12 Crowdfunding Marketing Tips for a Successful Kickstarter

Launching a crowdfunding campaign is an exciting step towards realizing your project, but the journey from launch to fully funded is fraught with challenges. At the heart of this journey is the need for a robust crowdfunding marketing strategy that captures the imagination of potential backers on Kickstarter, Backerkit, Indiegogo, Gamefound , or your platform of choice. Without it, even the most innovative projects can struggle to gain the visibility they need to succeed.

Chances are you have seen the eye-catching buzz about campaigns on Kickstarter or other crowdfunding platforms that broke funding records. On the flip side, there are plenty of tales of projects that failed to hit their goals. The thin line separating these two outcomes comes down to two things: planning and marketing. Mastering the art of planning and promoting your crowdfunding campaign on platforms like Kickstarter is crucial for attracting backers and ensuring your project sees the light of day.

Today, we’ll share twelve essential tips to make your crowdfunding project a success.

1. Do Research and Create a Budget Before You Launch Your Crowdfunding Campaign

Market Research is Essential to Crowdfunding Success

Before you launch your crowdfunding campaign, you should conduct thorough market research to understand the current landscape and set your strategy.

Market research helps you gauge the demand for your product or idea, identify your target audience, and analyze competitors. Consider how your offering stacks up against the competition, including price, features, and positioning. A firm grasp of what differentiates your product is essential for tailoring your project to meet market needs and crafting a message that resonates with potential backers. Dive into forums, social media groups, and related crowdfunding campaigns to understand what excites your audience and what doesn’t. If similar products have had crowdfunding campaigns, how did they perform? Go through their campaign description, pledge levels, updates, and comments to see what these creators did well and what could be improved. Knowing what has worked and not worked for others will help you craft the strategy for your crowdfunding campaign and avoid pitfalls.

Setting Realistic Crowdfunding Goals

Armed with market knowledge, setting achievable goals becomes your next crucial step.

Your goal should not only reflect the financial threshold needed to bring your project to life but also what is attainable within your market’s context. Factor in production costs, shipping, taxes, platform fees, and your marketing budget (more on this below). Remember, a well-justified goal can serve as a strong trust signal to potential backers.

If you need guidance here, Kickstarter has a great guide specifically on how to set the right funding goal for your campaign. Consult similar guidance on your crowdfunding platform of choice.

Factor Marketing into your Crowdfunding Budget

Your budget should encompass all facets of your campaign, from production to delivery and, importantly, marketing.

A common oversight for many crowdfunders is underestimating the marketing budget needed to promote their campaign effectively. Allocate funds for social media advertising, content creation, PR outreach, and any collaborations with influencers or reviewers when calculating your overall costs for the project. Your marketing budget should be flexible enough to allow for adjustments based on the campaign’s performance and any unforeseen expenses.

By meticulously researching, setting informed goals, and budgeting wisely, you are ensuring that your campaign is built on a foundation of knowledge, realism, and strategic planning, significantly increasing your chances of achieving your funding targets.

2. Build Pre-Launch Buzz about Your Crowdfunding Project

Do not wait until your crowdfunding project launches to promote it. Creating anticipation before your campaign launch is critical. Here’s advice on sparking interest and gathering an audience ready to support you before you launch:

Create a Campaign Pre-launch Page: Set up a campaign pre-launch page if your platform offers it. Share your pre-launch page via social media and email to build hype early. On Kickstarter, for example, users who sign up get notified when your project launches.
Social Media Teasers: Share sneak peeks and behind-the-scenes content on social media to spark curiosity and build a community around your project.
Email Marketing: If you have an existing mailing list, start telling your current subscribers about the upcoming project early. Use a landing page to gather email sign-ups from people specifically interested in your forthcoming project for targeted promotions. Send out newsletters with exclusive content and early bird perks to stir excitement.
Content Marketing: Publish blog articles and guest posts. Collaborate with influencers to share valuable content that resonates with your target audience, establishing your authority.
Countdown Campaigns: Run countdowns on social media and email to create urgency and keep your audience engaged as the launch date approaches.
Engage with Communities: Participate in online communities and forums relevant to your project to build a loyal following before the campaign starts.These streamlined strategies will help efficiently build anticipation, ensuring you have an engaged audience eager to support your campaign from day one.

3. Craft a Compelling Crowdfunding Campaign Page

A well-crafted crowdfunding page is crucial for converting interest into pledges.

