Council Post: Nine Tips To Boost Your Crowdfunding Campaign In 2021

By Evan Varsamis, an entrepreneur and Founder/CEO at Gadget Flow, as well as an investor and marketing advisor at Qrator Ltd.

With every passing year, we’ve seen crowdfunding grow exponentially as a fundraising industry for newbie product manufacturers and agencies. However, with this growth comes great responsibility in making your campaign stand out from the crowd. While five years back, your product might have sounded fresh and unconventional in the crowdfunding market, in 2021, the game is different. You might have a direct competitor out there or not, but the overall game is very difficult to master if you don’t follow some of the most crucial steps for campaign success. 

These steps are not theoretically defined to help your campaign be successful. But I’ve seen that every campaign that follows some of these predefined steps, along with their campaign creation, always gets more attention than others. Sometimes there are products with unbelievable technology behind them, but due to lack of marketing or presentation skills, the campaign fails or doesn’t reach more than the average goal in spite of deserving it. 

So here I have some of the most crucial tips to help you boost your crowdfunding campaign in 2021. From pre-launch to post-launch, make sure you’re well-prepped before you step into this game. 

1. Do Product Surveys Before Launch

Before you even start planning your campaign, it’s very important to identify whether your product is required in the market or not. Thanks to social media and online advertising, doing product surveys is not that difficult anymore. In case you’re not a pro with social media advertising, having a set budget for an agency to get you through the process can be useful. These surveys will help you identify your product valuation and also determine the key factors that make it unique for the audience. Once you get the results, you can plan your campaign draft accordingly, focusing on the key areas and features. 

2. Gather Email Sign-Ups Through Facebook Ads

Another important factor to consider before launching your campaign is Facebook ads. You need to set a budget for pre-launch ads that won’t just help you gather more exposure but also get email sign-ups for your campaign on the day of its launch. To make this work, you might need a landing page for your campaign that can be promoted via Facebook ads to get signups. All those who sign up will be your first audience you can inform via email newsletters as soon as you launch. 

3. Consider Getting Hold Of A Trustworthy Crowdfunding Agency

Since crowdfunding has been in the market for quite some time, it’s obvious that there are agencies and experts who can guide you through this phase. These agencies can help you through the pre-launch phase as well as set up your campaign based on previous success records and market trends. So it may be advisable to set up a budget for your campaign and hire an agency you truly believe in. 

4. Focus On Your Campaign Draft

No matter how cool or outstanding your product is, without a captivating campaign page, you can never draw the attention of an online audience. This begins with a catchy product video, followed by a draft that highlights your story plus your product features at their best. Make sure you highlight the key features of your product and use as many lifestyle images, GIFs and short video clips to explain them in detail. Finally, the pledge reward chart will take your audience to the final step of backing the project. So you need to ensure clarity and proper explanation for fulfilling the pledge rewards. 

5. Do Some Market Research On Pricing

When setting a goal for your campaign, it’s very important to determine whether it’s appropriately priced based on industry standards. This is why you need to do some personal research yourself before you launch your campaign and decide the prices. Look at similar campaigns from the past, as well as their success rates to gauge the standard pricing and decide your pricing based on that.

6. Identify Your Campaign Ambassadors

Your loyal followers are the best ambassadors for your campaign. When you start your social media presence and ads, you’ll be able to identify the most active followers for your campaign. These are the people you can look to for feedback and exposure. Try to reach out to them personally and ask for their feedback on your campaign to build credibility and brand awareness.

7. Support Others From The Same Industry

The more you dive into the industry and bond with others, the more you’ll be able to feel confident and build more brand awareness in the process. Join forums and discussion feeds to participate in conversations related to the industry, and mark your presence throughout the process. This will help you be more visible and spread more awareness about your campaign once you launch it. 

8. Have A Post-Crowdfunding Plan In Place

Launching a crowdfunding campaign is a process that doesn’t stop once your campaign has ended. You need to make sure you’re able to deliver what you promised in the first place. So your real journey starts after your campaign is successful. This is why you need to set up a post-crowdfunding plan even before you launch to make sure everything is set once the campaign is successful. 

9. Set Your Fulfillment Dates Right

Finally, you need to ensure you’re all set with a proper fulfillment service that will help you deliver your product in time. The timeline you set in your campaign page is crucial and needs to be followed, unless you face some major production issues. Delaying your campaign delivery will only make you lose your backers’ trust, which isn’t going to work great for your upcoming campaigns. 

With that said, every campaign is different and needs to go through its own timeline, crafted in a customized way. Some might take a year to develop, while some can be launched within a month of planning. Nevertheless, your crowdfunding campaign is your stepping stone to building a brand of the future.