10 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Crowdfunding Agency


Crowdfunding

Having been in the crowdfunding business for years now, we’ve compiled a few of the most important questions that we’re frequently asked for you to consider when searching for the perfect crowdfunding agency:

So, you’re entertaining the idea of running a crowdfunding campaign. If you’ve talked to anyone who has run one before, you know that it can take a tremendous amount of work, some of which you might not have experience in, and that’s ok! If you’re on the fence about running a campaign all by yourself, it might be worth your while to look into hiring a crowdfunding agency to help you out with some of the leg work.

Once you begin your search for the perfect crowdfunding agency, you will find that different agencies offer different crowdfunding services. From promotions agencies to full-fledged crowdfunding marketing firms, you’ll need to decipher which one will bring your campaign the most success.

Regardless of which type of agency you choose, asking the right questions will not only help lead you to the best decision, but also save you time and money in the long run. Having been in the crowdfunding business for years now, we’ve compiled a few of the most important questions that we’re frequently asked for you to consider when searching for the perfect crowdfunding agency:

1 – When did you get into crowdfunding?

Most typical marketing agencies don’t have much, if any, experience working with crowdfunding campaigns. The reality of it is, they might have the tools to get the job done, but they might not be familiar with the little details that have a major impact on a successful crowdfunding campaign.

While crowdfunding is fairly new, if a crowdfunding agency just started crowdfunding in 2015 or 2016, you might want to find a team that has more experience and a larger portfolio.

When did Enventys Partners get into crowdfunding?

Having been in the business for nearly six years, we’ve been around long enough to know what works. We were one of the first to enter the crowdfunding sphere and we’re continuing to make strides everyday! We love crowdfunding so much, we even started producing and managing Art of the Kickstart, the leading crowdfunding podcast.

2 – How many campaigns have you run?

Have most of the campaigns that they’ve run been successful? See if they reached their funding goal, how many backers they had, if they received a good amount of press and other qualities that you would like to see in your campaign.

How many campaigns has Enventys Partners run?

Although we like to produce quality over quantity, we’ve still managed to help run over 500 successful campaigns and raise over $125 million for our clients.

3 – Have you managed any campaigns similar to mine? Can you give me some examples?

Ask them for specific examples of projects they’ve managed that are similar to yours and what some of their techniques were. See if those projects performed well and look at all aspects of the campaign to see if it possessed the qualities that you’d like to see in your own successful campaign. If they weren’t successful, ask them why they weren’t and what they would do differently for your campaign. If you plan to run a crowdfunding campaign for a watch and they’ve launched ten watch campaigns unsuccessfully, you might want to consider looking into a different agency.

Has the Enventys Partners team managed any campaigns similar to mine? Can you give me some examples?

We’ve been in the crowdfunding business for quite some time now and there’s a good chance we’ve helped someone along the way with a product that’s relatable to yours. We learn something new from each campaign and we’ll happily relay the techniques that worked best to help you become successful in your ventures. We’d be more than happy to tell you about those projects, just drop us a line. We can tell you about similar campaigns that we’ve successfully run and if our services would be a good fit for you!

4 – What’s your average ad spend and average ROI?

If you’re spending your money on advertising, you’re probably going to want to know where it’s going and what it’s being spent on. Is the agency willing to send you frequent updates and keep you in the loop on their different tactics? What sources of advertising will they be using? If they’re not willing to be transparent about what they’re doing with your money, and you’re not ok with that, consider looking for a different agency.

What will my average ad spend and average ROI be if I work with Enventys Partners?

Your average advertising spend will depend on what you’re willing to budget for the campaign. We’ll do our best to work with your budget and find the best converting audiences with the best cost per lead. If something isn’t working, we’ll try something new. We’re constantly testing new ads and messages to find what works best for you and your campaign. The average ROI is dependent on your budget and many other factors, but we make sure to keep you updated with weekly reports throughout the entire process.

5 – Ask them about press and how they get it.

Do they rely on a launch press release and gamble to see if someone picks up the story, or do they have relationships with journalists that they utilize to gain coverage for your product? Do they build a custom media list or just blast out a pitch to journalists? Make sure to ask about their strategy and see if they utilize embargoes and any other tactics that will result in the best press for your campaign. Also consider asking them which outlets they have relationships at and if those outlets have the right audience for your product.

How does Enventys Partners handle public relations and how do you get press?

At Enventys Partners, we’ll examine any existing coverage regarding your product as well as your competitors, which allows us to gain a deeper insight into your audience, product and industry. Our PR team works hard to maintain relationships with the top journalists in a number of industries in order to secure coverage for our clients. We even develop highly-targeted media lists, design branded press inserts to accompany review samples and craft compelling press releases and product pitches to make sure you get the most media coverage possible.

