Maximizing Success in Your 2025 Crowdfunding PR Campaign

Behind every successful crowdfunding project is a strategically planned & crafted PR campaign.

Business crowdfunding has become increasingly mainstream for companies and individuals. Platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo enable funds to be raised and thus help early-stage startups and multi-chain corporations bring bold ideas into reality.

The crowdfunding landscape has seen remarkable growth in recent years. In 2023, the global crowdfunding market raised more than $20.3 billion, reflecting significant interest in crowdfunding as a viable financing option for various projects and businesses. The United States continues to lead this market, accounting for approximately 40.43% of the total share.

Looking ahead, the sector is poised for substantial growth. Projections indicate that the global transaction value could reach around $30 billion by 2030, growing at an annual rate of 12%. By 2029, the market is expected to exceed $55 billion, with an annual growth rate of 18.24% between 2024 and 2029.

For a successful crowdfunding campaign, it’s highly important to develop a compelling PR campaign ahead of other activities. Let’s explore how to maximize your chances of success in the evolving crowdfunding landscape of 2025.

Why Press Coverage Matters for Crowdfunding Campaigns

1. Raise brand awareness: A well-articulated PR campaign helps spread the word about your campaign to a larger audience.
2. Earn credibility: Validation from an authoritative and unbiased reporter is one of the key factors in generating visibility and gaining potential backers’ trust.
3. Drive traffic: Traffic that comes from a third-party post on a product and service tends to show higher conversion rates.

A Challenge to Be Featured

Getting highly authoritative media and reporters’ attention is one of the trickiest parts of the crowdfunding PR campaign.

The reasons why journalists usually avoid covering crowdfunding campaigns:

1. Many campaigns are not making it to the final stage of product delivery. That, in turn, makes the journalist’s story irrelevant in the first place and leads to reputational losses.
2. The main goal of every journalist is to deliver interesting, educational material to their readers. Thus, if they don’t consider it interesting for their audience, they won’t like to serve it as а free advertiser for short-term fundraising needs.
3. Also, media outlet professionals don’t like simultaneous pitching of themselves and their colleagues from their company.

However, if you consider your product to be truly groundbreaking and worth being presented to a larger public, it is more than possible to be featured in medium-ranking journals and hit the top ones.

For the crowdfunding PR campaign to be successful, it should be strategized. Unless you make a comprehensive master plan, you will not get much coverage.

5 Steps for a Successful Crowdfunding PR Campaign

1. Research is the key

Relevancy is of utmost importance

A common mistake of most crowd campaigners is the emphasis on the quantity of media outlets in the database, not quality.

The higher the relevance of your campaign to the journal and the more related topics the reporter has covered, the more interested and willing they would be to cover the product you seek to crowdfund.

Make a segmented database specifying topics that media outlets/reporters cover

Segmentation helps to generate personalized emails for outreach. In 2025, leveraging AI tools for media research and outreach has become crucial. Platforms like Meltwater and Brandwatch use AI to search for brand mentions across various online sources, including news websites and social media. These tools offer detailed data summaries and recommendations for relevant journalists, enhancing outreach efforts and providing sentiment analysis to gauge public perception effectively.

Target specific writers, not publications

Generic email addresses of media outlets usually don’t work well. They are email stuffed, and the chances of your email being read are significantly low. Hence the better approach is to target specific journalists. This, in turn, helps to develop a relationship with writers.

Create a media database of high, medium, and low-ranking journals and reporters

This strategy minimizes your chances of not being covered and enables you to acquire access to a larger public, as every outlet has its own niche. The more the product is featured, the higher your chances are to reach the funding goal and get overfunded.

2. Prioritize media launch targets

While planning the outreach campaign, make a selection of outlets that have the potential to drive the most traffic for the publication and offer them an exclusive.

The primary goal of every journalist is to deliver news to their audience. And for sure they are not interested in writing about the product that has been already covered by many.

High-ranking media outlets are key to maximizing traffic and conversions from Kickstarter pledge management. Offering them exclusively increases your chances to be featured by them and so receive substantial backing for your campaign.

One of the primary tools to check the page authority — aka established reputation — is Alexa traffic rank Google Chrome extension.

It’s crucial to understand current journalist preferences when pitching. A significant 88% of journalists prefer pitches that are 300 words or less. Many suggest that pitches should ideally be around 25 words or 1-2 brief paragraphs to maintain skimmability and engagement.

3. Establish relationships ahead of the campaign

Pretty much every journalist giving tips on how to pitch them emphasizes the fact that they receive 100s of emails per day. Hence, the chances they are going to open your email if they are not familiar with you are quite low.

If you are not hiring a large crowdfunding PR firm that already has established relations with journalists and decide to do it by yourself, you want them to know you in advance.

