About to launch a crowdfunding campaign? Why not check your plans against this hints-and-hacks-packed guide to make sure you’re on track for success?
If you’re at the early stages of your crowdfunding journey, start by reading our related article: How to crowdfund your creative business. If you’re further along and poised for launch, then dive in and use the following as a timely checklist. You’ll probably know a lot of this stuff already, but you may find some useful nuggets…
Timing tips
Ideally, it should take you under nine months to deliver your project once you have the funds. You should be as far along the production process as possible when you launch your crowdfunding campaign.
Think about whether your product is seasonal and launch your campaign at the appropriate time. For example, if it’s Christmas-specific, it should be ready to go by November.
Never launch in December or January. People are preoccupied with Christmas in December and low on funds in January.
Never launch in July/August. Most people are away on holiday, so you will lose a huge amount of your audience for two out of the five weeks of your campaign (with the exception of this year, perhaps, when fewer people will be going abroad).
Success secrets
- Targeting. Learn from whatever research you conducted pre-launch and make full use of the data you’ve gathered. What was working best with your target audience?
- Promoting. Your crowdfunding campaign video should be two and a half minutes max. Any other videos you decide to produce should be no longer than 30 seconds. Photos can work better than videos in the long run. People usually won’t watch videos to the end (so your content can be lost).
- Including. People like to feel they’re part of a community – so create scenarios that nurture this, such as a private Facebook group for all your backers or a newsletter specifically for them. Ask your investors for feedback and encourage them to share their ideas about your business. They will appreciate being included and playing a part in the process.
- Thanking. Remember to show your appreciation for your growing community when you start to get backers. Personalise your communications with them and publicly thank them.
Common mistakes
1. Not doing enough forward planning, research or testing ahead of launching your campaign
How to avoid this mistake:
Be strategic. Who is your target audience? Where do they spend time? What content do they consume, and at what time of day? Get people to start engaging with you via email and social media. You’re probably ready to launch your campaign when you can answer ‘yes’ to these questions… Are people reading your content? Are they signing up? Are they liking your posts?
2. Thinking people will find your page easily and just give money because you have a good idea
How to avoid this mistake:
Take people down the sales funnel. Tell them what you’re doing, why you’re doing it and what the product is. What are your USPs? Share this information in the places where your target market hangs out, whether that’s on social media, in an online forum or a particular magazine.
3. Underestimating the power of SEO
Crowdfunding platforms have very good SEO, so if your campaign fails, it will still be there at the top of the search as a failed campaign, which could put future investors off.
How to avoid this mistake:
Test everything before you launch your campaign to give it the best chance of success. This will help you in the long term.
4. Assuming the biggest global platforms will give you the best chance of finding investors
If you’re a small business and want to raise a small amount of funding, your campaign could easily be overlooked on a big, global platform.
How to avoid this mistake:
Use a smaller platform based in your own country, as there will be more people here looking to invest in small local businesses.
A final thought
Remember, figures don’t lie. If you can show an investor you raised X amount of money in a certain number of days, they can’t argue with that success. It shows that lots of people believe in your business, so investors will be more likely to part with their money.
This How-to guide was inspired by one of our live Zoom Dives with crowdfunding expert, Jes Bailey, founder of Crowdfund 360.
A Zoom Dive is a deep-delving discussion between our founder, Carolyn Dailey and a handpicked business expert from the creative world. You can listen to Carolyn and Jes’s full discussion here. Fancy catching our next Zoom Dive, live? See our Events calendar and sign up for free.
Want to learn more about funding your business? Feel free to plunder our Knowledge bank.