Are you ready to turn your idea into reality with a crowdfunding campaign? With preparation and the right strategies, you can bring your idea to life. We want every entrepreneur and every idea on Indiegogo to flourish, so we asked 8 crowdfunding experts for their single best crowdfunding tip to reach success.

Here are 8 best practices from crowdfunding experts to help you with your campaign.

“I like to think of creating a crowdfunding campaign as building a rocket. The fate of the campaign is mostly determined by the work you do before you launch, especially in terms of marketing, and your ability to influence the outcome after you launch is limited. It is not worth doing the campaign at all if you are not going to do it right, because anything less just won’t work. Take the time to build a good lead list and generate buzz in your network , and make sure each of the components of the campaign, the video in particular, are executed with excellence.”

– Christopher Hawker, Trident Design

“There are a few similarities that stand out in ALL of the $1,000,000+ campaigns we’ve worked with: Quality Assets (photos/videos), Working Prototype & Time (30-60 days). The better your preparation (assets + prototype), the more money you raise as you now have the initial tools and time needed to set up a process that has raised countless millions since 2010.

Too many times I’ve seen prospective clients rush to launch their crowdfunding campaign with what could be a great product/idea; however, they fail miserably due to rushing the process when they were not ready. There is a direct correlation of time for preparation of launch, then the time gap from funding close til delivery to backers, and the overall funding amount you raise.”

– Chris Olenik, Agency 2.0

“Offer more valuable perks at “below MSRP” prices. Every creator thinks they need more traffic. More “eyeballs.” But the truth is, most campaigns end up with enough traffic, but poor conversion. Crowdfunding campaigns that fail do so because of a lack of conversion, not a lack of traffic. To increase conversion, craft and offer valuable perks and reward levels at “below MSRP” prices.

The backer should feel like they’re getting a great deal, not like they’re overpaying to support you, the creator. Price your rewards “below MSRP” to account for fulfillment risk. Your backers are the people who are willing to pay you cash today for the promise of you and your team fulfilling your campaign at some point in the future. They’re not just backers, they’re your first, best customers. For that, they deserve a discount. “

– Clay Hebert, Crowdfunding Hacks

“The best way to secure media coverage for your Indiegogo campaign is to first identify what publications you want to be in. Then, use Google Custom Search to search those publications for your keywords. Once you have your journalists identified, use social media for ways to pitch them.”

– Eli Regalado, Mad Hatter Agency

“Knowing which journalist to reach out to, and how to do it, is key to securing press coverage. Find out who the best journalists in your field are and read everything they’ve written about your niche. What are they passionate about? What would they like to see done different?  What did they have to say about your competitors? Apply this to your campaign and your product.

When it comes to reaching out to these journalists, be clear and concise. You should be able to describe your product in a sentence no longer than a tweet. Explain why it’s different and why you think it’s worth writing about. Remember: Approaching journalists who aren’t interested is only going to hurt your campaign.”

– Michael Raven, Blazon PR

“Crowdfunding campaign managers should spend at least two months of prep work to build a solid foundation for their crowdfunding campaign. The 1st month should be focused on perfecting social media profiles and increasing followers on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. The 2nd month should be focused on issuing four press releases to generate news stories prior to a crowdfunding campaign’s launch. This will establish trust with solid social media credentials and generate hundreds of news stories to be Googled by potential buyers.”

– Robert Hoskins, Crowdfunding PR

“Have someone that is distanced from your campaign read and give you honest feedback. Better yet, find someone from your target audience to tell you if they would contribute and why or why not.”

– Ronjini Joshua, The Silver Telegram

“Crowdfunding comes down to developing relationships at scale. The single best question to ask yourself of your video, marketing, website, and press release mentions is “What emotion does this evoke in the reader or the viewer?” Do they feel excited, amazed, or touched? We buy into the vision of individuals that we feel we know, like, and trust. We buy products that we’re genuinely excited about.”

– Salvador Briggman, CrowdCrux

Though each of these experts shared tips on different aspects of crowdfunding, it’s clear that you must spend adequate time preparing for your campaign with research and outreach to the appropriate influencers on social media and in press. Asking people in your target demographic for honest feedback and incentivizing your early support network with specially priced perks will strengthen your community – a community that plays a key role in your success. How will you use these 8 tips to improve your campaign and reach your goal?

Reach out to these crowdfunding experts on Twitter to get the conversation started, and download our free Indiegogo Field Guide to prepare for your campaign.