KICKSTARTER & INDIEGOGO DESIGN & TECH 2018
SPONSORED BY : WELCOME
Have you ever seen a hugely successful crowdfunding campaign and wondered exactly how they did it?
I did…
In 2017 we conducted our first survey on the top creators (now know as Crowdfunding Champions). Originally meant as a one of project, the Crowdfunding Champions report has evolved into an annual insight into the most successful campaigns.
This year, I am pleased to say nearly twice as many Crowdfunding Champions took part in our survey and I want to say a massive thank you to each and everyone of you for making this report possible. These extra data points will provide us with a clearer picture of the tools and techniques used to raise six-figures plus.
One of the things we asked our Crowdfunding Champions this year was to share their top tips for aspir- ing creators. These golden nuggets of advice have been scattered throughout the report, so look out for them!
I hope you find this resource useful and I look forward to seeing your campaign appear in one of our future reports.
Rob Wilson Founder THE CROWDFUNDING CHAMPIONS OF 2017
To understand the most successful product campaigns, we looked at those who had successfully raised $100,000 or more in the Design and Technology categories on Kickstarter and Indiegogo in 2017.
673 $250,526,253 CAMPAIGNS RAISED
8% FROM 2016 15% FROM 2016
607 66 KICKSTARTER INDIEGOGO
7% FROM 2016 60% FROM 2016 Note: Excludes Indiegogo Indemand campaigns where the campaign was originally funded on Kickstarter. 3 THE CROWDFUNDING CHAMPIONS OF 2017
63% were located in the US. LOS ANGELES US 42 CAMPAIGNS
$171,658,701 SAN FRANCISCO 426 CAMPAIGNS 53 CAMPAIGNS
NEW YORK 36 CAMPAIGNS
UK CANADA $11,815,759 $7,364,572.55 34 CAMPAIGNS 23 CAMPAIGNS
4 Outdoor Cooking 5 DIY Electronics 5 DIY Tools 5 PRODUCTS Learn To Code Products 5 Kitchen Knifes 5 Powerbanks 6 45% of respondents said the key to their Lighting 6 success was their product. Bottles/Flasks 7 Back/Neck/Posture Products 7 Computers/Laptops/Smar tphoneslets 7 What products raised the most in 2017? Bicycle Accessories 8 Notebooks/Planners 8 Knifes/Multi-Tools 8 Furniture 8 Drones 8 AR/VR 8 SMARTWATCHES Health/Grooming Products 8 Wallets 9 Gaming 9 $16,276,849 Camping/Outdoor Products 9 Pens 10 Robots 10 Car Gadgets 10 Wearables 11 Cameras 11 Smartphone Accessories 12 Baby/Child Toys & Products 12 3D PRINTERS/CNC/ Personal Gadgets 15 LASER ENGRAVERS Smartwatches 15 Electric Personal Transportation 16 $13,790,159 Musicial Instrument/Equipement 17 Speakers/Sound Equipement 17 Smart Home Gadgets 19 Computer/Laptop Accessories 19 Home Gadgets 20 Earphones/Headphones 20 Sports/Fitness Equipment 22 Bedding/Sleep Products 26 CAMERA ACCESSORIES 3d Printers/CNC/Laser Engravers 26 Bags/Backpacks 31 Camera Accessories 32 Watches 34 $13,042,517 Fashion/Garments 34 Kitchen Equipment/Gadgets 35 NUMBER OF CAMPAIGNS 5 PRODUCT ADVICE FROM OUR RESPONDENTS
“Not every product is eligible to be a “Send your product out $100K+ campaign, so choosing the for reviews prior to the right product at the right time is key” campaign launch”
“At the end of the day, success “Get a good product, depends on the product itself and get good a market- how you present it to the world” ing campaign”
“Your product has to be innova- “Develop products that matter tive/exciting enough that people and tell your story” will want to help you create it”
“Make a thoughtful, capti- “Build a product that vating product and an solves a specific problem” equally great video”
“Focus on the product. “Have an unusual product Get to know your with an intriguing customers” backstory”
6 AWARDS
We’re all about celebrating success and here we have the opportunity to highlight the best of the best of 2017.
