LibroMobile Market Research and Execution Plan

A
Relational Approach to
Crowdfunding: LibroMobile building
community across social networks
Angelica O’Campo
California State University, Fullerton
Department of Communications
May 2018
A RELATIONAL APPROACH ON CROWDFUNDING O’Campo 2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract 3
Introduction 4
Client Background 4
Situational Analysis 6
Literature Review 12
Definition of crowdfunding 12
Crowdsourcing 12
Factors that contribute to successful crowdfunding 14
Statistics and Risks of crowdfunding 16
Crowdfunding models 17
Platforms for rewards based campaigns 18
Social media as a marketing tool 19
Viral content marketing 22
Supporters attitudes and motives 24
Bilingual branding for Latinx audience 25
Theoretical Framework 27
Goals and Objective 34
Methods 35
Project Strategy 39
Evaluation 52
Analysis 53
Discussion 57
Future Implications and Conclusion 61
References 63
Appendix 69
Abstract
A decade ago trends of mom-and-pop bookstores closing down would have predicted that
independent bookstores would be non-existent today with the rise of Amazon and e-readers like
Kindle. After decades of uncertainty and decline, independent bookstores are on the rise - with
an increase of 21 percent from 2010 to 2015 according to the American Booksellers Association
(Haimerl, 2016). Ironically, it is the internet that is helping independent bookstores sustain its
business in the era of the digital world. For many bookstore owners, social media has been an
affordable tool in promoting their business and connecting with new customers. The overall
purpose of this project is to leverage social networks on Instagram and Facebook to increase
visibility and support for LibroMobile, an independent bookstore in Santa Ana, California.
Currently, LibroMobile is challenged by its limited collection of Spanish books which are under
the highest demand among its largely Latinx customers. In order to increase funds and/or
donations of Spanish-language books, a crowdfunding campaign was organized via
Indiegogo.com to raise a goal of $4,000 for a total of 400 books. The project is guided by the
excellence theory, diffusion of innovation theory, and social identity theory. LibroMobile raised
40% of its goal– a total of $1, 844.The success of the project was evaluated by the achievement
of the project’s objective goals: raising 50 percent of the project’s monetary goal and increasing
LibroMobile’s engagement per post and the number of followers on Instagram.

Introduction
LibroMobile is faced with the challenge of not having enough Spanish books for its
bilingual community in Santa Ana. Although they have a handful of Spanish poetry and non-
fiction books, that fly off their shelves on a weekly basis. They never have quite enough books to
restock their Spanish book collection. More than half of LibroMobile’s books come from
donations of gently used and new books. Spanish books are typically more expensive than
English books and are the least donated by LibroMobile’s supporters.
On a daily basis LibroMobile receives requests for Spanish books, unfortunately, they
cannot meet the demands of their Latinx population. The majority of customers seeking for
Spanish books are older folks –grandparents, children looking for books for their parents, and
parents looking for books for their children to retain their Spanish language.
Client Background
LibroMobile is a tiny bookstore and community literary space located in the heart of
Santa Ana, California. It was initiated in 2016 by Sarah Rafael Garcia, founder of Barrio Writers
and author of SanTana’s Fairy Tales and Las Niñas: A Collection of Childhood Memories.
LibroMobile started as a literary arts project in collaboration with the non-profits Red Salmon
Arts and Community Engagement Inc. to integrate literature, visual exhibits, creative workshops,
and live readings in Santa Ana.
LibroMobile's mission is to promote literacy and diversity in Santa Ana by offering
affordable books written by authors of color and cultivating a community space for the literary
arts. It provides bilingual and Spanish books available for children, youth, and adults.
LibroMobile also carries many fiction and non-fiction books about diverse American cultures
and social justice issues.
LibroMobile began as a pop-up bookmobile cart traveling throughout Santa Ana visiting
local community cafes, shops, and cultural centers. The unique design of LibroMobile captivated
the community. People would stop to interact and contemplate its aesthetic; reminiscent of
paleteros, iconic fruit vendor carts typically found in the corners of downtown Santa Ana. Since
then, they have transformed from a bookmobile cart to residing on a stairwell on Fourth Street in
Santa Ana to a tiny bookstore.
LibroMobile strives to cultivate knowledge and literary resources to Santa Ana families
and support to local artists and authors. It emphasizes the concept of reciprocity by giving back
to the Latinx community they primarily serve. In order to fulfill their mission of promoting
literacy and diversity in Santa Ana, they offer new and used books at affordable prices, they
service five free little libraries in the community and offer a book exchange program so everyone
can have access to diverse literature.
LibroMobile’s collection includes approximately 300 books ranging from handmade
zines to well-known authors, to small press bilingual publications. In addition to its literary
events and creative writing workshops, LibroMobile provides a Do-It-Yourself MFA program.
Every Spring, LibroMobile provides two community based emerging writers exclusive
mentorship with published author Sarah Rafael Garcia. The program focuses on helping
emerging writers polish their manuscripts for publication.

Situational Analysis
Organization
LibroMobile is the only Latino independent, Santa Ana native owned bookstore in
downtown Santa Ana. It serves as a richly diverse space of literature, history, and art from
award-winning writers of color and local artists. LibroMobile cultivates a culture of diversity and
creativity for Santa Ana locals. It offers bilingual children, youth, and adults Spanish and English
narratives that speak to their culture and address social issues relevant to their local community.
It carries non-fiction books translated into Spanish, along with sections on arts and crafts, fiction,
mental health, ethnic studies, memoir, poetry and local-made literary magazines. For many
customers, LibroMobile is a hidden gem of a bookstore. It offers a variety of books ranging
from $1- $20, an affordable price range for many families and college students looking to buy
reduced ethnic studies books. In addition to selling bilingual books, LibroMobile promotes
literacy throughout Santa Ana by hosting reading and writing workshops, hosting author
presentations, and by collaborating with local organizations to promote literacy. LibroMobile is
also growing as a small press publisher; it offers one-to-one mentorship for emerging local
authors ready to polish their manuscript for publication. LibroMobile funds the publication and
supports the authors by selling and promoting their books at the bookstore.
It has an active presence on Instagram, Facebook, and through its website. Instagram has
been its most effective marketing tool in increasing customer’s awareness of the bookstore with a
following of 1,199. Although social media marketing has helped increase visibility, the
bookstore is still very much under the radar in Santa Ana, California.
Customers
LibroMobile's customers are Santa Ana locals composed of Latinx millennials, and older
folks (50+). According to the city data’s demographics, Santa Ana’s median age is 29.7, with 72
percent of Spanish speakers, and 78.2 percent identified as Hispanic. The majority of
LibroMobile customers are Spanish speakers- many who visit the store looking for Spanish
books. The large bilingual millennial market in Santa Ana is highly positive for LibroMobile.
Millennials are key consumers of independent bookstores. “Three key attributes of
millennials make them more likely to patron their local, independent bookstore: their sense of
community, desire for individualization, and their image-based consumption” ( Ingram Blog,
2016).
LibroMobile’s Instagram is composed of 67 percent women and 33 percent men, with its largest
demographic of 40 percent ranging from 25-34 years old. By focusing on promoting to
millennials on social media, this project can leverage the city’s median population and
millennials’ consumption and online trends.
Collaboration
LibroMobile is currently sustained by the artist in residence grant of Santa Ana and its
partnership with the non-profits Community Engagement Inc. and Red Salmon Arts who fund
the book publication of the writers under the Do-it-Yourself MFA program. It is an all-volunteer
based organization. Given its limited staffing, it is only open Tuesday through Saturday from 12
pm to 6 pm. It is also open every month during the Artwalk event in Santa Ana- which brings in
new customers and causes a large increase in sales due to popularity with millennials. A
significant impact on LibroMobile's operation is its donors. More than half of new and used
books come from donations from teachers, writers, and community members. LibroMobile
collaborates with local community organizations and public libraries to promote literacy in Santa
Ana. It also collaborates with local artists and provides a space for them to sell their art.
Furthermore, LibroMobile also partners with authors of color for book readings and signings.
LibroMobile has strong partnerships with many downtown Santa Ana vendors, cafes, and art
spaces including Cafe Calacas, Alta Baja, and Frida Cinema.
Competition
In Santa Ana, LibroMobile is the only bilingual bookstore in town, but Santa Ana does
have a public library and the nonprofit Markara cultural arts center– which provide a book
lending program to Santa Ana residents. Other competitive markets are Barnes and Noble chain
bookstores, Amazon, and e-readers. The digital world has significantly affected independent
bookstores. Over a third of books purchases are made online. Although Amazon and Kindle
have become popular sites to purchase books, there is a still a great thirst for authenticity and the
experience of searching for a hidden gem of a bookstore at an independent bookstore.
Climate
Another issue affecting LibroMobile is the gentrification of downtown Santa Ana.
LibroMobile strives to combat gentrification through its concept of reciprocity to the community
of Santa Ana. It also does not allow its brand to be publicized in Downtown, Inc. promotion to
reduce association with the developing company. However, it has received backlash from activist
groups stating that LibroMobile is part of gentrification- even to the extent where an event was
protested. Despite the political tension, LibroMobile has a large market in Santa Ana for its
diverse and bilingual books. LibroMobile is also the only Latinx owned, bilingual bookstore in
Santa Ana, California, a predominantly Mexican-American and immigrant community with 80
percent identified as Latinx and 72 percent of Spanish speakers; it is critical for LibroMobile to
cultivate a space and provide access to literature that is representative of the language and
intersectional identities of their community. In addition to the lack of diversity in the publishing
industry with only 6 percent of Latinx represented in the overall publishing industry.
SWOT Analysis
After assessing LibroMobile's strengths and weaknesses, its unique concept and large
Latinx market in Santa Ana can be leverage to create a social media campaign that will increase
its visibility, solidify its message, grow customers and boost donations for Spanish books. The
social media campaign will address LibroMobile’s lack of visibility on social media and increase
the donation of its high-demand collection of Spanish books. Simultaneously, this project hopes
to obtain a reduction in LibroMobile's purchasing cost for Spanish books while increasing its
revenue by providing the books that are in high-demand.
Strengths
LibroMobile’s greatest strength comes from the unique and diverse content of the books
it sells. It is not often that customers find a bookstore that prioritizes representation of books
from writers of color and social justice issues. Its cultural aspect is a strength to leverage. It also
offers an array of bilingual books that cater to its large Latinx market in Santa Ana at affordable
prices. LibroMobile promotes literacy and diversity through free reading and writing workshops,
and author signings. Their creative aesthetic and unique book cart concept can also be used as
leverage- as well as their cultural and artistic location in downtown Santa Ana.

Weaknesses
LibroMobile’s weaknesses are derived from its lack of branding and marketing strategies.
The location is also very small and limited in space. Resources and funding are also limited,
given that much of the funding comes from grants and profit is small. Staff is also all volunteer-
based and hours are limited. The bookstore’s website is outdated and not interactive.
Opportunities
LibroMobile’s opportunities come from its large bilingual Latinx market and its message
of diversity and inclusivity. It also has a large social network of writers and artists that can
become supporters or sponsors. There are many like-minded organizations in Santa Ana that
LibroMobile can collaborate with. Although its Instagram profile lacks engagement, it has 1,200
followers to leverage. The current political climate also offers opportunities for increased interest
in books about diversity and representation.
Threats
LibroMobile’s biggest threat comes from the ending of its grant from Community
Engagement Inc. in 2019. Therefore, LibroMobile has one year to make its bookstore
sustainable. Other threats come from e-readers like Kindle, Amazon, and bookstore chains like
Barnes and Noble. Another external threat is the political tension in downtown Santa Ana about
gentrification; LibroMobile has received backlash from activist groups accusing the bookstore of
being part of the gentrification in Santa Ana.


Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats
● Quality Content ● Marketing ● A large ● City policies

● Affordability and Branding network of ● Expiration of
● Geographic ● Visibility of authors and Grant
writers ● Political
location (Santa location
● Large Latino controversy
Ana) ● Small Space Market on
● Large Latino ● Resources/ ● Passionate gentrification
Market Funding Founder
● Cultural Aspect ● Volunteer- ● Captivating
● High demand based Message
for bilingual ● Limited hours ● Strong
outreach
books ● Outdated
Grants, donations
● Unique and rare website
● Free reading ● No system of
and writing inventory
workshop ● Bookstore
● Creative layout
aesthetic

Literature Review
This review examines the current literature on crowdfunding and social media marketing.
To help guide the planning and execution of a crowdfunding campaign, and a social media
marketing plan for the purpose of raising funds to expand LibroMobile’s Spanish Language
collection of books. The themes presented in the literature review are as follows: Crowdfunding,
social media as a marketing tool, elements of viral marketing content, supporter’s attitudes and
motives, and bilingual branding for Latinx audiences.
Definition of Crowdfunding
Over the past decade, crowdfunding has gradually become a mainstream phenomenon for
financing projects or creative ventures. Despite its positive growth in social entrepreneurship, it
is a phenomenon largely understudied from an academic perspective. Schwienbacher and
Larralde (2010) define crowdfunding conceptually as “an open call, essentially through the
Internet, for the provision of financial resources either in form of donation or in exchange for
some form of reward and/or voting rights in order to support initiatives for specific purposes” (p.
4). Other scholars share similar views, but the practice continues to evolve as new digital trends
and technologies emerge.
In simple terms, crowdfunding occurs when a large group of people (crowd), donate
small amounts of money via the internet or social networks to fund a project (Borst et al, 2018).
This practice has become an alternative tool to traditional forms of financing–bank loans, angel
investors, venture capital, etc.– for entrepreneurs, artistic, and cultural ventures. As noted by
(Schwienbacher and Larralde (2010) crowdfunding projects can range in both goal and

magnitude, from small artistic projects to entrepreneurs seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars
in seed capital to launch a product or business.
The model of crowdfunding has opened up potential entrepreneurship opportunities to
common people by creating access to funds for individuals who previously had no means to
obtain it. Independent artists and were among the first ones to adopt the practice of
crowdfunding (Schwienbacher and Larralde, 2010). More recently, the practice has been adopted
by various industries ranging from education, healthcare, for-profit and non-profit ventures. The
exponential growth of this phenomenon with the rise of new technology has created a feasible
method for more innovators to bring their ideas to a market.
Crowdfunding campaigns have become a trend in the publishing industry including
entrepreneurs for independent bookstores. In the efforts to save their business, many independent
bookstore owners have jumped on the crowdfunding trend to raise funds for their businesses.
(Baker, 2016). Applying this alternative method to finance LibroMobile’s expansion of its
Spanish language collection of books can help LibroMobile meet its goal with minimum cost.
Crowdsourcing
The concept of crowdfunding comes from the larger concept of crowdsourcing. The term
crowdsourcing was first introduced by Howe (2006) in which he demonstrates how various
industries from TV and Film to pharmaceuticals discover ways to use the general public (crowd)
to reduce the labor cost of the production or sale of its product through an open call over the
internet. “Crowdsourcing is seen as production model that utilizes intelligence and voluntary
crowd wisdom to solve problems, create contents or provide solutions to companies in exchange

for money, prizes, recognition or even for intellectual satisfaction” (Miranda Leite, 2012).
Essentially, crowdfunding works in a similar way in which entrepreneurs outsource their capital
from a large social network to fund the production of a project or complete a specific goal.
Factors that contribute to successful campaigns
To reach large numbers of potential funders, project creators must expand their social
networks beyond their family and friends. An ad hoc community or the extensions of an already
established community around a given project is critical to the success of a crowdfunding
campaign. One common strategy is to build online crowdfunding communities on social media
(Borst et al., 2018). Mollick (2014) notes that social network size of individuals seeking funds
impacts the success of fundraising projects, such as the number of Facebook friends. For
example, on an average project, “a founder with 10 Facebook friends would have a 9% chance of
succeeding, one with 100 friends would have a 20% chance of success, and one with 1000
friends would have a 40% chance of success” (Mollick, 2014, p. 8). In addition to a large social
network, a video and frequent updates about the campaign on social media also predict success
(Mollick, 2014). Timeframes are also critical; statistics show that campaigns that run for less
than 40 days are 6% more likely to reach their goal by creating a sense of urgency (Sekhon,
2013).
Mollick (2014) notes that friends and family (strong ties) play an important part in the
initial funding of the project. Projects which are 30% funded within the first few days of launch
are 90% more likely to reach their funding goal (Rupert, 2014). Therefore, friend-raising which
mean raising funds from family and friends is critical in the first phase of the campaign to
establish momentum for the campaign (Rupert, 2014).


However, Borst, et al (2018) analysis reveals that weaker ties and people outside the
project creator’s network have a greater value in the project performance. Borst et al, (2018)
argue that social media helps in reaching weaker ties and people unknown to the project creator.
Their research revealed that successful campaign performance attracts a wider network of
unknown funders meaning that “prior project performance positively affects current-day
performance” (Borst et al, 2018, p.1409). This pattern can be explained by herding behavior,
which means that potential funders follow the behavior of peers, therefore are more likely to
donate money if their social networks are sharing and funding the campaign (Borst et al, 2018).
A critical factor in creating a successful campaign for LibroMobile relies on building a
large enough social network or ad hoc community to fund its project. One advantage
LibroMobile has is the community of more than 1,000 followers on Instagram and near 800
followers on Facebook that can be leveraged to fund LibroMobile’s campaign. Typically, people
donate small amounts of money, therefore, a larger network must be built for LibroMobile to
meets its goal. The current statistics provided by Mollick predict a 40% chance of success with
the current online community of LibroMobile. An engaging video and consistent social media
updates about the campaign must also be created to engage, recruit, and grow LibroMobile’s
network of potential funders. In addition to “friend-raising,” one tactic is to use social media
updates to leverage the personal Facebook community of the founder of LibroMobile which
holds 2, 734 Facebook friends. Indiegogo’s blog states that the average conversion rate from
email is 34 percent higher than other forms of outreach, therefore, email outreach is the most
effective way to raise money (Indiegogo Blog, 2016). Currently, LibroMobile does not have an
email-list, therefore growing an email-list can increase the number of potential funders. The
Indiegogo blog suggests creating a landing page to collect email address from interested

individuals.
Statistics and Risks of Crowdfunding Campaigns
As of 2018, Statista reported that 36.02% of Kickstarter projects are successfully funded
while 63.98% of projects fail (statista.com, 2018). While Indiegogo holds a 13% fully- funded
success rate with an average of 41 campaign funders, while Kickstarter has an average of 108
funders (Clifford, 2016).
One disadvantage of not succeeding is the bystander effect which is characterized when
people in a large groups refrain from providing help because they believe someone else has
already done so (Borst et al, 2018). Therefore, a large social network size can also reduce the
likelihood of support from weak ties who can visibly see on social media networks that others
have received the same request. Mollick (2014) notes on his research that “failures happen by
large amounts, successes by small amounts” meaning that projects that don’t succeed will fail by
large margins (p.6). For example, “Only 10% of projects that fail raise 30% of their goal, and
only 3% raise 50% of their goal. The average failed project received $900 in pledges, compared
to $7825 for successful projects” (Mollick, 2014, p. 6). While projects that succeed tend to go
over their goal in small margins.
It important for LibroMobile to assess beforehand what challenges it can face creating
reasonable expectations. Given the statistics, LibroMobile has a greater percentage of not
meeting its goal. However, funding to expand its Spanish language collections of books is not
the only goal for LibroMobile. LibroMobile also seeks to increase its visibility and crowdfunding
can bring great value for marketing purposes. Mollick (2014) notes that crowdfunding can also

create access to social and cultural value. Social value in crowdfunding can be gain by the
formation of a community behind your project and cultural value “consists of good, services, or
experiences that would not be realized without funding by the crowd” (Borst et al, 2018, 1397).
For LibroMobile, a crowdfunding campaign can make salience the cultural value Spanish
Language literature has for Latinx immigrant communities and first-generation individuals in the
United States whose first language is Spanish. It also can create an invested community of future
donors even after the campaign is over.
Crowdfunding models
In the “Crowdfunding Industry Report”, Massolution (2012) defines four categories of
crowdfunding platforms: equity-based and lending-based which gives funders financial returns
over time; while donation-based and reward-based crowdfunding are best suited for cause-based
campaigns. Massolution (2012) notes that caused-based campaigns that “appeal to funders’
personal beliefs and passions performs best–e.g. environment, community, faith” (p.11) Funders
in donation-based crowdfunding do not expect any form of compensations. In contrast, funders
in reward-based funding, “primary objective for funding is to gain a non-financial reward such as
a token or in the case of a manufactured product, a first edition release” (p.25). Massolution’s
(2012) crowdfunding industry report demonstrates it is the largest category with best results.
Given the recommendation, a rewards-campaign is best suited for LibroMobile. The campaign
for LibroMobile can be positioned as a caused-based campaign in creating access to Spanish
literacy in an overwhelming English and American publishing sector.


