Let’s closely examine the crucial elements that contribute to a successful crowdfunding campaign and see what really drives a person to commit to your cause and back it up. Generally, donations are based on both egoistic and altruistic foundations of our psyche, but it extends far beyond that.

What Really Makes People Donate?

There are more than a few things that can make a person donate to a cause or to back up a crowdfunding startup. In the majority of cases, their driving force is one of these or a combination of the following:

• Peer pressure and social proof: People, by nature, are conformists and strive to be accepted in society. Seeing others have done it, they want to do the same. 
• Emotions make people donate: Sentiment is a powerful tool in the hands of a startup. If you can bond with your backers through a story anyone can relate to, you’re on the right track.
• Incentives, reward systems, and perceived value: Imagine knowing something costs 200 bucks, yet you can pre-order it through a crowdfunding platform for $109.99. Would you? Of course, you would, especially if you need it. The same goes for other forms of rewards and incentives.
• Urgency and common goals: Imagine you are a video gamer, and you haven’t seen your dream video game in development yet. But there it is, a company is doing it. And they promise a lot. However, there’s a catch. They need $2,000,000 to start the development before the end of the quarter. Would you back them up? Of course, you would! You would need to pay for the game anyway, so why not?

Does Social Proof Really Matter?

Influence and social proof are essential components of successful crowdfunding for a business. Social sharing, testimonials, and endorsements all help to build credibility and persuade others to give. The campaign’s exposure may be increased, and potential contributors’ confidence can be increased by using influencers or ambassadors to support the cause.

Imagine seeing your mentor or best friend backing up something. It would definitely influence you more than simply seeing an advertisement asking you to do so. The same thing works when your favorite influencers that you trust promote something genuinely.

This is the key – promoting genuinely through people who have a following that trusts them. Don’t ask of someone who wouldn’t normally use your product or service to promote it, because it creates cognitive dissonance in them, you, and your target market.

Why Is Decision-making Ruled by Emotions?

Another crucial element in effective crowdsourcing efforts is emotional appeals. Making an emotional connection with potential contributors by sharing personal information, presenting a fascinating tale, and emphasizing the campaign’s effect can significantly increase the number of donations received.

If you are a family business that has struggled for years but finally had some success and wants to go big, share your story, and never pretend you’re something else. People love stories, and the more you share, the more emotional they become and the more willing to back you up they will be.

The most important thing is to make your story relatable. People are far more influenced when they can see themselves in someone else’s shoes. Utilize empathy to your advantage, and don’t alienate yourself and your business from people.

Reward Systems, Incentives, and Perceived Value Are What People Want

Giving contributors incentives, such as first access to goods or exclusive benefits, might encourage them to make larger contributions. Building a successful crowdfunding campaign also requires consideration of perceived value and trust. Building trust and raising perceived value may be facilitated by being open, giving frequent updates, and showcasing a successful track record.

Not everyone wants to back your project simply out of the goodness of their heart. Some people want something in return. And why not? Give them something exclusive; give them an incentive they would otherwise never have.

Exclusivity is what drives the market for most crowdfunding campaigns.

Create Urgency and Shared Objectives

Setting attainable goals and instilling a feeling of urgency are other factors in encouraging donors to make a donation. Goal framing and urgency can encourage contributors to contribute to a common goal by fostering a feeling of community and shared purpose.

Urgency and deadlines often unite people behind a common goal quicker than anything else.

How to Manage All of This on a Crowdfunding Platform?

You want to be relatable, to inform people each time something new happens, to offer them incentives, and to provide real social proof. The easiest way to do this is to back up your crowdfunding campaign on your own website.

People there know you already. They are more than just users. They are either followers or subscribers. Utilize it to your advantage and turn your website into a private crowdfunding place. With the help of Publir’s solution, it’s much easier than it sounds, and it happens with a few clicks.

The post The Psychology of Crowdfunding: What Makes People Donate? first appeared on Publir.

Numerous firms have received funding from websites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, but they aren’t the only options available. And if crowdfunding websites are the only cash flow you rely on in order to fund your business, you’re missing out on amazing opportunities.

There are over 1400 crowdfunding platforms, and here are the 6 best alternatives to Kickstarter according to Investopedia. However, there are other methods aside from platforms that you might want to explore. Let’s see what we’re talking about below.

