Crowdfunding for Marketing Purposes

What is Crowdfunding?

Crowdfunding is a great way to raise money, for a variety of reasons. But as crowdfunding has grown, it has evolved into much more. Some of the biggest names in the world (and biggest companies) use crowdfunding. We are talking about companies that have no shortage of places to turn for funding. So, why are they showing up on crowdfunding? To narrow it down to its most simple form, it is because that is where the masses are.

Crowdfunding offers opportunities for people seeking investors for their projects and crowdfunding is an easy way to raise funds for smaller ventures. There is so much happening at crowdfunding that everyone is there. For people raising funds for charity, social responsibilities, and for personal goals, there is the free service of a Plumfund account. But this is just one small example of what you will find to work with at crowdfunding.

Crowdfunding gives your product major exposure to the marketplace. Using crowdfunding as a marketing tool allows you to get major feedback and confirmation of the merits of a product or a cheap way to find out it is not a good risk. The price of validation or destruction of a product is massive in marketing. In crowdfunding circles, it is part of the fringe benefits.

Using crowdfunding to help consumers get what they want, gives the manufacturers major branding points and advertising exposure.

Investors

Investors are always looking for the next big thing. They want to buy in early and be part of the next product explosion. Due to the massive popularity of crowdfunding, they are able to plant their seed money and get their foot in the door from the beginning. Crowdfunding allows them to see where the product is in its development and to see how people are responding to the ideas behind the product. Crowdfunding is a tool but it is also a platform. It is brutal and nerve-wracking to say the least, but it is the best platform available to give everyone the honest and raw look at the product as possible. The strengths and the weaknesses of the concepts are visible from the beginning, and a good investor knows how to guide the project to the land of profit for all involved.

Crowdfunders Kickstarter program was responsible for the mega-success of this campaign. Every investor wanted in in the ground floor of the company that would introduce the first affordable smartwatch. As reported by Forbes Magazine, the Pebble E-Paper Watch raised $10,266,845 in just 37 days and delivered its first round of smartwatches 10 months after the
campaign came to a close.

Another Kickstarter success, the Ouya open-face game console took the market by storm. Their crowdfunding platform raised $8.5 million dollars in 29 days. Like the Pebble E-Paper Watch, they delivered the first round of Ouya 10 months after the campaign closed.

The list goes on. From Pono Music to FormLabs 3D printer, you will find business after business that is successful raising the money they need while building their brand and marketing their products.

There is literally a crowdfunding platform for every business, personal challenge, and investor. Crowdfunding provides a way to bring the money and the minds together. Everyone has a place from the manufacturer to the designer, to the end user. Check out crowdfunding today.

Author – Wendy Dessler

Wendy is a super-connector with OutreachMama and Youth Noise NJ who helps businesses find their audience online through outreach, partnerships, and networking. She frequently writes about the latest advancements in digital marketing and focuses her efforts on developing customized blogger outreach plans depending on the industry and competition. You can contact her here on Twitter.