As crowdfunding is gaining popularity, competition for pledges and page views has already created a digital battleground, particularly on the portal sites featuring more than thousands of live projects simultaneously.
Is there any way to ensure that your crowdfunding campaign is optimized for success? Our experts have evaluated a number of successfully crowdfunded projects to identify some of the successful crowdfunding strategies and secrets, which you can adopt and apply to accomplish your goals.
Flesh out Your Ideas
Crowdfunding is a great way to make your dream come alive only if you have a clear idea about your goals and a well-drafted strategy about how to accomplish these. If you start with a half-baked campaign, the audiences are less likely to take an interest. People never feel interested to support a campaign that is unlikely to work. Crowdsourcing is never going to work as a shortcut to success.
Produce an Imposing Video
A picture is equal to thousands of words and a video is equal to thousands of pictures. Video clips always present a project in a more convincing way than a series of static images can do. Video clips are labor-intensive; therefore, if you don’t have much time, skill and resources, there is no need to make any attempt to put together a video clip.
An ordinary video isn’t going to impress anyone and convince the audiences to get involved in your project. In the worst scenario, an amateur-looking video clip will harm the credibility of your campaign.
Strategize Your Social Media Presence
A blanket presence on your social media handles is not going to help you. However, a wider reach will always work in your favor. Choose the network that will perfectly match your content and marketing strategies as well as the platform where a larger pool of your supporters will be found.
If you are active on multiple platforms, personalize your promotional tactics to fit each of those.
Develop a Helpful Media Page
You may have borrowed inspiration from a few most popular crowdsourcing projects that find a mention in the press. Don’t expect such things to happen to you in the absence of a solid website and some easy-to-download press materials. If the journalists cannot find necessary information about your projects and some high-resolution pictures for feature illustration, they are more likely to skew their attention and favor to another project.
Build Interest Before You Launch
Even before your crowdfunding campaign sees the light of the day, you should create and stoke up interest in your project and business. A growing and solid fan base will help your business take off to a good start.
Never Ask for Funding Immediately
Share your story and enthusiasm with people in the social media circle. Those, who will be interested in your project, will get ready to voluntarily offer their support. Keep in mind that they are investing money in your project with the hope of getting a return. Those, who are ready to spend on your project, know well what they are supporting.
Communicate as Often as You Can
Keeping your existing supporters and potential supporters in loop may work in your favor. On your crowdfunding page, keep your supporters and potential supporters update in the loop with regular posts. Even after the campaign comes to an end, don’t give up the process. The real work starts after the campaign is over to make sure that everyone receives what they pledged.
Appeal to Your Fans
In your effort to invite new interests, don’t forget your existing fans. In fact, paying more attention to your existing fan base will rebound back with a shot in the arm for your campaign. The existing fans have already created a bond with your campaign. Thereby, you should not make efforts to draw new interests at the cost of losing your existing fans. Underline your project goals that your existing fans can easily identify with and find their return in your rewards.
Keep It Personal
Introduce your team, who is working behind the scene, to your backers. It will clearly establish that you share a close rapport with your co-workers. A deep sense of mutual respect and understanding can even spread on a digital platform to infect your existing and potential backers and make them believe in your goals, strong teamwork and business transparency.
Appeal to Everyone
You can crave for broad appeal with your campaign while lending special attention to the supporters you already have. One of the most effective ways to achieve this is to create a rewarding scheme with different price points.
Final Say
Even if you put your best effort, the success of your crowdfunding campaign cannot be guaranteed. However, by studying the crowdfunding strategies and secrets, you can surely maximize your chance of achieving success. You need to remember that crowdfunding, like other businesses, is driven by an iterative mechanism that kicks off long before the campaign starts and keeps going long after the campaign ends.
Write to us if you have any better ideas about crowdfunding.