MOST MOST HIGHEST $100K+ BACKERS RAISE CAMPAIGNS
JOINT WINNERS: NIMUNO LOOPS ZETIME BY BY https://www.xeric.com/?ref=crowdfundingchampionsXERIC CHROME MYKRONOZ CHERRY DESIGN CHADWICK PARKER & https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/nimuno-loops-the-original-toy-block-tape-toys#/?ref=crowdfundingchampions https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1282890542/zetime-worlds- rst-smartwatch-with-hands-over-tou/?ref=crowdfundingchampions https://bigidesign.com/?ref=crowdfundingchampionsJOE HUANG
IN TOTAL, 19 CROWDFUNDING CHAMPIONS SUCCESSFUL LAUNCHED MORE THAN ONE $100K+ CAMPAIGN DURING 2017 7 SURVEY DATA
Now we get on to the really interesting stuff, 93 Crowdfunding Champions took part in our survey to provide us with a unique insight into what goes on behind the scenes.
Here’s what the average respondent looked like:
$43,981 $343,290 2502 $277
GOAL RAISE BACKERS AV. PLEDGE* *INCLUDES SHIPPING
69% said it was their first Kickstarter/Indiegogo campaign. 8 HOW CONFIDENT ARE YOU?
We asked our Crowdfunding Champions Despite this high level of confidence, how confident they felt before the launch the power of Crowdfunding continues of their campaign. to surprise...
81% 48% said they said their were either total raise confident or exceeded their very confident expectations. before launch. 9 TEAM
1 11%
2 23%
3 29%
4 14%
INTERNAL TEAM SIZE 5+ 22%
“Build a team, allocate tasks and get prepared “Build a good team around for long days and short you, and in advance of your nights...” launch!”
10 “Prepare, PREPARATION Prepare, “Make a solid plan Prepare!” and try to get testimonials before launching the cam- Crowdfunding Champions recognise the importance of preparation. paign”
<1 month 6%
1 month 10% 83% 2 month 24% SPENT 3 month 13% TWO 4 month 14%
5 month 7% MONTHS
6 month 13% OR MORE
>7 month 12% TIME SPENT PREAPRING FOR LAUNCH PREPARING FOR LAUNCH
“Prepare your cam- “Prepare enough content “Prepare! Kickstarter paign as much as you “Get well prepared prior to launch, use it to field campaigns are like “Detailed can, get in touch with on marketing test your idea. A lot of con- sport competitions. preparation!” other companies which assets, like pics, tent helped us get free public- The main thing is has done a Kickstarter videos, etc.” ity through 3rd party websites preparing for it” (like nowthis, core77).” campaign before!” 11 BUILDING A CROWD
Building a subscriber list before launch will not only allow you to engage with your target market but also ensure your campaign has the best start possible.
<1000 22% 1000-2999 18% 78% 3000-4999 18%
5000-6999 10% BUILT UP A SUBSCRIBER
7000-8999 3% LIST BEFORE LAUNCH
9000-10,999 7% WITH AN 11,000-12,999 5% AVERAGE LIST SIZE OF 13,000-14,999 2%
SUBSCRIBER LIST SIZE 19,000-20,999 9% 6764 >21,000 6%
“Bring your own “Spend as long as you “Build your “Get a large “Build a crowd - momentum “Have a large pool can creating a large audience in follower base prior gets you access to of people to access email list prior to community” advance” to launching” the crowd you don't before starting” launch” know (yet)!” 12 NOT EVERY SUBSCRIBER IS A GUARANTEED BACKER
The conversion rate of your subscriber list (the percentage that end up backing your campaign) will vary depending on a number of factors including; how the list was built, the engagement prior to launch and your campaign itself. As we see from the graph below, the size of the list also plays a big part.
30
(%) 20
RATE
10
ONVERSION Looking for someone to help C build your subscriber list? 0 CrowdReach can help.
<1000 >21,000 1000-2999 3000-4999 5000-6999 9000-10,999 11,000-12,99919,000-20,999 https://crowdreach.co/?ref=crowdfundingchampionsFIND OUT MORE Note: 7000-8999 and 13,000-14,999 were removed from this graph due to a lack of data
13 SUPPORT 70% 65% hired external support hired external support before launch during campaign
SERVICES USED BEFORE LAUNCH SERVICES USED DURING CAMPAIGN
CONSULTANT 11% OTHER 2%
ADVERTISING AGENCY 13% CONCULTANT 8%
MARKETING AGENCY 16% AFFILIATE SERVICES 11%
BACKER COMMUNITIES 16% PR AGENCY 16%
PR AGENCY PHOTOGRAPHER 30% 19%
PACKAGE PROMOTION COMPANY 19% GRAPHIC DESIGNER 33%
MARKETING AGENCY 26% VIDEOGRAPHER 60% ADVERTISING AGENCY 28%
Those that hired external support during their campaign on average raised $90,182 more.
