How to leverage the power of Rewards

Learn to use Rewards to increase your project's success.

Introduction

As a Geyser project creator, one of the best tools you have to turn your campaign into a success is to offer Rewards. There will certainly be people who donate without wanting anything in return, but it does more good than harm to give back.

We all love receiving gifts, finding a great deal, or simply hearing a heartfelt thank you for something nice we've done. With Rewards, you can provide all this to your supporters in a way that saves time and increases your chances of success.

If you are looking for a practical guide on how to create and edit a Reward, click here

Projects that have used Rewards successfully

Peru's Bitcoin Revolution - A Kinetic Finance Doc

"A film exploring how Bitcoin is igniting a revolution in Peru, transforming isolated and dependent indigenous communities to architects of their own destiny."

Peru's Bitcoin Revolution has successfully used rewards by giving credit to the project's contributors within the documentary itself. A reward allowed contributors to have early access to the film and provide feedback as it was being made.

Blockhunters

"Blockhunters explains difficult bitcoin concepts in a fun way, bringing the orangepillling of friends and family to another level."

Blockhunters have created a unique product that can both entertain and educate. The rewards offer even includes a partnership with MiPrimerBitcoin!

The Maxis Club Show

"Animated Bitcoin sitcom inspired in Bitcoin memes, history and news. Season 1 : 8-10 chapters."

Maxis Club has created membership rewards that provide early access to content before release and an exclusive newsletter.

Rewards categories

Product or Prototype

Your contributors receive the end product that they supported. The goal is to offer a great deal and/or something exclusive, for example a limited-edition gaming pc, with 25% discount.

Rewards tag available:

• Gift

• Book

• Collectible

• Game

Involvement and Recognition

Donors can participate in your creative process or receive recognition for their donation. The goal is to make your contributors feel proud to be part of your community. Let them know that their words matter by, for example, letting them choose the name of a character.

Rewards categories available:

• Nostr Badge

• Membership

• Sponsorship

• Shout-out

Experience

The goal is to create great memories with your backers, for example by organizing some kind of cool activity, like a conference or other type of shared experience with your backers.

Rewards categories available:

• Ticket

• Course

• Service

• Raffle

Accessories and Enhancements

Contributors get great swag, gear, or additions to the core product. The goal is to capitalize on your brand image or add value to the main product. An example would be a custom t-shirt with your logo or an extra year of customer support.

Rewards categories available:

• Merch

• Service

With that premise out of the way, let's take a look at how to create the perfect Rewards for your community, step by step.

The process

Step 1: Know your community

Research who is most likely to support your project. Understand their values, demographics, and the rewards they might be most interested in.

Social media polls or surveys can be very useful for this.

Step 2: Brainstorm

Come up with 10 to 20 ideas for rewards that you think your community will love. No matter how crazy they may seem, at this stage we are going for quantity, not quality.

Need some reward ideas? Here are 96 of them.

Step 3: Test

First, eliminate reward ideas that are too crazy or impractical by doing a little manual selection.

Second, ask members of your community to pick the 4/5 most interesting rewards for them, and ask the reasons behind their choice. This help you better understand your community's wants and make your community feel more engaged in the creative process, giving them something to look forward to.

Step 4: Iterate

Based on the results of the previous step, design new rewards and modify current ones to best reflect your community's feedback.

After a few cycles, you'll have a much clearer picture of what makes your community tick and how to best serve them.

Now, it's time to cut everything that is non essential.

Step 5: Simplify, simplify, simplify

There's nothing worse than a potential contributor being confused by the complexity of your rewards, because confusion causes inaction. Also, a complex reward offering will make the fulfillment process more difficult.

At this stage, your job is to identify which rewards are essential to your offering, aligned with your community's expectations, and logistically possible for you to realize. Filter out everything else. Aim for 4 rewards, and no more than 6.

Step 6: Market each tier differently

A supporter who pledges $5 to your project has different motivations and expectations than someone who pledges $100.

That's why you should market each tier differently. The word you use, the message you convey, are fundamental in convincing the right people to buy the right rewards.

One useful strategy is to work backwards. Think about what is most important to your higher-tier backers. What aspects of your pitch should you modify or emphasize to appeal specifically to them?

We hope this guide helped you understand how to think about rewards and how to use them to increase the chances of success. If you find this guide helpful and valuable, you can give us value back by donating to the Geyser project