comes up for your crowd
- bring them an interview with someone they’d be interested in
- teach them how to use your product in the best way possible
- show them how people use your product in their lives
- showcase the cool people in your crowd
- make them laugh, smile, and cry
Game plan
So what next?
Pick something new to try and take action on it in the next week.
Let us know how you go.
If you want to start on the journey to equity crowdfunding, we’re standing by. We’ll put you through CrowdfundingU to prepare you for the actual campaign. Our process is designed to support you and we’ll be by your side through the entire campaign so you’ll be in good hands. Read more about what to expect and what the journey looks like with us.
