One does not just simply launch a crowdfunding campaign.

One has to research, perform competitive analysis, assess the success ratio of similar campaigns and then decide to take the plunge.

Here’s how we carry out product research for crowdfunding campaigns for our clients.

1. Kickstarting with a Research Sheet

Your research sheet is the foundation of everything.

The first step in your research for a crowdfunding campaign is to know how your product stands against other similar campaigns.

Your product may not necessarily be the world’s first – and if you want to make that claim, then you need to make sure there are no other products on Kickstarter offering the same.

For example, in this project, there are dozens of arcade game projects, but none of them holds 200+ licensed, retro games for home use.

This research sheet that consists of other similar campaigns on Kickstarter or Indiegogo helps give you insights into how a similar product fared, what strategy and processes were effective, and what funding realistic funding goals can you set.

It gives you the direction you need to plan your campaign.

What each tab means:

Raised: This is the amount that other competitors in your niche raised. This will help you set a benchmark for the backers and funding goal to expect.

Average Price: This tab is critical. It will help you determine your pricing & reward strategy. You’ll have to make a very strong justification of why people should back your project for that price vs others.

Social Media: These are great for ad or content inspiration that you’d need later to work on your page or group.

Check out this strategic post on how to create a Facebook group for your crowdfunding campaign.

Headlines: Your project headline is the most important magnet to get people’s attention. Check other projects to get inspiration for the headline of your campaign page and landing page.

You can also check Amazon to see how some products transitioned from crowdfunding to eCommerce.

2. Getting Your Audience Research Right

Unlike e-commerce where you’re targeting audiences willing to become buyers, in crowdfunding, you’re targeting audiences willing to become backers – that too on crowdfunding.

So one of the biggest challenges with crowdfunding is getting interested audiences to back a project which is why most crowdfund marketers target tech enthusiasts instead of regular folks.

We do it differently though.

We target audiences who have an interest in the product. If there’s a new baby feed product, we target moms. If there’s a new eco-friendly toothbrush, we target parents.

Most of our backers are people who back for the first time who love a product so much, they are ready to pre-book it.

And all of this is possible because we carefully create our audience persona and then perform various tests to measure their response.

Over the years, we’ve perfected this and know exactly what kind of content the audience responds to. Some key questions we ask include:

You can add as many questions to this list as needed to niche down on your audience research.

3. The Holy Grail of Research for Crowdfunding Campaign is the Product Identity Sheet  

Ahh. The product sheet.

It’s a 30-page long document that we send out to clients to fill up.

It has everything you’d need to design a campaign:

• Value proposition
• Features of the product
• What makes it unique
• Top competitors
• Top dream audience
• Pricing justification

…and a whole lot more.

Some key questions that the worksheet should answer:

Identity: Who Are You?

• How do you stand out? Describe yourself in 1-2 sentences.
• How do you use the product? (How does it work – step by step)
• What industry are you in?

Performance: What Value Does Your Product Provide?

• What are your product’s key features?
• What value does your product provide?
• What problem do you solve and how do you solve this problem?
• How is your product solving the problem better than the competition?
• Who are your competitors & what are their price points?
• How affordable is it compared to your competitors?

Imagery: What Imagery is Associated with Your Product?

• What are examples of visuals that could be used for creative inspiration (photos, videos, etc.)?

Judgements: What judgements may people have?

• What positive judgments will people have about your product?
• What negative judgements may people have about your product?
• What concerns, fears, or uncertainties may people have about you, the product, and/or the brand?
• Why should people trust you?

Feelings – What Feelings Do You Want to Convey?

• How do you want people to feel when experiencing your product?
• How do you not want people to feel when experiencing your product?
• What is the voice of your message? (As a friend, a teacher, a doctor, a professional, an expert — what type of language will we be using?)
• What is the tone of your message? (Funny, somber, optimistic, epic, intense, friendly, etc.)

Now whether it’s your staff, your contractors or even your agency managing your campaign, they’ll simply refer to this product sheet to stay grounded.

Remember, the more in-depth you can go with your research, the better you can target the right people to back your project.

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