Why Less Than 30% Of Kickstarter Projects Reach Their Funding Goal
Introduction
Have you recently taken the jump to set up your first Kickstarter project? If so, you may be quickly realizing it’s more work than anticipated. Even still, if you have put countless hours of hard work and money into this project, not seeing it succeed is nothing short but disheartening.
So, to help you discover why your Kickstarter project might be failing or to help you launch with a plan to succeed, we have compiled a list of five popular reasons most Kickstarter campaigns don’t reach their funding goal. Let’s dive in;
Lack of Community
Like any launch, there needs to be hype around the campaign before it ever goes live. Think about how many campaigns launch on Kickstarter every week, not only that, every day. It’s common that some will get lost in the sea of campaigns. In order to gain a significant amount of backers, it’s important to build an engaging and loyal community before you launch.
A good start is to hang out in the same online communities as your industry. This can be Reddit, Twitter or another social media site. After spending time engaging with the community and building up your lead generation list, share information about your Kickstarter project launch before, during and after the campaign.
Not Enough Emphasis on Marketing
A significant amount of work needs to go into promoting and advertising your Kickstarter project. It’s unlikely that a potential backer will stumble upon your campaign and send a pledge without knowing anything about it.
There are lots of different marketing techniques that can be used to promote your campaigns, but online activities have been popular in the last decade.
Perhaps you should consider allocating some of your marketing budgets to paid acquisition campaigns to promote your campaign on social media. Other effective methods of marketing include influencer marketing, content marketing, and having a media partner. Not all methods will work for every campaign. Consider your audience, and industry and figure out what might work based on data, but also trial and error.
Timing is Wrong
It’s super important to strategically plan when you are going to launch your project. The critical factor that contributes to many failed projects is simply timing. If there are a bunch of similar projects launching at the same time, it will be harder for your project to stand out.
If you are wondering how to get the timing right, there are a couple of ways to gauge it. Make sure to keep on top of industry news and updates. Doing so will keep you in the loop of gaps in the market, trends and investors' desires.
Not only that, there are best days of the week (Tuesday) and months for launch, typically March and April and then after summer in September and October.
Poor Branding
When it comes to branding, it’s all about telling a story and being consistent. Branding your project is just as important as any other element. So, with that in mind, make sure to make the most of every opportunity and that includes simply optimizing your project's listing on Kickstarter.
Perhaps your project isn’t gaining traction due to poor-quality images or uninspired descriptions. This is a common downfall for many entrepreneurs, they may be great at creating the product, but when it comes to branding it… not so much. Branding can be improved by using logos for credibility, writing catchy headlines, including images of the people involved in the project and overall, giving your project a personality.
No Demand for Your Project
If you are starting a Kickstarter project, you probably have lots of market research done. If not, you may run into some problems. Before you spend lots of time and money, you need to be sure that there is a strong, consistent demand for your product.
At this stage, you also need to consider feedback. If the general consensus from others is that people, unfortunately, do not want your product right now, this is most likely the reality. Listen to the market, and make decisions about your Kickstarter project accordingly.
Conclusion
Reaching your funding goal can be a challenge, but a rewarding one. With some strategic planning and tactful marketing techniques, there is no reason why your project shouldn’t be en route to meeting its target.
Wherever you are in the stage of just deciding whether or not to launch a Kickstarter or crowdfunding project or in the middle of your campaign, you can always optimize your strategy and reach your goal.