Crowdfunding advice – A 10 Point Cheat sheet To Make A Proper Crowdfunding Campaign
Below are 10 quick tips in order for you to run a proper crowdfunding campaign. This crowdfunding advice will help you turn your campaign dreams into a reality and help you reach the crowdfunding goal that you have set for yourself so that you can be successful and launch your top tier product.
Crowdfunding advice – Be prepared
Crowdfunding is a great way to find out if your business or product is well received by the public. If you are not prepared when running your campaign, you will find that the audience you are crowdfunding to will not respond well. People do not want to invest in a campaign that is not going to work.
The best way to be prepared is to ensure that you have everything prepared and to ensure that you have answers to any questions that potential backers may have.
Crowdfunding advice – Social Media
To make a successful campaign, social media is a key factor. Through the use of social media such as Facebook or Twitter you can have a wider presence, being able to reach a wider range of potential investors. It is very important to use social media to promote your crowdfunding campaign so that you can fulfil the goal you have set.
The best way to make such a huge impact when using social media is to find the networks that best match the marketing strategy that you have, and where your potential investors may be found. Social media has proven to help turn around campaigns and make them successful.
Crowdfunding advice – Having an Amazing Video
Having a great video helps to give potential clients a more in-depth view of your project. It helps them understand the business/product that you are funding for. Having a high-quality video pitch is worth the money to make it the best it can be because it can attract a lot more investment. Videos can be the tipping point for having a successful crowdfunding campaign.
If you have a video that is amateur-looking, it is not going to be very convincing to potential supporters and in a worst case scenario it can damage your entire campaign and in some cases ruin the credibility of your product.
Having an amazing video is crucial if you are unsure of what makes a good video have a look at the blog we wrote regarding our top ten tips on making a good crowdfunding video!
Crowdfunding advice – Build Up Interest
When building a crowdfunding campaign one of the best options is to build up interest for your product. Having a community built up before crowdfunding is a good way to get it off the ground in order to fulfil the target you have set for yourselves. The way you can build up a community is by keeping them engaged with interesting content.
If you, however, launch a campaign without having built up a community it can make it harder to find potential supporters to help fund your crowdfunding goal.
Crowdfunding advice – Communication
Communicating with your investors is crucial. Whenever someone invests money, you could send them a personal message thanking them for investing which makes supporters feel as though they are part of the team when they receive information regarding product development. This will make them talk about the product to their friends or family, who could potentially invest in your campaign opening you up to a new network of people.
Communication with your supporters should continue even after your campaign has run its course. This is to ensure that they get back what they had pledged for the campaign.
Crowdfunding advice – Share your story
Sharing the story of your business can be important to a campaign. Share with them what your product does, what the inspiration for your product is and how it can benefit them in their lives. By doing this it shows potential supporters that you have put time and effort into designing your product which will boost your campaign’s credibility.
Explain to them the problems that your product could solve that will make everyone’s lives easier. It will make them feel as though they are apart of the whole journey so that they feel as though they are part of your family.
Crowdfunding advice – Offer Great Rewards
Offering great rewards can be an incentive to potential supporters to make the leap and invest into your campaign. Although people will invest if they believe your business or product to be worthwhile, it is always better to have some sort of incentive for them.
When offering some sort of reward, it is crucial that you are fair with your rewards depending on how much they invest but also that you can actually fulfil the rewards you promised. It is important to be realistic when offering out rewards and ensure that you have the funding to deliver them.
Crowdfunding advice – Stay True to Your Word
A proper crowdfunding campaign does not just end after you have reached the goal you have set, it carries on until you have fulfilled any promises you have made to your backers. This could be any rewards you offered them to ensure that they invest, or just making sure that you are keeping in touch with them about any new developments within your business, this could be a new product or service you may be offering.
Backers of your campaign are the high priority. By showing backers that you care opens up a new realm of possibilities as they may be willing to share your campaign with friends and family making it easier to reach your crowdfunding goal.
Crowdfunding advice – Use Your Existing Networks
When looking for the initial funding that you need which is normally around 5-7% of the target you are crowdfunding for, the best way is to gain this funding from your network.
This could be from family members or friends that have developed an interest in your product and you know that they are looking at helping you succeed. Another network you could use is any of your old work colleagues from previous jobs, that you know are looking at investing in a new business venture.
Crowdfunding advice – Choosing the right platform
When it comes to crowdfunding there are a lot of different platforms that benefit you depending on the type of crowdfunding you are looking for. Platforms examples are those such as Crowdcube or Kickstarter.
The Platforms offer you a lot of support when crowdfunding, such as offering you a campaign manager that you can converse with if there are any problems that you may have. Platforms have a large network of individuals that are always looking to find the next big thing to invest in.
If you are having difficulties deciding which platform to go for, why not have a look at our recent blog on how to select the right crowdfunding site for your business.