What distinguishes a big campaign from a small one?
There are various factors like press, influencers, advertising, page design…
I can go on and on and on about the various aspects of a good and impactful campaign.
However, there are two things that people don’t often talk about it that really impacts funding. The two things that separates a campaign that raises a million dollars from one that raises just a few thousand dollars.
Want to know what those two things are? Keep on reading!
A Good Product That Effectively Solves Problems
The first one might sound like a no-brainer, but oftentimes entrepreneurs have a misstep here.
A lot of people can have really great ideas – heck you can even have an idea come to you as you’re walking down the road – but not many of those ideas truly effectively can make an impact.
But what sets a crowdfund-able idea apart from the rest is that the product needs to effectively solve a problem.
What do I mean by this?
Let’s look at the Fidget Cube, a product that seemingly is so mindless that it was a surprise that it raised over a million dollars on Kickstarter.
It might look like a silly product, but when you learn more about it and the reason behind its creation, you’ll see why it was such a sensation.
The Fidget Cube was made to harness your distracted energy so that you can keep your focus and attention on the task at hand.
At this time, our phones are ringing all the time, there are text messages always coming our way, Slack is always notifying us of a new message, there’s a next blog post coming through the RSS feed, the kettle is boiling… there’s just a lot going on. All. The. Time.
It’s hard to focus.
And that was the premise of the Fidget Cube: to keep and maintain your focus where it matters.
It truly hit a chord with people swallowed by their distracted lives by presenting a truly simple and elegant solution that was never seen before on the market.
This is just one example of many others out there. For a crowdfunding campaign to really hit it out of the park, the product must solve a problem in an effective way.
If you need input about your product or a neutral-party perspective on an idea, be sure to join the Fully Funded Facebook Group and drop your idea. There’s a lot of entrepreneurs there who will gladly help provide their feedback.
Now that you have a product that effectively solves a problem, the other crucial factor in a high-raising campaign is finding the right audience.
An Audience That Resonates With The Product
Where most entrepreneurs go wrong is that they think that their product is for everyone. They mistakenly think that just because they’ve created something novel, everyone in the world will be excited to have it.
If this is you, I hate to say it but you’re highly mistaken.
Let’s take a look at some common products that I use everyday.
My grey Vans (shoes) for example, are definitely made with everyone in mind. Their “streetwear” style is typically geared towards young adults looking for comfortable everyday wear. Never in their right mind would they market their product to Wealth Managers on Wall Street. Side note: yes, I know that I’m neither a young adult nor a Wealth Manager, but I do fall into that segment of the population where comfortable streetwear is basically my style.
The Storm Trooper mug I typically have my peppermint tea in would never find an audience with those who prefer Star Trek over Star Wars.
The custom ring on my finger (my wife and I made it ourselves!) is most absolutely not for everyone out there. But for us, we wanted an experience to really cherish while making our own wedding rings.
So basically, the way to really excel with crowdfunding is to find that audience that will really resonate with the product.
No, “everyone in the world” won’t cut it, but a slice of people in that giant group will.
When you look at your product, think back to why you created it in the first place.
What was the reason for the inception of the product? Why was this so important to you that you ended up working late nights to try to bring this thing to life? Why did you create this product? Why was it important in the first place? Why was this something that you felt like you had to make?
The answer to those questions, my friends, are exactly the core pain you want to hit and the type of people who will resonate.
If you end up thinking that your product is for everyone, your message and your story gets diluted for the masses rather than making a real impact for the niche.
Case In Point: The Story Of The Potato Peeler
Let’s take a look at the story of the potato peeler.
It used to look like this metallic thing:
The design was difficult to hold and would hurt your hand while squeezing the handle to peel the potatoes.
Then one day a man whose wife was suffering from arthritis found how difficult it was for her to use the potato peeler. So he began working with the American Arthritis Foundation and OXO to create a new product that actually met the needs of arthritis sufferers.
This is what they came up with:
Image from Fast Company.
The new design not only is able to solve the problem arising from the old metallic peeler, but also was created to meet the needs of a very niche audience. However, when this was produced, the general market saw the benefits of it and from there, it became a no-brainer to only use the product.
Your Perfect Product And Audience Combo
So let’s think about crowdfunding and the campaigns that go “viral”. I encourage you to look at them from the perspective of the product and the audience.
Why was the product so well received? Who is the target audience for the product?
You’ll find that all these campaigns truly meet a specific need for a certain population that ends up being attractive to the general populace at large.
That’s why having a product that effectively solves a problem for a specific target audience is so important to any Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaign.
When you’re embarking on your crowdfunding journey, be sure to always keep these two factors in mind and create your positioning, your images, your video, and your overall campaign towards these two core foundational points.
If you’re looking for ways to understand your audience better, be sure to check out Audience Secrets. It’s the exact blueprint that I’ve put together to find your audience, rally your tribe, and convert them into raving fans for your crowdfunding launch.
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