Crowdfunding is a great way to get the funds you need to get your start-up growing. Not only can it help you get the initial funds you need to launch your company, it can also help validate if your ideas are good, attract new customers, and even potential employees.
While there are a lot of potential advantages involved in crowdfunding a start-up, keep in mind that however innovative or inspiring your idea, crowdfunding won’t necessarily always guarantee results for your business. You will need to get things in hand and set the ball rolling to sell yourself in order to get people on your side.
Here are a few pointers to keep in mind to yield the best crowdfunding results.
1. Watch inspiring fellow campaigns
Why reinvent the wheel? Check out what some of the most innovative small businesses around the world are doing with their campaigns and make a few changes to suit your own requirements. Whether it’s testing different investor perks, using images and videos, or adjusting the amount of funding you seek, get an idea of what your competitors are doing in order to succeed. Imitation is, after all, the sincerest form of flattery.
2. Self-promote your brand
The crowdfunding platform you raise money on isn’t going to do all the marketing for you. And even if they claim to do, it is going to be of a minimal amount. It’s up to you to showcase your business, idea and campaign. Reach out to journalists at relevant industry publications. Seek out guest bloggers. Build your brand’s social media presence before the campaign launches so you’re ready to reach a larger group of people once it starts. Also, create images ahead of time, so that they can be used for your posts during the campaign.
3. Have a plan of action
Regardless of whether you reach your goal or not, have a plan of action. If you succeed, deliver what you promised. If you fail in your campaign, learn from the experience and start over again some time later.
4. Hire a professional SEO writer
Invest in a quality SEO writer. After all, content is king and hiring a professional puts your company ahead of the game. SEO content writers use the right keywords in your headlines and text which may help your campaign be one of the top search results for your company’s name going forward.
5. Patience is key
Some campaigns do get overnight results. But this is extremely rare in the crowdfunding world so a little patience goes a long way. Your platform probably has a reasonable yet challenging timeline you can follow. Don’t expect miracles. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Remember that slow and steady wins the race.
6. Create a video
Studies have shown that people increasingly prefer shorter, quality videos over text. People don’t always read your content, sometimes they scan through it. Creating short engaging videos on your crowdfunding page will bring in more potential investors. Tell your story and deliver the information about the product in a compelling manner.
Click here to start a crowdfunding campaign.