Platforms for reward-based campaigns
Most reward-based campaigns are hosted in platforms such as Kickstarter.com,
Gofundme.com, and Indiegogo.com. etc. The majority of crowdfunding platforms create revenue
by charging a percentage commission on funds raised. In addition to charging a transaction fee,
that range from 2% to a maximum of 25% (Massolution, 2012). Factors that differentiate
platforms are host fees, transaction fees, flexibility option, and reputation. Kickstarter.com is the
most widely known and popular crowdfunding platform for creative projects which enhances the
project's credibility and trustworthiness (startmotionmedia, 2018).
Kickstarter.com only offers an all-or-nothing funding model, which means if you don’t
meet your goal, all funds raised will be returned to supporters. Kickstarter takes 5% of your
funds, and the credit processing companies take an additional 2.5-3% (startmotionmedia, 2018).
In contrast, Indiegogo has a flexible funding model which means that the creators are still able to
keep the money raised, but will have to pay a higher percentage fee (a 9% fee if the project does
not meet its goal, and 4% fee if it does) (startmotionmedia.com, 2018). GoFundme.com is also
another popular site, but it focuses more on charity, personal life events, or emergency relief. Its
percentage fee is 5% and does not have a penalty fee for failing to not meet the goal
(startmotionmedia, 2018). Massolution’s (2012) industry report shows that the average reward-
based crowdfunding campaign timeframe from launch to completion is 10.2 weeks. Also,
Massolution (2012) reported that on average reward-based campaign reached its first 25%
milestone in 2.9 weeks and the last 25% milestone in 3.6 weeks.
A flexible campaign model best suits LibroMobile because it provides the opportunity to
keep the amount regardless if the goal was met or not. Further research in platform fees will have

to be compared and discussed with the founder of LibroMobile.
Social Media as a marketing tool
Traditionally, a successful marketing tool has been word of mouth (WOM); Keller and
Libai (2009), researched that social talk generates more than 3.3 billion brand impressions each
day (as cited in Berger & Schwartz, 2011, p. 869). Berger and Schwartz’s (2011) research
examines “the psychological drivers of immediate and ongoing WOM driven by an accessibility
based perspective. They examine how products cues, public visibility, and interest shape both
immediate and ongoing WOM” (p. 870.) The results indicate that products that are cued more by
the environment are more publicly visible and receive both immediate and ongoing WOM. The
study concluded that interesting products receive immediate WOM, but do not continue to
receive ongoing WOM over time. Therefore, the results suggest that ongoing WOM depends
more on the accessibility of products to remain relevant in consumers’ minds than on how
interesting products are (Berger and Schwartz, 2011). In addition, giveaways were also analyzed
in the study, and the results indicated a strong link between giveaways (e.g., product, logo hats,
stickers) and a 20% increased WOM, “because they act as a cue, increasing product accessibility
and making it more likely to be mentioned” (Berger & Schwartz, 2011, p. 874). This research
can be applied to the crowdfunding campaign through consistent posting online on social
networks to create public visibility and increase the relevancy of the campaign to LibroMobile’s
followers.
Previous research has demonstrated that WOM has a positive effect on consumer
behavior. However, the rise of technology and the internet have created a new form of WOM.
The rise of "Web 2.0" created the platform for the evolution of Social Media. Web 2.0 represents

the collaborative and participatory platform of user-generated content (Kaplan and Haenlein,
2010). As demonstrated by the rise of blogs, content makers, and collaborative enterprises.
Haenlein and Kaplan (2010) define social media as “a group of Internet-based applications that
build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0 and allow the creation and
exchange of user-generated content" (p.61). Social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter
and Instagram have gained high popularity among users, specifically millennials and younger
generations. Social networking sites have become integral to the development of many
businesses and organizations. “When developing marketing communication plans, brands go
where the consumers are—both in terms of message strategy and media planning” (Ashley and
Tuten, 2015, p. 22). Marketers embraced social media marketing as another way to build their
brands’ company. Ashley and Tuten (2015) explain how “branded social media activities can be
used to increase brand awareness and brand liking, promote customer engagement and loyalty,
inspire consumer word-of-mouth communication about the brand, and potentially drive traffic to
brand locations on and offline” (p. 17). One way to maximize online audience engagement
suggested by Ashley and Tuten (2015) is for brands to use multiple appeals as they share content
with target audiences in social media, compared to advertising companies who often use one
unique selling point. Ashley and Tuten’s (2015) research revealed that Facebook had only three
message appeals: image appeal, exclusivity appeal, and incentives. These messages appeals can
be great strategies to apply to the social media campaign for LibroMobile to grab readers’
attention. In addition to understand and exploring online platforms are target audience is most
likely to frequent to understand their needs and wants.
In recent years, there has been a rise of consumers turning to online WOM influencers-
with 62% of consumers searching for online reviews before purchasing a product and 90% of

consumers trusting a brand recommendation from friends instead of traditional advertisements
(Sukhraj, 2017). Traditional WOM is communicated face-to-face, however, online people create
impressions on brands based on their content. Prendergast and Ko (2010) use social comparison
theory, social network analysis, and the theory of reason action to explain how online WOM
functions and drives purchase intentions. Results of the study demonstrated that similarity
between a user’s interests and a forum’s topic and user attitudes towards the forum strongly
predict purchase intentions.
Prendergast and Ko’s (2010) research supports Brown et al. (2007) concept that “online
communities can act as a proxy for individual identification” (p.701). In addition, their research
strengthens Brown et al. (2007) prediction that greater similarity between the interests of the
member and the forum should result in information shared as more credible and persuasive
(Prendergast & Ko, 2011, p. 701). Therefore, online forums can be leveraged if marketers ensure
their target audience interests match the forum’s shared interest.
Online forums can be helpful in scanning to find potential supporters for the campaign.
Online forums focusing on literacy and diversity issues, as well as Latinx writers are great
forums to engage with and build relationships with the active consumers which can lead to
potential donors. It is important to find like-minded online forums and groups through Reddit,
LinkedIn or Facebook groups to engage with, gain trust and later invite interested individuals to
LiboMobile’s social network sites.
Researchers such as Castronovo and Huang (2012) maintain that marketing strategies
should begin exploring and leveraging social media, not only because there is a growing interest
among consumers in internet usage, but also due to the fact that consumers consider information

shared on social media as more reliable than information issued directly by firms (as cited by
Alves et al., 2016, p. 1029). Alves et al (2016) study concluded that social media marketing
actions impact market values, sales and word of mouth; above all, opinion leaders in social
media have a great influence on other customers (p. 1032). It is important for LibroMobile to
find like-minded opinion leaders to share the campaign with their close networks who would be
mostly likely inclined to donate if their friend has contributed.
Viral content marketing
Research on word of mouth marketing has focused on its impact on diffusion. Unlike
word-of-mouth marketing, viral marketing focuses on a compounding effect that is typically
driven by the exponential growth of a message campaign. The rise of social media has enabled
social media campaigns to go viral. Jonah Berger and Katherine Milkman analyzed nearly 7,000
New York Times articles to study what makes online content viral. Their study revealed that a
key factor among viral content was evoking “high arousal emotions” such as a feeling of awe
and excitement or amusement (Berger and Milkman, 2011). In contrast, low-arousal content such
as sadness was least likely to be shared- “It’s human nature that people want to share the
experiences that stir their emotions by communicating them to others. When people develop
strong, deep feelings of surprise, anger, fear, disgust, sadness, and joy around an experience or
message, social sharing becomes impulsive” (Nguyen, 2015). Berger and Milkman’s study also
emphasizes practical content and noted: “that people enjoy sharing practically useful content for
altruistic reasons (to help others), self-development, and social exchange (to generate
reciprocity)” (Nguyen, 2015). Consumers are more likely to engage when given direct-call to
actions they can easily apply. Berger and Milkman’s research discovered that longer articles and

articles written by women and more famous authors were more likely to make the most e-mailed
list. It is evident from previous research that content that is cued and featured more prominently
increases the likelihood of its virality, but Berger and Milkman’s research also suggest that
content that evokes high arousal emotions are vital factors in viral marketing. Sarmiento et al.,
(2017) research analysis the antecedents of viral content on social media. Their study analyzes
how emotions, the influences, the content, the execution and the media impact the virality of the
trademark message through social media. The study reinforces previous research that
demonstrates that positive emotional content has the greatest impact in achieving viral content.
A second highest impact in creating viral content revealed in this study are influencers
such as YouTubers, Instagrammers, or professionals who play an important factor in the
transmission of the trademark message. (Sarmiento et al., 2017). Sarmiento et al., (2017) “state
that the trademarks have to identify and develop the relationships with the users who influence
their market to generate the products or services visibility” (p. 83). The rise of influencers in
social media has become vital in delivering the trademark message and connecting with a
company’s target audience. In terms of analyzing content, the study revealed that storytelling has
a positive impact in creating viral content. Storytelling is perceived as subtle and empathetic that
removes consumers from traditional forms of advertisement while simultaneously creating a
deeper connection with its audience (Sarmiento et al, 2017). The least influential variable was
the execution of the trademark message. The message duration or accessibility of the content did
not have a significant impact on the content’s virality. Nevertheless, content that was more
interactive and invited users for interactivity did produce more virality. Sarmiento et al, (2017)
proposed that organizations should use social media to co-operate and co-create with its users to
strengthen their trademark messages. LibroMobile can used user-generated content to


demonstrated collaboration, thus increase relationships with followers.
Visual storytelling is also a powerful way to engage consumers. A case study on the visual
communication effects of place branding revealed that through visual communication a "positive
nature-based sensory experience could be constructed through the application of contemporary
visual media" (Porter, 2013, p. 231). The manipulation of visual aesthetics can help create a
memorable and marketable place, “Research has demonstrated that adding a photo to your tweet
can boost retweet by 35 percent and Facebook posts with an image having an 87 percent
interaction rate compared with 4 percent from a simple link” (Nguyen, 2015).
Supporters’ Attitudes and Motives
Van Noort et al (2012) study argues that the connection between the sender and receiver
of a viral social network site campaign is an important factor in motivating receivers to share and
engage with the campaign. By using a real-world social media marketing campaign, Van Noort
et al., concluded that the strong social connection between the sender and receiver create a more
positive attitude towards the campaign and are more likely to share. Therefore, this study reveals
that the strength of the ties between the sender and the receiver are significant predictors for
persuasion of a campaign and for forwarding messages. Matthes et al (2007) explained that if the
message is not perceived as persuasive, it receives more attention and is perceived as more
credible (as cited in Van Noort et al, 2012). In viral SNS campaign, people who received
campaigns from their friends did not perceive the message as persuasive- proving that close
interpersonal sources are perceived as more credible. The study suggests that using action words
such as ‘tell-a-friend’ in a social media campaign when sharing increases receivers to forward
the campaign message to their connections in their social network. Van Noort’s et al. research

demonstrated the importance of building strategic relationships that will be invested in sharing
the campaign. The sharing of the campaign from closed relationships can be use to tap into other
unrelated networks, therefore extend the campaigns reach and potential supporters.
Bilingual Branding for a Latinx audience
Luna & Peracchio use the sociolinguistic framework to research the impact of code-
switching on the persuasiveness of marketing messages, “ refers to mixing languages within a
sentence, a common practice among bilingual consumers” (Luna & Peracchio, 2015, p. 760).
Previous research (Clachar 1997; Gumperz 1982) demonstrates that U.S Hispanics tend to
perceive English as the language of integration and vitality, while Spanish tends to be associated
with a lower socioeconomic status and therefore can activate feelings of inferiority (as cited in
Luna & Peracchio, 2015, p. 761). Luna & Peracchio conducted a pilot study to compare
minority- (Spanish) to majority- ( English) slogans to majority-to-minority slogans. For example,
“Majority-to-minority: In my cocina I would never make coffee with any other coffeemaker.
Minority-to-majority: En mi kitchen nunca hara cafe con ninguna otra cafeteria” Luna &
Peracchio, 2015, p. 761).
Results indicated that majority-to-minority slogans resulted in higher evaluations than
minority-to-majority slogans. Therefore, the salience of the code-switch word leads to greater
attention to the minority language, which prompts minority culture schema when there is a
positive attitude towards the minority language (Luna & Peracchio, 2015). “Code-switching is
especially relevant to the growing Latino/a market, which is identifying more and more as
‘bicultural’’ (Tree, 2014). Language is an important part of culture and identity. Major

companies have demonstrated that Spanglish marketing can be an effective marketing strategy to
connect with a Latinx demographic.
“Latinx youth are also expected to be the most bicultural and, in turn, the most bilingual.
As such, the “double influence” of both American English and Latin American Spanish is a large
portion of what makes this market so desirable” (Tree, 2014). LibroMobile can incorporated
code-switching in its content marketing strategy to engage with the bilingual identity of its
followers.

