What I’ve Learned About Running a Successful Kickstarter Campaign
In April 2013 I managed a successful Kickstarter campaign for the pilot episode of my webseries, Basic Adventuring 101. We raised over $6500, exceeding our goal in only 27 days. There are few lessons from last year I will be remembering and using again.
1. Plan in advance. 
Do NOT go into a Kickstarter campaign without first creating a plan. You need to know what it is you’re selling, why people should care, and how you plan on marketing the entire thing. Rewards need to be decided upon and properly budgeted, and you need to come up with a goal amount that will cover your necessary costs for your project, the costs associated with the rewards, AND the fees to Kickstarter and Amazon payments.
2. Create an amazing video.
As part of your campaign, you need to spend a lot of time on your video pitch. Make it good. Redo it if you’re unsure of its quality. THIS is what people will rely on to decide if they want to support your project…especially if you’re doing something video related. You need to prove to your audience that you have what it takes to actually accomplish your project. They need to trust you by fully understanding what your project is, what the process will be to finish it, and how their support will be important. Also be sure not to use words that make it sound like their pledge is charity. Kickstarter and Indiegogo ARE NOT CHARITY SITES. There are other crowdsources for that. Use words like “pledge” and “support,” but do not use words like “help” and “donate.”
3. Put a lot of thought into your rewards.
Give your backers rewards that make them feel like they’re actually getting something out of supporting you. Pick things that are related to your project, that you can feasibly create and distribute, and that won’t kill your budget. Also try to limit the amount of pledging tiers to no more than 5-7. Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS) applies. Don’t ever make me think as a backer. Give it to me quick, simple, and with little thinking as possible. Otherwise you risk losing them altogether.
4. The middle is going to be hard.
In the middle of your campaign you aren’t going to get a lot of pledges. That’s just the way it is. If you can manage to get at least a 25-30% of it funded in the first few days, statistically you’ll be fine. Most of the funding comes at the beginning and the end of a campaign. So, plan a lot of your marketing for this slow middle period to keep pushing the pledges. Offer incentives (stretch goals) for reaching 50% of your funding half way through the campaign. Get out there talking on podcasts or vlogs or blogging sites. Keep updating your current backers and reaching out to people on Facebook. Most of your pledges are going to come from friends of your friends (usually NOT your close friends or family)—who only find out about this through your friends who need to start sharing your project in the first place. Keep pushing. It may start to look bleak, but this is the time to work harder. (Also…consider hosting a campaign no more than 30 days. You’re likely not to gain any more pledges than you would from one month because of this middle stretch of “nothingness.”)
5. It’s personal.
Update your backers and be open about things with them. People want to be part of something, and by keeping people “in the loop,” you are including them. Update frequently (at least once a week) through the campaign, letting people know how things are going and what you’ve been working on in the meantime related to the project. When the project is funded, be certain to continue doing the same. Kickstarter allows you to update people—sending emails directly to all your backers!—and you should take advantage of it.
If you are planning to run your own Kickstarter campaign, consider contacting Cake Golem Productions to assist you in the planning and management. It’s always easier having someone experienced along for the exhausting ride that is crowdfunding–and it’s something I love doing. Contact me for a free 1-hour consultation, and we can talk about ways to make sure you get the money you need to do what you love.