Crowdfunding Germany: 10 tips for a successful crowdfunding campaign in Germany
Crowdfunding refers to financing by the masses. This makes it possible, for example, for projects with little capital to get started and successfully launch on the market. Crowdfunding was initially and primarily popular in the software industry. Websites such as Kickstarter enable developers of indie games and smaller projects to receive money from fans and enthusiasts in the general public.
But what exactly does a crowdfunding campaign look like? What do you need to bear in mind to be successful with crowdfunding? Find out that and more here.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
- 1 Crowdfunding Germany: 10 tips for a successful crowdfunding campaign in Germany
- 1.1 The most important information in brief
- 1.2 The top crowdfunding platforms from Germany
- 1.3 What is crowdfunding?
- 1.4 How Does a Crowdfunding Campaign Work?
- 1.5 Advantages of a Crowdfunding Campaign
- 1.6 The disadvantages of crowdfunding campaigns
- 1.7 Which products and projects are suitable for crowdfunding?
- 1.8 10 tips for a successful crowdfunding campaign in Germany
- 1.8.1 1. Share your story
- 1.8.2 2. Set yourself a funding goal
- 1.8.3 3. Promote your crowdfunding campaign
- 1.8.4 4. Update your news feed regularly
- 1.8.5 5. Keep your promise
- 1.8.6 6. Get people to believe in your product
- 1.8.7 7. Production
- 1.8.8 8. Shipping and Fulfillment
- 1.8.9 9. The selection of pledges
- 1.8.10 10. Make changes based on feedback
- 1.9 Conclusion and summary
- 1.10 Free consultation
- 1.11 More articles
| Crowdfunding Plattformen – Übersicht | |
| ⭐ Vorgabe: | Crowdfunding Plattformen |
| 🏆 Dauer: | Ca. 3 Monate |
| 💰 Kosten: | Projektspezifisch |
| 📺 Zielsetzung: | Crowdfunding Finanzierung einsammeln |
| ⚡ Technologien und Kenntnisse: | Social Media, Webseite, Video, E-Mail-Newsletter |
The most important information in brief
• Crowdfunding literally means mass financing. The name says it all.
• Crowdfunding was first introduced by Kickstarter in the software industry.
• In crowdfunding, projects try to inspire outsiders.
• Fans and interested parties support a crowdfunding campaign with pledges.
The top crowdfunding platforms from Germany
Anbieter |
Zielgruppe |
Kosten |
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|---|---|---|---|
1. StartNext
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Größte und bekannteste deutsche Crowdfunding Plattform | 5% der Einnahmen 3-5% Bearbeitungsgebühr | ZUM ANBIETER |
2. VisionBakery
 |
Zweitgröẞte Plattform für Crowdfunding in Deutschland | 5% der Einnahmen | ZUM ANBIETER |
3. ecocrowd
 |
Technische Produkte | 5% per Transaktion | ZUM ANBIETER |
What is crowdfunding?
Crowdfunding is an English term that stands for “mass funding.” The name is accurate because, instead of project or company leaders, banks, or investors, the crowd—that is, you and I—takes on the financing of projects. The project or initiative is published on a website and presented to the crowd in this way. Interested parties and fans then have the opportunity to support the project with a so-called pledge. In return for their support, backers receive a reward, such as a free product after completion, a mention in the credits, or another benefit. The specific reward often depends on the amount of the pledge. The advantage is that it doesn’t require a large investment from a single person; instead, many people—perhaps even millions, like you and me—support the project with small amounts. In the end, the collective contributions often add up to a significant and impressive sum.
The concept of crowdfunding itself is not new. However, in the last ten years, websites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo have made crowdfunding accessible to the general public in a simple and straightforward way using the internet. There is no longer a need to search for interested parties through newspapers and advertisements. Instead, a simple link is enough, and today there are millions of users who check Kickstarter and other platforms weekly for interesting opportunities.
How Does a Crowdfunding Campaign Work?