Theoretical Framework
Previous scholarship on crowdfunding, word-of-mouth marketing, social network sites,
and viral marketing have indicated the importance of relationships and channels of
communication in diffusing messages. This research project will underscore the importance of
building online relationships for a successful crowdfunding campaign. The theoretical
frameworks that guided the crowdfunding campaign build off the excellence theory in public
relations, diffusion of innovation theory, and social identity theory.
Excellence Theory
Grunig and Huang (2000) combined various theories to develop the excellence theory as
a framework and three-part model for building effective organization-public relations by
conceptualizing the antecedents that describe the people with which organizations need
relationships, the strategies used to maintain those relationships, and the outcomes of those
strategies (p.29) The first part of the excellence theory model defines the antecedents of
relationships which explains reasons why organizations enter into relationships with specific
people. Grunig and Huang's (2000) definition of antecedents derives from Broom et al., (1997)
which defined antecedents as “social and cultural norms, collective perceptions, and
expectations, needs for resources, perceptions of the uncertain environment, and legal/voluntary
necessity” (p.29). Grunig and Huang’s (2000) antecedent framework states that organization can
begin by “identifying strategic constituencies by identifying stakeholder categories” and then
dividing the members from those categories into “active publics and passive publics” (p. 32).
Therefore, organizations can begin building relationships with those active people, who possess
the antecedents needed for strategic relationships. The antecedent framework in the excellence

theory can help in identifying organizations and individuals who have the antecedents necessary
to form strategic relationships with LibroMobile. Stakeholders for LibroMobile involve Latinx
indie publishers and Spanish-language publishers. Since the purpose of the crowdfunding
campaign is to raise money to purchase Spanish language books, it would be strategic to form
relationships with these publics. By committing to using all funds raised to purchase from Latinx
indie presses, and Spanish-Language publishers a greater interest in forming relationships can be
leveraged. Authors of color and Latinx writers are also stakeholders in which they need indie
bookstores to disburse their books to their readers, and LibroMobile needs indie writers for book
readings and signings. Local artists are also stakeholders because LibroMobile provides access to
visibility and sales of their artwork, handcrafts etc. Other stakeholders involve active
partnerships with LibroMobile such as Community Engagement Inc. and Grand Central Arts
Center who share similar social and cultural norms. The active publics on LibroMobile’s social
media also demonstrate the antecedents needed to form strategic relationships.
The second part of the excellence theory model underscores the symmetrical model as a
strategic model to maintain and build long-term relationships. The symmetrical model in Grunig
and Huang’s (2000) excellence theory is focused primarily on ensuring that decisions are
mutually beneficial between the organization and its audiences by cultivating the following
attributes: openness, assurance of legitimacy, mutual networks, shared tasks, co-operation, and
collaboration. The symmetrical model is important in applying communication strategies that
will engage and connect with LibroMobile’s online audience. Social media strategies that
cultivate attributes of openness, co-operation, legitimacy, shared-tasks, and collaboration can
strengthen LibroMobile’s branding portrayed on its social networks. Some social media
strategies that contribute to those attributes are status updates (openness), photos of volunteers

and events (collaboration and legitimacy), reposting user-generated content (mutual networks),
direct call to action (shared-tasks), posting questions(co-operation), listening (looking at posts),
and responding (back to comments).
The third part of the excellence theory is defined as the consequences of building
strategic relationships which leads to positive relationship outcomes. Positive relationship
outcomes result in commitment, satisfaction/liking, trust, goal attainment and control mutuality
(Grunig and Huang, 2000). By LibroMobile building strategic relationships it can gain trust and
commitment from its followers which can lead to the support of LibroMobile’s campaign.
Diffusion of innovation theory
The diffusion of innovation theory by Rogers (1995) is defined “as the process by which an
innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among members of a social
system” (p. 5). According to Rogers’ theory, the four main elements that will influence the
spread of a new idea are the innovation, communication channels, time, and the social system.
Rogers’ theory introduces five attributes of an innovation that affect the rate of adoption: relative
advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability. In general, innovations with
these attributes will be adopted at higher rates than other innovations.
The following characteristics impact the rate of adoption of innovations (Rogers,1995, p. 15):
1. Relative advantage can be measured in economic terms, but social-prestige factors,

convenience, and satisfaction are important factors.
2. Compatibility is the degree in which an innovation is perceived as being consistent with

the existing values, past experiences, and needs of potential adopters.

3. Complexity is the degree to which an innovation is perceived as difficult to understand and

use. Innovations that are more complex will be adopted more slowly.
4. Trialability is the degree in which an innovation can be experimented with on a limited

basis.
5. Observability is the degree to which the results of an innovation are visible to others. The
easier it is for individuals to see the results of an innovation, the more likely they are to adopt
such visibility
Rogers’ characteristics of the rate of adoption of innovation are helpful in guiding the
market positioning of the crowdfunding campaign. Key characteristics that are applicable to the
crowdfunding are relative advantage such as the opportunity for supporters to support Spanish
literacy in Santa Ana, thus cultivate the Spanish-language within Latinx-American households.
In addition, to supporting Latinx small presses and diverse writers which only make-up a small
percentage in the publishing industry. Compatibility can be matched by marketing the campaign
to Latinx writers and educators who are advocates for diverse literature and invested in Latin
American literature. To minimize the complexity characteristics of the crowdfunding campaign
accessibility to the link should be provided with every social media post. In terms of trialability,
the chosen hosting site for the crowdfunding campaign is reputable and demonstrates credibility.
Observable results for the crowdfunding campaign is demonstrated by the amount of money
raised, the number of backers, and the days left before the campaign ends which diffuses
uncertainty.
Rogers (1995) defines communication channels as the medium by which messages are
exchanged. Rogers’ study argues that most people rely “upon a subjective evaluation of an
innovation that is conveyed to them from other individuals like themselves who have previously

adopted the innovation” (p.18). Therefore, the core of the diffusion process relies on the
communicated experience of like-minded peers who have previously adopted the innovation. To
reinforce this concept Rogers’ (1995) used the principle of homophily, “the degree to which
pairs of individuals who interact are similar in certain attributes, such as beliefs, education, social
status, and the like” (p.18) Therefore, it is critical to identify key supporters who share similar
values as LibroMobile and will share the campaign with their network. Such as local artists and
writers.
The communication channels chosen to disperse the campaign are Instagram, Facebook,
blogs, the local press, and LibroMobile’s website. Rogers’ (1995) created the following
categories to measure the progression of how individuals adopt ideas: (1) innovators, (2), early
adopters, (3) early majority, (4) late majority, and (5) laggards. The following characteristic of
these adapters are defined by Hanlon (2013):
1. Innovators are a small group of people exploring new ideas and technologies. They are the
first to adopt new ideas.
2. Early Adopters are considered to be Opinion Leaders who may share positive testimonials
about new products and services, seeking improvements and efficiency.
3. Early Majority are followers who will read reviews by earlier adopters about new products
before purchasing.
4. Late Majority are skeptics who are not keen on change and will only adopt a new product or
service if there is a strong feeling of being left behind or missing out.
5. Laggards prefer traditional communications and will adopt new products when there are no
alternatives.

The final element of the diffusion of innovation theory is the social system defined by
“individuals, informal groups, organizations, and/or subsystems” seeking to solve a common
problem in order to reach a common goal (Rogers, 1995, p. 24). The diffusion of innovation
theory looks at the roles of opinion leaders and change agents in a social system. To ensure the
adoption of the social media campaign, opinion leaders and change agents can be helpful in
identifying before the launch of the campaign, which can include Instagram influencers,
bloggers, and organizations promoting diverse literature.
Social Identity Theory
Extensive psychological and marketing-related research has demonstrated the significant
impact the role of identity has in consumption behavior. Consumers are often attracted to brands
and products that reflect their social identity.
Therefore, the social identity theory is important for understanding how to promote the
crowdfunding campaign to a Latinx audience. Social identity defined by Tajfel (1972) “as the
individual’s knowledge that he [or she] belongs to certain social groups together with some
emotional and value significance to him [or her] of this group membership” (as cited in Langner
et al., 2013, p. 32). Essentially, self-relevant social categories (age, gender, sex, race, etc.) form
the social identity. Salience is also a core factor in social identity which means a particular
identity that is made prominent in different situations (Langner et al.,2013). Higgens (2000)
points out that “for marketers, social identity salience generally relates to situations and
circumstances when a consumer associates the features of a product or situation that “draw, grab,
or hold” his or her attention with elements of his or her social identity or social group (as cited in
Langner et al., 2013, p. 32).


Social identity theory is helpful in identifying specific identity categories that will have a
significant impact on the marketing of the crowdfunding campaign, thus creating a target
audience is critical for reaching the right audience. In addition to also identifying social groups
who are invested in literacy, education, culture, and language can help define our target
audience. Social identity theory is not only helpful in creating a target audience, but also in
constructing the social media content for the crowdfunding campaign. It is helpful in thinking
about the message and tone that would most likely resonate with the social identity of our target
audience can help in increasing engagement and attraction. For this particular campaign making
salience the Latinx identity is important as well as characteristics that resonate with the
community of Santa Ana (e.g. Spanish-language, working-class, millennials). The concepts
provided by excellence theory, diffusion of innovation theory, and social identity theory will be
applied to execute a crowdfunding campaign for the independent bookstore, LibroMobile and
increase its engagement on Instagram, its primary social media network.


Organization Goals
• Enhance the branding and online visibility of LibroMobile as the only bilingual bookstore
dedicated to promoting diverse literature by people of color and providing affordable
bilingual books to the community of Santa Ana.
● Develop a crowdfunding campaign to raise awareness of LibroMobile’s mission and
values to increase Spanish book donations.
Project Objectives
Output
● To create a crowdfunding campaign with a goal of $4,000 to purchase 400 Spanish
books.
Impact
● To increase awareness and engagement among Santa Ana locals by increasing its
average engagement per post and number of followers by 5/18/2018.
● To increase donations and collect 400 Spanish books.


Methods
Target audience
A distinct target person was created for the crowdfunding campaign. The following story was
created as a marketing strategy to create a detailed identity for the potential backers of the
crowdfunding campaign.
In the sunny city of Santa Ana, you’ll find my ideal supporter. Her name is Lourdes and she is 35
years old. Her friends describe her as a leader, educated, and creative. She holds a Master’s
degree in English and Humanities and works at Santa Ana College teaching English
Composition with a Chicanx emphasis. If she is not grading papers on the weekend, she is
spending time with her family, working on her own personal writing, or visiting farmer’s markets
for hand-made crafts. She dresses in casual clothing, and shops at local businesses. When my
ideal supporter finds LibroMobile’s Instagram account. She will feel empowered to see powerful
photos of inspirational quotes, diverse books, and people that look like her engaged in literacy
events.
The campaign is targeted towards individuals invested in literacy, diverse languages, and
diversity. The target individuals include authors, academic educators teaching in humanity
departments (e.g. Latin American studies, Spanish Literature), artists invested in Latinx culture
and organizations advocating for diversity in the literary arts.


