A crowdfunding campaign does not start when you go online on a platform. It starts much earlier, the moment you begin to build an audience potentially interested in participating. To do this, you need a structured strategy of lead generation.

For equity or lending crowdfunding, the success of the collection depends on reaching and engaging people willing to invest. But these people do not arrive on their own: they must be sought out, intercepted and cultivated over time. And that is precisely where lead generation comes in, a process of getting qualified contacts to accompany them toward an investment decision.

In this article we will look at what lead generation is, why it is an indispensable step for any crowdfunding campaign, and how it can be implemented with effective tools and techniques, from adv to SEO, from email marketing to building custom landing pages and funnels.

What is lead generation

La lead generation is the set of activities aimed at building a database of contacts interested in a product, service, or initiative, through the acquisition, upon consent, of their data-typically name and email, but also phone number or profile information. 

In digital marketing, it is the first step in a process that leads an anonymous user to become a potential customer. To do this, it is necessary to aim at Intercepting an already latent or emerging interest and stimulate it with relevant and genuinely useful content and communications, avoiding wild spam and cold generic communications or buying pre-packaged contact lists. 

In the context of crowdfunding, it is not about acquiring customers in the traditional sense, but about finding potential investors. The investment decision is complex and requires a high degree of trust and commitment, higher than a simple purchase. That is why the lead generation for crowdfunding not just "volume," but must focus heavily on the quality of contacts: people who are truly on target, willing to consider an investment and get involved in the project.

In this process, each contact represents a "lead" only when he or she has expressed an active interest, for example, by filling out a form to receive information about the campaign. It is not enough that he or she has visited the site or put a like on a post: concrete, trackable action is needed.

A lead is a contact who has expressed interest by leaving their information in response to a content, ad, or marketing initiative. Become "prospect" when you can define qualified lead, that is, a contact who has shown a higher level of interest or involvement and has been assessed as potentially ready for action. From a prospect, finally, the user can become a customer or, in our case, an investor. 

[Warning: there is no unanimous consensus on the use of the concepts of "lead" and "prospect," in fact it may happen to see them reversed and used in the opposite sense to that adopted in this article.]

Lead generation is, therefore, at the beginning of this path: Turns anonymous users into qualified leads, who through a well-designed funnel can become warm prospects and then investors.

For this reason, lead generation is an essential component of the strategy of crowdfunding marketing: it is what allows you to build an audience base to work on with customized content and a structured funnel to the end goal, which is the investment.

Why lead generation is critical for crowdfunding

One of the Most common false myths about crowdfunding is that this activity simply consists of posting a project online on a platform to attract investors spontaneously, leveraging the large number of web users. This does not happen, as evidenced by the Data on participation in crowdfunding campaigns.: the majority of investors invest on a single campaign and come from the company's contacts (from friends and family to customers and potential customers, from suppliers to employees, etc.).

Crowdfunding, therefore, is first and foremost. a marketing operation. Like any marketing operation, it only works if you can reach the right audience with the right message at the right time. And this audience does not exist "by default"-it must be built through a lead generation strategy.

Crowdfunding platforms are not mandated (nor can they, by law) to promote individual campaigns in a targeted way. Promotion for the individual campaign is an extra service that platforms cannot provide: portals do generic marketing actions the same for all the campaigns they host. It is up to thecompany interested in raising capital define their target audience, find potential investors and bring them to the platform, already informed, engaged and ready to act.

The precrowd phase-which precedes the official opening of the campaign-is dedicated to just that: collect qualified leads to be activated on launch day. Without a good base of prepared contacts, a campaign starts with the handbrake on and risks never getting off the ground.

Therefore, lead generation is the enabler of success: without it, there is no audience; without an audience, there is no collection.

But that's not all: since crowdfunding is a marketing operation, lead generation is also an activity that actively contributes to brand image development, active community building, customer acquisition, and proposal validation.

How to do lead generation for a crowdfunding campaign

The first step to doing lead generation effectively is. clearly define the target audience: who are the people who might be interested in investing in your project? In many cases, the best investor is also a potential customer. If a person is attracted to the product or service you offer, they are much more likely to want to contribute to the growth of the company offering it, and it is much easier to be able to build a proposal that interests them.

For this reason, every lead generation activity must start with an analysis of the ideal audience: age, interests, profession, online behavior, investment motivations. Only then will it be possible to select the most suitable channels and design truly effective content for different types of stakeholders.

Audience segmentation must also include the distinction between hot and cold contacts: the former are already part of the company's network, are the first to be involved and require less cautious communications and a shorter funnel, while the latter are strangers who need to be approached more gradually to build trust.

Channels for generating leads

La lead generation for crowdfunding is achieved through various marketing channels and tools, which must be chosen and combined according to budget, project type, and audience segmentation.

Here are the main ones:

• Paid advertising: tools such as Meta Ads (Facebook and Instagram), Google Ads or LinkedIn Ads allow you to reach very specific users through careful segmentation, guiding them to a landing page designed to collect contact data and expressions of interest.

• SEO and content marketing: publishing optimized articles on topics relevant to the target audience helps to Intercept organic searches, create authority and get leads thanks to valuable content. A site that is well positioned on search engines and rich in useful content attracts an audience that is actively seeking solutions or opportunities related to the company's proposition, making the acquired leads more qualified.

• Email marketing and CRM: once you have acquired contacts, you need to cultivate and nurture them over time. Tools such as Mautic and Sendgrid allow you to. Automate the sending of personalized emails for each stage of the funnel, based on actions taken by leads and relevant news to communicate. These range from welcome emails, to sending valuable content or small prizes, to inviting them to attend webinars or take other actions.

