Lit Motors: building back trust
Lit Motors is a startup on a mission to create a more efficient world on two wheels. Two enormous space satellite gyroscopes at the base of the vehicle enable two-wheel transportation without the use of a third wheel, completely patent protected for a first-to-market advantage. Think self-stabilizing, covered “motorcycle” with room for two.
Key roles
Head of Marketing
Communications Manager
Graphic Designer
Equity Crowdfunding
Designed campaign that raised $1.1M+ in 3 weeks
Email newsletter
Fresh tone and visuals to reconnect with audience
Website
Refreshed to showcase core values, features, and mission
Evergreen content
Produced new blog + three part series on YouTube
The strategy
The communications strategy had to be resourceful, timely, and sensitive, as their long term success hinged on restoring their public image after a long hiatus. It all started with reconnecting with their audience and building back trust.
This required a multi-pronged approach:
✿ Sticking to 3-5 key messaging points
✿ New brand voice: accessible and relatable language across all channels
✿ Increasing frequency and transparency of outgoing communications + regularly engaging in the comments sections
✿ Getting press, local and national, including podcast opportunities and the support of local government
Email newsletter
An invaluable source of “insider news” where you can speak directly to your biggest fans and shape your own brand narrative.
More photos and graphics, progress shared in concise bullet points, buttons in every section, and a friendly, approachable tone.
Before, the monthly newsletter was overly dense and full of technical jargon. It was difficult to skim through and decipher the top takeaways.
Making the newsletter easy to read was one of the best things I implemented for their brand!
My mantra: always provide value.
Positioning Lit Motors’ brand as an industry leader was imperative - especially with their cutting edge technology and goals to shift the entire EV industry.
Not only could the audience expect tangible updates on progress made each month, becoming a source of EV news and projections increased the potential value of each newsletter. Open rates were consistently high, averaging between 40%-60%.
One of the most rewarding moments was when an audience member replied to a newsletter with, “This is exactly the type of content we want to see. Keep it up!”
There’s truly no better feeling than that!
After months of engaging with the Lit Motors audience, it was clear people were listening and invested in their comeback. Launching this campaign was a hefty project, requiring many moving parts on a time crunch.
Wefunder: Equity crowdfunding campaign
What I served:
✿ Campaign strategy
✿ Campaign page buildout & design
✿ Pitch video with The Kite Rises
✿ Email campaign
✿ Updates & management
Major win: $1M+ raised in 3 weeks via email campaign!
Every raise on Wefunder goes through three phases: Private investors → friends & family “Community Round” → Public Launch.
Our major pain point was the time crunch; through blood, sweat, and tears, we managed to create the campaign page (complete with a pitch video) in just about a month.
During our community round, we raised $1.1M in three weeks through a well-received email campaign!
Snippets from the email campaign
Major takeaways
Your community is everything. Consistency is the next best thing.
I won’t lie, the Lit Motors audience was a tough crowd (especially on social media where everyone and their mom can leave a mean comment). But! Their most loyal fans were willing to listen and become advocates once Lit Motors began to consistently provide transparent updates.
They were the ones who believed, contributing over $1M to the equity crowdfunding campaign before anyone else. Email is so, so underrated!
Experiencing a tone shift from this particular audience was extremely rewarding, especially because I truly believed in the brand mission. Lit Motors deserves all the success they can get - if you’d like to keep up with them, head to their Wefunder updates page!
