March 20, 2025 • 5 Min Read
How Equity Crowdfunding Can Double as a Marketing Tool
Entrepreneurs partner with StartEngine to raise capital for their startups. Past campaigns have collectively raised over $1.2 billion across 1,000+ rounds, though success is never guaranteed, and each offering carries its own risks.¹
Did you know that equity crowdfunding can also double as a powerful marketing tool?
Below are three reasons why a crowdfunding campaign could help you grow your brand and your cap table.
Marketing
StartEngine hosts campaigns across sectors, from modular homes to sustainable spirits to advanced cardiac monitors.
What do all of these companies have in common? Marketing.
Whether you’re B2B, B2C, or somewhere in between, you’re going to run campaigns to promote your product to the right audience. This could include any/all of the following:
Email Campaigns
Your marketing bread and butter; direct promotion to your existing community. StartEngine offers a number of email outreach opportunities based on fundraising milestones, including 100 new Investors in 30 days or $600,000 at least two weeks before closing. We want to support campaigns that are showing momentum and amplify your offering to our community of 1.8 million users.¹
Social Media
Whether you prefer Facebook, TikTok, or Instagram, social media is a great platform to update your followers and attract new leads. Blender Bombs has built a passionate social media following for their superfood smoothie balls, with more than 71,000 followers on Instagram. The company uses a good mix of humor and eye-catching designs to jump off the feed.
App Notifications
More than 15 million users rely on ACME AtronOmatic’s MyRadar app to anticipate weather and environmental threats. With such a large audience, the company leverages in-app banners and push notifications to promote their campaign where their audience is already actively engaged.
Events + Webinars
Webinars can be a great engagement tool to identify warm leads. Fanbase hosted a live “Invest-A-Thon” for their next gen social media platform, which featured notable guest speakers like Charlamagne tha God and Will.I.Am. In support of their recent $20 million campaign, Atombeam partners with StartEngine to host two webinars with Kevin O’Leary (aka “Mr. Wonderful”), attracting more than 60,000 live and on-demand views on YouTube and LinkedIn.
Brick & Mortar Outreach
If you have a brick and mortar location, why not capitalize on the daily traffic coming through your door? That’s what Mother Road Brewing did when they put QR codes for the campaign in their onsite taproom. Mystic Distilling also took time out of their distillery tours to promote their offering.
Conferences
In a way, conferences and industry events serve as the original “social media,” attracting new leads who are deeply invested in your sector. Flower Turbines recently presented at the 2024 Energy & Environment Innovation Symposium hosted by the Department of Defense, making the case for using wind turbines in the military.
Multiple Touchpoints, One Ad Campaign
Whatever campaign you choose to run, why not give prospects multiple opportunities to connect with your brand?
The typical promotion for a StartEngine offering includes:
- The Company, promoting general brand awareness
- The Product(s), promoting an opportunity to buy
- The Fundraise, promoting an opportunity to invest
Each of these touchpoints could resonate with a prospect, and it creates the opportunity to turn an investor into a customer (or vice versa).
Create Unofficial Brand Ambassadors
Brand ambassadors can be valuable — but costly. While some will trade free products for access to their followers, others can charge hundreds of thousands of dollars a month.²
Since investors have a financial interest in your company, they may be inclined to support you in other ways too. This could be wearing your brand's apparel, telling their friends and family about your company, sharing your social media content, or offering connections to their professional network.
People obviously make investments for a variety of reasons, and there’s no guarantee an investor will start flooding their social media feeds with posts promoting your company.
But if they cared enough to invest, they likely have some interest in your product. And if they already like the product, they could have interest in investing.
Now, as a part of their portfolio, they have a reason to promote the company and hope for your success.
Cross-Marketing with StartEngine
StartEngine also has a vested interest in setting up the offerings on our platform for success.
With 1.8 million users, we connect companies with one of largest networks in the equity crowdfunding space.¹ And those users contribute 53% of capital raised by crowdfunding campaigns on our platform.
We’re always running ads to drive new investors to join our platform by promoting the companies investors can back — including our own equity fundraise.
StartEngine’s OWN campaign creates engaged investors. On average, StartEngine’s stakeholders make more investments (~7.2 investments) than standard users on our platform (~1.6 investments).
Data based on historical investment patterns; individual investment behavior varies. Past participation does not guarantee future investment activity.
Ready to Launch Your Campaign?
From investor outreach to funding management, StartEngine aims to offer startups everything they might need to run a successful crowdfunding campaign.
Effective marketing is a key part of that strategy.
Ready to get started? Click here to learn more.
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DISCLAIMERS & FOOTNOTES
Investing in securities offered through our platform involves significant risks, including the potential loss of your entire investment. These investments are highly speculative, illiquid, and may not be suitable for all investors. There is no guarantee that any investment will achieved its objectives, generate returns, or appreciate in value.
References to historical data, past performance, or prominent companies are provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as indicative of future results. The success of prior offerings or the performance of similar companies is not a predictor of success for any investment opportunity available on this platform. Investors are strongly encouraged to conduct their own due diligence and consult with their legal, tax, and financial advisors before making any investment decisions.
1. In May 2023, StartEngine acquired assets of competitor platform SeedInvest, including email lists for SeedInvest’s users, investors and founders. Total invested and funding rounds achieve when combined with this acquisition. See additional information here.
2. Source: Aspire, “How Much Do Brand Ambassadors Make?,” Accessed January 22, 2025