Our Million-Dollar Crowdfunding Campaigns

GoChess

$ 3,310,884 Raised

Oculis Lodge

$ 1,224,803 Raised

FUELL Flluid

$ 1,462,702 Raised

BLUETTI SwapSolar

$ 1,258,826 Raised

YASHICA Vision

$ 1,048,257 Raised

Be The Next

The LinkedIn social platform could be perfect for enlarging your professional network with journalists you would like to write about your campaign.

There is a widespread misconception that maintaining warm relations with journalists guarantees media coverage. Many PR agencies use this myth as a sales tactic to attract clients, but it’s far from the truth. Journalists are committed to delivering relevant, unbiased information to their readers, and the story you pitch must align with their area of expertise and coverage angle. If you expect a close relationship with a reporter to ensure coverage of everything you pitch without proper consideration, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. What a good relationship does ensure, however, is that journalists are more likely to open your emails and provide feedback on the potential of your story.

Building relationships takes time and effort. However, once you have them, the chances of coverage increase considerably. Journalists are always in search of good stories. Receiving an email from a familiar addressee with a relevant story is hitting the mark.

4. Press kit: create a compelling and media-friendly press kit

A press kit is first-hand information that reporters receive about your product and campaign. The more detailed the press kit, the easier it is for a journalist to write a story about you without the need to search for reliable source information.

In 2025, innovative press kit elements have become increasingly important. Consider including:

1. Interactive Infographics: Use platforms like Genially or Dot.vu to create engaging, clickable infographics that provide deeper insights into your project.
2. Augmented Reality (AR) Experiences: Develop AR apps that allow journalists to visualize your product in a realistic environment, enhancing understanding and engagement.
3. Video Press Releases: Create dynamic video content that combines visual storytelling with concise messaging, optimized for social media sharing.
4. Personalized Media Kits: Tailor your press kits to specific journalists or outlets, including customized pitches and relevant assets that align with their interests and audience demographics.

The usual media kit should consist of:

1. High-definition and a viral-to-go video presenting the product you crowdfund to
2. High-resolution pictures of the product
3. Bios of the key people of your crowd campaign
4. Facts and figures on the industry the product belongs to
5. A comprehensive and well-structured press release

A press release is the most essential part of the press kit and one of the strongest tools in the crowd campaign arsenal. A press release is a frame on how the journalists would see the product, its marketing positioning, and how they present it to the large auditorium.

There are lots of tips on how to write the best press release ever and how to structure it, and there is no universal formula for it.

However, a consistent press release should at least include the following:

1. A short and sweet title in the format of {someone announces something new}; 
2. Paragraph with more details on the announced product {what it does, what purpose it serves, date and location of the product crowdfunding campaign launch}; 
3. Paragraph with specifications of the product that make it outstanding on the market; 
4. Story of the product creation and the quote from the founder of the startup {give a compelling reason why the idea of the product was born, and why it is unique to the market}; 
5. The relevancy of the product is from the standpoint of the industry it belongs to and the community it is meant for.

Reliable hosts for the press kit like Dropbox or Google Drive, Presskithero helps to create a press kit that presents all the information concerning your product and crowdfunding campaign in an easy-to-navigate interface.

5. Media pitch: craft killer emails and LinkedIn pitches

E-mail continues to be the most preferable form of business communication. That is why crafting a perfect media pitch is one of the most important steps to landing a great publication about your crowdfunding project.

There are some must-dos while composing a perfect pitch for it to be open and interesting to the journalist.

Nail a perfect subject line

The subject line serves as a “gate” to your email. The better your “gates” look like, the higher the probability of the journalist opening them.

Here are DO’s and DON’Ts for subject lines:

• Keep it short and catchy (an average subject line should not exceed 50 characters);
• Give insight into the email content but leave room for curiosity;
• Create a personalized and catchy subject line for each segmented list of your database to target the right beat;
• Make it mobile-friendly, as people use smartphones to open the majority of emails nowadays;
• DON’T use CAPS, emojis, or exclamation points; otherwise, your email will end up in the bin box.
• Create the perfect email subject line.
• Use the journalist’s name in the subject line to make it more personalized.

Brainstorm and come up with the body (structure) of your pitch

• Briefly introduce yourself.
• Use your database segmentation to personalize your pitch. Give them a reason to be interested by mentioning the relevancy of the topics they are covering.
• Give a brief description of your product. Don’t make evaluative judgments about your product. Instead, provide facts about your product and what makes it exceptional and unique to the market.
• If the content is complex, use bullet points to make your email short and readable.
• Give journalists a reason to cover your crowdfunding campaign. Engaging material for their readers is the best argument for the case.
• Attach a link to your press kit in the email to give journalists first-hand information on your campaign.
• Be concise. Don’t exceed 190 words in your email.

Here are pitch examples. Feel free to copy them, and don’t forget to customize them to your campaign.