TIMELINE
March 5th- May 30th
March: Research, Target audience, writing campaign, shooting and editing video campaign

April: Creating landing page, email outreach, friend-raising, public launch, press launch, social
media marketing

May: Aggressive social media marketing and email marketing, campaign updates, and shipping
rewards

PROJECT STRATEGY
Crowdfunding Campaign
Crowdfunding has become increasingly popular over the last few years for entrepreneurs
and individuals to raise money for projects and increase visibility for their work.
After considerable research, we decided to run a crowdfunding campaign to raise $4,000
dollars to purchase 400 contemporary Spanish books. The following elements were essential in
launching LibroMobile’s crowdfunding campaign:
Specific Steps and Tactics
1. Research: reviewing crowdfunding platforms, looking at differences in host fees and

transaction interest rates, studying the pros and cons of using a host website vs using
LibroMobile’s webpage; reviewing successful and unsuccessful campaign
2. Deciding on a suitable platform: We chose to host the crowdfunding campaign on
Indiegogo. Numerous articles suggested using a hosting site rather than a business
website because there is established traffic already coming in to host sites and higher
chances of visibility. We also wouldn’t have to deal with a technical problem arising
from transactions on the business website. We opted for Indiegogo based on its
credibility and general use for creative projects as well as for its flexible funding option.
3. Deciding on Funding Model: Fixed or Flexible Funding
4. The flexible crowdfunding option allows organizations to keep whatever amount was
raised despite not meeting the funding goal but with a 9% host fee instead of a 4% host
fee for funding goals reached.
5. Establishing target audience and creating contact list: sorting contacts and
subdividing them into the following categories: Innovators (friend-raising), early adopters
(bloggers, social media influencers, art, literacy and activist organizations), early majority
(Instagram and Facebook followers), late majority (Press).
6. Researching opinion leaders: researching Instagram influencers, art, activist, literary
bloggers, micro-influencers, “booktubers”
7. Planning Project: Scheduling and shooting interview for campaign video, writing copy
for campaign page, editing video and decide social media hashtag; how long will the
campaign last
8. Establishing rewards: reviewing and deciding cost and production for rewards

9. Communication: writing email templates to announce the campaign before its launch,
the day of and after its launch, writing a press release, and research contacts for local
press
10. Outreach: Email friends and family before the launch and the day of the launch; email
early adopters and send out press releases
11. Launch Campaign: engage and thank backers, post on social media, update the
campaign with new visuals, shout-out backers and re-post shares
12. Post Campaign- produce and deliver rewards; update backers, send out gratitude emails
RESEARCH
Establishing an ideal client profile was key to moving forward with the research process
of the crowdfunding campaign. The ideal client persona was critical in understanding the needs,
wants, and lifestyles of our potential backers for the campaign. The research began by studying
similar campaigns conducted by bookstores. Successful and unsuccessful campaigns were
reviewed from the top crowdfunding sites—Kickstarter and Indiegogo. The video content, the
copy of the story, numbers of backers and rewards were observed to understand the overall
structure of what a crowdfunding campaign looks like as well as to study what worked and what
didn’t work for each campaign. See Appendix A for campaign research.
After reviewing independent bookstore campaigns, the next decision was to choose what
crowdfunding platform and model to use. A rewards-based crowdfunding campaign was chosen
as suggested by the literature review on the types of crowdfunding models best suited for caused-
based campaigns. Time was also taken to review the pros and cons of hosting a crowdfunding
campaign on LibroMobile’s website vs a hosting site such as Indiegogo and Kickstarter. See
Appendix B for cons and pros of business website vs hosting site. Given the novice experience in
crowdfunding campaigns, we opted for a hosting site with already established functions to
crowdsource. When choosing a hosting site fee and reputation were reviewed among

Kickstarter.com, Indiogogo.com, and GoFundme.com. See Appendix C for comparison of
hosting platforms.
Indiegogo was chosen as the most suitable site to host the crowdfunding campaign based
on its “flexible funding” options and positive reputation among creative independent projects.
Although Gofundme.com has a lower percentage fee, it is mainly used to fundraise for personal
causes or emergency financial burdens. Kickstarter.com does not have a “flexible funding”
option which allows companies to keep the funds raised even if the goal was not met.
Budget
An estimate of the fees was calculated to foresee the applied fees of a fixed plan by
Indiegogo.com. After reviewing how many books were needed to fully stock the Spanish section
of LibroMobile’s bookmobile cart, an estimate of 400 books was formulated. Given that the
owner of the bookstore can receive 50% off from publishers and Spanish-language books range
from $15-$20, it was estimated that $4,000 would be a reasonable amount for the crowdfunding
goal. Reward’s cost, production, and shipping were also calculated. Given the limited budget
and time, we opted for accessible rewards. For budget calculations see Appendix D.

PLANNING CAMPAIGN
The planning process of the campaign entailed the following main activities
1. Creating a contact database and sorting it into groups
2. Creative content production
3. Communication strategy
Crowdfunding Positioning Statement
Before sorting potential groups into categories, a crowdfunding positioning statement
was created to consider how to best position the campaign to appeal to our target marketing
persona.
LibroMobile prioritizes comm[unity] in its mission to create access to diverse literature for
Latinx immigrants, students, educators, and creative professionals.
This positioning statement was helpful in thinking about what makes the campaign unique and
who would care to support it.
CONTACT DATABASE AND SUBCATEGORIES
The excellence theory and the diffusion of innovation theory were used to guide the
process of identifying the strategic contact and sorting people into groups. In addition to
providing a timeline for the of adoption among the groups. See Appendix E for the contact
database.

● Contact group 1: Innovators–“Friendraising”– as described in the literature review,
friend-raising is a critical component in beginning a strong campaign. Close-tie
relationships were identified as the people we thought were most likely to support the
campaign. “Very little, if anything, needs to be done to appeal to this population” as
described by the innovators category in DOI theory.
● Contact group 2: Early adopters were people with aligned interests with the campaign
and considered opinion leaders and influential among their communication networks. For
example, Authors, literacy bloggers, Latinx educators
● Contact group 3: the Early majority were people we assumed would engage with the
content created by early adopters as stated in the literature review. For example, people
who see the campaign shared on early adopters social media networks and follow the
same behavior.
● Contact group 4: the Late majority were people we assumed would support the
campaign based on its performance success and (social media herding)
● Contact group 5: Laggards: no efforts were placed to target


CREATIVE CONTENT PRODUCTION
After researching crowdfunding videos and reviewing other campaign videos, an
interview with Sarah Rafael Garcia was shot. The purpose of the video was to tell the story of
LibroMobile, highlight the importance of diverse literature, and to explain why Spanish books
are important to the community of Santa Ana. It was important to give the video a human face
and a personal story that would help engage our potential supporters as well as keeping it short.
Social identity theory informed the editing process of the video. Shots that reflected the
social identity of the Latinx community in Santa Ana were intentionally inserted into the
storyboard to establish familiarity and culture context. See Appendix F for video shots.
Project page on Indiegogo
The copy of the project page was divided into five sections: LibroMobiles’s story, the
campaign, where funds go to, the impact, and other ways to help. See Appendix G for the full
copy. The message of the campaign made salience the identity of Latinx immigrants and first-
generation Latinx Americans through code-switching and Sarah’s personal story about the
historical marginalization of the Spanish language. In order to heighten the importance of


Spanish language literature, the copy presented statistics that made salience the diversity issues
in the publishing industry to encourage readers to donate. It was made clear in the copy that all
donations would be invested in purchasing books from Latinx presses and Spanish language
publishers. Thus amplifying the impact of the campaign, and also using it as a leverage to engage
with Latinx authors..
Rewards
The founder and I created Five rewards ranging from $10 to $200. The rewards were
chosen based on the economic value of production and accessibility. See appendix H for reward
descriptions.
COMMUNICATION STRATEGY
Landing page
The first step in the campaign’s communication strategy was to gather supporters for the
campaign by collecting emails through a landing page. The landing page was promoted primarily
through Instagram and LibroMobile’s website. The campaign video was uploaded with the
landing page to raise awareness of LibroMobile’s project. See Appendix I for landing page.
Social Media Strategy
A social media strategy guided by excellence theory and social identity theory were
applied to increase LibroMobile’s engagement and followers on Instagram as well as to promote
the crowdfunding campaign. Although, LibroMobile has a Facebook page its engagement is very
minimum, therefore more energy was spent in strengthening LibroMobile’s Instagram which had

a larger pool of followers. Therefore, all posts were specifically curated for LibroMobile’s
Instagram, but shared on LibroMobile’s Facebook page and the founders personal Facebook.
LibroMobile’s average engagement per post was calculated as suggested by Olson (2007)
social media marketing analyst, by adding up the like and comments of the last ten posts of
LibroMobile before I began posting and dividing that number by the total number of posts
selected (10). The calculations estimated that the average engagement post for LibroMobile was
23.8 which means that LibroMobile received about 24 like or comments per post. See Appendix
J for calculations. After calculating the baseline of LibroMobile average engagement per post
and documenting its number of followers, I created a set of Instagram posts to increase followers
and engagement for the crowdfunding campaign. The hashtag #librosforSantaAna was created to
filter out posts and shares of the campaign as well as to increase engagement with people and
groups with strong ties to the city of Santa Ana.
The attributes of openness, collaboration, mutual networks, shared-tasks, and legitimacy
described by the excellence theory as core characteristics to maintain relationships were applied
to increase engagement of LibroMobile’s Instagram page. Tactics that represented those
characteristics were user-generated content, photos of events and volunteers, and call-to- action.
In addition to using strong visuals and videos. The social identity theory was used to create
relevant posts that reflect LibroMobile’s target audience. The following post are examples of
how the excellence theory and social identity theory were applied to engage LibroMobile’s
online community.

Post 1: This post demonstrates the attributes of openness and honesty by disclosing that
LibroMobile cannot meet the demands of its Spanish language readers. It also uses code
switching to make salience the words español (Spanish) and abulita ( grandma) to evoke
familiarity with the Latinx native language. The majority of LibroMobile’s Instagram
community is Latinx with strong immigrant ties, therefore, the quote helps create an emotional
connection with LibroMobile’s followers who identify strongly with the immigrant social group.
Thus, using the emotional connection created to spark interest and support for the crowdfunding
campaign.

Post 2: This posts uses call-to- action to encourage followers to click on LibroMobile’s landing
page. It demonstrates the characteristics of collaboration and shared tasks by inviting followers
to collaborate together in solving issues of diversity in literature. Therefore, giving followers a
feeling of agency that their support is part of a greater movement.
3. This post uses user-generated content to highlight mutual networks between LibroMobile and
the Latinx author. It also ends with a call to action to invite followers to comment thus
increasing engagement. In addition to building rapport with Latinx author by demonstrating
support through mutual exposure.


4. This post is targeted to writers following LibroMobile. The quote is used to grab the attention
of writers by highlighting the motives behind writing, therefore creating a personal connection. It
also demonstrates LibroMobile’s shared understanding of its customers’ values. The call-to-
action is used to push followers to not only support LibroMobile in their campaign, but also zine
makers. It also demonstrates openness by informing followers of the status of the campaign.

5. This post uses the attribute of assurance of commitment described in the excellence theory. By
demonstrating LibroMobile’s commitment in creating access to the literary arts by providing
space for local poets to share their work with family and friends. It also uses code switching to
highlight the word casa llena (full house) and comunidad (community) to enhance the meaning
and feelings behind these words which pair up nicely with the picture.

