How to run successful KickStarter Campaigns?

A lot people know I love collecting watches. And that's the original idea of this project. On one hand, I always want to apply what I learned at work as a marketer for some fun projects-create my own watch to represent me. On the other hand, as a marketer, I always be curious on new marketing tactics and crowdfunding marketing is a new area I want to try. Last month, I launched my passion project: Apollo Watch and we funded our original goal $25K in less than 24 hours, reached 474% funded thanks to 422 backers in 30 days. AND I DID IT ALL IN MY SPARE TIME. Of course, I did not achieve it alone. I have great partners and right strategy. I will touch base on this below. But really, I just scarified 10 to 14 hours over the weekend. If I can do it, you can do it too. Here are some of my secrets may help you to run successful KickStarter Campaign.

1. Find the right partners.

A lot crowdfunding projects only last 30 days to 60 days. However, the amount of work you need to prepare to launch it successfully takes more than 3 months. So if you are like me, have a full-time job and only want to do it in spare time, you need to find partners. This is the most important part to run a successful kickstarter campaign. I found Filippo, an amazing industrial designer on Instagram by search hashtags. Yes, you are correct, I found him by searching #. I was impressed by Filippo's work on Instagram right away. If you have passion on what you do, you will know who the right person is by looking at their work. Don't waste your time finding those design agencies, they are expensive and they eat on the fats. Trust your instinct, take the risk and go for the right talents. Filippo is definitely a great partner and he brought in Harriet, who's a world-class PR genius. Harriet then brought in a lot sport celebrities and influencers becoming our brand ambassadors later. So remember, A-players always attract A-players. Sell you visions to A-players and then they will bring you more A-players. We are all driven by the idea of developing a new craft of watchmaking to honor the aerospace industry with the use of the actual technologies in accordance with the principles of sustainable development and social responsibility. Our combined experience enables us to communicate what we actually want to our suppliers and how it has to be done, rather than just buying what is offered; in fact, every single part of the Apollo timepiece is custom-made to match our exigence for quality and design. And I want to say a million thank you to all these Ambassadors *(take look at their profiles and you will be amazed by their stories. A lot of them are young and talented in NASA program) listed below!

• Andrea Zanardelli / Italian National Team golf coach (Italian)

• Maria Markovicova / Wellness athlete and adventurer (Est Europe)

• Ariana Kalavana / Nasa program “future” Astronaut (Cyprus)

• Musa Khaflan / The Fastest man in UAE (united Arab Emirates)

• Giulia Bassani / ESA program “future” astronaut (Italian)

2. Write your budget and set a realistic funding target

You need to be clear about how much money you need and where it is going to go. As well as asking for funds you can also ask people to donate time and skills towards projects. You also need to include any commission you'll need to pay to the crowdfunding site and budget for any rewards. Tip: Never overshot! A lot crowdfunding platform rank projects based on the % over-achievement. For example, my project's goal was $25K. And once we achieved that, our ranking will be improved a bit. And you should have a clear timeline of your project! When to launch the campaign, when to do the production and then deliver the product.

3. Prepare your pitch

You’ll need a short video explaining what your project is, what you need the money for and what difference you’ll make. Your pitch needs to be clear, concise and grab attention. Harriett and I spent a lot of time to write the pitch. First, you need to craft your campaign story. We created a fun story telling people Apollo started from a galaxy map and now it's an unforgettable journey for all of us. Second, you need to know who can help you. We have 3 buckets: family & close friends, co-workers, and social media friends. We prepared 3 stories about our project to ask them to share on social media. Third, prepare media kit for the press to download. Here is an example. Forth, start reaching out 30 days before your launch and drive them to your project website. You should start collecting the potential backers' emails way before the campaign. We collected more than 1,000 subscribers, who were interested in our product before we launched the campaign.

4. Find a platform

A dedicated crowdfunding platform will take the pain out of managing financial contributions. There’s loads out there to choose from. You’ll need to decide between donations only or rewards for contributions. With rewards based crowdfunding in return for backing your project people contributing usually receive a 'reward' from you. You could give thanks in your annual report, invite people to a special event or offer a gift.

5. Leverage your crowdfunding platform's resources to promote

Check on your crowdfunding platform and find some similar products and reach out to their founders. Ask them if they are willing to do cross promotion. We will also promote their product on our campaign. Also, take a look at what publishers they are using, go after them. So bloggers will charge you and some may not. I spent most of my time to pitch my product to bloggers, influencers and editors during the 30 days. You can always get some great feedback of your product even they don't agree to post your product. So there is nothing to lose there.

6. Launch your campaign with professional pics and videos

Well, over 90% of the users on KickStarter or Indiegogo are users would make the purchase within 2 minutes. So professional videos and images are necessary. I recommend to test your product images and video on FB 7 days before the campaign launch. So you will have data what images work the best and you can use it for your campaign main pictures. Here is our video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnErwhf3Nd8

7. Continue engaging with your backers during the campaign

This part is really challenging but it's the most important part. Filippo continue communicating with the backers on our design, our campaign story and what options they can have. We also have "Unlock New Watch Edition" event. Every time we achieve a stretch goal, we will unlock a new edition of watch, and allow them to change the option. We also randomly pick a lucky member for a new edition watch. Newsletter can definitely help communicate during the campaign. We usually send out newsletter every time we achieved a new stretch goal.

8. Remind the backers to help you achieve by the end of the campaign.

Here is what we sent the last 24 hours. Subject line: "Last Day! Help us Achieve 500% Goal in 24 hours!"

Newsletter content “THANK YOU SO SO SO MUCH! Apollo has achieved 465% of goal. We really appreciate your passion on Apollo campaign. In the last 24 hours, we plan to launch a FB live and talk to you all. We will send out the information soon! We still have 1 the Earth special edition, and 1 Earth by Night left. Only 14 early bird left for the Eclipse or Full Moon. Grab them while you still can. They could be all gone anytime."

I always think actions speak louder than words. I hope my passion project inspires you. And I am just like every single one of you, just a normal human being. If I can achieve this, you can achieve it too. If you ask me one thing I may be different than others, I am a very determined person. “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”

Here is my project and hope you enjoy: Apollo Watch | Achieved 474% Goal | 428 Backers

Also, in case you asked, I did have tested KickStarter campaign in 2016. I invested very small budget and worked individually. The campaign was only funded $15K but it educated me a lot on crowdfunding and that's another lesson I learned: be open-minded, take the risk, and start lean to learn. When you know the mechanism well, then it's your showtime. Here is my old campaign Artemis Watch | Vintage Moonphase Watch with Unbeatable Price

I always think actions speak louder than words. I hope my passion project inspires you. And I am just like every single one of you, just a normal human being. If I can achieve this, you can achieve it too. If you ask me one thing I may be different than others, I am a very determined person. “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”

#crowdfunding #KickStarter