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Marketing for kickstarter: Kickstarter Marketing strategies to reach your finding goal

8 Kickstarter Marketing tips to reach your funding goal.

Crowdfunding is a great way to start a business.

It provides market research while increasing capital.

It allows you to maintain equity in your business since it does not require Angel investors or venture capital. Crowdfunding is online marketing at its best, connecting individuals with shared interests, needs, and beliefs.

However, most Kickstarter campaigns (about 66%) fail to meet the “all or nothing” standard required to raise funds from pledges.
Sometimes, it may be that the product does not generate interest.

But often, it is because the entrepreneurs in charge lack the marketing strategy to successfully launch their campaign.

Running a successful Kickstarter project will take a lot of your time and energy.

From developing a prototype to running a full marketing campaign.

Below are 8 Kickstarter marketing tips that will help your launch your campaign on Kickstarter or Indiegogo.


Kickstarter Marketing Tip #1: Product Analysis

Not every product is a good fit for crowdfunding.

Therefore, the first task is to determine if your product is appropriate for Crowdfunding.

Start by exploring the categories and history of other campaigns on Kickstarter.

Here you can see the types of products and concepts that have been successful.

Evaluate your product for innovation and interest.

Campaigns on Kickstarter work well with products that are a mix of standard everyday products with unique and innovative features.

Innovative products that identify a problem that requires a solution always have an opportunity on Kickstarter. The Fidget Cube took a fresh and positive look at the benefits of “fidgeting” at work and took advantage of the need that had no solution. Is there a story behind your product? Is it related to a sustainable society – with a reservoir of revenue you can tap into? Do you have a new approach to a problem? Will backers be eager to tell their friends about it? Be unique. If people can buy something similar at Walmart, you will not perform well with crowdfunding. Kickstarter is a place to develop innovative and unique products. At the same time, your product must be useful for a viable target audience. It should meet a glaring need for a specific community. Kickstarter is an excellent way to introduce a new product concept and get feedback on responses. However, if your idea is too unusual or has no practical use, it will be difficult to receive support from potential backers.

Kickstarter Marketing Tip #2: Target Innovative backers

Consider the type of client you will target on Kickstarter. To be successful, you must reach innovators and early adopters. These connect to the product adoption, the bell curve familiar for anyone who participated in a marketing class at college; it shows the cycle most products go through as consumers receive them. Profits are more significant when they jump to majority adoptions. But while drafting messages for your Kickstarter campaign, you must appeal to early innovators and adopters. In other words, this is not an “everyone is doing it” or “Get the world’s most popular” message in marketing. The mass market wants something successful. That’s proven and safe. Innovators want the fresh, new, interesting, and exciting. They love to be the first to use a new hot product. Kickstarter, by its very nature, targets early adoption. Create a message for your video and your campaign page to raise the interest of innovative consumers. The ultimate goal is to make the jump to majority adoptions.

Kickstarter Marketing Tip #3: Use your network & Crowdfunding communities

So you have a product you trust.

What is the first step in getting the word out?

Put yourself out there.

Start talking to your family, friends, and neighbors.

Access social media and share what you do.

Do not forget that your passion is the driving force behind your campaign.

You are not just selling everyday products.

You took a bold step in doing something creative and gutsy.

You’ll find that people you know will be supportive, even if they do not need your product.

Start reaching out to your network as you develop your prototype.

You want to have a large network by the time you’re ready to start your campaign.

The earlier you start spreading the word, the more contacts you’ll have in place when you need them.

Use social media to reach more Kickstarter backers

Social media marketing is a great way to reach more Kickstarter backers by making videos and posting updates often.

Get involved in the community to let them know what you’re doing and how they can help support your campaign.


• Make a video and video updates
• Post regularly and direct people to your Kickstarter page
• Get involved in the community


Kickstarter Marketing Tip #4: Influencer Marketing for Kickstarter and Indiegogo

Let’s say you designed a new kind of snowboard binding you want to fund on Kickstarter. You will want people in the snowboard industry to know about it. This does not happen by accident or chance. It happens only if you make an active effort and reach out to influencers and press in the industry you are targeting. Lots of footwork is required here. Research social media, blogs, and forums to find the right connections that can help you create awareness. You can try to connect to some big names in that field (our Snowboard binding project would like to get Shaun White’s support), but it’s often smaller, more dedicated groups that provide the best offer. Using Twitter is an excellent way to reach out to bloggers and journalists. Email owners of industrial sites to pitch a guest blog. Try targeting bloggers or reporters with experience in crowdfunding projects or who have written topics related to your product. Make a compelling presentation that describes why your campaign will make a great story for them. Start this process well before you launch your successful Kickstarter campaign. Ideally, you will get intense press coverage on the day of your launch. As you reach out, personalize your messages on both social media and emails. Avoid spamming. Some of your efforts will come out here; others will not. Remember that a strong influencer with the desired reach can make a big difference.