Thanks to the internet and crowdfunding platforms, creating a campaign today is very simple and can be done in a short amount of time. First, you need to choose a platform. Different platforms cater to different target audiences. Then, you must register for an account and create your project. This includes a project description, photos, videos, and so on. Depending on the platform, your project may need to be reviewed and approved by the site operators to prevent fraud. Certain requirements and conditions must be met for this.
Once your profile and project are approved and activated on the website, it becomes visible to everyone, and anyone interested can make a pledge. The funds are collected over the course of the campaign. Whether a payout occurs depends on the platform. Some providers, like Kickstarter, require that you reach your predetermined goal. Other platforms pay out the funds raised at the end of the campaign regardless of whether the goal was met. Only platform fees and costs are deducted.
Once your campaign is online, you can amplify it with targeted marketing. Share the link and information on social networks, your blog and newsletter, your company website, and other portals or relevant media you use for marketing. After that, the focus is on managing the campaign and monitoring the results.
Advantages of a Crowdfunding Campaign
A crowdfunding campaign offers you several valuable advantages compared to other forms of financing and is also a good and easy way to obtain the necessary startup capital with a strong idea. The main advantages are:
• Validating your ideas
•Building a following
• Creation of an accessible source of financing
The disadvantages of crowdfunding campaigns
Of course, despite all its advantages, crowdfunding also involves certain risks and dangers that you should be aware of. The biggest risks and dangers are:
• There is now a lot of competition and many competitors.
•Your idea must be truly innovative and creative.
• Requires a lot of time and effort to be successful
Vorteile des Fundraising |
Nachteile des Fundraising |
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Due to the effort involved and fierce competition, a successful crowdfunding campaign has become a truly major undertaking. Nevertheless, a successful campaign is often less complex and, above all, significantly more rewarding and cheaper than conventional methods.
Which products and projects are suitable for crowdfunding?
10 tips for a successful crowdfunding campaign in Germany
In this section, we present ten tips and tricks to help you launch a successful crowdfunding campaign.
Let your potential investors and the community know how your product can help these people in their professional or everyday lives. Tell people who you are, what your plans are, and where the project idea came from. This will help you build a relationship and show that you understand people. It may also be useful to provide honest information about your budget and why you are so passionate about this particular project. This not only shows that you have thought about the idea and are enthusiastic about it, but also that you are honest and open about your plans.
When presenting your project, introduce yourself and your project idea with a picture. Ideally, you should also create a short video about the project. For this reason, it makes sense to have at least a prototype. This allows you to reinforce the seriousness of the project and offer something to your potential investors at the same time. Show that you are credible by speaking clearly, outlining the concept and its benefits, and showing exactly how it works. Connect emotionally with a personal story so that a potential investor can trust you and be swept away by your project. Finally, talk about why the product is unique. People need to know what problem you are solving that is attractive to consumers.
2. Set yourself a funding goal
When you launch your crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter, you should note that the provider uses an all-or-nothing funding model. This means that if you do not reach your funding goal, all pledges will be refunded. If you reach your goal or even exceed it, you can keep the money minus a fee. Many platforms work on the same principle. However, there are exceptions. Providers such as Indiegogo offer you the option of keeping the money even if the target is not reached, or you can choose between both options. You therefore need to carefully consider in advance what your realistic earnings are, and the duration of the campaign also plays an important role that you need to think about.
3. Promote your crowdfunding campaign
To achieve the full effect of your campaign, you need to reach people with your crowdfunding project. Thanks to the internet, there are many ways to do this today. You are already familiar with many of them, as they are already part of other marketing campaigns in your company. Social media, blogs, the company website, and newsletters are also important tools for informing people about your project in a crowdfunding campaign. Live events, video blogs, and Twitch have also proven to be effective tools for marketing crowdfunding. Be creative and see which marketing options and platforms you already use. In most cases, these can also be used for your crowdfunding campaign.
Without 100% commitment on your part, it is unlikely that your crowdfunding campaign will be successful. Use all the relationship and marketing channels at your disposal. Through the clever use of various promotional channels, Black Hops Brewing managed to reach its goal within 24 hours. You too can achieve your goals in a similar way, but you have to take action yourself.
