Scott Steinberg wrote an article in the May edition of Rolling Stones that examines the increasing frequency in which artists, songwriters, and bands are turning to project crowdfunding websites like Rockethub, Indiegogo Kickstarter to raise money for an upcoming album.
Earlier this year, Five Iron Frenzy raised $207,980 for a new album when their initial fundraising goal was only $30,000. In addition, Amanda Palmer is well known as the first musician to hit the one million dollar mark on Kickstarter, having raised $1,192,793 pledged by 24,883 people in 30 days.
“This is the future of music,” she claims, holding a sign in her Kickstarter project pitch. The article also dispels a falsely held notion that many Kickstarter projects are out of the park home runs with little to no sales or marketing efforts by the project owner. “For musicians and artists, crowdfunding is a marathon, not a sprint; he [Ed Petterson] and his wife spent four hours a day for three weeks after his campaign launched writing to every journalist, blog, critic and collector they could find”
Scott Steinberg, CEO of TechSavy, published a book that is aimed at helping these up and coming artists take advantage of Kickstarter and other crowdfunding platforms. It is also a beginning guide for anyone who would like to learn more about project crowdfunding and how to optimize their pitch, marketing strategy, and the specifications of the project.
The book is free to download and can be found here. I intend to place it on my reading list. What follows are some of the tips he included in his book:
• Research successful and failed campaigns to see which projects, marketing strategies and rewards connected with fans. Analyze why, and to what extent, they work.
• Consider the breakdown of rewards they offer (i.e. physical goods vs. exclusive experiences), cost structure and promotional vehicles used to spread the word about these projects (social vs. traditional media, video endorsements by noted personalities, etc.).
• Budget conservatively up front, including factoring in all costs for reward fulfillment. Leave yourself a 20-30 percent cushion for hidden expenses, then ask for the minimum funds needed to complete your project to make goals seem more attainable to backers.
• Understand who your target audience is, where fans live online and how to reach them. Know what tools you have to get their attention and prepare all supporting assets (videos, screenshots, social media accounts, etc.) in advance.
• Practice and refine your pitch until you can summarize your project in less than 20 seconds. Then build a running promotional campaign that incorporates an ongoing series of marketing activities to run throughout your project’s entire duration.
• When it comes to creating killer rewards, use a combination of merchandise, once-in-a-lifetime opportunities and personalized gifts (e.g. giving backers a bit part in your next book or video game) to generate cash and awareness. Offer attention-getting gifts at all reward levels, including impulse-buy levels, and don’t leave too many gaps between pricing tiers so everyone has a chance to contribute regardless of personal budget.
• Keep video and homepage pitches short and sweet. Presentation is everything: Don’t skimp on production values. Quickly convey what your project is, why it matters, what qualifies you to make it happen and how it benefits readers/viewers. A picture is worth a thousand words; use video and screens to communicate wherever possible, and focus on one to three unique sales points which should be reinforced in all descriptions and promotions.
• Creating a running dialogue with backers, fans and media is vital, as succeeding with crowdfunding requires that you stay at the front of minds. Social media services like Twitter can be even more effective than articles and interviews, as can keeping in constant contact with backers through ongoing updates. A mix of promotional activities should be used to generate chatter on a consistent basis.
