Creating an Indiegogo campaign: 10 tips for successfully implementing an Indiegogo campaign

The most important information in brief

What is Indiegogo?

Indiegogo is a crowdfunding platform. It is a website that allows projects to be financed by the masses that would otherwise not be possible. Indiegogo is one of the market leaders in this field, along with other providers such as the Kickstarter platform. Indiegogo mainly deals with smaller, independent (indie) projects. However, non-technical or larger projects can also be found on the platform. Customers present their project on Indiegogo and then collect money from the community to implement it. In return, backers receive an extra or edge for their support. This can be a free product, access to beta software, a mention in the credits, etc.

Who is Indiegogo suitable for? When is it interesting?

Even though Indiegogo is primarily aimed at smaller, independent projects, any project can launch a campaign on the platform as long as it meets the requirements and passes an internal review. It doesn’t matter how big or small the project is, whether it’s a gadget, technology, or something completely different. Indiegogo has also established itself as a popular alternative to Kickstarter. One of the reasons for this is its lower fees compared to its competitor.

10 expert tips for your successful Indiegogo campaign

In this section, we present our ten expert tips to help you launch your own successful crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo. You will learn useful tips and tricks and find out what you need to pay particular attention to when using Indiegogo.

Tip 1: Your project begins even before crowdfunding

If you are planning to run a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo, it is important to remember that your project begins before the crowdfunding campaign even starts. This means promoting your project on your own website and social media channels, writing blog posts, and, of course, not neglecting other marketing activities. Ideally, you should build a community before the crowdfunding campaign begins.

Tip 2: Go full steam ahead

When you launch a crowdfunding campaign, it is important to put all your energy into it and go full steam ahead. This is a mistake that is often made. At first glance, a crowdfunding campaign seems very simple and straightforward. It is easy to forget that this is just as complex a topic as other marketing projects. Only if you concentrate fully on the campaign and plan everything thoroughly can your campaign on Indiegogo be successful.

Tip 3: Get to know your target audience

For your project, you probably have a specific target audience in mind for your products. These target audiences also exist on Indiegogo and other crowdfunding platforms. You need to know your target audiences in advance and which groups you want to address. Only when you know without a doubt who is interested in your project, or who you want to be interested in it, can you use the appropriate pledges and extras to make your crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo interesting for this target group.

Tip 4: Make use of social networks

Social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and others play an important role in everyday online marketing. Your crowdfunding campaign is no exception. Use your social media accounts to inform people and your followers about your campaign. Let the community know everything about the new project and also share when and where it will take place and how long the crowdfunding campaign will last. Ideally, you should also link directly to your Indiegogo campaign page in your social media posts. The same applies, of course, to the other media that are also used in online marketing.

Tip 5: Use the press and expert portals

As you have already learned, it is important to announce and market your crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo, just as you would with other products or projects. A very good way to generate interest and buzz around your project is to use the press and expert portals. Tell the press about your project and find specialist portals and websites that are willing to write about your crowdfunding campaign or give you the opportunity to publish guest posts there.

Tip 6: Use pledges that make tactical sense

As with other crowdfunding portals, such as Kickstarter, backers who support a project on Indiegogo receive certain benefits. These are referred to as pledges. It is important for the success of your campaign that you proceed tactically and think carefully about how you use them. For example, if your campaign is aimed at seniors or children and young people, pledges for a minimum support of 200 euros make little sense and are, above all, counterproductive. On the other hand, well-chosen and meaningful pledges can prove to be very positive.

Tip 7: Plan your campaign thoroughly

As with all marketing and project campaigns, it is important to plan your crowdfunding campaign thoroughly. Planning should not begin when you decide to launch a campaign or when you publish it, but well in advance. You should complete your planning before you start crowdfunding your project. It is also important to consider how the project will be carried out and what will happen after the campaign. Once the Indiegogo campaign is over, your backers will expect you to deliver a product and keep your promise. This requires thorough planning, including in the area of logistics, such as development, storage, delivery, manufacturing, etc.

Tip 8: Set realistic goals

A mistake that many projects on Indiegogo and other crowdfunding platforms make is setting their project goals incorrectly or even setting completely unrealistic goals. This is a big mistake. It is important that you are realistic with your calculations. This means that you should state the costs or the money you need realistically (don’t underestimate them), but also that you shouldn’t artificially inflate the costs in order to obtain more capital. Set realistic goals and commit to a sum that you can actually achieve. Otherwise, you will end up losing your campaign, possibly all of your revenue, and the trust of your backers.

Tip 9: Create a compelling video

Unless you decide on a very unusual, extraordinary, or exotic project, you can expect to face plenty of competition on Indiegogo. But even with a unique and special project, there are still thousands of campaigns vying for user support. For this reason, it is important that your campaign stands out from the crowd and appeals to potential backers. One way to achieve this goal is to create a compelling video that you can post on your website, social media, and even directly on your Indiegogo campaign page.

Tip 10: Always stay optimistic

In many cases, the success of an Indiegogo campaign is determined within the first few hours. Most projects achieve their highest profits shortly after launch. Only a few projects pick up speed in the final sprint. Nevertheless, there are always surprises, and no project can be predicted with complete accuracy. Therefore, it is important to remain optimistic, even when things are not going well. Think positively and wait until the end of the campaign. And even if you haven’t reached your goal, if you’ve done everything right and planned thoroughly, there’s nothing you can do to change that. Analyze your campaign, see what you can improve, and start again if necessary.

10 tips for your Indiegogo campaign – our conclusion

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