14 PLEDGE MANAGEMENT BackerKit has helped many of our Crowdfunding Champions to simplify their fulfillment process and generate additional funds through upsales.
Their team have kindly offered to provide our USED readership with FREE setup on all their services A PLEDGE (saving you $199). 54% MANAGEMENT To claim this discount, enter code: CROWDFUNDINGCHAMPIONS SERVICE https://www.backerkit.com/admins/sign_up?coupon_code=CROWDFUNDINGCHAMPIONSCLICK HERE
INDIEGOGO INDEMAND ON AVERAGE OF RAISING KICKSTARTER AN EXTRA 60% CREATORS LAUNCHED $95,468
AN INDEMAND Note: The length of these InDemand campaigns varied. At the time of our research some InDemand campaigns were still live. For these campaigns the total amount raised was based on the figure obtained on the 01/04/18. 15 MARKETING SPEND
The average spend pre launch was... The average spend during was... $13,025 $36,519
30% 30%
20% 20%
10% 10% <$1000 <$1000 $19,999 $19,999 $79,999 $39,999 $29,999 $59,999 $59,999 $89,999 $79,999 $39,999 $29,999 $69,999 $59,999 $89,999 $59,999 $69,999 $99,999 $99,999 $199,999 $299,999 $10,000 - $10,000 - $399,999 $70,000 - $30,000 - $20,000 - $50,000 - $80,000 - $70,000 - $30,000 - $20,000 - $60,000 - $50,000 - $80,000 - $40,000 - $60,000 - $90,000 - $40,000 - $90,000 - $100,000 - $200,000 - >$100,000 $300,000 - >$400,000 $1000 - $4999 $1000 - $4999 $5000 - $9999 $5000 - $9999
“Invest in “Have a great video “Spend carefully “Spend money to “Spend money Pre-launch and spend $ on and effectively on make money” on online marketing” Marketing your advertising” advertising and product” PR”
16 MARKETINGMARKETING SPEND SPEND
Based on feedback from our last report, we decide to look more closely at marketing spend to un- derstand how our Crowdfunding Champions allocated their budgets. Of their total marketing spend during the campaign, we asked what percentage was spent in each area.
AVERAGE ALLOCATION OF MARKETING SPEND DURING CAMPAIGN
Backer Communities 3% Package Promotions 3% PR / PR agency 7%
Affiliate Marketing / Affiliate services 14%
Marketing Agency Online Advertisements / Ad Agency 7% 65%
17 IMPACT
WE ASKED OUR CROWDFUNDING CHAMPIONS WHAT DROVE THE MAJORITY OF THEIR PLEDGES.
FACEBOOK ADS
PLATFORM (KICKSTARTER / INDIEGOGO)
38%
24%
14%
18 FINAL WORDS OF ADVICE
“Play it smart. Don't waste money, but take risks “Seek help from as needed. Make sure your margin is fantastic so someone who's done you can afford quality marketing. To do so, you it before” will need to add value to your product beyond its perceived worth by way of story and video quality.”
“Talk to as many successful and unsuccessful crowdfunders as “Be ready! What possible and do the prep work. follows the campaign It's not magic, it's hard work” is chaos!”
“Research as much as you “Study 5 most successful cam- can and know your targeted paigns and understand or find audience. It takes a long out what actually made them time to build a good truly successful and then try to Kickstarter page” mimic all those details!”
“Focus 100% on the “Communication to campaign during the your backers is campaign” essential”
19 SPONSORED BY :
The #1 platform to discover the best products Experts in advertising product campaigns, on the market. Over 25M people per month stay CrowdReach helps Kickstarter and Indiegogo up to date with the latest product releases and creators to generate more subscribers and crowdfunding projects. Now supporting AR & https://crowdreach.co/?ref=crowdfundingchampionspledges. https://thegadgetflow.com/submit/?ref=crowdfundingchampionsVR!
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