Launching a hardware technology product is nearly impossible. Not only do you have to come up with a good idea, test the idea, build the physical product and make it work. But you also need to deal with production planning, ordering, inventory, and distribution – not mention marketing and sales. Enter the Kickstarter launch.
Kickstarter is absolutely dominant in the hardware space because it allows founders to gain immediate feedback on product reception and make modifications as they plan production.
Oh and most importantly, it’s easy. Anyone can set up a Kickstarter account and launch a campaign. That said there are definitely some key components that you as a founder should focus on when building out your campaign.
1. Start with a compelling product
There’s no magic here, every great campaign will have a great product idea at its center. Your product should solve a nagging issue for your customer and ideally have some innovative feature that differentiates it from the competition.
2. Talk to your audience
Before you spend too much time perfecting your design, you’ll want to understand your target audience first. Do some outreach to your members of that audience to understand their pain points around the problem your product will solve. Use existing products as analogs to identify major gaps.
3. Develop your Story
Every good Kickstarter launch tells the story of their product – starting with the problem it aims to solve. There should be a strong central benefit that flows from start to finish and each feature should add onto that user experience. On the main campaign page the story is told through (1) the main product video, and (2) the long form written post which should include several photos along the way. Don’t just tell the product story though, telling your personal story can help others relate to you and feel more connected with your cause.
4. Calculate and Share your Budget
Kickstarter patrons like to peek behind the curtain and understand why they’re paying what they’re paying. Within the story – usually at the bottom – you should give a brief synopsis of the costs that go into bringing your product to market and how your goals align with that.
5. Set clear goals and rewards
Speaking of goals, these should be intentional and follow the narrative of the launch. Setting a slightly lower goal will increase the likelihood that you achieve it, which can go a long way when it comes to giving backers confidence, but set your goal too low, and you might find yourself unable to bring your product to market at all. Learn more about setting you Kickstarter Funding Goal.
6. Plan your launch window
Timing is critical when it comes to Kickstarter launches. It’s generally a good idea to avoid holidays – mainly from November through New Years, while springtime launches seem to have a higher success rate. 30 day campaigns are common as they create a sense of urgency, whereas longer campaigns may give backers a feeling that they want to wait and see. You’ll also typically see the most action at the beginning and end of the campaign so keep that in mind.
7. Develop a marketing strategy outside of Kickstarter
This one is often overlooked, but the most successful Kickstarter campaigns extend beyond just Kickstarter. In this case think of Kickstarter as the product page of your website. The more elements you can have pointing back at your Kickstarter launch page the better, so set up a website and webpage, run paid advertising campaigns, push for PR coverage, and get content creators involved with early beta versions.
If you work with the account reps at Kickstarter you can create a preorder link that allows for people to back the project ahead of time during a teaser campaign. I’d highly recommend doing this as it will quite literally “kickstart” the momentum once you do publicly go-live.
8. Go Live
Coordinate your Kickstarter go-live with other aspects of your marketing campaign for maximum push. This can help you reach an elevated level where Kickstarter features your product.
9. Communicate regularly with your backers
Kickstarter is truly a community and you need to feed that community with constant communication in order to flourish. You should be communicating all major milestones but also ideally weekly check-ins to make sure everyone is engaged and remains onboard (backers can back out before the project reaches its goal).
10. Stick to your schedule and fulfill your product
Communicating lead time is another key aspect of a good Kickstarter launch. The shorter the lead time you can deliver the better, though for brand new companies it’s not unreasonable to have 6 months to a year before delivering. Just make sure you keep communication lines open, engage your backers and use them for beta feedback.
11. Talk to an expert before you start
There are lots of resources available online, and the team at Kickstarter can be super helpful. If you are interested in running a campaign inside and outside of Kickstarter for your next product launch, we can help with that – just visit machinegrowth.co to get started.