• Social media: An active presence on channels such as LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook allows you to Create engagement and drive traffic to landing pages. This applies to both the corporate channels and the personal channel of the founders, who can make personal branding, in particular on LinkedIn.

• Events and webinars: proposing online meetings or exclusive events in exchange for the email is a great way to acquire leads among already engaged users and create a face-to-face connection.

• Strategic partnerships: collaborating with companies, professionals or influencers working in the same or related fields allows you to expand the target audience you can access to gather leads. It should always be remembered, however, that third parties cannot directly promote the crowdfunding campaign, only the company in general and its products/services. This is why we recommend theaffiliate marketing.

Landing page and contact form

The landing page is the operational heart of lead generation. This is where the interested potential lands after clicking on an ad or post, and This is where he needs to be convinced to leave his data.

A good landing page:

• Clearly and attractively presents the proposal;

• contains a form that is simple and intuitive to fill out;

• includes elements of trust (testimonials, data, social proof);

• Has an explicit call-to-action (e.g., "Leave your information to find out how to invest").

But we have dedicated an entire article at the landing page for the crowdfunding campaign.

Lead quality and funnel management

Not all contacts are equal. Quantity is important, but what really matters is the quality of leads: people on target, engaged, informed, and with a real chance to invest. Collecting thousands of email addresses from disinterested or off-target users will not bring results. In fact, it risks compromising funnel performance and unnecessarily driving up spending.

To assess the quality of leads, it is critical to monitor some KPIs (Key Performance Indicator):

• Lead-to-investor conversion rate;

• Open rate and click rate of emails;

• Response rate to any follow-ups;

• Cost per lead (CPL) of adv campaigns.

The use of segmentation and automation tools allows each lead to be treated according to his or her level of interest and progress in the journey, avoiding generic and ineffective communications.

Example of crowdfunding funnel

Let us now look at a concrete example of funnel for lead generation applied to crowdfunding:

1. Awareness

The user intercepts sponsored content on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Google (e.g., "Discover the project that is revolutionizing industry X"). This stage is particularly significant for cold contacts.

2. Interest

Click on the ad and it lands on a landing page that describes the project and invites you, for example, to "preview campaign details."

3. Lead

The user fills out the form leaving name, email and officially enters the CRM as a lead. One can submit an application for an expression of interest in the investment already at this stage, or wait until the next stage for this step.

4. Nurturing

It receives an automated sequence of emails (or even messages via WhatsApp or SMS) that tell about the team, the business model, the benefits of the investment, and offer exclusive content (e.g., video pitches, reports, interviews) soliciting expression of interest (and, at the campaign stage, investment).

5. Conversion

When the campaign opens, he receives a personalized email inviting him to invest. The hottest leads are also contacted directly by the sales team.

This type of funnel can last from several weeks to several months, depending on the complexity of the project and the maturity of the audience. Some phases, in fact, may have to be repeated several times. Its effectiveness depends on two key factors: personalization and timing.

Timing: when to start lead generation for crowdfunding

One of the most common mistakes in crowdfunding campaigns is starting lead generation too late. In many cases, you start only a few days before the launch, when there is no time left to build a solid, engaged audience.

Actually, lead generation should be started well in advance, ideally at least 2-3 months before the official opening of the campaign. This period is what we refer to as the precrowd, and serves to generate interest, gather qualified contacts and build a relationship with potential investors.

During the precrowd we work on two objectives complementary:

• Quantitative: achieving a sufficient number of leads To ensure a strong start to the campaign;

• Qualitative: making sure that these contacts are informed and ready To participate from day one.

A campaign that opens with an initial group of already convinced investors is much more likely to trigger the social proof (also known as "full restaurant") and generate trust in other users.

For this very reason, the lead generation phase should never be considered an ancillary activity, but a central part of the strategy. Anticipating the timing and working methodically can make the difference between a mediocre collection and a successful campaign.

Best practices and tools

Doing lead generation for crowdfunding means more than just collecting contacts: it means building a consistent, measurable and scalable process. To do this requires method, quality content, and appropriate tools.

Here are some best practices to follow:

• Choose professional tools

A basic contact form on a site is not enough. Use specific tools for each stage of the funnel, for example:

• Mautic or HubSpot for marketing automation;
• Sendgrid for sending massive emails;
• Typeforms for interactive and customized forms;
• WordPress for building optimized landing pages;
• Meta Ads and Google Ads to bring in profiled traffic.

• Offer something in return

Don't ask for "cold" contact: offer an incentive, defined lead magnet, such as exclusive content (videos, guides, ebooks, reports, webinars, etc.), a demo version of the service or privileged access to the campaign. The creation and distribution of high-value content, moreover, positions the company as a leader in its industry and contributes significantly to building reputation and authority.

• Segment leads

Not all leads are equally ready. Segment them by interest level, investment propensity, income level, previous interactions. This will allow you to personalize your messages and increase your conversion rate.

• Test and optimize

Test different versions of ads, email texts, forms and landing pages. Constantly monitor performance (CTR, conversion rate, bounce rate) and optimize based on the data.

• Integrates marketing and sales

The transition from lead to investor often requires human intervention. Provide a system for direct contact of the most promising leads by the sales team.

• Prepare a coherent editorial plan

Content must accompany the lead throughout the journey: awareness, consideration, conversion. Alternate informative content (about the market, the team) with emotional content and decisive calls to action.

Crowdfunding means, first of all, building an audience of potential investors. And lead generation is the most effective way to do this. It's not just about collecting email addresses, but designing a system that intercepts, qualifies, engages and accompanies contacts to the investment.