4. Update your news feed regularly
You need to keep your investors informed as you move forward with your campaign and make progress or reach milestones. If you don’t post regular updates, it will make a bad impression and your backers will lose interest. To help you with this, most platforms have built-in tools that allow you to manage your project support, publish news, and send messages to all your investors and participants.
It’s also important to be honest about your project and its progress in your videos and updates. If things don’t go as you had hoped, that’s okay. Every project has problems. But be transparent about the situation and be honest. Your backers want to know that you can actually deliver on your project and the rewards you’ve promised.
5. Keep your promise
Your crowdfunding campaign isn’t over just because you’ve reached your funding goal. It’s only over when you’ve kept your promise to your backers and investors and fulfilled your part of the deal. That means completing your project, redeeming your perks or rewards, and ensuring that communication, production, and delivery of products or services are working. Especially if you’ve achieved your funding goals, this shouldn’t be a problem and is the least you can do to show your gratitude. It will also help you build a reputation and ensure that you can continue to rely on the support of your backers in the future.
6. Get people to believe in your product
Basically, the purpose of creating a new product is to solve a specific problem. For a crowdfunded product to be successful—and for any product to be successful—people must believe that your project will help them solve a problem in their professional or everyday life that is important to them. You must be able to convey the value of the product to people. This is the only way to attract the necessary backers for your project.
7. Production
Your backers are usually very understanding customers. They know that funding a product through crowdfunding is not the same as buying off the shelf. However, this does not mean that backers have no expectations of you and your project. Before you launch your campaign, you should have a solid, well-founded estimate of your production timeline. To create this estimate, you should consider the following questions and have answers ready:
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How many products do you plan to produce?
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How long will production take for your ideal order size?
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How long will it take to receive your products from your manufacturer?
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How long will it take to fulfill the rewards for your campaign?
It is helpful if your manufacturing or production process is already completed before you start your campaign. Also, don’t forget to build in extra time buffers. After all, unexpected delays can occur, and you need to compensate for them. Even if your timeline changes over time, a well-thought-out estimate is useful. It also gives backers an idea of what to expect. If delays occur, you must inform your backers immediately and provide an updated estimate.
8. Shipping and Fulfillment
Before you launch your crowdfunding campaign and make promises to your supporters, you need to make sure that your manufacturer is willing and able to deliver to your location within the specified time frame. This is especially important if it is your first project and your first collaboration with the supplier, or if they have not yet delivered to your country. This also means that you or your partner must be able to deliver large quantities of products to your backers and have the necessary capacity to do so. In addition to this, there is of course the possibility of storage. If you only have 1,000 backers, that’s already 1,000 deliveries you have to fulfill. And that’s just your supporters. Additional orders from your customers and recommendations from your backers are not included here.
9. The selection of pledges
It is important to choose pledges that are appropriate, meaningful, and correct. There are many things to consider, such as the target audience. If your project is aimed at students and pupils and the pledges start at 50 euros, you can hardly hope for many backers. Not because your project is uninteresting, but because your target audience cannot afford it. In addition, the pledges must also be interesting. Someone who receives a T-shirt for your project for five euros in conjunction with a discount on the purchase of the product may be satisfied with that. However, a backer who is willing to spend 100, 500, or even 1,000 euros on you expects something completely different.
Be creative and think about what is meaningful and interesting. What would you like to see as a pledge? How much money would you spend? Offer priority ordering and delivery, discounts, or free products, etc. After all, your backer may have purchased one or even several of your products with their pledge.
10. Make changes based on feedback
One of the most important things you can do before attempting to finance your product is to ensure that you have taken the time to put your plan into action. After all, the campaign is a serious undertaking. Ensure that experts test and review your product or prototype and that you are truly ready to get started. Receiving this feedback is essential for making the necessary improvements before launching a crowdfunding campaign. You must take feedback from consumers and investors seriously. You may have a great product, but that doesn’t mean it’s perfect or can’t be improved.
Conclusion and summary
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