Market your Kickstarter campaign to increase your reach and improve your chances of success
Kickstarter is undoubtedly the most popular crowdfunding website in the world. However, a small fraction of campaigns are successful on this platform where reaching campaign objectives is no walk in the park. To succeed on Kickstart, startups require a long-term marketing and PR strategy.
With this in mind, we have compiled the following guidelines for your upcoming Kickstarter campaign. However, let us first take a look at the importance of PR and Marketing:
Why you should market your Kickstarter campaign
PR and Marketing are the foundation for every successful business. More importantly, focusing on how to market your Kickstarter campaign is particularly important in the initial stages of the campaign. Savvy marketing is the secret behind the most successful Kickstarter projects.
To inspire you as you market your Kickstarter campaign, here are two brands from Kickstarter that used savvy marketing to gain maximum traction.
a) Peak Design
Peak Design went on to establish several multi-million dollar Kickstarter campaigns. An intelligent marketing decision was the basis of this success.
When a group of photographers set out to create the perfect carry bag for their equipment, it may have seemed as though the bag market was already crowded. However, a slick PR decision would see thousands of photographers drooling over the features of a specially designed bag by Peak Design.
Interestingly, Peak Design announced that the product would not accept financial backing from major companies. Furthermore, they offered sneak peeks to their backers and invited feedback for the bag from every follower. As planned, this resulted in an extremely enthusiastic, interactive, and loyal following which was more than happy to share their newfound interest with friends and family.
As outlined by the company director, their Kickstarter campaign was ten times more successful than any other sales technique. With zipped pockets, handy pouches, and perfectly designed dividers, the bag was a photographer’s best friend. Even so, creating such a loyal following was undoubtedly the reason for such an impressive campaign by Peak Design.
b) Pebble
While Pebble experienced a sharp decline in recent years, the Kickstarter campaign for this smartwatch was a resounding success. Incredibly, the watch raised more than $43 million for two products. The company focused on marketing the watch’s unique selling point.
Pebble was the first iPhone and smartphone compatible watch and the company used viral videos to reach mass audiences. However, the key point here is that the product was featured on almost every tech-related website and blog which was a direct hit for their target market. Indeed, the USP for the watch was viral-worthy. Pebble also reached out to prominent tech bloggers and established relationships that would see the Pebble watch promoted across endless tech blogs.
Pebble raised over $10 million on the very first attempt with Kickstarter.
How to market your Kickstarter campaign
Although Kickstarter is friendly toward individuals and businesses alike, PR and Marketing require a significant focus and effort. In some cases, individuals or startups initiate this process without any outside assistance but in truth, the most successful campaigns rely heavily on good PR and marketing agencies.
For example, PR kits can save an incredible amount of time and provide the perfect opportunity to access specific resources that boost the success of campaigns. Furthermore, for those with little or no experience with online advertising, social media and advertising packages help you get ahead of the competition.
10 important steps to market your Kickstarter campaign
1. Focusing on the most productive route
The most efficient way to market your Kickstarter campaign is to figure out the least time-consuming aspects that can yield the biggest results. Outsourcing is an excellent way to cut down on the time spent on menial tasks so that you can focus on more important matters. Upwork, Fiverr, and Zirtual are the ideal platforms for finding virtual assistants. The content of this work will differ from one concept to the next but writing, designing, and guest blogging are good examples of time-consuming work that can easily be outsourced.
Preparation is another important aspect of any campaign as many jobs can be organized in bulk and this can often be done in advance. For example, newsletters, emails, and guest blogs can be written in bulk and then put aside until the time comes to publish them.
Takeaway – Outsource the menial tasks so that you can spend time on key matters.
2. Identifying the most suitable PR and marketing channels
Every successful Kickstarter campaign receives a large volume of online traffic. However, generating traffic can be a rather drawn-out process. In addition, many campaigns are so short that they do not have this time. For this reason, the best strategy for raising money on Kickstarter is to focus on the Minimum Effective Dose.
The Minimum Effective Dose refers to the smallest amount of work required to achieve a specific objective.
