Crowdfunding: psychological types of backers

Foreword

In this article, I will discuss in general some psychological types of people participating in crowdfunding (co-financing interesting projects on special sites). They will not write about crowdfunding - there were already many articles, for example this one . Let me just remind you that the term “Becker” means a person who invests his money in an as-yet non-existent project in order to support him and / or receive some bonus later: a copy of this product for free or at a significant discount, a copy of the product + prize, exclusive materials available only for backers or something else. Beckers are not co-founders, they do not receive shares or shares in the company. Due to the large number of backers, even with their small deposits (on average from $ 1 to $ 100, where the most popular payments are $ 20-25), companies raise funds for the development and / or manufacture of the product. The product can be different - a game, a book, a film, toothpicks, a screwdriver, a sound card, a monument in some place, or even a restaurant opening.

Basically, the purpose of this article is to help novice developers understand who they will have to deal with during their campaign on the crowdfunding platform. But even if you are simply interested in what crowdfunding is and why, why, and why people pay, what motivates them, giving their money to complete strangers - then this material will be interesting to you too.

So, Beckers are different. They differ in goals, interests, financial status (status), country, gender, and so on. But all of them can be roughly divided into certain psychological types. I do not divide these types according to taste preferences - they can include a variety of Beckers: interested in games or music, movies, gadgets or something else.

1. Random Beckers

These are the backers who accidentally stumbled upon a project while surfing. They liked the video or the product itself and they supported the project. These backers almost never write in the commentary to the project, do not discuss and do not give any feedback at all. However, it is wrong to think that they have invested money and forgot about the project - they follow it, read news and mailings. They can never be discounted, because if something goes wrong, they will be the first to lower their rates or take the money altogether. In addition, they are also quite able to participate in the final breakthrough (about this below, in paragraph 7), if the motivation for this is sufficiently high. In the future, random backers (if your news will be interesting) can turn into active backers or even evangelists.
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2. Active Backers

These backers are actively involved in supporting projects on their favorite site. They do not just happen to be in a particular project - they are looking for projects they are interested in and support them. For some backers, project support turns into excitement and in some way a contest with other active backers. Sometimes in different forums one can see complaints of over-active backers that they spent twice as much this month as they expected. This is true - for some people, backing becomes a real mania. This is a little-known, unusual and very interesting phenomenon. Active backers sometimes help spread information about a project, give feedback and then intensively communicate in project comments, helping the developer show all its advantages (and sometimes revealing the project’s weaknesses already at this stage, helping to improve the final product). Subsequently, active backers often become the core of a project’s community (if the project involves a community).

3. Evangelicals

If Becker could be canonized, then certainly this type of Becker should have been given a nimbus. These are not just active backers who financially support the project. Just their monetary contribution may be small, but it does not matter. It is these backers who help spread information about the project, ring up their friends and acquaintances, write e-mails to unfamiliar people in their contacts, ask Marcus Presson to tweet something good about the project or write to neogaf.com, where the authors of the game projects most likely do not have account. They can also help with translations into other languages, spelling and grammar checks, or find contacts with large specialized portals. I propose to rank them as saints because it is through such backers that projects collect the necessary sums, because very often indie teams for the entire campaign do not receive press coverage or don’t even have funds for a small advertisement or payment for PR services. And without this project, if it claims a more or less significant amount (at least more than $ 20,000), it does not collect: organic traffic on crowdfunding portals is extremely low and if the project is not something absolutely brilliant, then without evangelical backers or advertising, the chances tend to zero . Therefore, if you are the author of the project - love the evangelists, reward them, even if their cash contribution is only $ 1. They are the life energy of your project.

4. Crowdangles

Very rare people, the best way that I can describe as "Mini-business angels". But this is too long a name, so I called this type as I called it. Crowdangles are wealthy people who can support even a project that is not particularly interesting to them personally (rarely) and that they strongly support projects they like (the most common case). Their activities are of two types: support and insurance. The support is clear, the backers invest from $ 1,000 to $ 10,000 in the project and leave it there. Basically, they are not particularly interested in the breaks - they support the draft idea for the sake of, they can benefit. In rare cases, they are motivated by communication with the author of the project, but basically it only works if the author is a celebrity. Insurance is when such backers at the start of the project invest for example $ 10,000 and then, as the project gains momentum and the required amount, gradually reduce its rate (maybe even to zero). This is by no means due to the fact that the project has disliked them, no. They just have a certain amount for this kind of charity. And it helps a lot, because other people see that the project is already collecting a good amount and this motivates them further.