What Are The Limitations of Traditional Crowdfunding Platforms?

Although crowdfunding websites are largely successful and super useful in building capital, they have more than a few limitations.

For instance, not all companies are good candidates for crowdfunding campaigns, and even those that are may find it difficult to distinguish themselves in a competitive market. Additionally, crowdfunding might take a lot of time and work upfront to develop an effective campaign that appeals to potential donors, especially if they’ve never heard of you and your crowdfunding startup.

However, all of that can be avoided if you decide to go another way and crowdfund on your own website, where you can have total control over the goal, and your audience.

What Were People Using Before Crowdfunding Existed?

Before crowdfunding websites came into existence, companies had to rely on conventional means of financing, such as bank loans, venture capital, and angel investors. While these techniques may not be as popular as crowdfunding, they nevertheless have many benefits to offer.

For instance, bank loans are frequently easier to get than alternative sources of finance and generally have cheaper interest rates. However, they also need collateral, which makes them challenging to get for start-up companies without a track record of good credit.

But there’s a reason why most small businesses almost never resort to these methods.

Why Do Most Businesses Avoid Loans and Angel Investors? 

Other conventional fundraising techniques that have the ability to raise higher sums of money include venture capital and angel investors. They do, however, carry the danger of dilution of stock and relinquishment of management authority. The most common dangers that come from traditional funding methods are:

• Facing bankruptcy if you fail to pay the loan.
• Losing company assets, if it is backed as collateral.
• Diluting your stock when dealing with angel investors and venture capital.
• Losing control of your company.
• Losing direction of your company.

But there is a very smart method that carries no risk that avoids all of these, and yet can be the most powerful of all.

It’s called “Pre-Orders.” And we can learn from Elon Musk how he pre-sold millions of cars that were yet to be manufactured. Since the car manufacturer required just a $100 deposit to preorder the vehicle, it amassed 1,500,000 backers. That raised over $150,000,000 in a matter of weeks.

How to Use Pre-Orders as a Crowdfunding Alternative?

Pre-sales and pre-orders are fundraising strategies that can be more successful than traditional approaches, especially for companies that have a strong product or service offering. Businesses may generate income and confirm product/market fit before they even start by providing pre-sales or pre-orders. That offers you safety nothing else can.

Pre-sales and pre-orders have various benefits. They may be an efficient approach to create buzz and enthusiasm about a new product or service because they don’t require any upfront investments. However, because clients can be unwilling to pay upfront for something that isn’t yet accessible, they also carry the potential disadvantage of a lengthier lead time before money is collected.

Pre-orders are definitely high on the list of the best crowdfunding alternatives.  Pair them with turning your website into a dedicated crowdfunding space for your business, and you can easily beat any crowdfunding platform, be it Kickstarter or Indiegogo.

How to Turn Your Website Into a Crowdfunding Space for Your Business?

You have a valuable asset that may be monetized if you already have a following on your website. Creating a crowdfunding platform for your company on your website is one approach to do this.

You must provide your audience with persuading incentives to support your initiative in order to do this effectively. This might be early access to goods or services, exclusive discounts, or other benefits catered to the interests of your audience.

Learn from Tesla and brainstorm a few ideas. Write down the best 10 things that come to mind, then narrow it down to 3 and see what has potential.

Final Words

Ultimately, the best combination of crowdfunding alternatives would come down to turning your website into a place to gather supporters and pairing that with pre-orders or pre-sales can definitely make a big difference. Whatever approach you decide on, Publir has the Crowdfunding tools and integrations to turn your website around in no time.

The post Beyond Kickstarter: Alternatives to Crowdfunding Your Business first appeared on Publir.

But in order to fully understand how to pull it off, we’ll look at three examples of effective crowdfunding campaigns that you might use for your website.

How Did Oculus Rift Get 9,500 Backers in Months?

Usually, tech companies require a lot of money to start. And if a tech startup can make it through crowdfunding, practically anything can. That’s why our first example is Oculus Rift.

Oculus Rift first started its crowdfunding campaign in 2012 on Kickstarter. The campaign was a huge success. It raised $2.4 million from almost 9,500 supporters. The campaign’s original technology, fervent following, and early adopter market were its main success drivers. At the time, virtual reality technology was still in its infancy, and PC and console gamers were enthusiastic about the Oculus Rift’s promise to provide immersive gameplay experiences.

