I don’t talk about Kickstarter enough. Obviously it’s a huge player in the field at the moment, and a lot of you have asked me for advice on how to market your campaign. So let’s talk Kickstarter.
It’s a platform that has enormous virality, and obviously works for a lot of people. News outlets cover the most awesome success stories. Hearing about those makes my day. Let’s get into it. That way, you can make my day. 😉
Say you’re launching your own campaign. Great. You’re taking a huge step towards starting something that I’m sure will be awesome. But going into it, you need to have a solid plan for promotion. Get your attack strategy ready for how you’re going to promote the crap out of it so you can make your funding goal (and then some hopefully). Sure, emailing all your family members and making a Facebook event is FINE, but how are you going to reach the audiences you don’t know personally? How do you leverage the viral potential that Kickstarter has?
The answer, for me, is the same as any other type of marketing. You ALL need to be putting out content. Content content content. It is the most important way you can market yourself today. I talk about it here and here. And here. I’ll get you guys started with a couple key tips. These are specific things you’re going to want to do. Get this all ready before you launch the campaign, before you pick an end date, and before you make that Facebook event for your aunts, uncles and cousins.
Number one: Facebook dark posts.
This is the number one way you are going to reach people outside your inner circle. Target people who are going to care about your project. Maybe you’re launching your own ice cream brand. Then you would target people who love ice cream, sweets, desserts…the possibilities are endless. Play around with Facebook’s targeting and ad platform. Learn it. Experiment. Put some of your own money into it, because the idea of the Kickstarter is to get you more of that, right? Right.
Number two: Guest contributing.
I would literally email every single person that has a blog of any size that plays in your world. Ask them if you can write a post. You may even want to do this in the months leading up, start writing regularly, then hit readers with the Kickstarter. Going beyond blogs is also extremely valuable here. Podcasts. Media properties. ANYTHING that is occupying space in the world you want to be a part of.
By inhabiting the community you are about to ask for money from, you establish credibility, you become known, and people will respect you more for it. It’s being about content and not being about infomercials. Too many people in our world today will hear “content” and think of an infomercial, or the Home Shopping Network. When I hear content, I think New York Times and Scandal. Get it?
Friends, there is a huge amount of damage to be done between 11pm and 3am. GET IN THERE. I know emailing these blogs will take time. Setting up and understanding Facebook dark posts will take time. But that is what the HUSTLE is all about. If you truly believe in your Kickstarter campaign, you can afford to watch one less Game of Thrones episode tonight, right? Time is the greatest asset you have. Take one less hour away from something and give it to this. You won’t be sorry.
