Are you looking for new and exciting ways to amplify your campaign and the perks you offer? If you want to motivate more backers to share your project and incentivize people to contribute, try running a contest! Contests are an incredibly powerful tool used to generate buzz and awareness of your campaign. Campaigners on Indiegogo usually have the most success with referral contests, where backers refer their friends and their network to your project. Your job is to create incentives for them to do so while also tracking the results.

Campaigns tend to have the most success with referral contests when they’re halfway through their campaign or when 60% of the funding goal has been reached. This way, you already have a contributor base to activate and engage, and the contest can act as the final boost to get your campaign to goal. A referral contest can reward the backer who refers people (the referrer) in different ways. Sometimes, they reward the ‘top’ referrer who brings in the most additional contributors or the most overall funding.  

However, contests where many individual supporters are rewarded at different perk level thresholds, for sharing information and news about a campaign, tend to be more successful than contests that award only the top referrer with a single prize. When individuals feel that there are multiple chances to win, they are more likely to compete.
For an example of a great referral contest, look at the campaigners from Kite Shield:

Kite Shield sent an email to their existing backers, motivating them with a free perk. They followed up with clear instructions on how to refer friends:

They also included sample language for sharing on social media:

As you strategize your referral contest, remember these key tips:

Establish your goals: Have a clear idea of what you want to get out of this contest, whether it is new contributors, social engagement or simply creating early awareness at the onset of your campaign.

Use quality, engaging photos: As you incentivize more and more people to share, make sure that the photos they share show-off your product in a visually stunning way.

Have clear guidelines: It’s important to establish clear rules for your referral contest as well as a clear timeline specifying the start and end dates of the referral contest so there’s no question about which referral contributions do and do not count.

It’s all about the prize: Choose a prize that will incentivize backers and encourage them to spread the word about your product. Offer a chance to win one of your products and encourage the winner to share their feedback on social media.
Your ultimate goal is for your contest to be a mechanism to gain the attention, support, and awareness of new audience members and encourage them to follow your campaign progress, amplify your message and support your financial goals.

By running a contest that makes it easy and appealing for your prospective backers to engage with your campaign, you will both be winners!

Want to know more? Check out our Essential Guide for running a campaign.

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