A large part of the supporters came through social media and through Oculus Rift’s own website. They were gamers who were checking on the progress daily and were mostly informed of news on the website.

Key takeaway:

Oculus Rift also raised money from backers on their website, outside of Kickstarter. They encouraged more individuals to invest in the product by giving early access to it at a reduced cost. Moreover, notifying everyone on their website would bring in more traffic and better control. 

You can do the same with the help of Publir’s solution. It’s easy to set up your own private crowdfunding place on your website.

How Pebble Raised Over $10,000,000

Pebble Technology is another crowdfunding success story. 

With 68,929 supporters, their wristwatch campaign on Kickstarter amassed a total of nearly $10.2 million. The unique product design, early adopter market, and strong social media presence were the main drivers of this campaign’s success. One of the first of its type, Pebble’s smartwatch attracted a lot of interest from tech aficionados. Here’s the actual campaign.

This is literally the best single piece of physical product among all the crowdfunding projects examples, which drove the campaign toward success. People simply wanted to be the first to come to possess this smartwatch. Pebble also collected more money online by giving backers access to exclusive perks. They gave early access and bespoke engraving possibilities for the more serious backers.

Key takeaway:

Pebble offers a unique product that everyone wants to have. They managed to reach a wide audience through their website, social media, and Kickstarter. Moreover, they offered very exclusive perks for their physical product, such as engraving for the backers. That was going to become impossible for anyone else who was late to the party and simply bought the product instead of backing the crowdfunding campaigns.

Indie Companies Get Funded Too

Not all profitable crowdsourcing initiatives come from large businesses or IT behemoths. A smaller startup called Glitch collected $274,000 from 4,520 backers on Kickstarter. The business offered a cutting-edge platform for developing and exchanging interactive online projects. 

A dedicated user base, an emphasis on innovation and experimentation, and a desire to offer a new platform for creative expression on the web were the main success elements of this campaign.

Additionally, Glitch raised money by giving funders early access to new features and exclusive items. They kept communication on Kickstarter secondary and always released new info a few days before on their website.

Key takeaway:

Glitch noticed an existing problem and offered a solution. The most important thing is they had set a reachable goal and managed to reach it easily and on time in order to start their business.

Summarizing the Key Takeaways of Successful Crowdfunding Campaigns

From Oculus Rift, we learned that you can place the backing cost at a lower price than the product itself after launch. This would entice users who would usually buy the product to back you up and save money on their part.

Instead of offering a pre-emptive discount, Pebble was promoting a physical product, and they decided to give backers something special that normal buyers would later miss out on. The engraving for each backer enticed everyone who would normally want to buy the product to back it up instead.

And from Glitch, we learn the most important advice: to have merit and not to overestimate the backing power you are aiming to amass on crowdfunding platforms. Because if you fail to surpass your goal, your campaign will be in vain.

Final Words

Crowdfunding can be a potent tool for startups and small businesses looking to generate money and realize their ideas. Moreover, it can also help you amass an audience that you never expected to have.

The success of these three campaigns demonstrates how cutting-edge goods, a devoted following, and a robust social media presence can assist business owners in reaching their financing objectives. Your crowdfunding campaign will have a higher chance of success if you adopt these effective tactics. 

Launch your crowdfunding campaign right away and learn from Oculus Rift, who also crowdfunded on their very website. Do the same with some help from Publir’s solution.

The post 3 Case Studies of Successful Crowdfunding Campaigns to Replicate for Your Website first appeared on Publir.

In today’s ever-changing digital landscape, publishers are constantly seeking innovative ways to generate revenue and stay ahead of the curve. With the advertising and programmatic markets growing increasingly unstable, it has become crucial for publishers to diversify their revenue streams to ensure financial sustainability. Enter Publir’s Crowdfunding tool, a comprehensive solution designed to empower publishers and help them achieve their revenue goals while integrating seamlessly with their social media accounts. In this article, we’ll explore the key benefits of Publir’s platform and provide references to studies that support our claims.