Media pitch example 1

Media pitch example 2

Video Pitching Best Practices

In 2025, video pitching has become increasingly important. Here are some best practices:

1. Craft a Strong Written Pitch: Start with a direct approach, clearly articulating why your video is relevant and interesting to the journalist’s audience.
2. Support with Written Content: Include a well-written article or press release that provides context alongside your video.
3. Create High-Quality Video Content: Invest in quality production with engaging visuals and sound. Focus on compelling storytelling rather than just presenting information.
4. Use Multimedia Effectively: Incorporate various media types such as images or infographics alongside your video to enhance engagement.
5. Keep It Concise and Skimmable: Aim for a pitch email between 20 to 200 words, using bullet points or short paragraphs to highlight key details about the video.
6. Timing and Follow-Up: Ensure your pitch is timely and relevant to current events or trends. Follow up thoughtfully if you haven’t heard back after a week.
7. Personalization is Crucial: Tailor each pitch to the specific journalist by understanding their beat and previous work.

Leveraging Digital PR for Crowdfunding Success

Since its founding, TCF has relied on Digital PR for the majority of its campaigns, and we’ve seen its impact grow exponentially. Our clients have experienced firsthand how the results of our Digital PR efforts directly contribute to post-campaign success, often leading to securing millions of dollars in investments from key stakeholders. Our experience with Digital PR for crowdfunding campaigns includes numerous instances where up to 30% of total campaign funding has been generated solely through PR efforts.In 2025, digital PR has become an essential component of successful crowdfunding campaigns. Here are some key tools and strategies:

1. Krowdster: This platform allows campaigners to turn their email lists into affiliates, incentivizing backers to share the campaign and enhance reach.
2. BackerKit: This crowdfunding management and fulfillment software assists with managing backer communications, product choices, and fulfillment processes after the campaign ends.
3. Canva: This graphic design tool is useful for creating engaging graphics and promotional materials quickly and easily.
4. Trello: This project management tool helps organize tasks related to the crowdfunding campaign using boards and cards, tracking elements like graphics, pricing tiers, and media coverage.

The art of follow-ups

As journalists often avoid covering crowdfunding campaigns, you don’t expect to get a publication on the first attempt. Following up properly after sending pitches is one of the most important skills for your fundraising campaign.

In 2025, several advanced tools have emerged to help track and time follow-ups effectively:

1. Prowly: This comprehensive PR management system includes media monitoring, outreach capabilities, and reporting tools. It allows users to track who opened their emails and automate follow-ups.
2. BuzzStream: Designed for influencer and journalist outreach, BuzzStream provides tools for finding contacts, sending pitches, and tracking conversations.
3. Cision Communications Cloud: This platform integrates media monitoring, outreach, and analytics, offering tools for tracking brand mentions and engagement metrics, as well as managing follow-up communications.
4. Respona: This AI-powered tool automates email outreach, including follow-ups. It provides a pitch analyzer that checks for spam words and optimal lengths, enhancing the quality of communication.
5. JustReachOut: This tool offers a media database for finding relevant journalists and bloggers, allowing users to create customized pitches and schedule follow-up emails.

When following up:

• Follow up after 3 business days after you send the pitch
• Change your subject line if your email was not opened
• For those who have seen your pitch, follow up with something new to your original pitch and offer news on your crowd campaign or the product you fundraise.

The formula “wanted to check” does not provide any additional value to your email, and with a high probability reporters will ignore it.

If they saw your original pitch and did not reply, you should pitch your story either from a different angle or include new information to your story that would be of interest to a journalist.

LinkedIn pitching and follow-ups

If email ‘’hunting’’ for your crowdfunding PR campaign somehow failed, LinkedIn is the right place to find the right addressee through pitching in the first place. The chances of seeing your message on social media platforms are much higher than in the email box clutter.

As a matter of fact, you can use Linkedin for initial pitches. Pitching a journalist via LinkedIn on behalf of the startup founder is one of the most efficient ways to land a great publication.

Founders and CEOs who pitch their stories first have credibility since they are the ones responsible for the final delivery of the product after the crowdfunding campaign.

Thus the ‘target-beat’ reporters can acquire first-hand insider information on the campaign and provide great material for their readers.

Here’s a LinkedIn pitch example that we used during Vezo 360 campaign:

Conclusion

As we look ahead to 2025 and beyond, the crowdfunding landscape continues to evolve rapidly. With the global crowdfunding market projected to reach $55 billion by 2029, the importance of a well-executed PR strategy cannot be overstated. By leveraging the latest tools, understanding journalist preferences, and creating compelling, multimedia-rich content, you can significantly increase your chances of crowdfunding success.

Remember, a successful crowdfunding PR campaign is not just about reaching out to journalists – it’s about building relationships, providing value, and telling a compelling story that resonates with both the media and potential backers.

Take the first step towards your $1M+ Campaign now! Apply here.