Posted on 01/13/2014 by Wizathon Social Media Analyst in New Features
There are two distinct launches to promote your campaign for which you need to prepare: the soft launch and the hard launch. This part of the series describes the hard launch.
Generally speaking, your entire fundraising campaign will last from 12- 16 weeks. The timing of the hard launch takes place typically 2 to 3 weeks after the soft launch and continues over the next 4 to 8 weeks of your campaign.
Remember, the primary goal of a soft launch is to build momentum before you start promoting your campaign to the general public in the hard launch. The primary goals of the hard launch are to 1) recruit as many people as possible to participate in your event and then 2) to motivate them to solicit their network of friends and family to give to your cause.
You will use materials and assets such as posters, email letters, advertisements for local media, banner ads and cover stories for placement on your organization’s website.
The assigned Communications and Social Media Manager for your event will be the primary lead to assure that email blasts to your organization’s email list are sent, updates are posted to your organization’s social media sites, your organization’s main website is updated and local community media are sent regular press releases.
Since email is often unread, you can maximize recruitment during the hard launch by sending a series of 3 emails over a set period of time to your organization's email list.The first email should be a direct call to action to participate in the campaign. Remember to include your cause story in this email. The second email should include a personal story of someone that has benefited from services offered by your organization or a personal story from a staff member. A link to a video or a piece of content related to your cause on your website can also be included, along with, of course, a call to action to participate. The third email should focus on their “last chance” to participate.
Don’t make every social media post a call to action, as in register now. This will become annoying. Instead prepare announcements, updates and a few personal stories about people impacted by the cause.
Assets needed for a successful hard launch:
3 part email series
Print ads/posters
Website ads
Social Media Announcements and Posts
Website cover story articles
Follow up content assets such as status update emails to both participants and team captains.
Schedule for hard launch assets
Once you have your fundraising participants on board, the next step is to encourage them to fundraise for the cause. This step will be addressed in future articles.
The Wizathon team works with your organization to help you schedule all of the facets of your hard launch to maximize your peer-to-peer fundraising campaign.
