9 Ways To Grow Your Crowdfunding Promotion Campaign With Gleam
Check our helpful guide on how to promote and grow your Crowdfunding Campaign.
• Build awareness and attract potential backers with engaging campaigns
• Use giveaways, rewards, and referrals to raise funds effectively
• Optimise your landing page and social media to drive pledges
• Reward supporters and showcase user-generated content for credibility
• Achieve your fundraising goals and run a successful crowdfunding campaign
If you're launching a crowdfunding campaign, you already know the importance of building awareness, attracting backers, and keeping your audience engaged.
With Gleam, you can harness a suite of tools to amplify your campaign’s reach, drive funding, and build long-term connections with your audience.
Whether you’re using Kickstarter, Indiegogo, Patreon, or running your own independent campaign, these strategies will help you achieve your goals.
We will cover:
- 1. How to Run a Viral Sweepstakes
- 2. How to Run a Giveaway To Promote Your Kickstarter, Indiegogo, or Patreon Campaign
- 3. How to Build Your Mailing List
- 4. How to Create a User-Generated Content (UGC) Gallery
- 5. How to Partner With Complementary Brands
- 6. How to Host a Pre-Launch Campaign
- 7. How to Use Rewards to Redirect Traffic
- 8. How to Add Exit-Intent Popups
- 9. How to Run a Refer-a-Friend Leaderboard Campaign
One of the hardest parts of running a crowdfunding campaign is getting visibility beyond your own network.
A viral sweepstakes helps you build awareness quickly by rewarding participants for actions that directly support your project.
With Gleam’s Competitions app, you can:
- Add an Email Signup action to collect addresses for ongoing communication.
- Use the Visit action to drive traffic straight to your campaign or landing page.
- Encourage reach with Follow and Share actions on social media.
- Activate Viral Share, which rewards participants for each new referral.
This setup turns every entrant into a promoter.
You gain early traction, traffic, and a list of potential backers you can engage throughout your campaign.
• Create a new Competition
• Add entry actions: Email Signup, Visit a Page, Follow on X, Share on Facebook
• Enable Viral Share to award extra entries for each referral
• Set start/end dates and define prize details
• Embed the widget on your site or share the campaign link in promotions
At certain points in your campaign, you don’t just need reach, you need targeted actions that move people closer to pledging.
A giveaway designed around your campaign page is a powerful way to focus attention where it matters most.
This works particularly well mid-campaign, when sustaining momentum is critical.
Entrants engage more deeply with your campaign page, which increases their likelihood of backing.
Gleam provides platform-specific templates:
We also have a template that allows you to run a Backer-Only giveaway, perfect for rewarding existing supporters and finding new ones. Take a look at the campaign here.
- Create a Competition in Gleam
- Add a Kickstarter or Indiegogo Action and paste your campaign URL
- Watch a Video — link to your pitch reel or demo (optional)
- Read an Update — link to campaign updates or FAQs (optional)
- Follow on Social Media to grow your audience while promoting your page (optional)
Crowdfunding platforms limit how often you can contact backers.
That’s why having your own mailing list is critical, it gives you a direct, long-term channel to communicate before, during, and after your campaign.
With Gleam’s Capture app, you can:
- Add popups or slide-ins that prompt visitors to subscribe.
- Place embedded forms directly on your website or landing page.
- Trigger exit-intent notifications when someone is about to leave.
To increase conversions, pair this with Rewards and offer perks such as early-bird pricing, exclusive content, or discounts in exchange for subscribing.
For best results, start building your list weeks before launch.
Nurture your audience with teasers and updates, then activate them on day one for strong early momentum.
- Open the Capture App
- Choose a format: Popup, Slide-In, or Embedded Form
- Add fields for Name and Email
- Connect your email provider (e.g., Mailchimp or Klaviyo) to sync subscribers
- Offer a perk (discount or early access) via a Reward or thank-you page to boost signups
- Launch before your crowdfunding campaign so your list is warm on day one
Trust is everything in crowdfunding. Backers want to see real people supporting your project before they commit.
User-generated content (UGC) provides this social proof in the most authentic way possible.
With Gleam’s Galleries app, you can:
- Collect submissions through hashtags, direct uploads, or forms.
- Curate and display them in a responsive gallery that embeds on your site or campaign page.
- Reuse galleries in emails or on social media to highlight momentum.
This not only convinces new visitors but also deepens community involvement.
Backers feel more connected when they can contribute and see their content featured alongside others.
