ORLANDO, Fla – With annual investments exceeding $34 billion, crowdfunded projects are expected to soon overtake venture capital as the top provider of startup funding. Some argue the market is saturated with campaigns on websites like Kickstarter, GoFundMe and Indiegogo, but there are still methods to achieve success in the crowdfunding arena. According to UCF Assistant Professor of Management Aaron McKenny, the secret lies in the pitch. McKenny co-authored a study that found solid connections between positive language in a crowdfunding campaign and higher profits. According to McKenny, including words like “optimistic” and “hopeful” in a pitch can help boost funding to a campaign.
“People are actually influenced by just your words.” McKenny said, “Taking a sample of crowdfunding campaigns, we find that positive language on its own is actually enough to influence funding.”
The study, which is published in the Journal of Business Venturing, examined 1,726 crowdfunding campaigns from Kickstarter and found positive psychological language combined with prior entrepreneurial experience provided the highest success rate for a campaign.
Check out more of McKenny’s research here.