One of the more recent trends in Internet marketing is the use of crowdsourcing Crowdsourcing" is a term that didn't even exist prior to 2006. It refers to the practice of outsourcing work to a crowd of individuals. Instead of hiring one person or one firm, you solicit help from the collective online social sphere. 
How Crowdsourcing Works
For example, if you were wanting to redesign your company logo, you might post a description of what you are looking for online and ask for people to submit new designs, with the promise that you will choose the best submission and pay the designer a certain sum for their work. You might even turn it into a public contest, with the crowd at large voting to choose the winning design.
It doesn't have to be quite that complex, though. Asking for suggestions or feedback from your Facebook followers would technically count as crowdsourcingideas. Asking for people to guest blog for your site serves as a way to crowdsource content. Sites such as Fiverr.com are also generally considered to be crowdsourcing sites, even though they involve contracting with just one person out of the crowd.
Benefits of Crowdsourcing
Other than the fact that the Internet and social media have made the practice much more feasible, there are several reasons why crowdsourcing has grown in popularity in recent years.
- More options to choose from. By getting multiple people to submit ideas, designs or content, you get a wider range of options to consider and can choose the best of the bunch.
- Out-of-the-box thinking. Because you are soliciting from multiple outside sources, you are likely to get a wider range of ideas or approaches. This can keep you from getting stuck in a rut, and open up whole new avenues that you might otherwise have never thought about.
- The wisdom of the crowd. When you let the crowd help you decide on a course of action, you can be more certain that their choice will resonate with the general public. It is similar to A/B testing: perhaps Option A looks best to you, but if Option B looks better to your target market, you'll get a better response by going with the crowd.
- More online engagement. The very act of crowdsourcing helps get your name out there, and if you allow the crowd to vote on the submissions, you can get many more people involved and expand your reach. Even if your crowdsourcing contest doesn't go viral, you will still end up with more social media engagement.
- Cost-effectiveness. Results may vary, but crowdsourcing can often be cheaper than hiring someone specifically to do the work.
- Auditioning new employees or suppliers. Crowdsourcing one project can serve as a way to find and evaluate potential new hires. Find someone you like, and you may choose to have them become your primary source for content.
Disadvantages of Crowdsourcing
That doesn't mean that crowdsourcing is necessarily the solution to all your problems. There are some potential disadvantages to be aware of, and work to avoid.
- Less quality control. In the classic example of having a contest and letting the crowd pick a winner, there is always a chance that you won't like the winning entry. Perhaps you get very few entries, for example, or have someone successfully manipulate the voting. Remember that some people like to vote for the worst just to be funny.
- Logistics. Overseeing a crowdsourcing campaign requires time and work. There are crowdsourcing platforms that make it easier, but you will still have to set up and manage the process.
- Copyrights. If you don't plan ahead and set the right terms and conditions, you may find yourself with the perfect new marketing design--which is owned by a creator who won't let you use it without paying an exorbitant sum.
- Negative perception. Some people in the creative community frown upon crowdsourcing. They feel that it often takes advantage of designers or content producers, since many people end up doing work which is not selected and therefore not paid for. This also means that many of the more successful (and presumably better) freelancers do not bother with crowdsourcing opportunities.
Crowdsourcing can be a useful model in some situations, and can provide many benefits when managed correctly. If you are looking for new content, new ideas or a new design, perhaps you should consider joining the crowd.
*Image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net
