You must’ve heard about Kickstarter, right? It is the #1 Crowdfunding Platform used by over 20 million users as of today. Over 195,000 projects have been funded since the beginning of their lifespan.
What about the unsuccessful funded projects? There have been over 300,000 projects that did not meet their funding goal. Yikes. But hey, a famous space scoundrel once said: “Never tell me the odds.”
It is possible to be part of the 40% of creators that crossed the finish line. Following basic strategies and invest excellent services such as targeted ads can take you to the finish line and beyond.
What do you need to start Marketing your Kickstarter?
1. Know Your Audience
2. Create Amazing Landing Pages
3. Plan Your Email Marketing
4. Create a Striking Kickstarter Page
5. Share Across Social Media Platforms
6. Use Targeted Ads
7. Influencer Marketing
This is by no means an exhaustive list. In fact, within these topics, you can branch out even further and explore a multitude of tools that you can use.
We won’t overwhelm you though. Let’s start with the basics.
1. Know Your Audience
Start doing research. Use your favorite search engine and learn as much as possible about the market that you’re getting into.
We’ll use Board Games as an example. After all, that’s what we’re passionate about.
Let’s say you want to sell an awesome board game that you came up with a year ago. You’ve already designed it, tested it, and tested it again with excellent reviews.
I’m sure you have looked at other Board Games like yours in the market. What about Kickstarter projects being developed?
What is it that other designers are doing in their Kickstarter? Are these designers experienced? Or are they brand new?
These are the questions that you should be asking yourself once you start doing your research. You’ll know the audience that you’re catering to through…
- Comments
- Social Media Posts
- Forum Discussions
- YouTube Videos
- Surveys
And other mediums as well. This is the kind of audience that you’ll most likely encounter with your project. So, learn their language and their behaviors.
Take at least 1 hour a day in talking to these wonderful people. Get to know them and let them get to know you.
Because the more interaction you have with them, the better chances you’ll have to take them to your awe-inspiring Landing Page.
2. Create Amazing Landing Pages
Speaking of Landing Pages, let’s talk about one of the most important online pages of your Kickstarter project.
What is a Landing Page?
It is an online form where your prospects will provide a name and an email address to gain more information about your product or service. In this case, they would want to know more about your amazing Board Game.
This will be one of your main sources of receiving email addresses that are well interested in your product.
So, you want to make sure your landing page is looking snappy, clean, and informative.
It sounds easier said than done. We know. That’s why we’re here to give you guidelines on how to create an amazing landing page.
- Show off your board game! If you have excellent pictures of your board game and how it looks, put them on the landing page. This will raise the excitement level for your future backers.
- Provide a short and compelling story throughout the landing page. Sounds hard to do, right? A picture is worth a thousand words. Make it easy to read yet compelling enough to leave your readers wanting more.
- Your Call-To-Action (CTA) should be popping! Make it noticeable enough that your readers know that’s where they click to get more information.
- The layout of the landing page should be clean and straightforward. Don’t overcrowd your form. The reader needs to know what they need to do once they “land” on this page.
Most Email Service Providers (ESP) have Landing Page builders that you can create off the fly.
Once your prospects provide their basic information, that will be then added to your subscriber list.
What is a subscriber list?
It is a list of email addresses and names used under an ESP to send relevant informative emails. You must follow GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) to send emails to your list. Make sure your subscribers are aware they’re on the list before they even receive their first email.
It’s time to talk about THE plan. The one plan to rule them all.
3. Plan Your Email Marketing
There is a high chance that most of your subscribers are going to back up your project on day one using Email Marketing. So, yes, plan your Email Marketing and let your community know that you’re here to rock their world.
Let’s start with what Email Service Provider you should use.
While there are many ESPs that you can choose from, some are excellent while some are… meh.
Here are the top 3 ESPs that we recommend that you use:
- Mail Chimp
- Mailerlite
- Sender
They all provide the essentials for your Kickstarter project. So, you’ll have ready your landing pages, automated emails, and segmentations. But we won’t bore you with the specifics.
You need at least 3 emails set up to let everyone know in your list about your Kickstarter.
- One email a few days before the launch.
- One email on launch day.
- One email after launch day.
Of course, the more elaborate is your Marketing plan, the more nurtured your subscribers are going to be. So, make sure to not conform with only 3 emails.
Like landing pages, you want your emails to look clean and informative. Show off your art, your board game, or even reviews from other influencers in these emails.
Make sure each email you send there is a goal in mind.
- What am I sending in the email?
- How should I convey my message?
- Why am I sending this email?
- When should I send this email?
