Ten Mistakes to Avoid When Crowdfunding

Originally published on Gadget Flow

Despite the amount of innovative and creative ideas that come out every year, not all crowdfunding campaigns are successful. Often, those failures have nothing to do with the product itself but with the execution. As with any business, crowdfunding comes with unique strategies and tasks that must be performed to optimize the chances of success. Each step is essential when it comes to crowdfunding. With that, I thought I’d share the ten most common preventable mistakes in crowdfunding.

Sticking to a single platform

Indiegogo and Kickstarter are notably the most popular crowdfunding platforms. Even though they are both large communities, you should not only depend solely on them. You’d be surprised how many people out there are looking to back projects such as yours who don’t participate on crowdfunding platforms. To get their attention, you have to use as much of the web as possible using platforms such as Kickstarter Forum, Backerclub and our very own Gadget Flow to gain more exposure.

Avoiding social media

Nowadays, using the major social media platforms is imperative to the success of your campaign. Through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, you can increase your credibility with informative posts.

Relying on organic social media

I’m sure you realize the importance of using social media for crowdfunding. After all, it helps build credibility and gives you more exposure online. However, you shouldn’t only focus on organic campaigns due to your limited timeframe. Having a Facebook page is helpful, but you need to invest in Facebook Ads to get more targeted attention in less time.

Overlooking your campaign presentation

Every time you get a lead, they are going to end up on your Indiegogo or Kickstarter campaign page. That said, you have one chance to make a great first impression or they’ll just close your page and forget about it. Make sure your content, images, and videos are the best as can be to capture your potential backer’s interest and, hopefully, get them to talking and sharing with their friends.

Lacking pre-marketing strategies

If there’s one thing that always helps your crowdfunding campaign, it’s letting people know about it before your launch. Services such as Gadget Flow and BackerClub can help you generate an audience before you launch. You should also use Facebook Ads to gather email subscribers and keep those who are interested informed with periodic newsletters. This enables you to gather attention from potential backers and gain traction on the day of your campaign launch.

Not asking your friends and family for help

Once you decide to launch a crowdfunding campaign, you should focus all your efforts on reaching your goal as quickly as you can. To do this, you have to ask your friends and family for help within the first two days. If you don’t ask for help within 48 hours, your chances of accomplishing a high percentage of your goal become increasingly harder.

Forgetting to respond to comments

If someone asks you a question or leaves a comment, you need to respond to them. Also, you should be replying as fast as you can. You want people to know that you’re dedicated to whatever it is you’re selling and have the knowledge to back it up. If you don’t understand the ins and outs of your product, you might want to ask yourself if you’re truly ready to sell.

Not using a narrative story structure

One way of setting yourself apart in your crowdfunding campaign is by letting people know how you turned an idea into an actual product. Whether you create your own story or hire an editor for help, either way, you’ll want to make sure that your story is narrated in a distinctive style. This not only captures the attention of potential backers, but it also allows them to relate to your product.

Neglecting to follow similar previous crowdfunding campaigns

It’s important to know about similar campaigns so that you can use your research to stand out. In some cases, you can even gather enough data to create comparison charts.

Not making the most of tools

There are so many tools available that can help you throughout your campaign. Some of my personal favorites include Campaign Monitor, BackerClub, Crowdox, Buffer, Canva, and ClickMeter. These tools can help you with anything from managing your pledge rewards and tracking links to reaching more backers.

What are some mistakes you’ve noticed or made during a crowdfunding campaign? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.