Tue, Nov 18, 2014
In this series of posts I want to talk about the business model challenges that I have been/am currently working through with the development of Taskfundr.
If you haven't read some of the articles in this series then it is definitely worth taking a look to set some background for this article. Today I am going to look at the importance of building in an ROI for Taskfunders in the platform.
I'm pretty certain that using the Campaign Designer the platform now makes balancing the needs of Campaign Owners against the needs of the Angels but the final crucial ingredient is the needs of everybody else - the Taskfunders. That is why this post is standalone.
Obviously for any campaign to be a success it is critical that engagement is high and the only way to get great engagement is to ensure that there is a lot of reward for the end user.
Taking a look at the other current existing forms of crowdfunding (primarily reward based and equity based), they each offer something back (although not always as obvious as you may think with reward based platforms). Equity is pretty self-explanatory and is very specific. Rewards platforms on the other hand offer rewards in lots off ways, which is very closely related to the needs of taskfunding users.
We have multiple use cases running from anything such as raising money for charity, altruistic Angels giving money without returns to a full blown marketing campaign where ROI for all parties is essential.
So integrating a rewards mechanism is interesting and will take some commonly used notions of crowdfunding rewards, but due to the marketing nature of the platform, it makes sense to also learn from platforms such as Groupon and look at fiscal incentives integration. Perhaps using 3rd party platforms or developing an in-house solution.
So what ideas are in the pipeline right now?
Coupons / discount codes
A very straight forward reward mechanism, that can be built either as an integrated part of the platform or use a 3rd party platform. We are going to introduce webhooks and API integrations so this would function really well as part of that system.
Rare rewards
From my experience of building online games, one of the most simple and successful triggers for users is the ability to unlock rare rewards. These could be things like behind-the-scenes film footage, out-takes from an album recording, limited-edition product versions etc.
Bespoke rewards
Typically, good reward based crowdfunding campaigns offer interesting rewards. Sometimes these are physical products, but often they can be fun e.g. get your name listed in a film's credits, have your selfie taken from space etc. These could be based either on the completion of an individual task or full completion of a campaign.
Reward points
Each time you complete a task on the platform then you will accrue points based on the work you have done. We can then look at partnering with other companies to offer rewards based on these points. Think of it like a loyalty card system.
Feel-good rewards
This idea is simply offering some kind of feel-good reward, whether it may be a funny bit of video, an animated gif, physical treats like sweets in a shop for instance.
More ideas will surely come
So for now these concepts have been devised to help plan the simplest structure, but in terms of actual rewards this will be the most interesting area to watch as it can only be bound by the realms of creativity! Watch this space.
Until next time! …
If you are interested in any of the ideas that I have talked about or want to get in touch about helping, launching a campaign etc then send me a tweet @jimhilluk.