Crowdfunding is an excellent way of gathering support for your product or project and, if done well, it can help you kick-start your marketing campaign, find new customers and expand your business. Here’s some useful advice to get you going.
1) Know your product/project inside out – This might sound obvious, however it’s important to make sure you know exactly what you want to achieve through the campaign, and that it is completely ready to go before you launch it. Once it’s out there, it’s difficult to correct the negative image of a campaign that’s perceived as sloppy or hastily put-together. And, as a consequence, no one will put money into it. However, if you don’t reach your goal, don’t give up; gather as much feedback as you can, adjust your campaign and launch a better one.
2) Make a great video – In today’s fast-paced world, moving visuals have become the most powerful communication tool, hence creating a professional-looking video is vital. A well-made video will not only explain your product to the masses and give your potential investors a very good idea of what they are putting their money into, but it will also brand the product/project you’re crowdfunding for. It might be worth investing in a good production company to produce it, however, if funds are not available, make sure you spend a long time planning and executing it.
3) Make it personal – A good story will get investors’ engagement like nothing else, so you need to tell your very own story of where the idea originated, why it was important for you to create it, how you got through all the stages of planning and/or production, and how this crowdfunding campaign will change lives for the better – both yours and theirs. You need potential investors to empathise with your difficulties by describing the obstacles you met, and highlighting the courage and resilience you showed to overcome them. Everyone likes a bit of a hero.
Tune in for our next instalment of how to create a successful crowdfunding campaign.