Email marketing
Email marketing was used to contact the main groups established as strategic
relationships. The campaign began with a soft launch which meant emailing friends and family
from group one. This entailed sending emails before and the day of the launch of the campaign to
this specific target group. After the second day, the public launch was made which was promoted
through LibroMobile’s instagram account and the founder’s Facebook account. Afterwards,
emails were sent out to group two which we anticipated as our early adopters. The following
groups targeted were Latinx authors, literacy bloggers, Latinx educators from Santa Ana
College, and Latinx small presses. For contact list and emails see Appendix K.
Press
A press release was sent out to local press including Spanish language networks as well
as journalists who had written about diversity issues in the publishing industry or similar
crowdfunding campaigns. For copy of Press release see Appendix L.
POST CAMPAIGN
Backer updates
Backer updates were important in maintaining a relationship with supporters during and
after the campaign. Updates were posted about the campaign’s progress and supporters were
encouraged to keep sharing the campaign.


Rewards
A total of rewards were orders. All rewards were scheduled to be delivered between
5/22/18-6/1/18. See Appendix M for the order list of rewards.
EVALUATION
Success of the campaign will be measured by the percentage of money raised.The
research provided by Mollick (2018) anticipates 40 percent of the goal to be successful. Given
the low statistics in favor of a successful campaign, success will be measured if 50% of the goal
is raised, thus demonstrating that marketing strategies were successful in reaching 10% more
than the average crowdfunding campaign with a social network of 1,000 followers.
LibroMobile’s increase of awareness and engagement with its followers will be measured
by taking screenshots of LibroMobile Instagram’ s analytics to measure the reach/impressions,
number of followers and the average engagement per post curated for LibroMobile. In addition
to how many shares the crowdfunding campaign receives. A significant increase in engagement
from previous posts before the applied social media strategies will determine success.
RESULTS
Output
LibroMobile’s crowdfunding campaign reached 46 percent of its goal, a total of $ 1, 844 was
raised in 30 days. The campaign failed to meet its 50 percentile evaluation benchmark stated to
measure its success. The campaign had 555 total visits, and a total of 48 backers. It is important
to note that two supporters sent funds via the founders paypal ($40) and direct check ($100). It
was reported by the founder that they had trouble with the internet server or user issue. In

addition to raising $1,844, 20 Spanish-Language books were donated. See Appendix N for
results and net balance of campaign. Overall, the funds raised will help LibroMobile purchase
158 new Spanish-Language books from Latinx and Spanish-language publishers.
Impact
Although, the campaign only raised 46 percent of its goal, it was still able to meet
LibroMobile’s goal of increasing its visibility and expanding its Spanish-language collection of
books. The social media campaign was successful in helping increase LibroMobile’s average
engagement per post from 23 to 75 average engagement per post. For results of calculations see
Appendix O. Between 3/05/2018 to 5/15/18 LibroMobile increased its reach by 322 followers
with an average of 29 weekly followers. A total of 35 posts were created for LibroMobile. The
campaign was shared on two blogs, La Bloga: the world's longest-established Chicana Chicano,
Latina Latino literary blog, and Blog on the Hyphen–focus is on literature, cultural events, art,
and call for papers that express some sense of what is means to be Latinx in the United States.
The total number of shares for posts could not be accurately calculated because not every share
included the hashtag, LibrosforSantaAna. For screenshots of social media posts and shares see
Appendix P.
Analysis
Target Audience
Creating a target audience was really helpful and critical in the overall execution of the
crowdfunding campaign. Clearly defining what type of persona would be invested in funding the
campaign and had disposable income to contribute was helpful in building our contact list, and

creating social media content that would attract more of those prospects. In addition, to
understanding and finding the online platforms our target persona would most likely be using. As
stated by, Ashley and Tuten (2015) that brands go where their consumers are. The construction
of the target persona–Latinx writer and professor in the humanities of local community college–
for the crowdfunding campaign was successful in reaching funders with similar characteristics.
Out of the 48 supporters of the campaign, 15 fell into the category of writers–editors, journalists,
poets, 6 are educators working in a community college, university or K-12. There were also 2
artists in the field of graphic design and music. Three organizations committed to diversity in the
arts, environment and business. Seven donations came from unknown relationships from both the
founder and I. The other 21 donations came from family (6) or identified followers on
LibroMobile’s social media accounts (15) with no association to the previous categories. The
donor’s professions where identified by searching their names and email on LibroMobile’s social
media accounts including the founders Facebook account, and Google.
Aside from social media followers of LibroMobile, writers were the most inclined to
donate which reinforces the established target audience for the crowdfunding campaign. The
positioning of the crowdfunding campaign was also successful in guiding the content strategy for
Instagram posts which reflects the characteristics of those who donated.
LibroMobile prioritizes comm[unity] in its mission to create access to diverse literature for
Latinx immigrants, students, educators, and creative professionals.
Research
The research before the launch of the crowdfunding campaign could have been more
thorough. If stronger research was conducted the goal of the campaign would most likely have

been lowered to $2,000, given the low statistics of success rates for crowdfunding campaigns and
the size of LibroMobile’s social network.
Contact database and subcategories
The results of the campaign could have been stronger if more time would have been
invested to building and strengthening relationships with (contact group two) which were
opinion leaders such as authors, literacy bloggers, and Latinx educators. Although the campaign
was reposted by influential organizations and like-minded individuals only 6 latent ties–
unknown people– were leverage. Therefore, it was critical to spend more time building
relationships with contact group two to increase their impact on the crowdfunding campaign.
There were plenty of people who shared the campaign but a small number who donated. A
greater impact could have been made if group two not only shared the campaign, but also
donated to activate social media herding as described in the literature.
Creative Content production
The project page of the crowdfunding campaign was thorough in telling the story of
LibroMobile, and in highlighting the importance of Spanish-language books for the community
of Santa Ana. In addition to highlighting the diversity issues in the publishing industry. The
crowdfunding video was honest and personal which legitimized the campaign and connected will
with its target audience. Some difficulties in the creative process were basic experience in
shooting video and editing. Stronger video shots and editing skills could have made a stronger
visual impact among its viewers.


Communication Strategy
The campaign began with a soft launch which entailed raising funds from family and
close friends through email marketing. This first stage of the crowdfunding campaign was
critical in establishing momentum for the campaign. This first stage was not successful as only
one person from the communication team was able to send email’s to family and friends,
therefore the campaign’s momentum grew very slowly. Since, LibroMobile only had 54
contacts on its mailing list a landing page was created to collect emails. The landing page only
converted five Instagram followers into subscribers and only 3 of those subscribers donated to
the campaign. Therefore, it did not have a significant impact on the campaign. The outcome
demonstrates that more time was needed to grow LibroMobile’s emailing list and strengthen its
relationship with its social media audience before the launch. In addition to sending emails to
friends and family, emails were also send to Latinx small presses, Latinx poet and writers, local
artist who collaborate with LibroMobile, but in contrast to the literature review it did not convert
many to donors. Many opted for sharing the campaign instead of donating.
The public launch of the campaign entailed the social media strategy which had the most
impact in raising funds for the campaign and in increasing engagement for LibroMobile on its
Instagram. The majority of donors were converted from social media with 19 contributions
coming from Facebook and 12 from Instagram, 2 contributions from Google, and 1 from
Linkedin. Faacebook and Instagram raised a combined total of 67% percent of the total funds.
The campaign was able to leverage donors from LibroMobile’s Instagram and Facebook
including the founder’s personal Facebook. Since the campaign did not reach a high number of
donors within the first week, the press showed no interest in the story. Therefore, demonstrating

that social media for this project had the highest positive impact in gathering donors. For the list
of social media sources see Appendix P.
Discussion
Value for client
The crowdfunding campaign provided great tangible and intangible values for my client.
Despite the project not meeting successfully it’s monetary goal, it still provided my client with
access to a substantial amount of capital to continue growing its business. The project also
enabled LibroMobile to strengthen its rapport with its online community. It activated many
followers to share the campaign and grow a personal investment in LibroMobile, thus gaining
loyal customers and increasing word of mouth for its business and demand for Spanish-language
book donations. The campaign project also enabled my client’s story to be amplified and
increase exposure to her community work in the literary arts. Therefore, having a positive impact
in her reputation and credibility as an advocate for diversity in literature. Future suggestions for
my client is to continue to build rapport with her online communities, apply the social media
tactics demonstrated throughout the project, and not be afraid to be more aggressive in telling
LibroMobile’ s story. See appendix P for social media strategies suggested.
Value of theory
The process of the crowdfunding campaign and the outcome reinforced the statistics and
confirmed theoretical implications provided by the literature review. This project demonstrated
how the concepts provided in the excellence theory to strategically build and maintain
relationships for a goal attainment can be applied to crowdfunding campaigns. The foundational
concept in creating a successful campaign is about building a large enough community that will

be invested in your campaign. Similarly, to the function of public relations which is to
communicate and build relationships with a community; crowdfunding works the same way but
in digital form.
The diffusion of innovation theory is also helpful in conceptualizing the anticipated rate
of adoption for crowdfunding campaigns. Applying the attributes suggested by the theory can
increase higher rates of adoption, especially for campaigns focused on product development.
Since this campaign was more cause-based, compatibility in existing values and needs of our
target niche market was the most important attribute in applying from the diffusion of innovation
theory. When creating the campaign, it was challenging in trying to meet all the attributes
presented in the theory. The attribute of observability is also very important in crowdfunding
campaigns. The diffusion of innovation theory stated that individuals will more likely to adopt an
innovation if they can see the results. For crowdfunding campaigns, the characteristics of
observability can be positive or negative. Crowdfunding platforms provide visible results to the
public; if the audience sees an unsuccessful project performance, the rate of adoption will
decrease and vice versa. The concepts provided by both the excellence theory and diffusion of
innovation theory can make for a very successful campaign if accurately applied to the project by
dedicating time to strategically build and maintain the necessary online connections. In addition
to designing a project closely aligned with the attributes of higher rates of adoption outline in the
theory. The campaign also reinforced the social identity literature. The most engaged posts for
the campaign were posts that highlighted personal attributes of LibroMobile’s target audience.
Social identity theory can be used by campaigners in identifying personal characteristics of their
niche market that will enhance and establish a personal connection with their project. This is key
to applying when creating a video for the campaign as well as a content marketing strategy. The

value of social identity theory was indispensable for this project; it defined the aesthetic, the
words, tone, message of the campaign.
Personal value
The crowdfunding campaign strengthen my understanding in how to apply theoretical
concepts in practical settings. I learned to deconstruct the theoretical concepts used for this
specific project into important skill sets needed for a communication management role. I really
learned to value research and the resource it provides to avoid trial/error. Although, I was blind-
sided by the execution of the project throughout the process I realized how fundamental it is to
research beforehand every detail.
The project also enhanced my creativity and multimedia skills which are very basic, but
gave me the opportunity to apply them, and not be afraid to make mistakes and take risks.
Overall, it provided me a with great learning experience and growth academically and
professionally as a project manager, communication strategist, and social media planner.
Limitations
One significant limitation that I strongly feel effected the project was the rewards
selection. Due to the limited amount of resources, rewards were selected based on what the
founder had that was accessible at low costs which were zines, used books, and copies of her
published book, plus her editing expertise. The founder was not open to alternative ideas for
gathering rewards through sponsorships from local business or local artists. Overall, I don’t think
the rewards had a strong impact as incentives for donating. Another limitation was not able to
have access to close contacts from the founder for the first phase of the campaign which hindered

the momentum of the campaign. Although towards the end, we were able to leverage her
personal Facebook contacts. Another limitation was not having a team, most crowdfunding
campaigns are composed of three members. It would have been helpful to set a team for the
project to reach a larger network. Another challenge was not having enough time to work on
building more relationships outside the founder’s immediate network. One thing I would have
done before the launch of the campaign is explored different online platforms, such as Reddit,
Facebook groups, and other forums specifically about diverse books to build relationships with
those communities and then invite them to support the campaign after trust had been established.
In terms of theory, I found limitations in the attributes of complexity and trailability from
the diffusion of innovation theory to fulfill for this specific project. For some people
crowdfunding is new and unfamiliar. There were two older supporters who donated directly
instead of using the platform because they had trouble navigating the site. These were two cases
which makes me think there could have been more. The issue of complexity for the navigation of
the page was not something I had control over. In addition to not being able to meet the
trailability attribute suggested by the theory because it did not apply to the crowdfunding
options. Another limitation was in measuring accurately the number of followers gained and
engagement rates was the founders rule of posting every hour on Instagram from 12pm to 6pm.
The besting posting times could not be accurately measured because of their constant posting.
Although I do find their constant posting increases opportunity to gains followers, but decreases
engagement per post. I was also not the only one posting on Instagram, therefore the most
accurate measurement for my work is the increase of engagement per post which applies to only
the top ten posts created by me.


