At the Coastal Shows event in New York City, I asked “Where are all the marketing people?” One or two people raised their hands, but not more.
Crowdfunding portals are not technology companies. No portal can succeed without great technology, but ultimately the success of the portal does not ultimately depend on its technology. Nor are portals venture capital companies, or real estate companies, or health care companies.
In my opinion Crowdfunding portals are ultimately marketing companies, in the same sense that Morgan Stanley is ultimately a marketing company. Like today’s investment banks, portals will compete for the best deals and, of course, for the eyes and checkbooks of millions of individual investors. It seems clear to me that while the technology and, to a large extent, even the expertise of the portal are commodities in the sense that they can be purchased, the ability to market effectively will tip the scales one way or another.
Beyond that, my experience suggests that the term “marketing” might be understood too narrowly in the Crowdfunding industry today. On one hand, of course marketing means reaching out to and attracting investors. On the other hand, marketing also means figuring out what investors want and tailoring the product(s) on the portal accordingly.
Why has marketing played such a small role in Crowdfunding so far? Maybe because the industry is so young. Maybe at the next conference the marketing sponsor will raise her hand and ask “Where are all the lawyers?”
Questions? Let me know.
Thanks for the post, Mark, I am a marketing professional involved in branding, promotion and driving traffic to Internet portals since I founded my company in 1997.
I attended the conference with a client who is about to launch a crowdfunding portal, and I too, was surprised at the lack of marketing discussion. Where were the case studies or information on branding and marketing strategies — both online and off? Where is the testing to see what works best? (Testing IS marketing.) How about the decision process involved in launching the right product with a well honed strategic marketing plan, to reach a well-researched target demo of investors online?
I would love to lead a panel at the next conference!
Thank you for bringing up the marketing topic. In my experience the best lawyers are also marketing savvy on behalf of their clients.
Karma Martell
KarmaCom Inc
@karmacom
Hi Mark, this is another well-written blog post. Participating in real estate crowdfunding marketing myself, I sense that it is a priority across most of the platforms. One may find that the teams are highly focused on direct engagement with investors and operators – by phone, webinars, survey, at REIAs and other intimate events – and so may not be as present at this conference, as there are a lot of conferences occurring now. Customer satisfaction and word of mouth will be key strategies for this market. Regards, Scott L.