Why Crowdfunding Site Patreon is Beneficial to Influencers & Content Creators

Among the many crowdfunding sites you will see in a search, Patreon is unique among them. Unlike Kickstarter, GoFundMe, or IndieGoGo, Patreon does not have project or campaign completion deadlines. In fact, I do not consider Patreon a crowdfunding site at all. Patreon is more like a VIP lounge for increased fan base engagement. Patrons pledge to help their favorite creators create content and those creators offer increased engagement based on the amount given.

As you can see in the photo above, Creators on Patreon can offer donors or Patrons the ability to pledge money per content release, or per month, or a mixture of the two. Let’s say you like a creator and pledge $50 per content release. You can limit it to what you are willing to give per month total. That saves your wallet if one month that creator goes wild with content release.

How it works: The creator creates a profile and offers set levels of pledging, usually ranging from $5 to $200 per release or per month. Each tier of pledging offers rewards (increased fan engagement) based on the amount. The higher the pledge the bigger the engagement. Fans pledge to their amounts and the creator submits content for Patreon to collect the pledges once a month.

Case Study: Peter Hollens, Acappella YouTube Artist

Peter Hollens is one of the first creators on Patreon and is an astounding acapella singer. As you can see above, he is raising $12,406 per music video from 3,532 patrons gathered which is an average of $3.52 per video per pledge. Now, this has grown for a few years and should not be expected overnight. On the left side you can see that Peter has stated goals for production that he wishes to attain at set income amounts. On the right is the patronage tier descriptions, starting at just $1 per video. Patrons don’t need to break the bank to be a part of this. The tier rewards range from exclusive newsfeed access to patron only discounts, pre-release sales, and even video chat sessions.

How Can Influencers & Other Content Creators Harness Patreon?

To be specific, an influencer is someone with a large (usually 10K or more) unique fan base on social media. The reason this number is so high is that brands want results. The larger the base, the more likely someone from that base will buy their product via the influencer. Patreon would be best used as a tool to stabilize income between brand payoffs, and to incentivize the fan base to become actively engaged with the influencer. I will use another case study of someone who has the potential of using Patreon in this way, Snapchat heavyweight OperAmericano.

Case Study: OperAmericano on Snapchat

CJ OperAmericano is a dynamic young content creator on the Snapchat app. She is an amazing storyteller who has worked with over a dozen brands. I would not be surprised to grace the 30 under 30 list in the future. I had the opportunity to meet with her last week and discuss how Patreon could supplement her income between brand campaign payoffs.

As an influencer, there are many ways that she could increase fans through Patreon:

Specialized Content

Content developed just for patrons would be posted to her Patron-only newsfeed. These could include behind the scenes access to the making of her content or events she is attending. Having access to exclusive content increases the value of being a patron and increased the likelihood of patron participation in the brand campaign.

Increased Social Media Integration

Patrons who pledge a higher level could be rewarded with a follow back, or shout out on various social media platforms. This increases visibility to both creator and patron. In terms of analytics, follow backs of higher level patrons can show the influencer and the brands who follow them trends of the heavier invested fan base — those more likely to spend on a brand campaign.

Sharing Patron Content

Influencers have many fans, and some of those fans make tribute art. Offering Patrons to share their fan art is another option.

Patrons Participation

Patrons love to be a part of the action. By asking for content ideas or requests, the Influencer can create content tailored to patrons, by patrons. Some Creators even offer patron suggested content after pledge duration of a year, to ensure 12 months of pledging, usually at a top tier pledge.

Direct Contact

Top tier patrons get the opportunity to directly interact with the Influencer. This can be accomplished via Skype, Zoom, or other livestream platform in a group setting or one on one. This is the VIP of the VIP access, reserved for those who pledge the most.

Back To OperAmericano

OperAmericano has roughly 20K Snapchat fans. She creates her Patreon Creator Page and announces it, and all of the benefits from the various tiers. Based on a response rate of a single percent, that is 200 patrons. Let’s say she makes participatory content creation a reward for $10 a month. Patrons sign up for that, she makes just under $2,000 for making that participatory content. Should she change it to per release, well, you get the point. Obviously not all patrons pledge the same amount. Some pledge less, some pledge more. depending on her goals, OperAmericano can make $200 and up per release or per month for putting out specified content.

Where Can I Become A Creator & Do You Work For Patreon?

Go to www.patreon.com to learn about becoming a creator. I do not work nor am officially affiliated with Patreon or either case study subject mentioned in this article. I just love the platform and opportunities it represents. I will not make a single penny since there is no affiliate link being shared.