Why do I need a crowdfunding video at all for my crowdfunding campaign?
And the truth is, you don’t.
Saying that, campaigns with a pitch video raise four times more funds than campaigns without one.
With crowdfunding, you’re essentially asking people to part with their hard-earned money for your idea.
Most crowdfunding campaigns begin because their vision is not something that’s been done before. For many, this can be hard to visualise. You’ve likely spent the last few years exploring, developing, and refining. You know your product or service inside out.
Help your audience get as excited about this launch as you. Holding back on video would be leaving out this predominantly preferred medium. Social video generates 1200% more shares than text and image content combined. This is how new ideas spread.
Let’s look into successful crowdfunded projects that placed video at the centre of their strategy.
Examples of top crowdfunding videos
1. The Everyday Backpack, Tote, and Sling
The video accompanying this campaign reflects exactly what the Everyday bag range has to offer – sleek, meticulous design, access and organisation. Designed from the ground up, the aim is to create both the best camera bags and the best everyday carry bag on the planet. Watching the video, the attention to detail is impressive. The video’s pace and transitions, along with a crisp, confident voiceover, give people the intrigue to watch until the end and decide whether this product is worth the investment. No less than 26,359 backers pledged $6,565,782 to help bring this project to life.
Duex
Duex is a brilliant example of a crowdfunding video done well. Their video is fresh, inspiring and exciting. What’s clear is that each new crowdfunded product is built from the ground up. Unlike Apple, which has incremental updates, Duex works hard to create truly innovative products.
When making a crowdfunding video, making backers feel like a part of the process is imperative. Duex wraps up their video with this closing call to action:
“Thank you backers for being a part of our team during the first and second product launches. Let’s do this again and make the Duex lite and the Duex Plus a reality”.
2. Pocket-Sized Reusable Cutlery & Chopsticks For On-The-Go
Pocket-Sized Reusable Cutlery & Chopsticks For On-The-Go is an Irish product that helps people help the environment with the world’s smallest cutlery set.
The video shows a story of an average Joe (or, in this case, John) who’s generally a good guy. However, before now he tended to use plastic cutlery when on the go. The premise of this video gives people the opportunity to “be a good person, and [show] you do give a fork”.
Differing from other sustainable pitch videos that lean more on the side of guilt – the tone here is chirpy and relaxed while also having a fast pace that keeps the viewer entertained.
So how well is this crowdfund doing?
At the time of writing this, the project has raised over €1.1 million, impressive for collapsible cutlery. However, the marketing is sleek, the message clear and the product fun and convenient.
3. You Died: The Dark Souls Companion
A hardcover book that raised over €125,000 in a kickstarter?
One of the most influential, enigmatic and best-loved video games in history, You Died: The Dark Souls Companion was ambitiously converted into book form in 2016. It paid off for the writers, award-winning journalists Keza MacDonald and Jason Killingsworth. However, when they wanted the book to be available in hardcover, their publishers nixed it on the grounds of profitability. MacDonald turned to Kickstarter and found over 1,600 backers for the deluxe edition.
The pitch video is exciting and alluring – every step of the detailed process is laid out for the viewers. In-game photographs included in the new edition pan across the screen as the author takes you through revisions and updates.
The approach to take on board here is to lean into details. Often those looking to fund your project will be interested and fairly knowledgeable in the subject. They’ll want the ins and outs and to be taken along on the journey.
4. Blasta Books
Blasta Books are changing how cookbooks are published to make more room at the table. This collectable series provides a more inclusive snapshot of Ireland’s modern and diverse food culture, from tacos to tapas, spice bags to sushi. They are little books with big voices.
The video accompanying this beautiful crowdfunding concept is filled with cooks excited to share their favourite recipes, whether their style originates from their culture or is something new and fresh to enjoy. This trailer has no shortage of gorgeous food shots, showcases the revolutionary idea and calls for potential backers to join them at the table to share the end result!
5. Bird Buddy: A Smart Bird Feeder
The Bird Buddy is a smart feeder that notifies you of feathered visitors, takes beautiful photos of them and organises them into a collection for you to enjoy. So how does one make a pitch video to capture the attention of avid bird watchers?
The video choice is of a timeless, even cinematic quality. Far more stylised than any video on this list– it takes you on the story of the narrator’s frustrated father who enjoys the birds but cannot capture them on his camera without startling his winged friends away. Many bird watchers share a similar annoyance, so when the narrator gifts her father the Bird Buddy, the solution is both obvious, joyous and effortless. This Slovenian project did phenomenally well, with 22,925 backers pledging €4,190,158 to help bring this project to life.
If you’re looking to create engaging video content for your crowdfunding project with a focus on compelling storytelling– your search has come to an end!
Find out about how we can help you win the hearts’ of backers by contacting us here at Videoworks.
