You create incredible enamel pins. If only your customers know about it.Starting a
Kickstarter campaign can be a daunting process. Where do you begin? Do you produce the pins first, or do you only work with the digital design?
Don’t worry. We’re here to help!In this post, we’ll outline the steps you need to take to have a successful Kickstarter enamel pins campaign.Let’s dive in.
1. Prepare For Your Campaign
I understand your enthusiasm to kickstart your campaign, but it is essential to prioritize planning. The success of any Kickstarter campaign relies heavily on this crucial step.
The planning phase may take several months to ensure thoroughness and effectiveness. Therefore, patience becomes a crucial virtue for achieving success.
Outlined below are the two critical aspects you should focus on while planning your campaign.
● Niche Research
Having a clear understanding of your niche is absolutely vital. It provides valuable insights into what products to offer, who your target audience is, and how to approach them effectively.
Identifying your target customers is a crucial aspect when designing pins. It helps you determine whether you should create pins for hipsters, superheroes, children, sports enthusiasts, or any other specific group. Additionally, you should consider the preferred colors, styles, and graphics that appeal to your audience.
For instance, if your target customers are children, it would be wise to design whimsical and vibrant pins. On the other hand, if you're catering to a hipster audience, a simple and minimalist design approach would be more appropriate.
To gain a deeper understanding of your audience, creating a customer avatar can be immensely helpful. This avatar represents your ideal customer, embodying their characteristics and preferences.
Once you have developed your customer avatar, every design choice you make should be aimed at captivating and engaging that specific persona.
● Convert Your Designs Into Pins
After you have settled on your niche and design, it's time to transform your vision into reality. While it's not necessary to mass produce your designs before launching your Kickstarter campaign, having a sample of the enamel pins in their final form is highly recommended.
Physical products have a significant advantage over electronic versions. Actual images of the pins are more captivating, and they are more likely to attract pledges from your audience.
Furthermore, when capturing photographs of your pins, consider your audience's perspective. Display them in settings and locations that resonate with your target demographic.
2. Keep Track of your Finances
Running a Kickstarter campaign with the hope of success only to realize it falls short can be disheartening. Therefore, it is crucial to have a clear understanding of your finances to set realistic goals and expectations.
By comprehending your financial situation, you can determine the resources and budget available for your campaign. This knowledge will guide you in establishing achievable goals that align with your financial capabilities.
Understanding your finances allows you to make informed decisions about the scale of your campaign, the rewards you can offer, and the overall feasibility of your project.
● Design
To begin with, it is important to assess whether there will be any costs associated with designing your pins. If you are personally creating the pins, you generally won't have any design expenses.
However, if you decide to hire a professional designer to assist you in creating your pins, it is crucial to factor in this cost. The fees for hiring a designer should be taken into account when planning your budget for the Kickstarter campaign.
It is essential to carefully consider your options and evaluate the potential expenses involved in the design process to ensure you have a realistic understanding of the financial aspects of your campaign.
● Production
Once you have finalized your design, it's time to calculate the production cost of your pins.
For a convenient reference, you can utilize the pricing tool available at Vivipins. By following the steps in their online ordering system, you can estimate the cost of manufacturing your enamel pins.
It's important to note that the cost per pin generally decreases as the quantity increases. Therefore, it is advisable to track the production costs for different quantities of pins. This will enable you to explore various scenarios and make informed decisions when setting your campaign goals.
Having a clear understanding of the production costs will help you determine the number of pins you need to sell in order to cover your expenses and achieve a successful Kickstarter campaign.
● Shipping Costs
When planning for a Kickstarter campaign, it is important not to overlook the shipping costs, as they can quickly accumulate and impact your budget. Therefore, it is crucial to account for these costs from the outset.
Enamel pins are typically small and lightweight, which makes it relatively easier to calculate the shipping expenses involved.
Once you have identified your target audience and the regions you intend to ship to, you can determine the shipping costs required to achieve your campaign goals. Consider factors such as the weight of the pins, packaging materials, shipping methods, and the destinations you'll be shipping to.
By carefully assessing and incorporating the shipping costs into your overall financial planning, you can ensure that your Kickstarter campaign remains economically viable and avoids any unforeseen budgetary constraints.
● Other Costs
It is crucial to consider any additional costs that may arise during the course of your campaign. This includes expenses associated with paid promotions or advertising efforts.
It's important to note that running a Kickstarter campaign is not entirely free. Kickstarter will retain a portion of the funds you raise as a platform fee. Therefore, it is imperative to factor this into your overall cost calculations to prevent a loss on your Kickstarter campaign.
By accounting for these costs upfront, you can ensure that your budget remains realistic and that you have a comprehensive understanding of the financial aspects involved in running your campaign.
3. Setting Goals
It is crucial not to set overly ambitious goals when launching a Kickstarter campaign. Remember, Kickstarter is not primarily a platform for generating substantial profits but rather a platform for gaining exposure and support.
Experts recommend setting goals that are realistic and closely aligned with your profit margins. By pricing your product reasonably, you increase the likelihood of attracting backers and achieving your funding target.
Stretch goals can also be utilized to enhance your profit margins. These additional targets can incentivize backers to pledge more by offering extra features, enhancements, or rewards.