5. Microentrepreneurs

I wanted to call this type of backers speculators, but in our country this word has acquired a negative meaning, therefore I will call them microentrepreneurs (hereinafter referred to as MP). These bakers are basically for selfish purposes when they support the project. These are mainly projects in which the backers receive a copy of the product with a significant discount (up to 75% of the value that the product will receive after its sale, hitting the store shelves or online sales). MPs support the project, receive a copy of the goods and then resell it either for 100% or even higher. They work with such backers very simply: they make for them a reward for example $ 1,000, at which they will receive for example X10 copies of the product. Professional MPs, knowing the market and prices, may well invest $ 1,000 in order to earn $ 10,000 later. But here we must understand that the higher the risks of the project, the lower the chance that the MP will want to risk a large amount. Thus, the higher the risks - the lower should be the cost of a revolution and the fewer copies for it will be given. If a developer is confident in his product, he can make various revolutions, for example, $ 500 gives X4 copies, $ 1000 gives X10 copies, $ 2000 gives X25 copies (that is, the higher the risk, the greater the MP benefit). In essence, for the developer, this is a wholesale pre-order / pre-order model.

6. Collectors

These are the Beckers who collect physical revolution. They are somewhat similar to blood donors who donate blood and collect badges, ribbons and stripes. The reasons are certainly absolutely noble and disinterested, it is easy for many to receive material confirmation of accomplished good that makes this good even more pleasant. Thus, the collection backelers collect souvenirs that are almost always issued for certain revolutions. Someone can only collect T-shirts, someone - key rings or flash drives, someone doesn’t care what it is, if only there is a certain subject (for example, space or ecology). Someone can thus buy toys for their children: it is pleasant to the child, and the project benefits, and he himself received satisfaction from the created good (and bidirectional, both in relation to the authors of the project and to his beloved child!). The moral is simple: material revolutions are necessary and useful. Even if there are only a few percent of such backers in their project, this is plus a few percent of the amount collected. By the way, I can’t say the percentage ratio due to insufficient data - it may well be that for some projects the share of collectors may be ten or twenty percent (and more if it is for example a Pebble- type gadget).

7. Last Days Beckers

I especially like this name - it sounds sublime and mysterious, there are analogies with the sects of Jehovah's Witnesses or the Order of the Temple of the Sun. But in fact, these beckers have nothing in common with sectarianism. The bottom line is that these are the most impatient backers who want everything at once and preferably right now. Therefore, they do not support projects in the initial stages, so as not to exhaust themselves with a long wait for a month, or even two. Instead, they use the search functionality for the “soon-ending” projects. All projects fall under this heading, until the end of which 48-72 hours remain (depending on the site). Thus, this category of backers is looking for interesting projects that will end soon and where they can get something valuable or pleasant: a prize, a revolution, a copy of the game, a book, and so on. Mainly due to these backers in the last days of projects, there are sharp peaks of interest and financing, as in the very first days. But there are ideological beckers in this type. They are specifically looking for projects that do not quite reach the required amount and support them. Unfortunately, there are very few such people, but they are there - and for that, many thanks to them.

8. Doubters

These are Beckers who, in general, are not averse to supporting the project, but are not yet sure. On the one hand, they are interested in revolution or the project itself, on the other hand, something holds them back. There are two types of obstacles: uncertainty in crowdfunding as such, and something alarming them in the project itself. The first type of uncertainty is difficult to overcome, since the developer can be responsible only for his project, but not for the whole concept of crowdfunding. The author can slightly reduce this barrier by telling about how crowdfunding works in the video of the project or in its text description. The second barrier is something in the project itself. Very rarely, doubters write messages to the authors of the project, much more often they communicate on the project forum, if there is one. Therefore, such a forum must be in any project. Very often, doubters in the external forum are converted into random backers or even active ones, and conversion can occur without any action from the authors: the community that gathers around the project often dispels people’s doubts or answers their questions. In addition to feedback and conversion, the forum is also useful in that it unites and forms a community outside the crowdfunding platform. This is very useful in the future, after the fundraising campaign ends.

In addition, for doubters, you should think in advance about the plan for updates and news, which shows the development of the project and the ongoing work on it. Doubtful backers are often converted into random or even active ones if they see that the project is “living” and growing in front of their eyes. Speaking about the update plan, I note in passing that it is very important and contributes to keeping backers in the project, especially if the duration of the project exceeds 30 days. In more detail this moment I will consider in another article.

9. Claimants

These people are not Beckers chance that they will become your Becker, very little. However, they write letters of ultimatum, where they promise to support the project, if ... Each such Becker has his own "if": if if the main character is gay; if the statue is made not of cast iron, but of matches; if you are dancing in your next video on one leg and wearing a hard hat. Very rarely the requirements of such Becker match. However, if they coincide - and only if they coincide in large numbers - then this is a signal to the fact that you can really improve something in your project. In other cases, if you try to tailor your project to the individual requirements of individual backers, you will most likely end up with a product that is not conceived, but Frankenstein. The exception is the category of linuksoids (for software products, mainly games). This is a pretty strong and active type (at least on Kickstarter), which can really support your project well if you make support for Linux. If not, and you make the game, then you have to come to terms with the regular demands for Linux support and outrage about why you are not doing it. Summarizing this type: do not fall for the entreaties of individuals to change your project, but be aware of whether they express the general opinion of the audience.

