Kickstarter and Indiegogo are some of the most supportive entrepreneur platforms there is. You will be hard-pressed to find a more collaborative group of creators. As such, it is no surprise that cross promotion can be such a valuable marketing tool for project creators.
Cross promotion is when one campaign creator promotes another project through his or her campaign. It is a great way for campaign creators to connect with new potential backers and broaden their audiences. However, doing it properly takes some finesse. Here are some tips for starting your own cross promotional partnership.
Finding the Right Cross Promotion Partner
Step one is finding campaigns to cross promote with. Start by searching for products that are in the same category as yours but are not for the same product or service. You want to cross promote with project complements, not project competitors. For instance, if you are making the world’s best smart speaker, you don’t want to cross promote with another speaker producer. You could do well to seek a promotional partnership with someone crowdfunding another smart home product, however, or someone crowdfunding headphones. The best cross promotional partners are those who share a similar audience. You want to find a partner whose backers may also be interested in your project.
Keep an eye on the project’s number of backers and funding amounts, as well. When you reach out, your offer of cross promotion is more likely to be accepted by someone whose funding amount and number of backers are similar to yours.
Also, watch out for warning signs of a bad project. You don’t want to tie your project to a sinking ship. If a project looks like a scam, it probably is, and you should steer clear.
Reach out to as many campaigns as you think are a good fit. Even campaigns that are ending soon can be good cross promotion partners with Kickstarter’s Spotlight and Indiegogo’s InDemand option.
Don’t Limit Yourself to One Platform
There is no reason to limit your partner search to the same crowdfunding platform you use yourself. Cross promotion works equally well across platforms. If you have a Kickstarter campaign but the perfect promotional partner is on Indiegogo, go ahead and reach out. Being on separate platforms may even benefit you both as it will help you reach a broader audience.
How to Make Contact
You can reach out with a simple message proposing your partnership, or you can go so far as to back the projects you hope to cross promote with. In either case, you should introduce yourself and tell the other campaign creator a bit about your project. Tell him or her about your success so far and how working together could benefit you both.
How to Cross Promote Others
Once you have a list of campaign promotion partners, it’s time to scratch their backs so they’ll scratch yours. Keep an open dialogue with your partners as to when each of you will post your next updates. Then, when you write your updates, include the cross promotion(s) for your partners at the end. Cross promotions should include the project title along with a photo and a blurb about the project. And most important of all, include a link to the other project page.
Additionally, try to limit your cross promotions to two to three per update so you don’t overwhelm your backers.
Crowdfunding Support Whenever You Need It
Crowdfunding, like cross promotion, is an artform. For more crowdfunding guidance and tips, subscribe to our podcasts or sign up for our newsletter.