Diversifying Revenue Streams

A study by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) revealed that diversifying revenue streams has become a critical strategy for publishers to thrive in the digital era. Publir’s Crowdfunding tool enables you to tap into the immense potential of your audience by offering various subscription models, one-time donations, and tiered support options. This comprehensive approach helps you build a loyal community while creating a more predictable and sustainable revenue source.

Easy Integration with Social Media

Publir’s Crowdfunding tool not only offers a versatile platform for revenue generation but also provides seamless integration with popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. This integration allows you to leverage your existing social media presence, making it easier for your audience to support your content and share your campaigns with their networks. Studies have shown that social media plays a significant role in the success of crowdfunding campaigns, and our platform helps you capitalize on this potential.

Net30 Payments

Prompt payment is essential for maintaining healthy cash flow in any business. Unlike other platforms that may hold your funds for 60-90 days, Publir guarantees Net30 payments, ensuring you receive your hard-earned revenue promptly every month. This commitment to swift payments helps you better plan your business expenses and stay financially secure.

Cap on Fees

While competitors often charge hefty fees for their services, Publir believes in a fair and transparent pricing structure. Our fee cap ensures you’ll never have to worry about losing a significant portion of your revenue to platform fees. This approach aligns with the growing trend of publishers seeking cost-effective solutions for generating revenue.

Revenue Guarantees

Publir stands by its product and is confident in its ability to generate results. That’s why we offer revenue guarantees, giving you peace of mind that you’ll see a return on your investment. This guarantee is supported by research highlighting the effectiveness of crowdfunding campaigns in generating revenue for businesses.

Customizable Solutions with Powerful Synergy

Publir’s platform is highly adaptable and can be tailored to your specific requirements, ensuring seamless integration with your existing systems and processes. Our Crowdfunding tool works in perfect harmony with our Ad Optimization, Ad Block Recovery, and Subscription solutions, providing you with a comprehensive suite of tools to maximize your revenue potential.

By combining the power of these solutions, you can cater to various audience preferences and ensure an optimal user experience. For example, you can offer ad-free browsing experiences to subscribers while optimizing ad revenue for non-subscribers. Additionally, our Ad Block Recovery solution helps you recover revenue that might have been lost due to ad-blocker usage, further enhancing your monetization strategy.

This level of customization and synergy is crucial for publishers, as it allows them to deliver unique experiences that resonate with their audiences and adapt to the evolving digital landscape.

Expert Support and Data-Driven Insights

Publir’s dedicated team of experts is always available to assist you in maximizing your revenue potential and ensuring a smooth user experience for your audience. Moreover, our advanced analytics provide valuable insights into your audience’s behavior and preferences, empowering you to make data-driven decisions that drive growth.

Conclusion

In an unstable advertising and programmatic environment, Publir’s Crowdfunding tool offers a reliable solution for publishers to diversify their revenue streams, raise RPMs, and seamlessly integrate with their social media accounts. With its customizable platform, expert support, and data-driven insights, Publir empowers publishers to thrive in an increasingly competitive market. To learn more about how our Crowdfunding tool can benefit your organization, please visit our website at www.publir.com/.

The post Boost Your RPMs with Publir’s Crowdfunding Tool: Diversify Revenue and Integrate Seamlessly with Social Media in an Unstable Advertising and Programmatic Environment first appeared on Publir.

While both methods have a chance to succeed for companies, they differ greatly from one another. Let’s examine the distinctions between venture capital and crowdsourcing and the advantages and disadvantages of each.

How is Venture Capital Different From Crowdfunding?

Venture capital investing is usually performed by experienced investors or venture capital companies that can allocate significant quantities of money to firms with great growth potential as a sort of funding in order to get back on their investment.

These financiers, often known as venture capitalists, have extensive knowledge of how to spot and invest in businesses with the potential for rapid development.  Crowdfunding, on the other hand, entails collecting smaller sums of money from a huge number of people, many of whom are individual investors. Although crowdfunding campaigns can take many different shapes. They often entail rewarding backers or allowing them to pre-order the good or service. Startups that are trying to raise seed money or support a specific project frequently use this sort of investment, mainly because it is easier to pull off and because the company will remain 100% theirs after the seeding phase.

The usual investment amount is one of the key distinctions between venture capital and crowdsourcing. While crowdfunding initiatives often generate lesser sums of money than venture capital, they bring much greater control to the business and often result in a successful funding phase. Whereas with venture capital, you can easily lose control of your business. 