Why Use Influencer Marketing for Kickstarter and Indiegogo Campaigns?

There are several reasons why influencer marketing can be a great way to market your Kickstarter or Indiegogo campaign:

It will help you reach a larger audience than you could on your own.

When you partner with an influencer, you are able to tap into their large following and get your campaign in front of more people.

This can help increase traffic to your campaign page and ultimately lead to more backers.

It can give you credibility and social proof.

When an influencer promotes your campaign, it can give you instant credibility with their audience; you’re seen as credible by association.

Kickstarter Marketing Tip #5: Create Your Marketing Assets

Your marketing assets need to be on the ground before you begin, including:

• Social networking profiles: Create social media accounts for your business, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Snapchat. You want these to be created to start developing and maintaining contacts not only for financing but for your company once you start shipping.
• Website: Creating your website or landing page before or during your campaign has lots of benefits. This allows you to use all the traffic, links, and connection you make during the campaign as an asset after funding (Facebook pixels + e-mail signups). At least get a domain and fundamental designs ready. It will give you a great start when you are ready to move to production and shipping.
• Create a video: It’s the most effective way to tell your story. Look at other videos of Kickstarters and make sure you create your videos the right way (Peak Designs is a great example). Quality scripts that motivate people to commit are a critical factor in achieving your goal. During video planning, get product images and create the message you want to include on your site. Keep your benefits-focused and connected to the lifestyle of your audience.
  

With social media and website design, you are already gearing up for how to proceed after being funded. This positive approach tends to have a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Kickstarter Marketing Tip #6: Host an Event

A launch event is a great way to kick off your campaign with a bang. If you have an adequate local network, host an (informal) event in your area. You can also increase your audience by hosting a virtual event on Facebook. This is where your business starts to pay off by reaching out to influencers and growing your network. You can host the event for a few days and provide a special offer for early pledges. Create a hashtag for your product and event, and respond to people’s posts about your event on all social media channels, including Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat. Work on your social media presence. Start adding content, telling stories, and interacting with individuals and organizations that are relevant to your product idea.

Kickstarter Marketing Tip #7: Use a Landing Page & Paid Ads

One of the weaknesses of many Kickstarter campaigns is the use of paid media to scale their reach. Paid ads are a great way to drive traffic to your campaign but they can become complicated and expensive if you are not experienced in running paid ads.

Consider working with a professional crowdfunding marketing company.

Paid Media is the best way to expand your campaign opportunities based on demographics and interests.

You can use retargeting ads as timely reminders for individuals who visited your content.

Facebook Ads

Facebook Ads is a powerful tool to expand your audience using targeted demographic and psychographic data. For instance, if you are to sell a new type of cooking utensils, then market research suggests that your primary demographic target are women between the age of 35-50. You can set your campaign to appear on:

• Women aged 35-50 years in the Northeast United States.
• People whose interests and purchasing habits show they love cooking.
• People who already know Kickstarter and previously backed other Kickstarter creators.

  

Take note of the third item on the above list. When targeting people who are already pledged on Kickstarter, it reaches that all-important consumer cohort of early adopters. There is a substantial purchase demographic from these consumers, and those who have already supported Kickstarter are more likely to do it again. At the same time, be careful about getting so granular that your target audience is too small. If you do not get enough people, lack of interaction will hurt your relevancy score, thus, increasing the cost of your ads. Be prepared to test and tweak your targets to find a nice spot.

Retargeting & Email marketing

You can use Facebook and Google Ads retargeting campaigns to remind people about your project launch date on Kickstarter. As you approach certain timeframes before the campaign ends, your retargeting ads remind users who checked your products before that they can come back and pledge. Retargeting and reminder emails to people who have pledged and 48 hours before the end of your campaign, a quick reminder (automatically sent to people who clicked the “signup” button on your landing page) can give you a good final push.
 Generate more leads when running a Kickstarter with our proven retargeting system. We have a higher conversion rate than the average agency because we understand your audience, where they are in the buying cycle, and how to engage them through email marketing.

Kickstarter Marketing Tip # 8: Launch your Kickstarter with BackerGeek

There is so much more to a crowdfunding platform than merely uploading some content. For generating traffic and creating a buzz, a proper plan is required, and that’s where we step into the picture. We are a team of experienced digital marketing professionals who have individuals as well as established businesses find their feet in competitive industries. As a marketing agency, we understand the crowdfunding process completely and can help you get the traction that you want, whether you are looking to run a successful campaign on Kickstarter or Indiegogo. As we are a full-service crowdfunding agency, our services include social media campaigns, crowdfunding campaign PR, video creation, pre-launch campaigns, landing page design, paid ads, and crowdfunding/eCommerce consultation.

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