Future Implications
Overall, suggestions for my client is to become comfortable with using social network
sites, and familiar with applications such as Canva that can help her create content for her social
network. Also, that sometimes less is more, posting less posts and creating higher quality content
could have a greater impact. In addition to creating a monthly newsletter which she can use to
leverage the supporters of the campaign by keeping them interested in LibroMobile’s events and
projects. Thus building stronger relationships with customers. This project has sparked ideas on
how crowdfunding campaigns can be used to mobilize a whole community to fund a greater
community project like a city playground, garden, etc. Future research on how the concept of
crowdfunding can be used to fund larger communal projects is suggested.
Conclusion
The crowdfunding project demonstrates the impact online communities such as social
media networks have in today’s digital world. The digital world has collapsed physical barriers
and open doors to connect with individuals, people, organizations from across the globe. Thus
amplifying business opportunities for those seeking to expand their reach, share their story, and
connect with like-minded people. The crowdfunding innovation has disrupted traditional forms
of finance by leverage the digital word to create capital for risk-takers, dreamers, and individuals
who are willing to strategically build and maintain relationships. Technology and new forms of
communication will continue to change and evolve, but core concepts of relationships and
identity provided by the excellence theory and social identity theory are still applicable to
today’s digital world.


It is important for individuals embarking in crowdfunding campaigns to understand the
dynamics of crowdfunding campaigns starting with knowing their target audience and
understanding the strategies needed to build a community based on those unique and personal
qualities. Crowdfunding is about mobilizing a community to invest in your story and now more
than ever, social media networks give you the opportunity to create one if you don’t have one,
thus giving access to everyday people to finance their goals and dreams.
Key suggestions, project creators can take away from this campaign is understanding the
needs of their target audience, building strategic relationships across different networks to
expand their community, having an invested community ready to donate before the launch of the
campaign to increase momentum early, and having a strong social media plan to engage target
audience. Although the odds are against crowdfunding campaigners, campaigners can still reach
success if they have a prepared plan and strong communication strategies.


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APPENDIX
Appendix A: Campaign Research



Appendix B: Business website vs Hosting site
Pros CONS
● Avoid extra fees ● Lack of tech expertise

● Retain full control of ● Technical problems arising
creativity and design from transactions
● Drive backers directly to ● Promotional power driven
your business site- boost solely by campaign unlike
brand hosting sites who have
traffic coming in already
● Time consuming to build
and design page
https://www.dreamhost.com/blog/crowdfunding-on-your-website/
So, what’s the benefit of ditching those popular platforms and hosting a crowdfunding campaign
solo on your site? Let us count the ways:
● Avoid Extra Fees. Yep, with popular platforms, you have to fork over an additional
percentage of your earnings to the site. Take Kickstarter for example; they charge a fee
for their services — 5 percent of the collected funds, as well as a 3-5 percent fee for
payment processing. Same with Indiegogo. Why share your hard-earned $$$ with a
platform? Keep the funds (as much as 10 percent more!) by bypassing the popular sites
and running your own campaign.
● Retain Full Control. Normal crowdfunding platforms set the ground rules for your
fundraising campaigns, often leaving you with rigid parameters that restrict your
campaign length, payment processing methods, branding, and more.****Remember: if
you’re new to running a website or don’t quite have the technological know-how or
promotional power to pack a punch, an established crowdfunding site might be a good
tool to start financing your project.

Appendix C: Crowdfunding platforms


Appendix D: Budget calculations
1. Fixed or Flexible?
Indiegogo's fee: Fixed option
● If the funding goal is reached: 4% of total funds raised

● If the funding goal is NOT reached: 0% because money is refunded to backers
● Credit card processing fee: 3% and .30 per transaction
Flexible Crowdfunding
● If the funding goal is reached: 4% of total funds raise

● If the funding goal is NOT reached: 9% and you keep what you earned
● Credit card processing fee: 3% and .30 per transaction
2. Goals? How much money/books do you want to raise?

Avg cost= $15 Cost plus shipping= around $20
Ex. Goal of 400 Spanish books
● 100 books donated
● Goal $4000 for 400 books with 50% discount
Applied Fees
$4000 of 5%= $200 would be kept by Indiegogo
$4000 of 3%= 120 plus 0.30 cents per transaction
“200” transactions= $60
Total of Fees = $360.00
LibroMobile keeps = $3,640
3. What type of perks do you want to give?

For example: $5, $10, $25, $50, $100, $200
Ideas: Digital download for $5 or $10 of artwork. Calacas Café or Alta Baja Sponsorship,
Bookmarks, Signed book, $100 or $200 webinar for writing workshop

Cost of Rewards
Reward Backer pays Cost
Gratitude $10 $0
Surpise zine $25 +$4.00 shipping $4.00
Surprize book by a writer of $50+$4,00 $8 or $0 if it’s a donated used

color book
Signed SanTana Fairy Tales $74 +$4.00 $25
Manuscript Edit $200 Time


Appendix E: Contact database
Group 1


Group 2




Appendix F: Examples Video Shots



Appendix G: Campaign Copy
Campaign Overview
Cultivating diversity through literature in Santa Ana, California means nurturing and celebrating
our native tongues. Currently, our selection of Spanish books is very limited, and we are not able
to meet the demands of our Latinx population looking for books in their native language. Every
day at least one mother, father or abuelita asks LibroMobile for poetry or contemporary books in
Spanish. To better serve our community of Spanish speakers we are seeking support to purchase
400 Spanish books.
Story
LibroMobile
LibroMobile is a tiny bookstore and community literary space located in the heart of Santa Ana,
California. It was initiated in 2016 by Sarah Rafael Garcia, founder of Barrio Writers and author
of SanTana’s Fairy Tales and Las Niñas: A Collection of Childhood Memories. LibroMobile
started as a literary arts project in collaboration with the non-profits Red Salmon Arts and
Community Engagement to integrate literature, visual exhibits, creative workshops, and live
readings in Santa Ana.
LibroMobile's mission is to promote literacy and diversity in Santa Ana by offering affordable
books written by authors of color and cultivating a community space for the literary arts. We
focus on having bilingual and Spanish books available for children, youth, and adults.
LibroMobile also carries many fiction and non-fiction books about diverse American cultures
and social justice issues.
LibroMobile began as a pop-up bookmobile cart traveling throughout Santa Ana visiting local
community cafes, shops, and cultural centers. The unique design of LibroMobile captivated the
community. People would stop to interact and contemplate its aesthetic; reminiscent of paleteros
iconic fruit vendor carts typically found in the corners of downtown Santa Ana. Since then, we
have transformed from a bookmobile cart to residing on a stairwell on "Calle Cuarto" in Santa
Ana to a tiny bookstore.
LibroMobile strives to cultivate knowledge and literary resources to Santa Ana families and to
support to local artists and authors. We emphasize the concept of reciprocity by giving back to
the Latinx community we primarily serve. In order to fulfill our mission of promoting literacy
and diversity in Santa Ana, we offer new and used books at affordable prices, we service five

free little libraries in the community, and offer a book exchange program so everyone can have
access to diverse literature.
Campaign
LibroMobile is faced with the challenge of not having enough Spanish books for its bilingual
community in Santa Ana. Although we have a handful of Spanish poetry and non-fiction books,
they fly off our shelves on a weekly basis. We never have quite enough books to restock our
Spanish book collection. More than half of LibroMobile’s books come from donations of gently
used and new books. Spanish books are typically more expensive than English books and are the
least donated by LibroMobile’s supporters.
On a daily basis LibroMobile receives requests for Spanish books, unfortunately, we cannot meet
the demands of our Latinx population. The majority of customers seeking for Spanish books are
older folks –abuelitas, abuelitos, children looking for books for their parents, and parents looking
for books for their children to retain their Spanish language.
It is nostalgic to think our community wants to read famous Latinx writers all the time, but many
ask for contemporary writers. They want to read Steven King and Edgar Allan Poe in their own
language as well as Carmen Boullosa and Gabriel García Márquez. Our Spanish speaking
customers want to read books in Spanish that everybody is reading and watching at the movies.
We are seeking support to better serve our community of Spanish speakers and be able to
purchase 400 contemporary Spanish books to fully stock our Spanish book section.
Funds go to:
In efforts to support Latinx presses and Spanish language publishers, all funds will go to
purchasing Spanish books directly from Spanish language publishers that carry contemporary
authors. Our estimated cost is roughly $4,000 for 400 Spanish books. Some books will be
purchased from the following database https://www.latinobookreview.com/database-of-latino-
book-presses-in-the-us.html of Latinx book presses. Our list will continue to expand as we
continue to do more research on Spanish language publishers. Suggestions are welcomed!
The Impact
LibroMobile is the only Latinx owned, bilingual bookstore in Santa Ana, California, a
predominantly Mexican-American and immigrant community with 80% identified as Latinx
and 72% of Spanish speakers; it is critical that we cultivate a space and provide access to
literature that is representative of the language and intersectional identities of our community. It
is heartbreaking to see the lack of diversity in the literary world with only 6% of Latinx
represented in the overall publishing industry. It is important for children to grow up and see
themselves and their culture authentically represented in the stories they read. Bilingual children,
children of immigrants and all diverse children deserve spaces where they can dream, grow and

learn. Books and literature are transformative and can be the seeds that spark ideas, inspire, and
empower us to dream a little bigger. The meaning behind your contribution is greater than the
physical Spanish book, it is the support to diverse stories, diverse writers, ideas, and dreams.
Other ways you can help
Even if you are not able to make a monetary donation, you can still help us out!
We do accept gently used books. If you would like to donate a gently used Spanish book you can
mail it to:
LibroMobile
℅ Sarah Rafael Garcia
125 N. Broadway, #214
Santa Ana, CA 92701
Or visit LibroMobile at 220 E. 4th Street, Ste. 107, Santa Ana, California 92701
Please Share and Tag Friends and Familia!
#LibroMobile #LibrosforSantaAna
Support us by sharing the campaign on your Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.
Help us spread the word! Together we can do this! #Cultivatingdiversity
Follow us @LibroMobile for more updates!
Mil Gracias! Thank you all for the support!


