My deck from a Social Media Week London event that took place on Tuesday 25th September at Hoxton Apprentice 16 Hoxton Square London. On the panel discussion were Tom Davies from Seedrs, an online platform for investing seed capital, and Jaques Kotze from Digital Spin whose company has successfully raised capital through Seedrs. Despite our differences we were able to explore best practice in running a successful campaign and what the culture industries and tech industries are learning from one another in achieving their funding goals

1. Social Media Week London #SMWLdn
CROWDFUNDING
Success is Sweetest When Shared
@stuiewood
#sweetfund
Thanks to @Seedrs
Thanks to Hoxton Apprentice @Hoxton_app

2. AIMS OF SESSION
 Raise money but also create advocacy for your
project/brand
 Develop networks
 People invest in passion
 Plan and invest in an excellent campaign
 Offer unique perks
 Find the right crowdfunding site for your project

3. ABOUT ME
STUART WOOD MUSIC AT HOXTON WORKS
#sweetfund
@stuiewood
stuartwoodmusic.com

4. TYPES OF CROWDFUNDING
1. Peer to Peer – lending type fund – you pay it back
2.Equity based where you sell shares or parts of shares
to armchair dragons. Regulated by FSA.
@seedrs best UK example
1. The reward model made most famous by Kickstarter
where you offer treats or perks in return for a donation
to help fund your project.

5. NOT ONLY ABOUT RAISING MONEY!
 Raising awareness about you and…
 ..Your project
 Reaching out to INFLUENCERS
 Expanding online and offline networks
 ENGAGEMENT

6. “CAN’T JUST SET IT AND FORGET IT – IT’S HARD
WORK!”
 “This isn’t a one off activity. This isn’t about getting the
money in the bank and then forgetting about it. It’s
really important foundation stone in the future of your
business”
MichelleRodger
Bloomvc.com
@bloomvc

7. TELL YOUR STORY IN AN UTTERLY COMPELLING WAY
•Funders need to understand
•Why is it important to you, why it matters
•How they can be a part of the journey
•The crowd will decide which project they want
to back

8. CAMPAIGNS THAT GET FUNDED:
 Sell themselves the best
 Offer the best rewards
 Communicate the best
Competition is healthy!#SweetFund

9. CASE STUDY – THE MASK OF JOY
A 30 day campaign to raise £3K for four costumes for a pop-up show

10. INVEST IN YOUR CAMPAIGN
Our campaign video

11. SOCIAL MEDIA LINKING AND TAGGING
Our FB campaign included a personaliseddigital postcard tagging the funder

12. PERSONALISED WALL OF THANKS

13. WERQIN IT!
 You need to be on it every day
 Respond to people who are commenting
 Emailing
 Talk aboutitat events
 Thank funders on an ongoing basis
 Keep them involved in the process

14. CROWDSOURCING
– WORKING WITH THE CROWD

15. HITTING THE TARGET WITH WE FUND

16. SHARE THE VICTORY BACK BY INVESTING IN GOOD IMAGES
Mask of Joy at the opening of London Pleasure Gardens

17. At the Olympic Village
@maskofjoy
At Potters Fields

18. KEEP THE CAMPAIGN GOING…

19. REWARDS – PERKS – MAKE THEM GOOD!
 Funders involved initially on an emotional level
 Making a promise – no money leaves their account
 They get the rewards once the project has been successful
 See who’s backed you - you have their email address.
 Important to keep in touch with them throughout the project
 Can be add to your mailchimp if they agree

20. THE BENEFIT OF A SUCCESSFUL CAMPAIGN
 Testing the market
 Demonstrate market appetite
 Public Engagement
 See your demographic
 Establishing loyalty early on
 People sign up to your mailing list
 They are so keen to use your service that they are
paying you to start your business.
 Media profile and the opportunity to build brand
 Building a wider audience
 Expanding your social media networks
 Increasing your ability to pre-sell

21. TAKE AWAYS
 Aim to be oversubscribed.
 Don’t sit back – you need to work hard with community
engagement
 Warm everyone up before and have an engagement strategy
in place
 Make sure the rewards have unique offers that you only get
from you.
 Be honest – you can’t hide in social media
 Don’t spam people – Twitter / FB / Linkedin but be careful
 Don’t do anything illegal
 Embed the project on your blog or anywhere. – this is really
useful
 Make sure the platforms link to social media
 Making sure people understand what the concept is

22. SUCCESS IS SWEETEST WHEN SHARED
@stuiewoo
d
#sweetfund