There are a lot of ways to test out a product and get funded but few are more effective than using Kickstarter. There are a lot of people that are very interested in helping people with good ideas get their dream made into a reality. They also enjoy being on the ground floor of a successful project and knowing that they helped make it possible.
There are a lot of reasons that products launched on Kickstarter do well for funding, but it is a challenge to make it successful. There are many ideas that were good that never made it. In this article, we will go over what you can do to make sure your product launch on Kickstarter is a success.
1 – Build a prototype
Having a physical product that people can see so they understand that it actually works. Building a prototype is essential no matter what kind of product it is. However, if your product is very technical like medical equipment using stepper linear actuators, then it takes on added importance.
Building a prototype builds trust so investors understand that you know what you are doing and the product has a chance to actually work as advertised. Many creators will go to Kickstarter with a virtual prototype that works in theory, but the successful ones are going in with an actual product that is very close to production-ready and just lacks funding.
2 – Pre-launch promotion
The key thing to do to make sure your campaign starts off on a good foot is to have a solid presence online within the topic the product involves. For instance, if it is medical equipment then have a Twitter account and Linkedin following that are interested in a product like this working.
In this case, you would want to have people in the medical profession following you and your posts. Create engaging content and build a fanbase. Then, when it comes time to launch on Kickstarter, start tweeting about it and writing posts on your other social media to get people interested and check out the campaign.
3 – Set up rewards
Though there certainly are people that want to pitch in to help a dreamer put out a product, there are far more that want something out of the deal besides a sense of self-satisfaction.
Give something special to those that give based on tiers. So, the people who give more get more, and those that give less get less but still something special. This is a way to thank people for their support and for them to feel like they are being rewarded for it. It’s a two-way street.
It also encourages people to give more since they can be enticed by a fuller package that warrants a higher donation. Don’t have too many tiers, however, as it can be difficult for people to choose and they may back out. Make sure to have a low tier, a middle tier and one that encourages a big donation for a final tier.