10. Dogs in the hay

They are not Beckers, but they actively participate in crowdfunding outside these platforms - on forums, in groups and blogs. These people are engaged in a very important thing in their opinion: they preach the thesis that crowdfunding is evil and a scam. Not only do they not support the projects themselves, but they are doing everything possible so that the maximum number of people share their misconceptions. Sadly, such people have always been, are and will be and should be ready for confrontation with them. If such people appear in your groups or on your forums, I recommend to have enough information, facts and arguments in advance in order to reasonably and visually answer (and not allow converting doubters into dogs). In case your arguments are ignored - boldly reach the banhammer and use it for its intended purpose, block such pests. The main thing, in any case, do not descend to their level: remain polite and correct, even if you block this person for life.

11. Russian Beckers and Beckers of the CIS countries

Unfortunately, such people are units and domestic projects still have to rely on the support of compatriots. This is due to two reasons. The first - in our countries, as always, everything comes with a great delay. About what has practically become the norm and is warmly welcomed abroad, almost no one has heard from us (and this is not just crowdfunding, unfortunately). And everything new and unknown, as you know, is terrible and generally evil, from which we must keep away. The second reason is that in our country, as nowhere else, pyramids and other scammers are developed. People are not protected from such schemes in any way, and those who are supposed to protect us from such organizations do not seem to give a damn (as evidenced by the recent experience of MMM-2011). This makes it extremely difficult and slows down the development of a crowdfunding culture in our homeland. But despite these difficulties, crowdfunding portals are starting to appear here - for example, planeta.ru and boomstarter.ru. Personally, they are interesting to me because their creators plan to shape the culture of domestic crowdfunding. And this is valuable: after all, without such preparatory work, neither they nor the authors of the projects of serious means. Accordingly, domestic developers will look for happiness on foreign sites. But they only know about crowdfunding in Russia only when a miracle happens, similar to Double Fine Adventure in a gaming niche or something like Diaspora (at one time, the leader in collections on Kickstarter, the first to receive $ 200,000).

Let us believe that such a day will come with us. A fairly actively developing Russian group on Kickstarter on Facebook has now been created, which may partially contribute to improving the situation in our country, but it’s still very far from something serious. Nevertheless, (relatively) domestic projects appear - for example, quite recently a rather interesting project " Megarunner " was published on a new (unfortunately foreign) site lab.gamesplanet , completely dedicated to video game crowdfunding. Surprisingly, she already shows herself quite well and the first project has already collected € 53,000 (by the way, I am very happy for compatriots and colleagues, although I have never had a chance to deal with this team before). There, just recently, another project was launched (but not domestic) - Day One , which also shows good growth. And of course al-Skyjacker shows good results and seems to collect (albeit from the second attempt, after the cancellation of the first unsuccessfully positioned campaign ) the necessary amount - with all my heart I wish the guys good luck and success!

13. Antibeckers

This is the most unpleasant type of backers for the authors - pests. Therefore, his number is not 12, as he should have been, but immediately 13. They deposit the minimum amount (usually $ 1) with one goal: to troll in the comments to the project. There are people who move in such a way on different projects with the sole purpose: to cause them maximum damage, instill in Beckers uncertainty and doubt. If you have got such a parasite, then in no case should you enter into polemics with it, try to explain something or convince it, because disputes with trolls and / or spammers can lead to blocking your account and canceling the entire project, like it happened for example here . Instead, write a letter to the platform’s management asking them to cancel the payment of this troll and block its access to your project. And in no case do not give in to provocations: as soon as you suspect that this is a troll, make one warning to this person and, if this did not help, immediately ask the administration for help. Fortunately, there are very few such people and I sincerely hope that they will not meet on your way.

Afterword

This article was the result of a study of various crowdfunding sites, mainly kickstarter.com , during the preparation of our project “ Divine Space ” for placement there (I will not give you the link to avoid misunderstandings - whoever is interested will find it). I described only those types of backers that I encountered and communicated personally. It is likely that in addition to the types I have listed there are others who have managed to avoid my attention. Your observations are welcome (it is possible in a personal, if for some reason you do not want to comment here).

I planned to do the next article on crowdfunding in live mode, when we launch our project on kickstarter and I can share information about how we prepared, what we did, why and why, and also our observations directly from the “battlefield”. It should be interesting - there are already a lot of interesting things, what I really want to share, many new observations, notes and tips.