How to Make a Successful Crowdfunding Video

Author: Adam Laurie

A campaign video is the most important marketing tool you have in your marketing tool kit. Campaigns that get the video wrong often struggle to attract backers or investors and fail to raise the funding they require.

The following information will help you to plan your crowdfunding video and make sure you create a video that will appeal to your audience.

1. End Result - Formulate a clear picture of what you need your video to do and say.

  • Know you target audience.
  • Know what the video needs to explain
  • Know the result you want to achieve
  1. Carry Out Research - Research similar successful and unsuccessful campaigns. How have they approached their campaigns, what have they said, what features and benefits have explained? What visuals have they used and where did they set the video? Were they funny, serious etc?
  2. Show Personality - Backers like to know who they are supporting. Appearing in your campaign video is the best way to show your passion and expertise on your particular subject. Explain why you are running the campaign, the problem you are solving and build trust with your audience.
  3. Select Location - Your pitch story will make more sense if the visuals the viewer sees match the narrative they hear. The best crowdfunding videos set the scene and feature the product/service being used in an appropriate location and setting.
  • For example, your product is an A.I. hoover/floor cleaning robot. It would make sense to film in a nice looking family home where most people will use the product. Showing footage of someone using the product outside on a street pavement is not going to portray the correct message to the viewer.
  1. Stay On Brand - Select the right look and style which reflects your brand. Portray this in your video and across all of your campaign marketing. Think about who your target audience are and what will appeal to them. Doing this will help to build a relationship subconsciously with your audience and deter the audience you don’t want to attract. You should aim to WOW your audience and a strong brand look used consistently will make a big difference. A strong brand look gives the impression of a professional company. This will help build trust with your audience, which is vital when building your crowd.
  2. Hook & Engage Viewers - The best videos entertain and educate the viewer and keep them engaged until the end. This should be your goal. The campaign video is an ‘overview’ of your pitch - so you don’t need to cram all of the information about your pitch into the video. Showcase the main idea and the problem your product resolves then finish with a call to action.

Explain the issue people face and challenges they have, then introduce how your product will resolve their pain in the first 20 - 30 seconds of the video. The idea is to hook the viewer early on and to get them thinking emotively about your product/service.

Some points to cover for a winning crowdfunding video:

  • Explain the challenge people face
  • Introduce your solution
  • Explain the features of the solution and the benefits to the customer
  • Explain your personal story
  • Finish by asking the viewer to back you.

7. Length of Video - There really is no correct length for a video. You simply need to make the video as long as it needs to be to deliver the right amount of information that is going to help the viewer decide to back you. Some pitch videos are long at 5 or 6 minutes, some are short at 60 seconds or so, however most videos come in around 2 - 3 minutes long. The most important thing is to make sure the video has a good pace and is engaging. Cut out any points that aren’t really needed. If you waffle you’ll loose viewers and the idea is to keep them engaged until the end.

Tip - 150 words of script is about 1 minutes worth of voice over/narrative. A 450 word script equals a 3 minute video.

These points when implemented properly will help you to plan a successful crowdfunding video. If you are not experienced in creating videos then it will be a good idea to enlist the help of a crowdfunding video production company. Here’s to your success!

Wow Your Crowd are specialists in Crowdfunding Video Production that can take your product, service, or idea, and promote it to ensure that you get the backing that you need to launch your start-up business.