- Open the Galleries App and create a new Gallery
- Choose how to collect content: Hashtag Import (Instagram or X), Direct Upload, or from a Gleam campaign
- Moderate submissions to ensure they align with your campaign theme
- Embed the Gallery on your crowdfunding page or campaign website
- Share the Gallery in campaign updates to showcase momentum and build trust
Crowdfunding often requires reaching beyond your immediate audience.
Partnering with complementary brands is a smart way to expand your campaign’s visibility and add extra value to your prize pool.
With Gleam, you can:
- Run a joint giveaway using the Competitions app, where each brand adds their own actions.
- Build a shared prize pool that’s more attractive than a single reward.
- Access each partner’s audience, with Gleam tracking entries across all channels.
For example, a sustainable gadget campaign could partner with eco-friendly apparel and outdoor gear brands.
Each brand benefits from exposure, and your campaign reaches highly relevant new backers.
- Create a new Competition in your Gleam account
- Invite partner brands to contribute their own actions (e.g., Follow on Instagram, Visit Store)
- Build a combined prize pool that appeals to all audiences
- Share the campaign link across each partner’s channels
- Use Gleam reporting to measure entry sources and share results with partners
Crowdfunding platforms reward projects that build traction quickly.
A pre-launch campaign helps you collect leads, build buzz, and ensure strong support from day one.
With Gleam’s Competitions app, you can:
- Gather signups through Email actions weeks before launch.
- Encourage Social Follow actions to grow your presence on key platforms.
- Use Viral Share to spread your pre-launch page through word-of-mouth.
This strategy ensures you don’t launch to silence.
Instead, you begin with a ready-made audience of engaged supporters, boosting your visibility and credibility.
- Set up a Competition several weeks before launch
- Add an Email Signup action to collect leads
- Add Follow actions for partner social handles
- Enable Viral Share to encourage referrals
- Promote the campaign in teasers, press releases, or social media
- Export the email list and activate them on launch day for maximum impact
Once your campaign is live, your goal is to get as many people as possible onto your crowdfunding page.
Rewards campaigns give people a clear reason to visit by offering something in return.
With Gleam’s Rewards app, you can:
- Distribute discount codes for early-bird pledges.
- Provide exclusive content or behind-the-scenes updates.
- Offer early access or limited edition perks.
Participants unlock these rewards by completing actions like visiting your campaign page, subscribing to your mailing list, or following your social channels.
- Create a Rewards campaign
- Set the reward: discount code, early access, or exclusive file
- Add a Visit Action and paste your Kickstarter or Indiegogo URL
- Include extra actions such as Follow On Instagram or Subscribe to Newsletter to maximise engagement
- After users complete the required actions, Gleam automatically unlocks the reward
Not every visitor will pledge right away, but you don’t want to lose them entirely.
Exit-intent popups give you one last chance to capture interest before someone leaves your page.
With Gleam’s Capture app, you can:
- Detect when a user is about to exit and display a popup automatically.
- Offer an exclusive discount, freebie, or bonus entry to keep them engaged.
- Convert visitors into email subscribers so you can follow up later.
Used sparingly, this can recover lost traffic and turn undecided visitors into long-term supporters.
- Open the Capture App and create a new popup
- Choose Exit-Intent as the trigger
- Write a compelling message (e.g., “Wait! Grab 10% off your first pledge”)
- Add an Email Signup or Visit Action to redirect traffic
- Publish and test it on your campaign landing page
Crowdfunding thrives on word-of-mouth.
A refer-a-friend leaderboard takes this further by adding a competitive element, motivating participants to share your campaign as widely as possible.
With Gleam’s Competitions app, you can:
- Track referrals automatically using the Viral Share action.
- Display a live leaderboard showing who’s driving the most referrals.
- Reward both top referrers and participants to keep the campaign inclusive.
This gamified approach builds viral momentum and creates ongoing buzz around your project.
It’s especially effective during pre-launch or mid-campaign phases.
- Create a new Competition and add the Viral Share action
- Enable the Leaderboard option so participants can see rankings in real time
- Decide whether to reward only the top referrers or give prizes to all participants as well
- Add a strong incentive (e.g., exclusive rewards for the top 3)
- Promote your leaderboard across your campaign and updates to drive competition
Crowdfunding raises money through small contributions from many people. Click to learn how it works and why creators use it to launch big ideas.
Yes, giveaways can help you hit your funding targets. Click to see how they drive traffic, build lists, and attract campaign supporters.
Kickstarter is a crowdfunding platform that helps creators raise funds from supporters for new projects.
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