The method through which investors are repaid for their investments is another significant distinction. In return for their investment, venture capitalists frequently accept an equity position in the business, which gives them a share of ownership and some decision-making authority. On the other side, as mentioned above, crowdfunding startups more often than not, retain all of their private equity.

What are the Pros and Cons of Crowdfunding?

Like every source of finance, crowdsourcing has advantages and disadvantages. Let’s examine each in more detail.  

Pros: 

• Access to a sizable investor pool: Crowdfunding campaigns may reach a sizable audience, which can assist entrepreneurs in swiftly raising money.  
• Market research: An effective crowdsourcing campaign can demonstrate that there is interest in the good or service being given. 
• Marketing and publicity: Crowdfunding campaigns have the potential to create a lot of buzz and attention, which may assist companies in increasing brand recognition and luring in new clients.
• True ownership: When utilizing crowdfunding, the initial owners don’t risk losing the equity in their company in return for financing.

Cons:

• Time-consuming: Setting up and maintaining a successful crowdfunding campaign involves a lot of work, which might take time away from other crucial duties. The same goes for venture capital. In the end, whether you need to persuade one person or hundreds, the effort would be the same. 
• No assurance: There is no assurance that a crowdfunding effort will be successful because success might be unpredictable, and usually, crowdfunding platforms require a certain goal amount to be reached for the sum to be paid to the business. Luckily enough, when an adequate goal is set, more than half of the campaigns are successful. 
• Funding limitations: Crowdfunding campaigns are typically time-bound and may not gather as much money as a business needs. But that doesn’t mean you can’t do it again. Also, setting up a crowdfunding campaign on your website can allow you to reach your goal much faster. 

What are the Pros and Cons of Using Venture Capital?

Venture capital can allow a business to amass a great amount of capital in no time. However, it comes with a lot of responsibilities and risks.

Pros: 

• Gives you access to seasoned investors: Venture capital companies are more than adept at spotting promising business endeavors. They possess the knowledge and know-how to provide entrepreneurs with invaluable counsel and direction.  
• Amasses large quantities of money: Vc funding is known for reaching higher sums. Usually, this may provide businesses the money they need to see rapid expansion. 
• Calls for fundraising expertise: Venture capitalists that participate in seed funding frequently have large networks of investors and may aid firms in raising more money as they expand by calling on their friends in the niche.

Cons: 

• High level of scrutiny: Before making an investment, venture capitalists frequently perform thorough due diligence, which may be intrusive and time-consuming. 
• Loss of control: When venture capitalists invest, they most often receive an equity share in the firm in return, which may cause the founders to lose control of the business. 
• Pressure to expand: Because venture investors are frequently concerned with maximizing their return on investment, they could put pressure on firms to grow significantly and rapidly.

How to Choose Between Crowdfunding and Venture Capital?

There are a number of things to take into account when choosing between venture capital and crowdfunding. For the inexperienced startup owner, venture capital might ultimately mean losing control of your business.  

While established businesses may gain more from venture financing, startups in the early phases of development may discover that crowdfunding is a better match. Some industries may be more suited to one source of finance than another. For instance, firms in the consumer goods sector may be better suited for crowdfunding than those in the high-tech sector.

Although startups with a high capital requirement could discover that venture funding is a better alternative, startups with a lower capital requirement might do better with just a few crowdfunding ideas without needing to lose equity and control to amass capital.

Not to mention, for smaller non-tech startups, it’s much easier to control your funds and cash flow when avoiding venture capital. You can easily utilize several crowdfunding platforms while also gathering funds on your website and social media through donations and subscriptions.

Final Words

Venture capital and crowdfunding can both play a key role in the development of your business. However, unless you are running a multi-million tech company, crowdfunding would be a much more suitable choice to start with.

Aside from utilizing crowdfunding platforms, you can also turn toward your own fanbase on your website for financial support. Check out Publir’s crowdfunding solution and engage your users to become a part of your mission.

The post Crowdfunding vs. Traditional Venture Capital: The Best Choice for Your Website first appeared on Publir.

There are four traditional methods of crowdfunding and a fifth which might be better than all the rest. But before we disclose everything,in order to properly survey the field, we need to start with the basics.

