To make your Kickstarter campaign successful, learn from past successful campaigns and emulate what works while innovating where necessary.
If you are thinking of launching a Kickstarter campaign for your creative project, you might be wondering how to make it a success. One of the best ways is to learn from other Kickstarter campaigns that have done it before and achieved their goals. Through researching successful campaigns, analyze what works/doesn't, to emulate/innovate.
The first step is to create a running list of ideas for your project. You can use any tool or method that works for you, such as a notebook, a whiteboard, a mind map, or an app. I suggest using an app like Notion or Obsidian that allows you to access your notes anywhere and anytime, and also organize them in a structured and searchable way. The purpose of this step is to clarify your vision and goals for your project, and also generate some keywords and phrases that you can use later for your research.
The second step is to pledge to other projects on Kickstarter that are similar or related to yours. If you haven’t backed any other projects yet, go spend $1 on 10 projects right now. It doesn’t matter if they are successful or not, as long as they are relevant to your project. You can use the search function or the browse categories on Kickstarter to find them. Take notes on which project updates engage you and which ones make you want to unsubscribe. Take note of which rewards appeal to you and which ones turn you off. Take note of which marketing strategies catch your attention and which ones annoy you. Take note of which customer service practices impress you and which ones disappoint you.
The third step is to find out who your target audience is and where they congregate online or offline. You can use your research from the previous step to find out who your target audience is, such as their demographics, interests, preferences, needs, wants, etc. To accomplish this, you can leverage the research you conducted in the previous step to gain a deeper understanding of your audience's demographics, interests, preferences, needs, and wants.
The fourth step is to make a spreadsheet charting similarities and differences between successful projects in your project’s category. This is where you compare and contrast other projects that are similar or related to yours, and that have achieved their goals on Kickstarter. You can use criteria such as the number of backers, the length of the campaign, the amount of money raised, the reward tiers, the stretch goals, the updates, etc.
Also, here’s a related paper that you might wanna take a look at: How to Succeed in Crowdfunding: a Long-Term Study in Kickstarter. It’s an interesting study on the elements that influence the success of crowdfunding.
