This is a guest post by Marina of Kicktops.com, “A Hand-picked Selection Of The Best Kickstarter Products.”
In my previous guest posts I’ve been arguing that all kinds of projects succeed on Kickstarter. By presenting 10 quickly funded products with different backgrounds, categories, and goals, I was trying to prove that everybody has a shot at succeeding on Kickstarter.
While before I was trying to defend the heterogeneity of success, I’m now here to find its common denominator. I’ve looked for seemingly different projects, that I present to you in this list in no particular order. Hopefully, by examining their available data — for which this post was very helpful, we’ll be able to see what those successful products actually do have in common.
1. Pop-Up Miniature Terrain Kit
Creator: “Stonehaven Miniatures”
Category: Games > Tabletop Games
Goal: $3,000
Funded: Day 1
Average Pledge Per Backer: $28
Very self-explanatory title: It’s a pop-up terrain to be used for role-playing games. Role-playing games are a big hit on Kickstarter, so although it may not come as a surprise that a project in such demand was funded, I’d say it’s due to its originality that it was funded in hours. With a quick look at their 250+ backers I learned that only 1 was a first-time backer. The project has also been discussed in several RPGs boards and kickstater-based RPG websites, but has barely had any tweets.
2. TWEAK
Creator: “Nitzan Shafat & Aviv Rozenfeld”
Category: Design > Product Design
Goal: $14,000
Funded: Day 5
Average Pledge Per Backer: $17
A very good example of a very simple product. Their Kickstarter page, though, looks professional and sleek. The combination of good presentation, usefulness, and affordability, are likely some of the factors of their success. Probably, because it doesn’t appeal only to a closed-community, the project has been not as talked about in websites as the previous one, but has had an enormous success on Facebook (4,420 clicks!).
3. Bring Reading Rainbow Back for Every Child, Everywhere
Creator: “LeVar Burton & Reading Rainbow”
Category: Technology > Web
Goal: $1,000,000
Funded: Day 1
Average Pledge Per Backer: $46
Well, I had to feature this project because it’s been an amazing success from the start, but it should not be taken as a model. Still, it’s inspiring and amazing to see, isn’t it? And although not all projects can (obviously) have a name like LeVar Burton attached to them, this is not the only reason this project is so widely popular. It’s basically a well-known and good cause: children literacy. I’m sure the rewards have helped, too. Although the percentage of 1st time backers is still small, there are many, as well as many backers who have only funded 1 or 2 projects before. Bitly informs me that it has been clicked 147,133 times.
4. The World’s First Full HD 360∞ Camera
Creator: “GIROPTIC”
Category: Technology > Hardware
Goal: $150,000
Funded: Day 2
Average Pledge Per Backer: $346
This is quite an amazing product: An HD camera that films everything around it, and streams it in real-time. If you check the Kickstarter you’ll see some of the example pictures and videos, and will probably thinking about backing it yourself. However, they do not only have a cool camera, but a big marketing campaign, and the support of the press. It has been shared quite a lot on Twitter and Facebook, but I’d say one of the reasons it has reached $1M is that the actual reward — the camera itself — is $349.
5. Twilight Struggle Digital Edition
Creator: “GMT Games”
Category: Games > Video Games
Goal: $50,000
Funded: Day 1
Average Pledge Per Backer: $48
This is an already very popular strategy game, set during the Cold War, in which one player controls the US and the other Russia. The Kickstarter is to fund the digital version of the tabletop game, and although I’m sure some backers have never played the game, I’m sure most of them have. It’s a good example of a campaign that has been building its fanbase for a decade. Despite the number of backers (4,443), the project has not been as popular in social media as the previous ones. It has been talked a lot, however, on specialised websites.
6. GoPlug – Powering Mobility
Creator: “Josh Cross”
Category: Technology
Goal: $20,000
Funded: Day 1
Average Pledge Per Backer: $185
A bag with its own battery pack and charger, so you can charge any of your devices on the go. It’s useful and it solves a problem, doesn’t it? You’ll be surprised to know then that this is the creators 3rd shot at funding it. After two unsuccessful campaigns, he’s been improving the product — and I’m quite sure that the marketing too, although that is more difficult to analyse. Success, in these cases, feels well-deserved. As of right now it only has total of 255 clicks, but it has been talked a lot in the press — as they have procured to show on their page.