Ask these questions so you can determine your goals for each email. Sending emails without any goals may affect your relationship with your future backers.
Have each email lead up to an exciting moment. Create interconnected stories to have your subscribers engaged. Provide an incentive to share the email to give something in return.
Let’s fast forward and see what happens when it’s…
Launch Day! You sent your email, and you have backers coming in left and right. But 3 hours later, you only ended up with 15 backers. Wonder what happened?
There could be something wrong with your Kickstarter page.
4. Create a Striking Kickstarter Page
The gateway between your potential backer and your project, the Kickstarter page. Make sure you create the best Kickstarter page the universe has ever seen. Or at least in your local area.
This is where your potential backers will decide whether your project is worth investing in or not.
It is crucial to have a genuine, though-out, unique video on top of your Kickstarter page. If this wasn’t enough to convince your potential backers, let them say hello to your awesome content.
Two words in creating mind-blowing content for your Kickstarter page…
Copywriting and graphics.
If you have exceptional copywriting with spectacular graphics, you’re off to a great start.
Of course, this all can go downhill if you don’t do it right. Relevancy and consistency are important factors to consider throughout your Kickstarter page.
Don’t add pictures of your dogs, cats, and parrots if it does not bring any value to your project.
Here’s the truth…
We’re only here to see your board game. If you create a compelling story about your journey in creating this Kickstarter, it may be worth adding it to the page. This creates honesty and transparency.
5. Share Across Social Media Platforms
If you have any social media account: Share your work! Go to groups, chats, post with hashtags, and ask other friends to share them along.
This type of effort will only cost you time. So, make sure to use this to your advantage.
Here we’ll list out what you should be doing on each social platform:
- Instagram
- This is an easy one. All you have to do is post pictures or videos of your Board Game. Post with hashtags and make sure your pictures are high quality and relatable.
- Twitter
- Short and sweet messages go a long way on Twitter. Follow which hashtags are trending and post about your board game. You’ll see that is easy to grow a following here.
- Facebook
- Building a community on Facebook is not easy unless you’re paying for ads. That aside, you want to look for groups that are interested in your board game. Post at least once per day.
- Pinterest
- If you have a blog or a portfolio online with lots of pictures, Pinterest is the way to go. Like Instagram, post high-quality and relatable pictures and you’re good to go!
- Reddit
- People find resources or questions answered on Reddit. But there are hundreds of sub-forums where you can post your original work and get critiques, share projects with one another, and more! The subject line is everything. Got a killer subject line? You’re good to go.
- Discord
- It’s easy to grow a following in Discord once you already have an established community. Your best bet is to enter Discord groups and post relatable content that leads to your project.
Try not to use all social media platforms at the same time. Pick the ones that will help your project the most. Is your board game visually appealing? Use Instagram. Do you think your project answers a lot of people’s needs and desires? Go to Reddit.
Or if you have some money saved and want to invest…
6. Use Targeted Ads
Facebook has one of the best targeted ads on social media. And nearly 3 billion people are using it. That’s mind-blowing…
To use their ads effectively, you must choose the correct audience for your project. In Board Games, it could vary. Not everyone that plays Board Games likes My Little Pony. So, try to go deeper down the funnel and you’ll see good results.
Now we’re coming back to our two great friends in marketing…
Copywriting and graphics.
Adding a killer Headline will affect the number of people that will engage with your ad. Not only that, but your image or video will affect your ad even more.
For Kickstarter campaigns, you always want to educate your prospects. Tell them the story behind this board game, or what’s so special about this game, or compare it to other great games to entice them.
If your word is not enough, well I’m sure they’ll listen to popular influencers online. And that’s our last topic…
7. Influencer Marketing
If you want to go big or go home, you’ll want to get in contact with some well-known influencers that target that specific audience that you’re looking for.
You’ll want to know how to write cold emails. Writing excellent cold emails will bring confidence and interest to your prospects. But don’t worry, we got you covered.
There are different ways that you can approach this. Here are a few:
- Send samples of your Board Game for review.
- Have them post pictures of your Board Game.
- Have them add sponsorship to their videos regarding your Board Game.
- Do an Interview with them and talk about certain topics that will lead to your Board Game.
- Play online sessions with them and do shout-outs of your Board Game.
This will come with a price so, be sure to have the budget saved for this.
Influencer marketing is a great way to get the word out. But there’s a reason why this is our last topic.
Once you have all your tools and sites ready, you’ll want people wanting more.
Having unexpected goals will be the icing on the cake. Make it interesting on your social media page with giveaways, contests, and more.
There’s no doubt that your Kickstarter will be a success and demolish that funding goal in no time.
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