Appendix H: Rewards


Appendix I: Landing page


Appendix J: Average post engagement rates
Last 10 post before I started posting
(like plus comments)/number of posts
Post 1: (21+10) +(9+0)+ (29+0)+(13+0)+( 19+0)+(39+0)+(21+0)+(26+0)+(32+0)+(25+4)=238
238/10= 23.8 aver per post


Appendix K: Email Marketing Contact List


Total of 99 Contact lists gathered for email marketing.



Appendix L: Copy of press release
Spanish version

PARA SU PUBLICACIÓN INMEDIATA
Twitter: @LibroMobile
https://www.libromobile.com/

LibroMobile inicia campaña para comprar 400 libros contemporáneos

en español
LibroMobile ofrece libros nuevos y usados a precios asequibles, además de apoyar a cinco
bibliotecas pequeñas gratuitas en la comunidad de Santa Ana, en California. Estiman
recaudar 4 mil dólares para adquirir 400 libros nuevos

Para seguir su misión de promover la alfabetización y la diversidad de las lenguas nativas
en Santa Ana-California, LibroMobile necesita tu colaboración. En la actualidad, la selección
de libros en español es muy limitada, lo que imposibilita satisfacer la demanda de los
latinos en busca de lecturas en su idioma nativo.

Desde el 2016, LibroMobile se convirtió en un espacio literario ofreciendo libros bilingües y
en español a niños, jóvenes y adultos pertenecientes a la comunidad latina de Santa Ana;
sin embargo, aunque la biblioteca tiene un puñado de libros de poesía y no ficción que
salen semanalmente de sus estanterías, no hay suficientes libros para restablecer las
colecciones en español.

La única librería bilingüe de Santa Ana inició una campaña para adquirir 400 libros
contemporáneos en español y donaciones de libros usados con la finalidad de ofrecer un
mejor servicio a los latinos y a la comunidad hispanohablante en Santa Ana. Con esta
iniciativa, se estima recaudar 4 mil dólares para la compra de libros a editoriales en
español que cuenten con autores contemporáneos.


Es importante destacar que más de la mitad de los libros que recibe LibroMobile provienen
de donaciones y, en vista de que los textos en español son más caros en EE.UU, no son los
más donados. El proyecto, que fue iniciado en 2016 por Sarah Rafael García, fundadora de
Barrio Writers y autora de SanTana’s Fairy Tales and Las Niñas: A Collection of Childhood
Memories, se esfuerza por cultivar el conocimiento y los recursos literarios de las familias
latinas y en apoyar a los artistas y autores locales.

Para cumplir con su misión, LibroMobile ofrece libros nuevos y usados a precios asequibles,
apoya a cinco bibliotecas pequeñas gratuitas en la comunidad y ofrece un programa de
intercambio de libros para que todos puedan tener acceso a literatura diversa. Para
conocer más detalles sobre la compaña, LibroMobile te invita a visitar su portal web
https://www.libromobile.com/librosymaslibros y sus redes sociales para compartir las
etiquetas #LibroMobile y #LibrosforSantaAna en Facebook, Instagram o Twitter.

English version
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Sarah Rafael Garcia
Angelica O’Campo
LibroMobile
Libromobile@gmail.com
Librosforsantaana@gmail.com

Chicana author initiates campaign to buy 400 contemporary books in Spanish
LibroMobile offers new and used books by authors of color at affordable prices, in addition to supporting
five free small libraries in the community of Santa Ana, California. They estimate to raise $4,000 to
acquire 400 new books.
SANTA ANA, CA, April 30, 2018 — To continue its mission to promote literacy and diversity through
literature in Santa Ana, California, LibroMobile, is raising funds via a rewards crowdfunding campaign on
Indiegogo https://igg.me/at/librosforsantaana to raise $4,000 to purchase 400 contemporary Spanish
books by May 18th. At present, the selection of books in Spanish is limited, which makes it impossible to
meet the demand of their Latinx community in search of literature in their native language. The indie
bookstore relies on donations of new and gently used books, but Spanish books are the least donated by
LibroMobile’s supporters which are typically more expensive than English books. In efforts to support
Latinx presses and Spanish language publishers, all funds from the campaign will go to purchasing
Spanish books directly from Spanish language publishers that carry contemporary authors.


LibroMobile is the only Latinx owned, bilingual bookstore in Santa Ana, California, a predominantly
Mexican-American and immigrant community with 80% identified as Latinx and 72% of Spanish speakers.
LibroMobile takes pride in creating access to literature that is representative of the language and diverse
identities of its Latinx community.
“I think one of the hardest things for me to imagine is children in this day and age in 2018 still not
being able to find themselves in books,” said Sarah Rafael Garcia
LibroMobile was initiated in 2016 by Sarah Rafael García, founder of Barrio Writers and author
of SanTana's Fairy Tales and Niñas: A Collection of Childhood Memories. LibroMobile began as a pop-up
bookmobile cart traveling throughout Santa Ana visiting local community cafes, shops, and cultural
centers. Since then, it has transformed from a bookmobile cart to residing on a stairwell on "Calle Cuarto"
in Santa Ana to a tiny bookstore. To learn more about the company, LibroMobile invites you to visit its
web portal, Libromobile.com, and its social networks @Libromobile

Appendix M: Order list of rewards


Appendix N: Total raised and net balance of campaign


Appendix O: Results of Social Media Strategy
Average engagement per post rates: Top 10 post of social media content calculated
(like plus comments)/number of posts=Average engagement per post
Posts : (109+3) +(50+0)+ (78+1)+(91+1)+( 88+3)+(65+1)+(65+ 2)+(67+0)+(55+0)+(78+3)=238
757/10= 75.7 average engagement per post



BLOGS

Social Media content create and Shares


A RELATIONAL APPROACH ON CROWDFUNDING O’Campo100


Twitter



Appendix P: Social Media Sources


Appendix P: Social Media Strategy Suggestions for Client
Social Media Strategy

• Bio: 150-character maximum
• Hashtags: Maximum of 30
• Captions: Ideal length is under 125 characters cuts off after the first 3 lines
• Less Posting, More Planning
BEST DAYS AND TIMES TO POST
Overall best days to post: Mondays and Sunday
Mondays 3pm - 6pm, 12-3pm, 6pm -9pm
Tuesdays 3pm -6pm
Wednesdays 12pm -3pm and 6pm -9pm
Thursdays 6pm- 9pm
Fridays 6pm -9pm
Saturdays 6pm - 9pm
Sundays 6pm -9pm
Instagram
Since Instagram is a platform for sharing photos and videos, the primary focus is typically your
visual content. However, it's always helpful to provide some context, and let users know what
they're looking at.
Tone: Lighthearted, relatable, consistent, emoji
Engage Viewers: call to action, ask viewers to double tap if they agree, tag a friend or
comment below, ask questions, click link in bio to direct them to your website. Use strong
action words

Hashtags
• No more than 5 hashtags

• Hashtags, mentions, extra info towards the end
Most popular Hashtags: https://bookriot.com/2018/01/22/bookish-hashtags-to-follow-on-

instagram/
#bookstagram #Shelfie #bookworm #bibliophile #librosenespanol #supportlocalartists #libros

#zines #librosusados #writerwednesday #Fridayreads#indiethursdays #shortreads
#librosinfantiles #booksarelife
#santaana #emoji book
2. PLAN THE CONTENT YOU’LL SHARE
List your topics and subtopics
• Books
o Bilingual books, Spanish books, books of women of color, LQBTQ books,
children’s books, academic books,
● Spotlight Local Artist
o Nancy Alcala maker ceramics
o Edith Jimenez Canvas two finger
o Califas Vela Co
o Dino Perez
o Parkers Mom Modesta
● Zines
o Highlight different Zines and writers
● Quotes
o famous writers
o women of color
o activists
o representation and diversity
● Monthly Holidays and Celebrations
● Upcoming events
● Repost content from followers from popular poets, authors, customers

3. USEFUL APPS
• Quote Creator
• Pinterest for quotes
• Canva for templates
• SnapSeed to edit photos
• Unsplash.com for high-resolution stock photos

LibroMobile Market Research and Execution Plan

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A

Factors that contribute to successful crowdfunding 14

Statistics and Risks of crowdfunding 16

Platforms for rewards based campaigns 18

Social media as a marketing tool 19

Viral content marketing 22

Supporters attitudes and motives 24

Bilingual branding for Latinx audience 25

Goals and Objective 34

Future Implications and Conclusion 61

donations of Spanish-language books, a crowdfunding campaign was organized via

LibroMobile’s engagement per post and the number of followers on Instagram.

English books and are the least donated by LibroMobile’s supporters.

and live readings in Santa Ana.

LibroMobile's mission is to promote literacy and diversity in Santa Ana by offering

and social justice issues.

Santa Ana to a tiny bookstore.

can have access to diverse literature.

LibroMobile’s collection includes approximately 300 books ranging from handmade

emerging writers polish their manuscripts for publication.

customers, LibroMobile is a hidden gem of a bookstore. It offers a variety of books ranging

presentations, and by collaborating with local organizations to promote literacy. LibroMobile is

Millennials are key consumers of independent bookstores. “Three key attributes of

demographic of 40 percent ranging from 25-34 years old. By focusing on promoting to

millennials’ consumption and online trends.

spaces including Cafe Calacas, Alta Baja, and Frida Cinema.

experience of searching for a hidden gem of a bookstore at an independent bookstore.

Another issue affecting LibroMobile is the gentrification of downtown Santa Ana.

Santa Ana, California, a predominantly Mexican-American and immigrant community with 80

revenue by providing the books that are in high-demand.

in books about diversity and representation.

being part of the gentrification in Santa Ana.

Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats

● Quality Content ● Marketing ● A large ● City policies

motives, and bilingual branding for Latinx audiences.

is a phenomenon largely understudied from an academic perspective. Schwienbacher and

and technologies emerge.

in seed capital to launch a product or business.

The model of crowdfunding has opened up potential entrepreneurship opportunities to

method for more innovators to bring their ideas to a market.

Crowdfunding campaigns have become a trend in the publishing industry including

Factors that contribute to successful campaigns

established community around a given project is critical to the success of a crowdfunding

establish momentum for the campaign (Rupert, 2014).

A critical factor in creating a successful campaign for LibroMobile relies on building a

Statistics and Risks of Crowdfunding Campaigns

funders (Clifford, 2016).

over their goal in small margins.

donors even after the campaign is over.

In the “Crowdfunding Industry Report”, Massolution (2012) defines four categories of

in donation-based crowdfunding do not expect any form of compensations. In contrast, funders

for LibroMobile can be positioned as a caused-based campaign in creating access to Spanish

literacy in an overwhelming English and American publishing sector.

Platforms for reward-based campaigns

Most reward-based campaigns are hosted in platforms such as Kickstarter.com,

by charging a percentage commission on funds raised. In addition to charging a transaction fee,

project's credibility and trustworthiness (startmotionmedia, 2018).

to be compared and discussed with the founder of LibroMobile.

Social Media as a marketing tool

businesses and organizations. “When developing marketing communication plans, brands go

likely to frequent to understand their needs and wants.

consumers trusting a brand recommendation from friends instead of traditional advertisements

predict purchase intentions.