7. Army of the Lost Horizon
Creator: “Stephen Scaia”
Category: Film & Video > Action
Goal: $15,000
Funded: Day 3
Average Pledge Per Backer: $90
A fan-made Indiana Jones film, made with professional crew and cast. However, despite being funded in only 3 days, it is the project with fewest backers on the list. Only by Google-ing it you’ll see that it has been talked about in quite a few websites, and the Bitlink has 331 clicks. And the film looks good too, I definitely want to see it! My thoughts are that, the campaign had been bigger, it could have had a lot more impact. Anyways, they were funded in 3 days — I repeat — so I don’t think they’re complaining.
8. Good and Cheap: Eat Well on $4/Day
Creator: “Leanne Brown”
Category: Food > Cookbooks
Goal: $10,000
Funded: Day 3
Average Pledge Per Backer: $29
Emphasis on “Cheap”, on “$4/Day”, and even the added “(the PDF is free!)” in the title. I would have said that it was a bit too much, but seeing the amazing success it’s having, I’m probably wrong. The key, I’d say, is the book itself: The concept, the recipes, the photographs, everything looks good. Not only that, but the cookbook is the final project for the creator’s masters on Food Studies — which makes it quite trustworthy, doesn’t it? The campaign received a boost when well-known professional cooks started sharing it on twitter, which derived on an increase of backers and articles talking about it.
9. Apex: A Premium Merino Hoodie for Just $95
Creator: “Modern Industry”
Category: Fashion > Apparel
Goal: $15,000
Funded: Day 2
Average Pledge Per Backer: $115
A hand-crafted hoodie made of merino wool — and because it’s made to last, and to fit well, the design is quite timeless. It has also the price on the title, which I guess worked for them because, aiming as they do for quality and design, it could be much more expensive.
The campaign was talked about some websites, though not many that I can find, and with a total of 201 clicks on the Bitlink. Their main asset, I’d say, is that both the hoodie and the campaign, which looks good and is professional. It’s interesting to see quite a few first-time backers in this one. However, I think it would be nice if the stretch goals, instead of being colors, were women sizes.
Afterthoughts
First of all, researching for that list I’ve realized that although projects from all categories succeed, not projects from all categories succeed quickly. So despite the variety of projects shown here, I’ll admit that it’s far easier to find projects funded in 1 day at the Technology category than the Fashion one. Second, we must all keep in mind that one random factor of Kickstarter success is luck — a very difficult thing to predict.
That said, these projects demonstrate some of the things you probably already knew: There is no straight formula for success, and each campaign works differently. However, as I promised at the beginning, I have tried to pin point the qualities they all share:
* They all have a video. Most of them have been put together by professionals, but there’s also a couple that are home-made. It ultimately depends on what you’re trying to sell, of course: if it’s a video camera, you better have an amazingly produced video.
* They are all very clear on what they’re offering. You have to take into account that when you see a campaign from the Kickstarter Discover page, you don’t see categories. So you better explain clearly on the blurb, or the picture, what it is that you’re trying to fund / sell.
* They look trustworthy. This might be very subjective, but when I pledge for something I want it to look trustworthy. I have to believe that the creators know what they’re doing, and they have to show it to us. Even if the product has not been produced yet, be it hardware, or a card game, you’ll need to show a prototype.
* Rewards! Even those campaigns that are not trying to produce a single item have clearly established rewards. Write them clearly, and think about them thoroughly. Check the average pledge per backer on this list, and you’ll see there’s wallets for everything.
* Stretch Goals! You’ll see some of these campaigns have amazing stretch goals. Don’t be overoptimistic with them, don’t aim for a $100,000 stretch goal when you’re still on your $10,000, but do plan them. From changing the colour of the product, to adding a new feature, to giving to charities, just keep your campaign alive.
* Keep the backers engaged. Many of these have done it via their stretch goals, but I thought it was worth it to mention it separately. Ask them what they want of the product. Ask and give feedback. And always, always, always provide contact information.
* Marketing. There’s many ways to spread the word about your campaign. As you’ve seen here, for board games and video games there is a whole sub-market — If you have a good game, people will spread the word about you in the right places, even though you’ll still be invisible to the general market.
For less targeted campaigns, you know you’ll have to invest money to make money via ads, social media, and the press. Always keep in mind that the marketing campaign starts long before the Kickstarter launches: create expectation. Another very smart thing to do, as we have also seen here, is to offer some things for free. People love free things, and if they love yours enough, they’ll talk about it!
I know that some of these points might sound very obvious to you, but they bear repeating. Many projects fail due to very simple reasons that could have been easily fixed. Many fail for reasons that are not clear. But as you know, having a good foundation is key. Hopefully, this list will have given you a useful overview of success.
If you have any thoughts, let me know via a comment below. I’d love to hear which project is your favorite!