Here’s how to ensure your campaign shines:

Strong Graphics: Utilize high-quality images and visuals that reflect the essence of your project, making your page visually appealing and engaging.
Clear Description: Write a concise, compelling description that clearly explains what your project is, why it matters, and how backers can help. Be sure to include keywords related to your project for better SEO.
Engaging Video: Create a captivating video that tells your story, showcases the product or project, and directly appeals to potential backers.
Preview or Demo: If possible, include a preview or demo of your offering, allowing potential backers to see your product or project in action, which can significantly boost confidence and interest in your campaign.
Comprehensive FAQ: Anticipate and answer potential questions in a detailed FAQ section, addressing common concerns and clarifying important details about your project. Once the campaign starts, add common questions raised in comments, messages, or other venues to the FAQ.

A polished crowdfunding campaign page not only attracts backers but also builds trust, showcasing your commitment to transparency and quality. For more inspiration, Kickstarter and other platforms have advice on creating successful campaign pages.

4. Attracting Early Supporters with Special Offers

Offering early bird specials or limited-time offers is a strategic move to incentivize quick pledges.

These exclusive deals not only reward early backers for their swift commitment but also create a sense of urgency, encouraging others to act fast to take advantage of the special pricing or bonuses. This tactic can significantly boost your campaign’s momentum right from the start, setting a solid foundation for future success. Future backers, who might not be as familiar with you as your early pledgers, will also be more confident in supporting a thriving and well-funded campaign.

Starting your campaign strong might also get your project featured by your crowdfunding platform, offering additional exposure.

5. Carefully Consider Your Crowdfunding Stretch Goals

Stretch goals can magnify the success of your crowdfunding campaign, but they require thoughtful planning and clear communication. Here’s how to strategically approach them:

Pre-Campaign Planning: Outline your stretch goals before launching your campaign. This foresight allows you to carefully assess the costs and feasibility of each goal, ensuring they align with your project’s scope and budget.
Realistic and Achievable: Ensure your stretch goals are ambitious yet within reach, avoiding the temptation to add large, unplanned goals mid-campaign that could lead to delays and cost overruns.
Value Addition: Design stretch goals that provide tangible benefits to your backers, enhancing the original offering without compromising the project’s delivery or quality.
Financial Viability: Stretch goals should incentivize and reward backers without endangering the financial health or viability of the project. Avoid overextending with offers that are costly or complex to fulfill.

By thoughtfully planning stretch goals that are both enticing to backers and manageable for creators, you can sustain momentum and interest in your campaign without risking its success.

Best of all, planning stretch goals upfront means that you can thoughtfully work them into your marketing strategy with targeted promotions.

6. Encourage and Reward Social Sharing

In crowdfunding, your contributors are not mere customers. They are backers that embody a unique blend of supporters and advocates for your vision. Your backers are motivated by a desire to be part of something groundbreaking, making them eager to achieve stretch goals and enhancements that ensure your project reaches its fullest potential.

Here are some suggestions to let your backers become invaluable partners in promoting your campaign, offering a powerful, cost-effective alternative to traditional paid advertising platforms:

Make Sharing Effortless: Equip backers with easy-to-use sharing buttons and pre-written content for hassle-free sharing on social media.
Set Clear Social Sharing Goals: Define specific goals for social shares to foster a collective effort among your audience.
Incentivize Sharing: Offer rewards or recognition for backers who actively share your campaign, encouraging broader participation. Plan for social sharing rewards as you do for stretch goals.
Leverage Hashtags: Create and promote a unique campaign hashtag to track engagement and boost visibility across social platforms.
Share Successes and Milestones: Motivate further sharing by regularly updating your audience on the campaign’s progress and acknowledging their role in its success.

7. Plan Out Crowdfunding Campaign Updates in Advance

Effective communication is essential for crowdfunding success. Before your campaign launches, plan for and write up several draft campaign update messages.

Think of these pre-drafted messages as part of your overall marketing communications strategy for generating excitement, highlighting the unique aspects of your offering, and giving a sneak peek into the creation process with behind-the-scenes content, artwork, screenshots, and previews.
Having several of these messages ready in advance allows you to maintain steady and vibrant communication with your backers, even when the campaign’s day-to-day management becomes hectic.
Once the campaign is running, be sure to customize these pre-written updates based on real-time developments in your campaign to keep your communication relevant and responsive. For example, edit the draft updates to celebrate funding milestones, address backers’ questions, or share media coverage.

Of course, the communication should not end with the close of the funding stage. Post-campaign, continue regularly sharing the journey of bringing the project to life, including production updates, any obstacles navigated, and anticipated delivery timelines.

8. Know the Crowdfunding Rhythm

Understanding the typical ebb and flow of a crowdfunding campaign is crucial for maintaining momentum and managing expectations.