Crowdfunding Methods: What Is Crowdfunding and How Does it Work?

Simply put crowdfunding is a way of obtaining funds or capital for a project or business by asking a large number of people to make modest donations, generally online. It enables people, companies, and organizations to replace conventional funding sources like banks or venture capitalists and connect with real people for investment.

There are four main different types of crowdsourcing, including a new fifth one.

The most commonly used 4 methods of crowdfunding are:

1. Donation-based Crowdfunding: This approach entails soliciting modest contributions from lots of people. Users are free to give any amount they choose in exchange for prizes or privileges, such as access to the website’s goods or services. Non-profits, charities, and social causes frequently employ donation-based crowdfunding.
2. Reward-based Crowdfunding: With this approach, backers provide money to fund a particular project or product in exchange for benefits like early access, unique goods, or other incentives. Startups, small enterprises, and independent artists frequently employ reward-based crowdfunding by using various website platforms.
3. Equity Crowdfunding: This strategy entails giving investors their own shares in the business in exchange for money. Investors in equity crowdfunding obtain shares in the business and might receive a portion of any future profits. Startups and companies looking for larger financing frequently employ equity crowdfunding. This requires you to own a large company in which the general public would have an interest.
4. Debt-based Crowdfunding: This strategy is taking out loans from investors and promising to repay them with interest. Small enterprises and individuals that need to raise money fast but may not qualify for standard bank loans frequently employ debt-based crowdfunding.
5. Make Your Website Crowdfund for You: Use the loyalty of your website and build crowdfunding into their engagement. With a strong enough rate of returning users, your own website can become a source of crowdfunding and increasing relationships with your customers. It also means your are in the driver’s seat instead of having to rely on other platforms.

So how does a crowdfunding platform work? Well, the person seeking funding creates a campaign on the funding platform, where they outline the idea, their financing target, and any gifts they want to provide backerfffs.

Prospective supporters search the site for initiatives that catch their attention, then pledge to fund such projects. The promised money is only given to the creator if the campaign meets its financing target by the deadline. The supporters are not charged if the financing target is not met, and the project is not given any money.

When a campaign is successfully financed, the creator utilizes the money to complete their project, and any awards that the supporters are due are given to them.

For its services, the crowdfunding site normally charges a fee, typically a percentage of the whole thing.

You can clearly see that there are many drawbacks to this approach.

And last but definitely not least, you can do a combination of these on your very own website, where your loyal audience can support you. How is that better? Well, if you decide to utilize a crowdfunding platform, nobody from your core audience will actually be there, and you’ll be speaking to new people. Not to mention, crowdfunding platforms take a portion of the pie for themselves. 

What Are Ways Can You Make Your Website Crowdfund For You?

Depending on how loyal your website’s audience is, crowdfunding directly on your website might or might not be a good idea. In order to check this out for yourself, go to google analytics, click on audience and overview, and compare returning with new users for the last quarter.

If your returning users are more than 30-40%, then it is definitely a good idea to try crowdfunding directly on your website. This means you have a seriously loyal website readership.

If not, you can do it, but you will have to combine it with other methods in order to reach a wider audience and collect more funding.

The direct support of your readers speaks much louder than the help of people who’ve never been introduced to your website before. And a direct financial relationship with fans brings diversity and durability to online content enterprises. 

Get Better Control of Your Crowdfunding Sources

If you directly incorporate crowdfunding into your website your fans would be able to support you at any time, not only while you have a crowdfunding campaign running. The cool thing is, perhaps you never knew, but you can give your fans the option to support you with one-time or recurring donations with just one click.

With a smart solution, integrated into your website, you won’t need to send the reader to another website in order to make a donation. This will keep them engaged and you won’t lose traffic. Not to mention the best part, you’ll keep the whole donation and you can add a personal touch to the whole thing. 

And this can be done in minutes.

How Do You Start Crowdfunding? 

If after reading all of this, you’re thinking ‘Where the heck am I going to find a tool that implements an easy-to-use crowdfunding functionality on my website in minutes?’, don’t worry, Publir does it all and more.

The post How Does Crowdfunding Work? 5 Effective Methods first appeared on Publir.

There are different types of crowdfunding models, depending on the kind of funding received. They include donation-based, debt-based, rewards-based, and equity-based crowdfunding. By 2030, the crowdfunding market will grow to $300 billion. 

