Six Surefire Ways to Make Your Crowdsourcing Efforts Work

So, you’ve decided to ask help from strangers. How can you launch a crowdfunding campaign that will get you the financing you need? Check out these 6 tips to move yourself further along.

Know Your Target

Based on the nature of your project, who are the people who would most likely be interested in it? Identifying your audience is essential as it informs how you develop your promotional pitches and frame your proposal. Once you’ve listed down the audiences that are most likely to benefit from your project, note the channels and avenues where you can reach them.

Choose Your Platform

There are various crowdfunding platforms available out there. However, one that your friend uses successfully may not be the right one for your project. You need to consider the kind of audience you have and also the kind of project you’re launching.

If you’re crowdsourcing for charity, you would benefit from a platform that specializes in such types of projects. If it’s for a new invention, narrow down your choices among platforms that cater to gadgets or new innovations. There’s also the matter of deciding whether to go with donation-based funding or investment-based.

Test Your Ideas and Get Feedback from Friends

Know anyone who has successfully done a crowdfunding project? Sound your proposal off these people to help you ensure you have a rather airtight plan. You can also research on other similar projects as yours to cover more bases and eliminate loopholes. Also, you can test the waters by pitching the idea to your test market before embarking on the crowdsourcing campaign.

Prep Well

You don’t just go out there and dive the crowdfunding waters on the get go. To ensure success, you need to build a network in the right places first. You can do this by participating in activities that your target audience are likely to join or offering your services or assistance at such events. You can also organize a similar activity yourself, too, or talk about it online through an FB page or blog. Building a newsletter e-mail list is also a strategy worth using.

Build Interest

Make your target audience interested in your project. There are different ways of doing this. One is creating a compelling video that will help them understand what your cause is all about and why they should care. Another is sharing your story so that they know who you are and get your pulse on the matter. Once they feel they know you and understand how you tick, your target audience are more likely to care about your project and help you out.

Set a Goal and Give Rewards

Clarify and specify your goal so you and your target audience know what’s needed to be done in order to make the campaign a success. Also, let them know what’s in it for them, as your reward can also act as the final push that will convince them to fork out resources to you.

See to it that your reward is appealing and fair enough for your target audience. However, make sure that the pledges you make are the kind that are realistic and entirely doable for you. It also helps to update your audience or pledgers so they know what’s happening and stay in the loop without getting impatient.