Indiegogo's New Hub for Entrepreneurs Is an Important R…

Indiegogo announced last week it’s getting into the content marketing game. The crowdfunding site has launched an education center and experts directory specifically catered to entrepreneurs. Of course, the company isn’t alone in these efforts, but still there’s a savvy reason you should pay attention.

Indiegogo doesn’t just want entrepreneurs — it wants entrepreneurs before they have a business to promote or a product to sell. The project is an important reminder that content marketing, done right, can develop trust with a customer base before its members realize they are even potential clients.

Related: This Crowdfunding Category Will Blow Up in 2017, Says the CEO of Indiegogo

According to marketing firm Conductor, customers are 131 percent “more likely to buy from a brand immediately after they consume early-stage, educational content.” Its study also found users who read content trusted brands more. Companies that post at least 11 pieces of content a month also saw three times more traffic and four times more leads than those who didn’t, according to Hubspot.

Indiegogo’s articles aren’t intended as just a branding effort, sharing company info or staff stories, like the blogs produced by Kickstarter and Crowdfunder, two of Indiegogo’s main competitors. Instead, the articles on Indiegogo’s education center are designed to lead to more informed users and therefore more successful campaigns, thus boosting the platform’s bottom line.

“As more entrepreneur ideas are successful, more backers choose to be part of the Indiegogo community and more entrepreneurs choose Indiegogo as a platform because they see the the many ways Indiegogo can help them,” Indiegogo CEO David Mandelbrot told Entrepreneur. “We have learned that entrepreneurs launch their projects with the best of intentions but often can use expertise or partners at key points in their journeys to succeed.”

Related: Indiegogo Expanding Beyond Crowdfunding to Be a ‘Springboard’ for Entrepreneurs

As Entrepreneur contributor and marketer Sujan Patel pointed out, “The best way to create a loyal customer base is to educate them and help them solve their problems before they’re at the buying stage. You can do this by leveraging content marketing, curating great content on social media and having an email weekly newsletter.”

And if Mandelbrot gets his way, those entrepreneurs’ “journeys” will always involve Indiegogo, even after the projects are funded. An expansion last year hooked up users with an ecommerce platform and partners to help manufacture and ship products.