However, it should be noted that crowdfunding is not a panacea for raising capital. In fact, only 50% of crowdfunding campaigns are successful.  The key to success is a well-planned launch strategy, an effective marketing campaign, and the backing of your community. This article will discuss how to run a successful crowdfunding campaign. 

Maximize Your Chances of Crowdfunding Success

1. Follow the Crowdfunding Rules 

Most crowdfunding sites have specific rules around prohibited items. For instance, Kickstarter does not allow crowdfunding for any items that claim to diagnose or prevent any condition or illness, political campaigns, drugs, nicotine or tobacco, weapons, etc. 

Therefore, make yourself aware of the rules before starting the campaign. If you ignore the rules, your chances of success will go down. You should do your research and assess which crowdfunding site works best for you. 

2. Communicate with Your Backers 

You should be fully transparent with your backers throughout the campaign, even after it ends. Sometimes, there are delays with product launches, and your backers have the right to know. It’s better to inform your backers about your future plan towards the end of your campaign. Maintaining a healthy relationship with your backers is key to a successful campaign. 

3. Produce Relevant Marketing Materials that are Engaging 

Relevant and high-quality marketing materials will help you stand out from the competition. Making an emotional connection with someone is as important as explaining the product. With so many crowdfunding campaigns, you have to stand out from the crowd. Create strong marketing materials and share them with your networks.

4. Prepare Your Campaign Before the Launch 

To be successful, prepare the campaign before its launch. Use social media and word-of-mouth publicity to popularize your campaign. Use your personal and company’s social media to be active before the launch. Create hype before the launch of the product. Take your time with creating effective marketing campaigns and materials.

Do not make a flyer or video just a day before the launch. Give yourself a couple of extra weeks to build excitement about the campaign and your product. Let know audience understand your product and your business goals. 

Examples of Successful Crowdfunding Campaigns

Some of the most successful crowdfunding campaigns include: 

1. Brewdog: Branded as “Equity for Punks,” Scottish brewery Brewdog raised $155 million through crowdfunding. The biggest selling point of Brewdog was its non-profit nature and impact on the environment. Its key advertising tagline was “The world’s first carbon-negative brewery.” This positioned it in the sustainable space, attracting investors aligned with those views. The key takeaway here is to focus on the niche space where your product is positioned. 

2. Pebble Time: Pebble Time is a smartwatch launched on Kickstarter. It is the most funded project on the crowdfunding platform, getting over $20 million in funding. Its features are oriented towards customer satisfaction. The emphasis is on the difficulties customers face with other watches, like OLED and LED displays, that make it harder to read in direct sunlight. With an e-paper display, Pebble Time addresses this problem. The project holds the record of the most funded project on Kickstarter. Pebble Time is a successful example of leveraging creativity and branding a campaign around customer satisfaction. 

3. Gloomhaven and Frosthaven: Funded on the Kickstarter campaign, Gloomhaven is a board game designed by Isaac Childres, who implemented his personal preferences and passions into the game. Due to the campaign’s early success, Gloomhaven is already a retail product. Frosthaven is the sequel to the game, which has already crossed the $13 million mark in crowdfunding. Gloomhaven is an example of how passion is integral to the success of any campaign. Creating audience interest is easier when the designer is passionate about the product. 

Running a successful crowdfunding campaign is not as easy as it seems. It requires nuanced planning, effective marketing, and complete transparency with the backers. The most successful crowdfunding campaigns have leveraged their creativity, branding, and passion and made space for themselves by focusing on their customers. 
At Publir, we believe that crowdfunding allows you to get direct support from your users and allow them to become a part of your mission. By seamlessly integrating crowdfunding into your website, Publir Crowdfunding allows your readers to strengthen your voice by supporting you with one-click payments. Being used across a range of industries from politics to tech and entertainment, Publir Crowdfunding has helped businesses raise hundreds of millions of dollars.

The post Running a Successful Crowdfunding Campaign first appeared on Publir.

As the name suggests, crowdfunding means collecting small amounts of capital from several individuals and businesses to fund a new business venture. By leveraging vast networks of people through social media and crowdfunding websites, crowdfunding brings entrepreneurs and investors together with the potential of expanding traditional circles of business owners, venture capitalists, and investors.

