Most people don’t like taking risks. If you want people to back your crowdfunding campaign, you need to address their uncertainty first. You do this by giving them the facts and a chance to get to know you. If you are successful, they will start to trust that you can provide the results that they expect.
Give potential backers facts, answers, and background information on you and your project. Doing this will help reduce uncertainty around your campaign and get you more pledges.
Here Are 5 Ways That You Can Reduce Uncertainty for Your Backers:
1. Explain How Everything Works
Even though crowdfunding has become popular, a lot of people still don’t know what it is or how it works. Be sure to clear up any questions that people ask along the way.
If you notice that no one you talk to about your upcoming project knows a thing about crowdfunding, it’s time to go into education mode. You can share articles that go into the pros and cons of crowdfunding on your social media to give people a basic idea of how crowdfunding works and what is in it for them.
If you are using an all-or-nothing platform like Kickstarter, flexible funding on Indiegogo, or using a donation-based model like GoFundMe, you should make sure that people understand that specific model. That includes information like what they’re donating to, how to donate, when their pledge will go through, and what they get out of pledging.
2. Be Honest About Potential Problems or Real Problems That Come Up
One of the issues with crowdfunding is that people often treat it as a store without realizing that the products and ideas that they are backing aren’t all proven and currently in existence.
If you are funding a project based on a prototype and creating videos that depict what you envision the finished product will be, make that clear.
Take time to list some of the things that could potentially go wrong to show backers that you have thought everything out and you are prepared in case something goes wrong unexpectedly.
When creators disappear mid-project after things start going wrong, it definitely doesn’t inspire confidence and hope from their backers. If you honestly update backers as soon as a problem comes up and do everything you can to fix it, you are doing right by your backers and holding up your end of the bargain.
3. Tell Your Story and Be Vulnerable
One big way to reduce backer uncertainty is to let yourself get a little vulnerable and show you to your backers.
Sit and face the camera as you tell potential backers why you’re on Kickstarter, Indiegogo, or another crowdfunding platform raising money for your creative project, exciting new invention, or new business idea.
These are the things that get people excited to see your project succeed. By connecting to your story, your audience buys into your project. They are more likely to back you if you have shared something special about yourself with them because now they feel like they know you.
4 Engage Backers and Fans
Take time while build up to your campaign launch to engage your fans and backers, and continue to engage your backers throughout your campaign.
It’s not enough to create a few pages on social media and share your project link every day, nothing else. You need to share updates, pictures, videos, information about your project, and cool posts that you think your audience will like.
You want your followers to be engaged by your content. That means they are clicking on your links, liking and sharing your posts, and leaving comments.apitalize on their attention by showing them you are listening.
Capitalize on their attention by showing them you are listening.
Comment back! Reply to people’s inbox messages, follow back people who are active on your page or in your community, shout out to people who are always engaging with your content. This will not only show people that you are real and active online, it will also show appreciation to your core followers.
Of course, you do have other important things to do and there needs to be balance. Even a little engagement can go a long way
5 Give Details and Updates on Your Project
Be active on social media, but make sure that your campaign page and website give details about your project too. Visiting your Indiegogo or Kickstarter page or your website should give visitors a clear picture of what you are funding.
Once you lay out important information for potential backers, make sure you keep current backers interested with frequent updates. Updates give people more reasons to share your campaign and get excited while they wait for their rewards or perks.
Conclusion
Crowdfunding can be a lot of work. You can’t just throw together a page and hope that it will be fully funded on its own. You need to take promotion seriously, but you can make the process fun.
Leading up to your campaign launch, make it a priority to reduce uncertainty for potential backers. Start by asking your friends and family if there is anything about your campaign that is confusing or unclear. Their answers will give you an idea of what you will need to address most leading up to your launch.
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