The Pledgecamp Platform: Part 2
Today we explore the tools available to creators launching a new campaign, and how we can save them money while making their lives easier.
New creators begin their journey with a few simple questions in an easy-to-follow format. Our Project Builder system will ask for the project name, type, and a few eligibility questions to get started.
Next, the creator will be at the main Project Builder screen which shows their current progress towards launching their campaign as well as resources to help them along if they ever feel stuck. The basic categories of information they need to fill out are:
- Basics
- Overview
- Rewards
- Timeline
- Account
With optional “FAQ” and “Bonuses” sections as well. We’ll now go through each of these sections in turn.
The Basics covers the high-level project information that will be the first thing potential backers will see. This includes the project title, short description, main project image, video, and more.
We also allow the user to set advanced settings such as the “Social Media Image”, or the marketing image they would like to appear when users copy the campaign URL into social media sites like Facebook and Reddit.
Another unique feature we offer (that Kickstarter does not have) is enabling referral links for visitors. This allows your visitors to refer their friends and earn payment in return for amplifying your campaign naturally.
To finish up the Basics, users will define their fundraising goal, the length of their campaign, optional Google Analytics pixel code, and whether or not they would like to raise post-campaign funding, i.e. accepting pre-orders. The Storefronts (covered in our previous post) are an easy way for creators to raise more funds without having to build their own e-commerce platforms, and just another smart feature that makes Pledgecamp unique.
The Overview is the main marketing story behind your campaign. This is where you describe to your future backers who you are, what you are offering, and why they should care. An easy drag-and-drop style design studio allows you to add pictures or videos along with text, charts, and lists with extensive formatting options. If you’ve ever used a blogging website (such as Medium), you’ll feel the same simplicity and flexibility that has made these websites such a success.
Another unique aspect of Pledgecamp is our heavy emphasis on guiding the user throughout the process in an unobtrusive way. If needed, we offer help articles and best practices every step of the way, right at the points where beginners often get stuck, instead of tucked away in some help center that people rarely see. In this case, the user can click on “Tips for writing your overview” and see a thorough guide, written by real crowdfunding creators who have ran successful projects in the past.
Now we arrive at the core offering of your campaign — your rewards. These are the products that will be shipped to your supporters in return for their contributions. As such, we make it easy to upload clear descriptions and images to put your products in the best light. In addition, we offer customization and shipping options exclusive to Pledgecamp which will allow you to better meet your customer’s needs and ultimately make more sales. Let’s explore that now.
Creating a new reward follows an easy step-by-step process like everything else on the platform, with assistance provided along the way. First, the basics such as title, image, price, delivery date, and quantity available (if limited) are filled out.
Next, optional variations on the product may be defined. This can be, for example, different colors of the same product, or different sizes, or perhaps different “trim” levels or material options. The point is, this flexibility will allow creators to offer more options to suit more potential customers, and thus increase their revenue.
To the backer, it will be as easy as choosing the product and selecting from a drop-down menu which variation they would like to purchase. This is a unique feature to Pledgecamp as opposed to Kickstarter, where creators must survey their backers and manually track which variations they would like or else create a new reward for every individual variation and clutter their project and even create confusion.
On Pledgecamp, Quantity and Bundle rules offer even more customization options that will set your project apart. These features are tried-and-true effective tools in E-commerce, familiar to anyone who’s used Amazon or ordered things online, yet they’ve been absent on crowdfunding platforms up to this point.
Quantity rules allow creators to offer discounts on shipping when multiple products are purchased in the same order. This is because consumers expect shipping costs to stay the same or increase only slightly when they purchase more items combined in the same package. These rules can be customized from one shipping destination to another. Just like the basic shipping rules, project creators can have control over exactly which countries they allow shipping to and what the different prices will be.
Bundle rules allow creators to offer custom pricing when customers order larger quantities of product. As opposed to simply saving on shipping costs by ordering more, this is a promotion to encourage more revenue per order. For example, they may offer a discount when someone orders 2, 4, or any custom number of products in the same order. The backend will automatically track the quantities in the shopping cart so the creator needs only to market these promotions and use them to generate more sales.
The Timeline section is critically important for both creators and for backers. This is where the creator defines the development timeline of the product and the final delivery date of the rewards to the backers. Creators are motivated to provide a realistic, well-prepared timeline because completing the project without refunding Backer Protection depends on it.
At the same time, a clear and well-prepared timeline will encourage potential buyers to trust the creator and ultimately put their money into the project. In addition to the presence of Backer Protection, a potential buyer will see that there is less risk investing in a project on Pledgecamp than other platforms, and this increased confidence will ultimately benefit the project creator. In crowdfunding, success comes down to the presence of trust.