When setting your goals, it is important to maintain a sense of modesty. This is significant for two reasons:
First, if your campaign does not reach 100% funding, you will not receive any funds. Therefore, setting a reasonable goal increases the chances of successfully reaching your target and securing the funds.
Second, it's important to recognize that Kickstarter is not a platform for amassing great wealth. Instead, it serves as a means to build an audience for your product and foster growth.
By approaching your goals with realism and modesty, you can maximize your chances of success on Kickstarter while also aligning with the platform's intended purpose.
4. Use Stretch Goals
Stretch goals play a crucial role in the success of most pin campaigns. These goals are activated only after you have achieved your initial funding target.
To illustrate, let's consider an example: your initial goal may involve offering two different pin designs. Once you reach this goal, the stretch goal would unlock additional designs or colors, providing your backers with more options.
Implementing stretch goals not only encourages backers to invest more but also ensures that you receive funding for your initial designs, even if not all stretch goals are met. It entices backers to support your campaign with the aim of acquiring the complete collection of pins.
However, it is important to track the potential costs associated with stretch goals. It is crucial that these goals make financial sense and are aligned with your budget and overall campaign objectives.
By strategically incorporating stretch goals into your campaign, you can generate excitement, engage backers, and potentially surpass your initial funding expectations.
5. Set-up Your Rewards
Developing a well-designed reward system is crucial as it determines the level of support your campaign receives from backers.
It is important to create a range of rewards to accommodate different types of backers. Including a low-tier reward option is essential for those who want to support your project but may not have the means to contribute at higher levels. This could be a simple gesture of appreciation such as a thank-you note or small custom stickers.
Additionally, offering a mid-tier reward is important, as it will likely be the most popular choice among backers. This reward should include one or two initial enamel pin designs, providing tangible value to the supporters. Consider including a higher-tier reward option for those who wish to make a more significant investment. This higher-tier reward could include additional items such as custom thank-you notes, extra pin designs, or personal customizations, enhancing the overall appeal for backers interested in contributing more.
By carefully crafting a reward system that caters to various backers' preferences and budgets, you can incentivize support for your campaign while expressing gratitude for their contributions.
6. Promoting Your Campaign
Promoting your Kickstarter campaign is a critical aspect that significantly contributes to its success. Successful campaigns don't achieve their goals by chance; they actively drive potential supporters to their campaign page through strategic promotion.
There are various effective ways to promote your Kickstarter campaign:
● Word of mouth: Start by leveraging your network of friends and family. Encourage them to spread the word about your campaign to their own circles, generating organic interest and potential backers.
● Utilize your online presence: Leverage your website, YouTube channel, and social media accounts to raise awareness about your campaign. Create engaging content, share updates, and provide compelling reasons for people to support your project.
● Paid promotion: Consider investing in paid advertising, such as Facebook or Google ads, to reach a wider audience. Target specific demographics or interest groups that align with your niche to maximize the effectiveness of your advertising budget.
● Engage with relevant communities: Actively participate in forums, online communities, and blogs within your niche. Contact bloggers or forum administrators to share information about your campaign, leveraging their platform and established audience to generate interest.
● Before Your Campaign
It is crucial to commence promoting your Kickstarter campaign even before it becomes active. By generating awareness and anticipation beforehand, you can enhance the performance of your campaign upon launch.
Informing people about the details of your Kickstarter project and its launch date is essential. This early promotion allows potential backers to familiarize themselves with your project and ensures that they are prepared to engage with your campaign once it goes live.
A key advantage of promoting your campaign prior to launch is the potential for a strong initial surge of visitors on the first day. When a significant number of people visit your campaign page right from the start, it can significantly boost your visibility and ranking on Kickstarter. A higher natural position in the Kickstarter rankings improves the overall performance of your campaign, increasing its visibility to a broader audience.
● During Your Campaign
Continuing to promote your Kickstarter campaign throughout its active duration is crucial for maximizing your chances of success. It is important not to pause your promotional efforts once you have reached your original funding goal.
By consistently promoting your campaign, you can attract as many backers as possible and further increase your support base. Even after surpassing your initial goal, it is essential to maintain momentum and keep potential backers engaged.
One effective strategy is to advertise your stretch goals. These additional goals and rewards can entice both new and existing backers to invest further in your enamel pins. By highlighting the value and benefits of reaching these stretch goals, you create excitement and motivation for supporters to contribute more.
Remember, the more backers you have, the greater the potential for exceeding your funding target and achieving even greater success. Therefore, it is important to sustain your promotional efforts, leverage social media, engage with your audience, and continuously communicate updates and milestones throughout the campaign.
By maintaining an active promotion strategy, you can maximize the reach and impact of your Kickstarter campaign, attracting more backers and increasing your chances of achieving your desired outcomes.
Conclusion
Starting a Kickstarter campaign can be scary. But, if you break it down into smaller steps, it becomes much easier.
You now have all the steps you need to have a successful Kickstarter campaign. With enough focus and dedication, you know you’ll eventually get there.
Don’t wait any longer. Get out there and bring your customers the incredible enamel pins they deserve.
Read More:
