KickstarterForum.org

I'm launching a product, a Vertical Vinyl Record player. Currently we are in the prelaunch phase and have around 700 email sign ups with a target to end around 1,200.

Is this enough for a good start. I know its hard to guage, i'd like to fund at least 100k. It's really hard to know how much of a prelaunch and would love to get some feedback from others who have done well.

thanks!
Fuse Vert

Hi Fuse,

I think 700 leads is a good start, but you need way more if your goal is to get at least 100k.

Here are some numbers from my personal experience and from other creators I've spoken to:

* My first project was a book (I described it in detail here: my-kickstarter-story-for-those-who-want-to-raise-up-to-10k-t12206.html and I gathered around 2000 leads during prelaunch. Most of them were people who already knew me (they weren't strangers who opted in to my mailing list). During the project 10% of them (200) became my backers and I raised $8379. But keep in mind that 10% conversion rate is extremely good and it rarely happens.
* I interviewed a person who helped creators to launch 8 projects that raised more than a million. According to this person, if you have a very strong USP (unique sales proposition), a good product-market fit and create an appealing video, description, and rewards, you can expect 2-3% conversion rate by collecting leads from Facebook Ads.
* I've spoken to other creators about their experience and I've heard conversion rates from 0% (yes, none of the leads converted) to 5%.
* I also participated in another project as collaborator. We also used Facebook Ads + Landing Page + Email Sequence to collect and nurture leads. We gathered around 2000 leads. We expected to get 3% conversion, but once we launched a campaign, barely 0.5% converted.

You'll never know how many leads will convert until you actually launch your project. You can only learn by doing.

My suggestion is to create optimistic, realistic and pessimistic scenarios.

E.g. optimistic conversion rate - 5%, realistic - 2%, pessimistic - 0.2%.

Then you can make calculations and find out how many leads you need to collect during pre-launch.

Suppose your goal is $100k, an average pledge - $100 and you want to get 30% funding within 24 hours.

In such case you must attract at least 100 000 / 100 *30% = 300 backers during the first day.

Let's calculate number of leads in each case:
* Optimistic: 300/0.05 = 6 000 leads
* Realistic: 300/0.02 = 15 000 leads
* Pessimistic: 300/0.002 = 150 000 leads

As you see, it's way more than you currently have.

Also if you plan to raise at least $100k, be ready to spend at least 30% of that on direct marketing.

Hi there Fuse,

700 is a good start and a goal of 1,200 is definitely commendable, but you'll need a lot more leads than that in order to get successfully funded for your 100k goal.

Sure you can aim to get 100% funded right off the bat, but there’s a little-known “30% rule” for crushing it on Day 1. A lot of creators use this 30% rule as a stepping stool to get fully funded for their campaign.

There are 3 reasons for this:

- Hitting 30% on Day 1 tells the crowdfunding platform team that the campaign is worth keeping an eye on. This can mean additional promotions, like newsletter inclusions or Project We Love badges, on the crowdfunding platform.
- A campaign that is 30% funded right off the bat makes newcomers more likely to contribute. It’s just psychology of the masses; they want to get in on the ground floor of something new, exciting and looks like it will be funded.
- Getting to that goal makes journalists much less wary of your campaign. Every time a journalists publishes an article, it’s their name on the line. By having at least 30% funded and a large number of backers right off the bat, it gives journalists the peace-of-mind they need to write about your campaign. They’ll be less likely to think that the campaign will not be fully funded and unsuccessful.

There’s an INCREDIBLY simple formula you can use to determine how many leads you need to collect:

N = (0.3 * A) / P * E
N = Number of leads required at launch

A = Total amount you need to raise (your funding goal)

P = Price point of your main reward tier

E = Email list conversion rate (this number can range from 0.05%-5% depending on your list)

That’s it. No tricks.

Just plug and play to know the EXACT number of leads you need right off the bat.

An example of the 30% Rule at work
I have a $1,099 product with a $50,000 goal on crowdfunding.

I see a 2% conversion rate on my email list thus far and believe it will hold for my Day 1 email.

N = (0.3 * $50,000) / ($1,099 * 0.02)

N = 683 (rounded up)

Therefore, I need get 683 leads in order to meet the 30% goal on Day 1.

BOOM!

How much you need to budget for lead generation

If you’re running lead generation advertisement, there’s even an exact amount you should budget for to reach that 30% raised on Day 1.

Firstly, you need to look for an average of $2 CPL (cost per lead).

Anything lower than that and you’re getting into non-converting email list territory. Anything higher than that the audience is not targeted enough and it is just not worth it to gather more of them.

Here’s the formula to figure out the EXACT budget you need to gather enough leads via advertising:

B = N * $2
B = Budget for generating leads via advertising

N = Number of leads required at launch (from above)

Again, that’s it. No tricks at all.

Thanks guys for the help. Amazing insight.

I'm at about 900 emails, on track for 1500. Launching in 6 days and bumping up my advertising. We are at around $2 cpl which seems to fit into your suggestions. With the time left, hoping to bump it up to 2k in leads which means more spending on clicks.

We opted not to use a marketing service upfront and using our funds to launch directly. It'll be interesting to see how successful we are. Not sure but hoping for the best.

Hey Fuse,

I see you launched your project and got 100% funded within 24 hours! Congrats! Amazing start!

Please share your experience here (when you have time) and let us know what has worked and what didn't.

Curious to learn how many leads from your mailing list converted!

We ended with about 1500 emails. As far as conversion its been tough to tell as kickstarter just says the source is external.

We decided to do everything in house, video, advertising, etc. Average email cost was $2. We are trucking along and trying out backerspring right now. Will post a full review later about how their services are.

I did not get any pledges from friends and family, other than a few $1 donations. ( prefer not to ask my friends)

If we make it halfway we would consider Jellop as another partner.

Thanks!

A very useful thread. Thanks for the detailed explanation.


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I would recommend going for 10k, its a safe number and you'll need around 11-12k to do it yourself or with an agency like crowdreach.

To launch, the most important thing is the 30% Rule.

Your campaign is ready to launch when you can fund at least 30% of your whole goal within 24 hours using only your email list. This point is incredibly important.

• 1. Hitting 30% on Day 1 signals to the crowdfunding platform team that the campaign is worth keeping an eye on. This can mean additional promotions, like newsletter inclusions or Project We Love badges, on the crowdfunding platform.
  2. A campaign that is 30% funded right off the bat makes newcomers more likely to contribute. It’s just psychology of the masses; they want to get in on the ground floor of something new, exciting and looks like it will be funded.

At 30% funding, campaigns reach a 90% chance of being reaching their goal (at bare minimum).


There’s an incredibly simple formula you can use to determine what the right size needs to be for your crowdfunding email list:

N = (0.3 * A) / P * E
N = Number of leads required at launch

A = Total amount you need to raise (your funding goal)

P = Price point of your main reward tier

E = Email list conversion rate (this number can range from 0.05%-5% depending on your list)

That’s it. No tricks.