For example, recent studies show that Facebook, email, and blogs are three of the most effective ways to drive traffic to a campaign. It makes sense to save time and expend energy using these avenues instead of wasting them elsewhere. As a rule, focusing on guest blogs in prominent relevant blogs is the best way to gain traction with the right audience.
The best channel to share blogs and produce alternative content is social media. Your campaign could be featured on Kickstarter if you get enough traffic on social media. This is a sure way to boost investment in the campaign.
Takeaway – Use the Minimum Effective Dose principle to narrow down the best channels to market the campaign.
3. Focusing on relevance
Relevance is an important principle when promoting a Kickstarter campaign. Campaign conversion rate depends on how relevant the product is to a particular audience. Targeting the right audience with your social media outreach is critical while choosing the right blogs to guest post.
Here are three more key factors to consider when creating a media list to promote a Kickstarter campaign:
- Readers – Check out the statistics for relevant blogs and assess the reach or readership of the website/social channel.
- Introductions – Do you have existing relationships with someone involved in a blog? This can save you ample time that may otherwise be spent on seeking an alternative communication channel.
- Promotion – Just because you are published on a particular blog or website does not mean the article will reach the desired audience. In other words, you will need to organize alternative means of promoting these blogs or features to ensure they can generate enough traffic.
Takeaway – Take time to establish the most relevant audience as quantity is not nearly as important as quality when generating traction for a campaign.
4. Finding the most relevant bloggers
Google Images is also a great place to source the most relevant links. If you drag and drop an image into Google images, you will receive every website or link associated with this image. Why is this important? If you pick out the most successful Kickstarter campaigns from the past few years, you can use their campaigns to find out how they were promoted.
With a long list of blogs and websites to draw from, you can now see a specific list of publishers who are good at what they do. At this point, your virtual assistant can start contacting these websites on your behalf or finding more websites in the same niche.
Takeaway – Use your virtual assistants to compile an accurate list of the most relevant websites, authors, and publications.
5. Evaluating influencers
Search engines are your best friend when looking for relevant bloggers to market your Kickstarter campaign. Even so, the level of influence these bloggers hold is often more important. For example, if your product is travel-related, you can easily locate the most prominent travel bloggers. The most important part of this process is to choose influencers with the highest engagement. You can do this by investigating the number of followers on social media and their engagement rates on individual posts.
Takeaway – Calculate and establish the reach of every website, blog, or author. As a rule, focus on those with the most influence and return on investment.
6. Establishing relationships through social media
Although it may come across as sneaky, you can also use a virtual assistant to find out who you might know on particular websites or blogs. For example, your assistant can locate the blog owner on Facebook, find your mutual friends, or establish links on other platforms. Even so, with an assistant taking care of all the time-consuming work, you can often find convenient connections to some of the most popular websites.
Pursue these connections personally to nurture an authentic relationship.
Takeaway – Source the most relevant bloggers and authentically connect with them to market your campaign.
7. Compiling a media list
At this point, you are in a position to compile a media list of the essential bloggers to target. Narrow down the contacts and focus on the most suitable targets for your campaign.
- Spreadsheet – As already mentioned, with a spreadsheet provided by the assistant, you can search for mutual friends of these bloggers. Send a polite introduction email asking them to contact their friend with an introduction on your behalf. A friendly introduction is always more effective than a cold email.
- Personal Evaluation – Evaluate each blog to ensure they are relevant before making contact.
- Check and Choose the Writers – Find a list of writers relevant to the campaign and have them compile your marketing content.
- Prioritize – Pick prominent bloggers with the most relevant websites and relationships and pursue them first.
Takeaway – Create a scaled-down media list. Assess this information and identify the most suitable avenues that will prove worthwhile.
8. Creating meaningful relationships with bloggers
One of the most efficient ways for a blogger to grow the readership of their website is to befriend other bloggers. This is also a good PR tactic to expedite investment for a Kickstarter campaign. Friends are often the most generous people to help you get started. They can sometimes write or promote articles at no fee at all.
