You’ve probably heard the term crowdsourcing before but do you know what it is? Find out what crowdsourcing is and how it works.

What Is Crowdsourcing?

The word crowdsourcing is actually a combination of the words “crowd” and “outsourcing”. Utilizing the accessibility and transparency of communication on the internet, companies are looking to the public for advice and ideas for their businesses. This is such a simple idea that it works. Companies want to please their customers and so they’re reaching out to their customer bases to find out exactly what it is they want. Feedback can be on any area from advertising campaigns to product development. Crowdsourcing does not only gather information, companies can also use it to get actual services done such as graphic design or the creation of marketing campaigns. In the case of crowdsourcing for designs, groups of designers can each come up with a design for a firm such as a new logo. The firm then chooses the logo they would like from the entire batch of designers and compensates the designer of that logo.

If crowdsourcing is still a bit unclear, think of Wikipedia. Wikipedia works by having users contribute, source and edit information for them. This is one example of crowdsourcing.

What Are the Benefits?

You can receive feedback, advice, projects, services and ideas from the public regarding what they think should be done with your company or brand. You can pay for the advice you receive or the projects participants complete for your company. However, participants more often just want to be involved and receive some personal recognition.

The benefits of crowdsourcing may be compared to the benefits of the classic group brainstorming sessions in classrooms and workplaces. It works on the premise that something greater can come about when there are more ideas from different people rather than only ideas from one person or only a few people. One difference to note is that the groups of participants become even more diverse (age, location, work history, interests, etc.) with crowdsourcing providing an even richer opportunity to come up with something that maybe a room full of office creative professionals at the same firm may not have come up with.

Participants of crowdsourcing also benefit aside from personal recognition and/or financial gain. Crowdsourcing opportunities allow many participants to contribute work or ideas to firms that are highly coveted workplaces in their industries. For many participants, it offers a wonderful chance to be able to come aboard and work alongside the firm in some capacity – even if it’s remote work and only for one occasion.

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