10 Proven Kickstarter Tips to Make Your Project Successful

Key Concepts

Crowdfunding Success Factors: Offer structure and effective marketing are crucial.
Reward Tiers: Multiple reward options and collections (add-ons, stretch goals, etc.) are vital for creating urgency and increasing order value.
Visuals: High-quality graphics, GIFs, icons, and video are more impactful than text-heavy descriptions.
Preparation: Months of pre-launch work, including email list building and social media engagement, are key to a strong start.
Personal Connection: The creator's story and values are as important as the product itself for building trust.
Momentum: Building and maintaining momentum through stretch goals, updates, and post-campaign strategies is essential.
Social Proof: Media mentions, follower counts, and testimonials attract backers and improve conversion rates.
Tools and Technology: Leveraging software for landing pages, email marketing, and social media automation is critical.
Media Hits: A single successful media mention can significantly boost credibility and traffic.
Logistics and Shipping: Proper planning and execution of fulfillment are vital to avoid financial losses.
Teamwork: Recognizing strengths and weaknesses and collaborating with vendors and partners is crucial for success.

1. Offer Structure and Marketing: The Pillars of Crowdfunding Success

The video emphasizes that a successful Kickstarter campaign hinges on two primary components: the structure of the offer presented to the crowd and the effectiveness of the marketing employed. These elements are presented as having a massive impact on whether a campaign rallies support, leading to success or failure.

2. Ten Proven Tips for Crowdfunding Success

The core of the video outlines ten actionable tips for beginners and experienced crowdfunders alike, aimed at increasing funding, attracting backers quickly, and building campaign momentum.

Tip 1: Multiple Reward Tiers and Collections

Key Point: Successful projects rarely rely on a single reward.
Details: Campaigns should offer a variety of reward tiers, including collections of rewards. This encompasses elements like add-ons, stretch goals, late pledges, and secret perks.
Purpose: To create urgency for initial backers, maintain momentum, and implement a "value ladder" that encourages backing higher-end rewards, thereby increasing the overall order value.

Tip 2: Visuals Over Words

Key Point: Successful campaigns are built on strong visual components, not just text.
Details: This includes high-end graphics, GIFs, icons, feature callouts, and compelling video footage. Visuals are crucial for campaign pages, reward descriptions, and thumbnails.
Impact: The difference between low five-figure and six-figure+ campaigns is often attributed to superior visuals.
Action: Creators must showcase their product in action, highlighting its features, functions, and materials.

Tip 3: Preparation is Paramount

Key Point: Success is often engineered in the preparation phase before launch day.
Details: Mega campaigns typically spend months perfecting their launch by building email lists, developing social media profiles, testing marketing angles, and creating "coming soon" pages.
Framework: This pre-launch effort aims to engineer success and generate momentum from the outset. The speaker references his book, "The Kickstarter Launch Formula," for a detailed approach.

Tip 4: The Creator's Story Matters

Key Point: The person behind the product is as important as the product itself.
Distinction: Unlike e-commerce platforms like Amazon or Shopify, Kickstarter backers are investing in a person and their vision.
Action: Creators must share their story, values, and the "why" behind their project. Providing a "bite-size idea" of who they are builds trust, which is essential for backers to make a commitment.

Tip 5: Momentum is Currency

Key Point: Momentum is a critical currency in crowdfunding.
Methods for Building Momentum: Stretch goals, updates, live streams, releasing new reward tiers, celebrating milestones, and leveraging media reviews or tutorials.
Analogy: Momentum is likened to a fire that can be amplified with "gasoline."
Maintenance: Strategies for maintaining momentum include late pledges, migrating to platforms like Indiegogo InDemand, and setting up Shopify stores for pre-orders.

Tip 6: No One Wants to Be First (Social Proof)

Key Point: People are hesitant to be the first to back a project; they prefer to join a crowd.
Concept: "Nothing sells a crowd like a crowd."
Application: Building social proof into campaigns is essential. This can be achieved through:
- Media Logos: Displaying logos of publications that have featured the project.
- Follower Counts: Highlighting the size of the creator's audience.
- Testimonials: Showcasing positive feedback from early testers or users.
Benefits: Social proof attracts more backers and improves conversion rates on the campaign page.

Tip 7: Leverage Tools and Technology

Key Point: Winners use the right tools to achieve success and stay ahead.
Examples of Tools:
- Landing Page Builders: Leadpages, website builders for creating "coming soon" pages.
- Email Marketing Software: For mass emails, tracking open rates, and click-through rates.
- Social Media Automation Tools: To streamline social media management.
Importance: Tools are presented as friends that help in achieving mega crowdfunding campaign launches.

Tip 8: The Power of a Media Hit

Key Point: A single successful media mention can dramatically alter a campaign's trajectory.
Types of Media Hits: Traditional (journalists, bloggers) and new-age (micro-influencers on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube).
Benefits: A media hit provides credibility and a significant influx of traffic to the campaign page.
Personal Experience: The speaker shares his own experience with media features in publications like The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Forbes.

Tip 9: Logistics and Shipping Expertise

Key Point: Shipping mistakes can ruin even successful campaigns.
Challenges: Figuring out shipping and logistics, especially for first-time creators, and accurately pricing products can be difficult.
Solution: Partnering with Third-Party Logistics (3PL) providers like Fulfillrite is recommended for handling fulfillment and shipping.
Considerations: Creators need to be aware of shipping cost calculation methods, whether shipping is collected after the campaign or on the product page, and other potential collection methods.

Tip 10: Crowdfunding is a Team Sport

Key Point: Successful crowdfunding requires collaboration, not going it alone.
Team Members: This includes the crowd, social media networks, vendors, and partners.
Strategy: Creators should identify their strengths and weaknesses and strategically fill those gaps by working with others.
Examples of Support: Artwork, pitch video creation, driving traffic, and marketing.
Perspective: Every successful founder, regardless of age or experience, emphasizes the importance of understanding one's limitations and building a supportive team.

Fulfillrite: A Turnkey Solution for Reward Fulfillment

The video briefly highlights Fulfillrite as a solution to take the stress out of fulfilling Kickstarter rewards. They offer services for storing, packaging, and shipping products, allowing creators to focus on business growth. A call to action is provided for a custom quote.

Free Course and Coaching Opportunities

Free Course: Salvador Brigman offers a free course at crowdcrux.com/kickstarter that guides users through launching a successful Kickstarter campaign with tools, tricks, and tactics.
One-on-One Coaching: He also offers individual coaching calls at crowdcrux.com/coaching for creators needing tailored guidance through the launch process.

Conclusion and Call to Action

The speaker concludes by reiterating the value of creativity and invention in enriching the world. He encourages viewers to like the video, subscribe to the channel for more content, and check the description for additional resources. He signs off as Salvador Brigman.