10 Secrets of Highly Successful Crowdfunding Campaigns.

 

As crowd funding makes gains in popularity, the battle for page views and pledges has become increasingly competitive, especially on portal sites that feature thousands of live projects at once. This clearly means that the competition is very stiff and hence understanding the best ways to create winning a campaign is very instrumental.  The good news is that we now have locally built platforms that people can use to raise funds. One of such platforms is the Akabbo Crowdfunding Platform.

So how do you ensure that you have optimized your campaign for success? We have taken a look at a number of recently funded projects on various crowd funding platforms in order to identify some of the techniques, strategies, and crowd funding secrets that will give you the best chance of meeting your goals.

 

1.     Prepare Your Face Off.

 

You can use crowd funding to help validate ideas before they are fully realized, but if your campaign comes across as half-baked then your audience is not going to invest.  People don’t want to back a campaign that’s not going to work and you cannot use crowd funding as a shortcut to avoid properly fleshing out your ideas.

 

2.     Strategic Social Media.

 

You don’t need a blanket presence on social media, though the wider your reach the better. Pick the networks that best match your marketing and content strategies and where your potential supporters are most likely to be found. Don’t forget to customize your promotion to suit each platform too. Make great hashtags that can push your campaign widely. Hashtags also make it very easy to follow up on different stories on social media. Its very true that a successful social media crowd funding campaign will gain more leverage than one that has ignored social media.

 

3.     Produce Great Video Clips:

 

Video clips give visitors a better idea of your project — they can see you or your product in action rather than clicking through a series of static images. They are also labor-intensive, so don’t attempt to put together a clip if you don’t have the time, resources and expertise is required. An amateur-looking video is not going to convince anyone to get involved, and at worst, could damage your campaign’s credibility.

It’s usually well worth paying for help to make your video pitch the best it can be because of the investment it will attract.

 

4.     Create a Helpful Media Page.

 

You have no doubt seeing some of the most popular crowd funding projects covered in the press, but this won’t happen if you don’t have a solid website and some press materials that journalists can download. Even if you are a one-man show, don’t rely on your Facebook page to do it all. If journalists can’t find more information about your project and some high-resolution pictures to illustrate their features, they may choose to promote a different project instead. Take some time and create attractive press releases to always avail updates on your campaigns.

 

5.     Don’t Ask for Money Immediately

 

Tell your story and share your enthusiasm for your project, and people will naturally want to add their support. Remember that your supporters are giving you money with the expectation of getting something back: they want to receive a return on their investment, whether it’s a physical product or an emergency relief operation that swings into action. What’s more is, supporters could pledge as little or as much as they liked.

 

6.     Build Interest Before You Close

 

Even before you launch a crowd funding campaign, you can drum up interest in your project or your business. With a solid fan base in place, your campaign will get off to a good start. Make good use of bloggers and influencers to create buzz about your campaign before launching it. If you don’t already have a community to tap into, try and get the attention of a handful of influential figures who might be interested in your project.

 

7.     Communicate Often

 

Whether it’s good news or bad, keep your backers and potential backers in the loop. Post regular updates on your crowd funding page, and keep the process going after the campaign has ended: The real work begins after the campaigns to ensure everyone gets what they pledged.

 

8.    Keep It Personal

 

Introduce yourself and team to let your supporters meet the people behind your project regardless of whether you are an established company or an up-and-coming startup. Always consider the humor and personality in your crowd funding campaign.

 

9.     Appeal to Your Existing Fans.

 

Consider the fans and supporters that you already have, making your project goals and rewards something that these people are going to be ready to identify with. Once all your old fans are on board it is very easy to attract new fans to the campaign.

 

10.   Appeal to Everyone Else

 

You can create a campaign that has broad appeal at the same time as paying special attention to your existing supporters. One of the best ways to do this is by creating a reward scheme with many different price points. Even if you cannot offer a physical reward for a $1 (UGX 3500) donation, you could still give these pledgers early access to your product or a credit within your packages.

There’s no way of guaranteeing crowd funding success, but by studying the projects, strategies, and crowd funding secrets that have worked for others, you can certainly maximize your chances. Like any other business venture, crowd funding is crucial process that starts long before the doors are opened, and long after the campaign has closed.

 

Whether you are a startup founder or a charity event manger try out these tricks as you sign up on the Akabbo Crowd funding platform.