This is the last crowdfunding article for today. Have you got any more ideas? Feel free to comment below.
HOW CAN YOU TELL IF A CROWDFUNDING SITE HAS A LARGE AUDIENCE?
ADVERTISING
Often (but not always) companies that advertise in a lot of different places, and on a large-scale basis, have more money to play around with; this, of course, doesn’t always mean they have a larger number of crowdfunding clients. But this is still one criterion worth thinking about.
CRAMMED OR EMPTY?
Obviously, sites with a lot of crowdfunds, crowdfund creators and crowdfund patrons donating money, are likely to be doing OK. On the other hand, ones with very few people there probably won’t be in great shape.
However, there can also be other factors at play here.
For example:
AGE
New start-ups may not have many crowdfunds yet. Obviously, older sites will normally have more.
However, remember that an old, lumbering Behemoth isn’t always as valuable as a fresh, agile velociraptor!
WEB DESIGN
Check whether the structure and layout of the site might somehow end up making the number of Crowdfunds, or number of Crowdfunds in a particular category, look larger or smaller than they might otherwise be.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Successful crowdfunding sites are likely to have a lot of followers on social media. Even if some of the followers are only casual followers, i.e. non-participants, that least implies a substantial degree of brand recognition.
Remember that in order to get a clearer picture, it’s useful to look at a cross-section of social media outlets. Don’t just compare one outlet with another; also compare Twitter with Facebook, for example.
OTHER LANGUAGES
I don’t know if there are many Crowdfunding sites in other languages. English, rightly or wrongly, is often considered a universal language; or near enough!
You can still obviously use sites in other languages too; particularly if a lot of your target demographics speak the language in question. For example, here’s an Italian crowdfunding site. But if you want to appeal to a broad global audience, rather than a smaller one, French or Spanish is better than Finnish; and English is often better than French or Spanish.
BUSINESS NEWS
Try looking for any news about the companies in question. Did one of them recently float on the stock market? Are any of them in trouble? Have any of them got a recent cash injection? Have there been any scandals, either recently or long ago, that have made their reputation suffer, and thus potentially hurt their brand? (Or even boosted it, by way of reverse psychology?)
Something like The Economist, Forbes, Bloomberg or the Financial Times might be a good source.
Interviews are also helpful; although bear in mind that interviewees, whether they be CEOs, fans or disgruntled adversaries, will sometimes have a biased view, or try to put a spin on things.
ONE LAST THING:
Did you spot the picture of Behemoth?
With all that I’ve already said above: big is big, and thus must ever be a force to be reckoned with!
But big isn’t always better.
Don’t waste your time with all of what I’ve written above. Use your judgment, choose what you think are the most relevant criteria for you, and then get your crowdfund underway.
Good luck!
Image attribution:
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