Launch and Early Momentum: Crowdfunding campaigns often experience a surge of activity and pledges at the beginning. Capitalize on this initial excitement by engaging actively with your backers and promoting heavily across all your channels.
Mid-Campaign Lull: It’s common for campaigns to hit a slower phase after the initial rush. Kickstarter even has a FAQ article on this topic. Prepare for this by planning special promotions, engaging content, or exciting announcements to reignite interest and encourage sharing. You want to set yourself up for the surge in the next phase.
Final Push: As the campaign nears its end, urgency increases, often leading to another spike in pledges. Amplify this effect with countdown communications and last-chance reminders.

By anticipating the above three phases and planning your strategies accordingly, you can keep your campaign energized and moving toward its funding target. Depending on your promotion budget, you may want to prioritize investment in the first and last phases to amplify the upswings in pledges. Alternatively, if your budget allows, spending on promotion in the middle lull phase could be worth experimenting with so long as you keep a close eye on performance return on investment and keep enough funds on hand to make the most of the growth potential of the final phase.

Kickstarter and Backerkit Crowdfunding Logos

9. Build Community with Partners & Collaborators

Before your campaign launches, consider letting select influencers, industry peers, and product reviewers preview your offering. Having testimonials, reviews, or videos from trusted third parties offers valuable social proof and can significantly amplify your campaign’s exposure to a broader audience.

Leverage the diverse communities of your partners to tap into new groups of potential backers, enhancing your campaign’s visibility.

If relevant, ask contributors involved in your project, like artists or writers, to share the campaign with their networks to reach even more potential backers.

10. Engaging with Your Backers Through Comments

Actively monitoring and responding to comments on your crowdfunding campaign is crucial. Timely and positive engagement demonstrates your commitment to your backers and helps maintain a supportive community atmosphere.

Even when faced with criticism, addressing concerns constructively can turn potential negatives into opportunities to demonstrate your project’s value and your dedication to backers’ satisfaction.

A high level of interaction not only fosters trust but also encourages a sense of belonging among your supporters, which is crucial for building long-term relationships. And, if you followed the advice above to pre-write several updates and have your stretch goals planned in advance, you and your team will have more opportunities to focus on engaging with backers.

Indiegogo and GameFound Crowdfunding Logos

11. Promote Beyond the Crowdfunding Platform

While your crowdfunding platform is the epicenter of your campaign, it’s essential not to overlook the power of other communication channels. Doing so keeps your project at the forefront of those who may not frequently visit crowdfunding sites.

General Mailing List Engagement: Regularly update your broader mailing list with tactful reminders about your campaign. Put a banner about your crowdfunding campaign in your newsletter.
Leverage Your Website: Feature a prominent banner and link to your crowdfunding campaign on your homepage so that visitors are immediately aware of your ongoing project and can easily navigate to support it.
Content Marketing: If you have a blog, publish articles related to your campaign, sharing insights, updates, and the story behind your project. You can repurpose bits of your campaign update messages here.
Email Signatures: Adding a link to your crowdfunding campaign in your email signature is a subtle yet effective way to remind every recipient of your ongoing project.
Incorporate Notes in Customer Interactions: Whether it’s a note on packing slips or a mention on email receipts, reminding existing customers of your campaign can tap into an already interested audience.

By strategically promoting your campaign across various channels, you enhance its reach and potential for success, engaging a broader audience beyond the crowdfunding platform.

12. Remember Self-Care During Your Crowdfunding Journey

Running a crowdfunding campaign is an exhilarating rollercoaster of highs and lows and a lot of hard work. In the midst of campaign chaos, don’t forget to look after yourself:

Self-Care is Crucial: Even as your campaign progresses, making time for yourself isn’t just recommended; it’s essential. Whether it’s a few moments of quiet meditation, a walk in the park, or diving into a hobby, these breaks can rejuvenate your spirit and sharpen your focus.
Keep Feedback in Perspective: You’ll encounter a spectrum of comments during your campaign. Welcome the constructive and brush aside negativity with grace. Your well-being matters more than the approval of every online critic.
Celebrate Every Milestone: Don’t wait until the end to recognize your achievements. Celebrating small victories along the way can boost morale and keep you motivated.

Keeping your well-being a priority ensures you’re at your best, ready to tackle challenges and embrace success.

Maximize Your Crowdfunding Campaign with Exert Digital Marketing

Launching a crowdfunding campaign is no small feat. It requires a blend of passion, persistence, and strategic marketing to resonate with potential backers and achieve your funding goals truly. If you’re feeling overwhelmed or unsure where to start, you’re not alone. Our team specializes in crafting compelling digital marketing strategies that captivate audiences and drive success.

Whether you need assistance fine-tuning your campaign page, building pre-launch buzz, or navigating the complexities of social media promotion, we’re here to help. Let’s work together to turn your vision into a crowdfunding success story.