Make sure to check out flatev, Clairy and Gemio to see what the Enventys Partners public relations team is capable of doing for your project!

6 – How does this work? What’s the process like for getting set up and working with you?

There’s a good chance that this entire process is new to you, and you won’t want to be left in the dark. Will the agency’s team be willing to chat with you frequently about what’s going on in the campaign? Will you ever get the chance to talk with them via phone or Skype, or do they strictly communicate via email? Make sure they’re willing to take the time to learn about what successes you want to see from their work, and they’re not just in it to make a quick buck and leave you hanging out to dry. The ugly truth is that some agencies will do this, and that’s why it’s important to ask questions and perhaps try to get in contact with some of their past clients.

How does this work? What’s the process like for getting set up and working with Enventys Partners?

After your initial discovery call with someone from our team, we’ll take your project back to our crowdfunding panel to review and see if we’re the best fit for each other. If we think that we’d make a great team, we’ll send you a proposal of our recommended services for you to review.  Once you’re ready to rock and roll, we’ll send you an agreement that will allow us to get started. You’ll fill out a couple of surveys to tell us more about you and your project and then we’ll create a specific team for your project based upon your needs. Your dedicated team will help you through the entire process from pre-launch to the end of your campaign, or from the middle, depending on where you’re at. We seek to be as transparent and helpful as possible, because after all, this is your campaign, we’re just here to help!

7 – What can you do for a campaign that’s already up and running?

If you feel like your campaign is lagging a bit, see what kinds of services they will offer to help give your campaign a boost. Do their services include writing updates, email marketing, Facebook advertising, press and more? You’ll want a team that will try new things and provide you with constructive feedback, not one that will reiterate what you’ve already done.

What can Enventys Partners do for a campaign that’s already up and running?

We’ve recently worked on an influx of projects that have come to us in the middle of running their Kickstarter or Indiegogo campaign, and we can definitely help! If your campaign starts to lag in the middle, we can take a look at your campaign page to see if it’s missing key elements, check out your video, help you out with press and start running Facebook ads to help your campaign reach its fullest potential.

8 – What was your most successful campaign and how much did it raise?

Ask them about the strategy and tactics that they used while working with that project. Is that the same strategy that they’re going to utilize for your campaign? Did their most successful project raise less than you thought it would? It also makes sense for you to ask if they ran the campaign the entire way through. If they started halfway through the project when it was already successful, then they might be taking credit where credit isn’t due.

What was Enventys Partners’ most successful campaign and how much did it raise?

One campaign that we take a lot of pride in is the Bunch O Balloons campaign. We worked with them from start to finish and raised $929,160. You can check out their campaign here!

9 – Are there possibilities post-campaign for us to still work with you? Do you have any connections that can help my business?

See if they have any services to offer once your campaign is over. Running a company is tough work, and it might be nice to have someone take over certain aspects. Do you have a great idea but no idea where to begin? See if they know of any people who could help you develop your product. Additionally, once your campaign is over, you’ll need to manufacture and ship your product. Do they have any helpful connections?

What possibilities post campaign are there to work with Enventys Partners? Does Enventys Partners have any connections that can help my business?

Our team’s services don’t stop with crowdfunding! Once your campaign is over, you can extend our services, which include public relations, social media, advertising, SEO and much more. We also can help you with all of your product development needs

10 – Do you have a past backer network? How did you obtain it?

Do they have a past backer network that they can utilize? If they can’t explain how they obtained it, that might be a red flag that they didn’t legally get that information or they may have purchased a large, but random, set of emails. The numbers might sound impressive, but they might not be the best for conversions. This also might be an indication that they’re spammy, which could mean spam for your backers in the future.

What’s Enventys Partners’ past backer network like and how did you obtain it?

Having worked with over 500 campaigns, we have one of the largest past backer networks at over a million individuals. We hate being spammed just as much as anyone, which is why we never spam our past backers and we would never spam yours. Everything that we gather, we do legally and strategically. We gain them through lead-gen ads, Facebook ads, sign-up pages and contests. We would never obtain people’s information without them knowing or without their permission!

Need professional help with your crowdfunding campaign?

With over six years marketing crowdfunding projects, Enventys Partners is one of the largest and most experienced product launch companies in the industry.

Want to keep learning about crowdfunding?

Not quite ready to talk with sales or just here to learn? Here are some of our most popular articles on how to run a winning Kickstarter campaign:

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