Forming influencer relationships requires you to adopt a unique approach for every publisher. Show genuine interest in the blogger rather than sending a generic mass pitch. As a rule, you can be helpful and show genuine concern for their work. This will make them more inclined to respond positively.
9. Producing a concise brief for contacts to market your Kickstarter campaign
Create a detailed outline for bloggers to help them write your story for their readers. However, your Kickstarter page should contain the information needed to create this story. An experienced blogger should have little trouble working from this page.
A bullet point brief can help you to communicate the most important parts. Allow them creativity to put their spin on the story. Establish some guidelines with the blogger about the timing in which they publish the article. Furthermore, ask if you can feature in the newsletter for the blog and whether the article will be published on social media.
If this is your first time contacting bloggers, it is important to remember to value these services. In many instances, bloggers will refuse to work with others solely based on the initial interaction. If you provide too many guidelines, this can leave the blogger feeling restricted or even used.
Takeaway – Show genuine interest in each contact. Secondly, provide a concise and accurate brief for each contact to ensure the best results.
10. The initial launch and activating your network
Viral posts, articles, and videos are often the result of a good PR formula. The initial launch is crucial as this is when the promotion is especially influential. Your Kickstarter campaigns should seek to create what is commonly known as “the surround sound effect”. This means making the campaign visible everywhere online.
From Facebook and Twitter to Medium and new media; the idea is to generate so much publicity that people cannot help but investigate the brand running the campaign. Paid advertisements are featured prominently during this time and guest blogs should coincide with the timing of these ads.
The Importance of A Personal Network
Getting started on Kickstarter is tricky and friends are often the key to unlocking future investments. It is proven that people are more likely to sign up when there are already investors in the campaign and friends are usually a reliable source of support to help get the donations started.
With this in mind, asking friends and family to contribute or share is the most powerful way to raise campaign awareness. Friends can also offer assistance or introduce you to influencers who can help you with the campaign.
The best way to get friends on your side is to make them feel like a part of the campaign and valued supporters. Here is a more specific outline of how to approach them.
- Ask friends and family for advice on the product or company-related issues in the run-up to the launch. In this way, they are more likely to feel compelled to have some input.
- Show friends prototypes or secret insights into the product before going public.
- Invite friends to the launch party and ask them to help get the campaign off the ground. Interestingly, those who back the project from the very beginning are often the greatest advocates and supporters in the long term.
Categorizing Friends, Influencers, and Acquaintances
Contacting friends, influencers, and acquaintances is essential but at the same time, you should contact each of these groups differently to market your Kickstarter campaign effectively. For example, it is perfectly okay to send mass emails to acquaintances.
Bloggers and influencers will expect personalized mail at the very least. Similarly, friends will not want to receive a generic message from a good friend! You may want to take time to develop the personalized messages. Even so, your virtual assistant can write these messages and dispatch them to the correct addresses.
Takeaway – Segregate your audience and take a personal approach wherever possible. Furthermore, use your network to gain momentum and ensure that each backer feels like an important part of the process.
Conclusion
Learning to market your Kickstarter campaign is crucial to creating a successful campaign on Kickstarter. The above steps outline the specific nature of this approach. While a great campaign is a great place to start, PR kits and other online resources are often the key to unlocking maximum potential. Friends and family can help to get the campaign moving. Furthermore, creating a sense of community and involvement can nurture loyal supporters and will inevitably enhance the visibility and awareness of the campaign.
Either way, best of luck as you market your Kickstarter campaign!
Want to know how to use PR strategies to propel your campaign’s success? Contact us at Pressfarm and let us help your startup generate the publicity it deserves.
Our PR team is skilled at writing winning press releases, developing engaging feature articles, and designing creative media kits. All this content will help your startup build a memorable brand image. In addition to helping you create quality content for your brand, Pressfarm’s team also develops a strategy to push this content out to the media.
The experts at Pressfarm also build curated media lists for each client and give all clients access to a comprehensive media database of over 1 million journalists across industries. Connect with the right people to tell your story. With our affordable packages, you can tell a powerful brand story that makes heads turn.
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