Understanding the Nuances of Crowdfunding

Depending on the jurisdiction, there are restrictions on who can fund a new venture and in what capacity. These restrictions are in place to protect inexperienced investors from risking all their money. Since many new businesses fail, these investors have a high risk of failure. Crowdfunding allows new entrepreneurs to raise hundreds of millions of capital for their new business venture.

Anyone with an idea can invest and pitch the idea in front of investors. Usually, crowdfunding websites charge a small fee from the fundraisers to provide a secure and easy-to-use service. Most crowdfunding websites operate on an all-or-nothing model, i.e., you will get all the money if you reach your goal or all investors get their money back if you reach your goal. There are various kinds of crowdfunding, as explained below:

1. Donation-Based Crowdfunding: Donation-based crowdfunding works by individuals donating money to support a business or social cause without receiving any financial gain or profit. The fundraiser is not obligated to give the donors anything in return for their contributions.

2. Equity-Based Crowdfunding: In this model, the investors receive a small equity or stake in the business depending on the amount they invested.

3. Rewards-Based Crowdfunding: Investors receive a non-financial reward, in the form of goods and services, in return for their investment.

4. Debt-Based Crowdfunding: In this model, the fundraiser raises money to finance their business by taking small loans. They can range from high-interest loans to low-interest loans. This method is used when entrepreneurs can predict their cash flows to repay their lenders.

Challenges of Crowdfunding

The main challenge of crowdfunding is reliance on a large community of users, investors, and customers. These people must be fully engaged in your business mission and vision. You might have an innovative business idea, but you have to build the trust of investors to get them on board. They are going to invest in something they have very little idea about. It is quite risky for them. The key to success is complete honesty and transparency. Do not overcommit regarding the rewards you will give. Follow through on your promises to build gradual trust and loyalty.

Examples of Successful Crowdfunding Websites

Some of the most popular crowdfunding websites include:

1. GoFundMe: GoFundMe is the largest crowdfunding platform. Since its inception in 2010, it has raised more than $15 billion through millions of donors. GoFundMe is mostly used for people who are seeking emergency assistance, those who are recovering from natural disasters or facing unexpected expenses. 

2. Kickstarter: Kickstarter is the most popular crowdfunding website for new businesses seeking capital. Unlike GoFundMe, Kickstarter is exclusively made for sharing new business ideas and projects with the larger business community. Kickstarter cannot be used for donation-based fundraisers or projects that do not offer equity, revenue sharing, profit sharing, or investment opportunity. The site also lists prohibited items that claim to treat, cure, or prevent any illness or condition. Besides, it cannot be used to fund any political advertising, gambling, drugs or alcohol, coupons, or raffles. 

3. Indiegogo: Indiegogo initially began to fund independent film projects and ventures but now accepts projects in any category. Being more flexible than Kickstarter, Indiegogo allows any kind of project. While Kickstarter releases funds only when the goal has been reached, Indiegogo allows the fundraiser to receive their funding on a pro-rated basis or wait until the goal has been reached.

Crowdfunding FAQs

What s crowdfunding?

Crowdfunding refers to raising small amounts of capital from a group of different individuals for a new business venture. Depending on the type of crowdfunding model, the funders may give the money without expecting anything in return or get equity or rewards for their investment.

What are the pros and cons of crowdfunding?

The biggest advantage of crowdfunding is getting access to a large community of investors and receiving the funding one needs. One also gets public opinion about their idea/product through crowdfunding platforms. The most significant challenge of crowdfunding is over-reliance on the online community of investors. Establishing trust and making them believe in your business idea is a difficult thing to do.  

Do you need to pay back any of the funds?

This depends on the type of crowdfunding model you use. In donation-based crowdfunding, the funding is completely altruistic, while you have to give some form of compensation in equity, rewards, or debt-based crowdfunding models. 
At Publir, we believe that crowdfunding allows you to get direct support from your users and allow them to become a part of your mission. By seamlessly integrating crowdfunding into your website, Publir Crowdfunding allows your readers to strengthen your voice by supporting you with one-click payments. Being used across a range of industries from politics to tech and entertainment, Publir Crowdfunding has helped businesses raise hundreds of millions of dollars.

The post Crowdfunding Basics Explained first appeared on Publir.