Adding a new milestone is simple. The creator will define a date range and provide a description of what will be completed. This should be clear and easily provable, otherwise they will not be able to show the progress to backers and maintain their confidence. Examples of clear milestones could be the development of a new prototype, a new feature, or signing a deal with a manufacturer, or an early production run. These kinds of milestones are easy to demonstrate with an update that contains photo and video proof of the achievement. This way, backers can feel confident that the creator is keeping to the schedule and not vote to refund the Backer Protection.
For each milestone, the creator can also assign a percentage of Backer Protection to be unlocked. This amount should be calculated to be how much the creator needs to achieve that specific milestone. Otherwise, a request for too much money too early on may raise red flags with backers.
As the creator increases the percentage of funds to be held in Backer Protection, they will also notice that the platform fee decreases. This incentive structure rewards creators for offering more Backer Protection, which is a win for creators and win for backers. A trustworthy creator who keeps their promises will ultimately save money on fees (and create many happy backers) by launching on Pledgecamp.
The Account section concludes the main Project Builder with basic account information. Here, the creator will declare their personal and banking information so that they can receive their funds properly after their campaign. In addition, creators can perform “know your customer” (KYC) verification with our partner, Veriff. This service will verify a creator’s identification card and personal information so that backers can be confident that the person collecting funds is who they say they are.
Bonuses are a unique feature to Pledgecamp that will allow creators to harness the power of their communities with paid tasks. Such tasks could be providing product ideas, marketing translations, completing surveys, etc. The Bonuses interface allows the creators to post anything they can think of, review and approve (or reject) submissions, and easily complete payments.
Creating a bonus is easy and customizable. Creators define the task, any rules and restrictions, payment terms, and quantity limits. Once submitted, any user on the platform can attempt to perform the task and earn the bonus. When submitting, users can upload an image or document, add a message, or supply a link. After that, all that is left is for the creator to review and approve the submission, and the payment will be handled automatically. Our native token, PLG, makes it easy to reward users all over the world without currency conversion issues or high fees.
A final few tools provide more options for creators and wraps up the project setup phase. The FAQ section will allow creators to create a “Frequently Asked Questions” section separate from the main Overview section. They can continuously update this section after the project goes live and after the community continues to ask them new questions.
Creators can also add other users to the project as collaborators. These users can have different permissions (such as admins, editors, etc.) and allows different Pledgecamp users to work together on a single project.
Finally, the Preview feature allows the creator to launch a draft version of the page that they can share with others to get feedback or see how the finished project might look live. This preview page is not indexed by the platform and will not accept purchases from backers.
As the creator works on each section of the Project Builder, their progress will steadily climb towards 100% completed. When ready, all that’s left to do is hit the launch button and celebrate!
Final Thoughts
We hope you enjoyed this in-depth look at how creators can set up a crowdfunding project on Pledgecamp. Setting up a project the right way is one of the hardest roadblocks for crowdfunding creators, and as you’ve seen, the Pledgecamp platform makes it simple and fun with clear steps and educational guides.
In addition to making it easy, Pledgecamp makes it endlessly customizable. For beginner and advanced creators alike, Pledgecamp offers numerous new features that give options to customers and ultimately lead to greater sales and funding. These features are proven to work E-commerce tools that you won’t find on Kickstarter.
That’s it for this post! Last week, you saw how backers can navigate and use the platform, and now you’ve seen how creators will set up their new projects. Next, we’ll explore how creators can manage their live projects and extra features available to them that can help them grow their campaigns.
As a reminder, the demo site can be reached at demo.pledgecamp.com. Although the platform architecture and smart contract is complete, many features on the platform will be inaccessible or disabled to users until there are live projects on the platform. Creating a user account is encouraged of course, while trying the checkout process with a credit card will understandably not be enabled :)
Have a project you want to list? Contact us at hello@pledgecamp.com. For news and updates on when you can begin backing live projects, follow us on one of several options below.
Be sure to follow us here on Medium, as well as:
Twitter: twitter.com/pledgecamp
Telegram: t.me/pledgecamp
Facebook: facebook.com/pledgecamp
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Pledgecamp_Official/
Instagram: instagram.com/pledgecamp
Telegram (한국어): t.me/pledgecampkorea
Telegram ANN: t.me/pledgecamp_announcements
For more details about the Pledgecamp platform, refer to our white paper accessible at https://pledgecamp.com/whitepaper.
This post may contain forward-looking statements about the future functionality of the platform. The platform is currently in development, and we reserve the right to make changes to the design, names, or functionality of features in the interests of making the platform successful. For full risk factors, see white paper.
