Although one of the easiest and most effective ways to reach out to your close contacts and connections is by email, you really should consider every avenue when communicating your campaign, and incorporate a mix of email, social media messages, and PR.
Before you press the send button however, there are a few things to keep in mind when communicating your funding round to the outside world.
First and foremost, your messages should not invite or induce investment into your campaign. They can however let people know that you are currently raising funds and that one can see the campaign if they follow the link to Shadow Foundr’s platform.
Avoid phrases such as “invest now” or “click here to invest”. Instead, use phrases such as, “to learn more about our funding campaign”, ” to understand our plan and vision”, or “check out our funding campaign”.
Good journalism is about presenting the facts, so communicating factual information about your venture, including the fact you are raising funds, is fine, so long as there is no solicitation to invest.
Speak about your traction to date, milestones you have achieved, contracts won, noteworthy team members or investors etc. Then finish off with one of the phrases above and a link to your campaign page. The key thing is to communicate to people facts about your business, rather than the investment proposition.
Finally, you should always include a risk warning at the end of any communication, be it an email or a social media post – a simple “Capital at risk” or something similar.
Sticking to these principles should ensure that your communications remain compliant and you are not explicitly inviting people to invest into your venture. And most importantly it should mean that your communications are not deemed to be unauthorised financial promotions.
To help make a success of your funding campaign, we have put together a set of email marketing templates, which can be used and adjusted to suit your requirements. They include standard copy, where you simply add in your company details, branding, logo etc.
These templates should act as a guide only, and always remember to avoid soliciting investment into your venture. You can access them in your subscriptions Shadow Academy section.