You don’t wake up one morning and say to yourself “Hey, I’m going to start a crowdfunding campaign for my business!” “. This type of decision reflects, matures and prepares.
Codeur.com reveals to you 7 The elements of guesswork before embarking on a crowdfunding adventure.
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1. Estimate the Cost of a Campaign
First of all, don’t think that running a crowdfunding campaign is free. As we’ll see in more detail below, you’ll need to prepare some rewards in advance. These gifts or gifts often have a production cost.
You also have to pay for video and media with professional rendering to convince as many people as possible to invest in your project.
Think about it
Lastly, for your operation to be successful, you need to publicize it widely. However, it will take you time (and therefore money). But you may have to allocate budget for sponsored publications on social networks, partnerships with influencers …
In other words, to be able to collect money, you have to invest it first!
There are many financial institutions that offer personal loans online. It is fast and can be done from home as well. The processing and transfer of money is also fast. Some even promise to meet your needs within 24 hours!
However, we understand that some of you may not want to apply for a personal loan. After all, starting a business with debt is not the best scenario.
2. Create Rewards
What are you going to give as a reward to the donors?
The question sounds simple, but you pretty much have to find something that’s both attractive and inexpensive. On these platforms, internet users don’t come looking for gifts, but they appreciate the gesture nonetheless.
try to find Original and Authentic Rewards that are in line with the goals of the intended donors.
little advice
Book the most important perks, like limited free trials of your product before you make it public to your high-profile donors.
Precaution
Make sure you can actually get these rewards.
3. Think Long and Hard About Your Project’s Presentation
It is the presentation of the project that will decide the donors. You should give a detailed, relevant and illustrated argument. You should be clear in your explanations and develop step by step what the money raised will allow you to do.
You should go even further, detailing your vision for the future and how you see your business in 3, 5 or 10 years.
So that the presentation captures the attention of visitors, provide dynamic content to support your explanation: videos, interactive infographics, etc.
Defining a brand strategy is complicated. We divide it into two parts:
This is the look of the brand itself. Display your logo and especially use a consistent color scheme so that your audience can more easily remember who you are.
It begs the question: why should people fund you? assure it. Appeal to the readers’ feelings if necessary. Remember to pay attention to the title and introductory paragraph as well. You only have a few seconds to capture your audience and ask them to stay with you to read the rest of the story. In fact, you can take it a step further by creating a high quality video pitch with your written content.
4. Select the Best Platform
Selecting a crowdfunding platform is important. Obviously, you will be tempted to register on one of the most famous such as:
- Ulule: Ulule is today the first participating incubator for projects with positive impact in Europe. Its mission is to empower everyone – creators, citizens, businesses – to work for a more diverse, more sustainable, more open world.
- Kickstarter: It is one of the largest and oldest crowdfunding platform in the market. The principle behind Kickstarter is that you must meet your fund goal before a set deadline or you will get nothing.
- KiskisBankBank: This platform allows you to finance your creative, collaborative or entrepreneurial projects by donation or pre-order.
But are they really right for your needs? There are thematic sites where the number of visitors is less, but also better targeted.
For example, you will find bulb in town that targets local stores, fundovino Dedicated to wine players limo Dedicated to real estate projects, MyMajorCompany for artists etc.
It is important to identify all sites that offer crowdfunding in your area and study their registration conditions, commissions or success rates of registered projects.
good to know
Is it possible to launch the same campaign on multiple crowdfunding platforms?
The answer is yes, however, we strongly advise against it. Running a solo crowdfunding campaign is already a very demanding process. It will take a lot of publicity and digital marketing efforts. Additionally, giving your funder a choice can cut their efforts and donations in half, causing both campaigns to fail.
5. Set the duration of your campaign
Your crowdfunding campaign can last for a few days like several months. Your decision will depend on your community and the amount requested. If you want to raise 2,000€ and you already have thousands of subscribers on the social network, ten days should be enough.
But if you want €100,000, when you only have a hundred members in your various communities, you have to extend the time limit, the time the spinoff is generated from your communication operations.
6. Promote as much as you can
In order to get your project to as many interested Internet users as possible and to collect funds within the allotted time, sharpen your communication tools!
All web marketing techniques will be useful for your success.
However, to attract people interested in your project, consider creating an appropriate strategy, inculcating your values ​​and, above all, fully mastering your e-reputation.
know
Internet users must follow the project as well as the project leader! It’s your closeness, your honesty and your availability that will drive them to put their hands on the wallet.
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7. And finally keep your promise
Your campaign doesn’t end until you’ve met the rewards promised to your donors. If you don’t do this, you are failing your business, as it will give your project a bad image and reputation as an entrepreneur. No one wants to support a business that doesn’t keep its promises.
little tip
Follow up with your donors and see how they got their reward. Did they like your product? Did it exceed their expectations? Use it to collect positive reviews online and receive relevant feedback to further improve your new project and your brand awareness.
Conclusion
Before starting your crowdfunding campaign, you should anticipate all the steps. Calculate the budget required for its success, study all the existing platforms, develop your communication strategy and you are sure to meet your target gauge.
Call a freelancer at Codeur.com if you need help thinking about, communicating, or completing your project.