Running a Kickstarter campaign is going to be an experience you can only succeed in. No matter what happens during the campaign, you will always come out in the end having learned something. It is up to you then whether you take that lesson and apply it to your next big project or let history repeat.
While I have never run a Kickstarter campaign before, multiple people have. Here is what some of them have had to say after running their own campaigns.
1. Harder than you think
“I have learned it’s a lot harder than it looks.”
Rafiki
Don’t ever go into something thinking it is going to be the easiest thing in the world. Expect things to be difficult because it will force you to work ten times harder than you would have if you thought whatever you were going to do was going to be a piece of cake. Everything that has been successful in this world is where it is at today because of the blood, sweat and tears put into it.
2. Pitch to Everyone
“The key to creating an awesome Kickstarter campaign is to do something awesome that you truly believe in, as the campaigning on Kickstarter can be a full-time gig in itself and not an easy road. In the end, to run a successful Kickstarter campaign, you need to tell a great story to win the hearts and minds of citizens across the Internet. You’ll need to start pitching your friends, family and blogs for coverage, along with pretty much anyone you’ve ever met to have a chance of getting funded, so be prepared to hit the pavement running and tell your story to everyone you meet.”
Sunsj
Tell everyone about what you’re doing and don’t ever be ashamed. If you want to get your project going, you have to first get people to know what it is. Having your friends and family by your side is an extra plus because we all know that the people closest to us are the ones constantly talking about us to other people. They are your support system, and while people can accomplish things on their own, it doesn’t ever hurt to have a team at your side.
3. Build your social media presence
“I just launched my first project a few days ago and I’m quickly learning that I do not have a very solid network of supporters. I wish I had put more time into building up my social media connections before I launched. Guess I’ll have to scramble to find followers.”
shawnekelly11
Social media is essential to getting the word out on your project. It’s how you connect with people all over the world within seconds about something. By putting your project on social media, that’s how you can get followers before you even launch your project.
4. Follow your plan
“I placed too much weight on ‘me’ as the creator and why I created the product/project.”
lakeshorelabs
It’s important to understand the idea you have for your project, but it is also important you have a plan and actually follow through with it. You also do not want to place too much weight on yourself as the creator. Even more important than you, is the project itself.
5. Connect yourself
“Connect, connect, connect. It’s important to have a strong following of passionate supporters long before you start a campaign.”
James Wessel, inflexionUSA
Once again, you can see how connecting with people is so important. Without a strong following, you won’t have the best possible results.
6. More Products = More backers
“The only thing I can gather is that the map object sets add tremendous value to the potential backer benefits. Even though the focus of the Kickstarter is fund guide books, offering additional products closely related to the main product and asking for more money, thus more backing tiers (that aren’t too expensive) will get you positive results.”
MichaelTumey
Think outside the box. Offering additional products, as Michael Tumey said, can actually help you have positive results. Therefore, you need to be creative and think of other ways you can get your backers to support you.
7. Description is the key
“I found that no matter how good your product is (we feel ours is good) funding is hard… I think the one thing I found is that a company must find the correct way to describe what their product does. Even if the product is simple to use, it is hard to describe what the product does… getting this right is essential.”
apm-designs
Make sure your product is understandable to everyone. If you have any hopes of getting backers, the description of the project has to make sense to people. It has to be as clear as possible; it must be simple. The more complicated the description, the less likely people will want to know more. The minute people start to lose interest or find the project too complicated, you have just lost a backer.
8. Communicate with your Backers
“Keep in touch with your backers! Make use of Kickstarter’s ‘backer blog’ to keep everyone involved and show how much you appreciate his or her support. We had multiple backers up their pledges from $25 to $100 or $250 because they really valued the contact and open communication with the creators.”
jennjune
Thank your backers and stay in touch. It is nice and shows appreciation when you thank someone. However, when you stay in touch with a backer, you are also making them feel as though they are more important to the project than they originally thought. And when people feel important, they are more willing to help you out.
9. Don’t lose faith in your Project
“One thing I’ve learned for sure is to not get discouraged, even when your expectations aren’t met, the people who you thought would promote your work didn’t, or the pledges aren’t coming in as fast and high as you think.”
infinitesatori
Be patient. Good things take time to happen, including getting your project fully funded. It won’t happen in the blink of an eye, so don’t get discouraged when the money has not all come in within a week or a month. It will eventually happen, but you have to be patient and continue trying your absolute best.
10. On to the next one
“Think of each campaign as a test market. If round one fails to fund, then adjust and move on to round two. And if help is offered, take it. Running a campaign should be a team effort, if you have people who are willing to help you without the possibility of compensation.”
InfiniteHorizonsUly
Think of every experience as a learning experience. If you fail, then you have to fix your mistakes and move on. You also should not turn down help if someone offers. It will take away some stress you might develop and it will also allow you to collaborate with people, making your project better than it was originally.
All information gathered from kickstarterforum.org.