Continuing its new 7-week How to Crowdfund series, crowdfunding platform Crowdfunder UK revealed the second step to using the funding method on Monday.
The Crowdfunder UK team declared:
“The most important part of the crowdfunding process, is that people need to understand your idea, why it means so much to you, and why they should support it. The most important thing you can do is forging a connection with your potential backers. Discuss how you got started, what inspires you, and what makes your product different. Have a conversation with your audience. Telling your story will help people understand your project and get them excited about supporting it. When designing the layout of your project, have your story outlined (who, what, when, where, why, how) and your video and images in place. Don’t ramble on, make your explanation clear, simple and to-the-point. People don’t like to read long project descriptions.”
Steps to creating the perfect name are as follows:
Project Title
- Choose a strong title that clearly describes what your project is.
- Find out how to SEO your Project Title
Short Description
Your short description will appear at the top of your description on your project page and on searches.
- Explain simply and clearly what are you hoping to achieve with your project?
- Keep this to less than 100 characters, as this is used for tweets. 100 characters allows it to be retweeted without losing information
- Find our how to SEO your Short Description/Aim
Project Description
Everyone who is considering supporting your idea will come to this page in order to pledge, so make sure you clearly explain what your project is about. Your Project page has to be compelling, with good pictures and a video. Your description should have the conversation with backers from their perspective too, not just from yours.
- What do you want to achieve? Who you are and what you do?
- Include appealing visuals
- Include information about where you’re based
- Include any key dates and links to your website and social media
- Get someone unfamiliar with your project to read this section for feedback. Do they understand it? If not, try to make it more clear and simple.
- Use plenty of sub-headings and images in your description, to make it easier to read
- Bring your idea to life by including a few photos
- Find out how to SEO your Project Description
- Find out how to SEO your Project Website Address – URL/Slug
The crowdfunding platform then noted what else to include in the project’s description:
“Tell people why you are crowdfunding and what the money will be used for and how you will use the funds raised, so they can understand why you’ve set your target. People will appreciate the transparency at this point, knowing how their money will be spent. People would like to feel that they are a part of something important. They would like to know that their pledge is going to play a significant role in accomplishing that goal.”
Crowdfunder UK then shared that customer reviews are also important when pitching a product to backer:
“Include testimonials and recommendations from your sponsors & existing backers explaining why your project should get funded. Also include if you’ve had any press exposure.”
As always, backers rewards are definitely a necessity in the project’s description:
“Explain your rewards and advise people about any conditions of shipping and when they can expect to receive the rewards they have requested. Try making your rewards exclusive to your crowdfunding project, as this makes those that pledge on them feel special for having something unique.”
In regards to pitch videos, the website added:
“Your video is the first thing people see when they visit your project page so use it to make a great first impression. Most projects with a video receive twice as much funding as those without. It doesn’t have to cost anything & can be done quickly and easily.”
- Write a script, it pays to be prepared
- Keep it short and sweet – Try for a maximum of two minutes for your video
- You can make a video on a smartphone or hire a professional
- Find a professional videographer who will work pro-bono, or just for naming credit
- Get someone to help you and get in front of the camera – faces are powerful
- View some Project video examples here
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