By Chet Jain, Founder & CEO Crowdera
Crowdfunding has become a go-to option for fundraising in the last few years. Not many may believe but crowdfunding is indeed an age-old concept which is bringing back the zest in the giving economy/donating culture. But the zest alone cannot make campaigns 7 reasons why crowdfunding campaigns fail successful. There are nuances to the process of crowdfunding, and not understanding these subtilities can result in a failed endeavour. Here are seven reasons why many crowdfunding campaigns fail to meet their goals.
- Lack of a proper strategy: A crowdfunding campaign is successful when it has been appropriately strategized for all stages. Most campaigns that fail lack a factual story and an emotional connect with its audience. Backers, too, connect more with campaigns that are enthusiastic about the cause that they are working for. Designing a proper strategy and working on the aligned goals at all stages keep the backers engaged with a campaign.
- No buzz before the launch: Instigating a pre-launch buzz serves to build a ready interest in the campaign when it is launched. Creating a Facebook page, blog, video or a landing page, and using multiple channels to share the idea of your campaign potentially boosts the success rate of any crowdfunding campaign. Once the campaign goes live, the campaigners must regularly update the pre-launch page with related content.
- Failing to build an email list of potential backers: Reaching out to potential backers at intervals keeps them informed about the progress of your crowdfunding campaign. Using email newsletter tools like MailChimp, MailerLite, etc. to acquire email addresses of your potential backers makes the job of regular communication easier.
- Lack of frequency and consistency: Consistency is an integral component of any crowdfunding campaign. The frequency of reaching the potential backers through multiple channels determines the success rate of your campaign. Not creating social media messages, email newsletters, Instagram posts, images and videos to reach your backers at the proposed frequency can disconnect them from your campaign goals.
- No personal communication with the potential backers: For a successful crowdfunding campaign, identifying your potential backers and giving them a personalised experience is essential. From a welcome email at signup to sharing updates about your milestones, it goes a long way in expressing your gratitude towards them. Reach out to them before you share an update on any of the social media platforms for they appreciate when they are the first one to know about any news on your campaign. Lack of this personalised attention is one of the reasons why many crowdfunding campaigns fail.
- Not screening your campaigning for a review: This is a major cause of campaign failures. . Before launching your campaign to the world, invite all your subscribers, family-friends and supporters to review your campaign and share their inputs. A screening tests it for an emotional connect and gives you an opportunity to empirically test your message. Consider it a private launch and also request your personal crowd to fund the campaign.
- Failing to use a good marketing strategy to launch your campaign: Always launch your campaign aligning it with your marketing strategy. If possible, employ a PR team to appreciate and enhance the interest of your early supporters. Successful crowdfunding campaigns inform their supporters about their launch date well in advance and introduce their campaigns with drum-rolls.
If you see your campaign crashing, evaluate the reason of your failure, and launch a new one keeping the above pointers in mind. If you are not sure about how to raise funds for your campaign, recruit the dedicated fundraising team from a crowd-funding platform like Crowdera, to help realize the potential of your campaign.
(The author can be contacted at @ChetJain. Views are personal.)
