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This is our first KickStarter and I really would love to see it reach success.

So I'm reaching out to this community to ask one simple question:

Is there anything wrong with the SoDaptor KickStarter campaign?

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ai ... rocket-lau



What are the main flaws we should address?

I have a lot of positive feedback so far, I'm looking for real criticism.

Thank you

There's a ton of "small stuff" you can do to your campaign pitch page ...which will add up overall.

However, the most significant change you could make would be the positioning of your project.

Rather than the pitch being to provide schools with an affordable air rocket launcher ...I'd perhaps consider pitching the rocket-launcher itself as an educational toy (with helping schools being the "why we need funding").

Position the SoDaptor so as it's marketed to adults as a fun, learning toy for their kids.

"SoDaptor - The Most Fun Your Kids Will Have WIthout Gunpowder!"

Hey SoDapter.. well I don't know how other people consume project pages, but I typically look at the video first, and if I'm still interested, I read the content and rewards. If I were to look at just the video, I would assume that you are just selling the adapter. I can imagine that if someone was curious about rockets but not familiar with set up, they might have already moved on without realizing that our rewards include kits on building rockets, plus the adapter. The video feels like it plays specifically for people who are already interested in rockets. I think you should attempt to broaden the audience by including what comes in the kit, how easy it is to build, etc.

Thanks so much for the responses so far. You guys are great!

agree. its fun and educational.

I would get rid of the subtitling on the video that is there throughout as well.

1. Replace Victor as the project image. He's fine, once he starts talking, but as a project image, you've got this guy with what looks like a small piece of blue pipe. It's not exactly an exciting first image, which equates to first impression. He's not even smiling, in that still image, which goes to the issue of projecting positive energy to excite project page visitors. The first impression, visually, is not one of enthusiasm.

2. The photos of the kids are all reduced in size. As with art, the smaller that you reduce photographs, the less visual impact that they carry and convey.

3. Your pledge levels are odd.

4. Place photos in between the Reward levels. It will help to break up that mass of text.

5. No large images of rockets, but rocketry is at the core of this concept.

6. Spark the imagination, by adding in a few images of real rockets. Capture the imagination, equate what you are doing to advanced rocketry. Images will help you to build a visual bridge, a visual connection, between the two.

7. Assuming that page visitors click on your Facebook page or website, not much in the way of visual eye-candy or in-depth content awaits them. Your Facebook page had only a dozen likes. I added one, while there.

9. The rockets on display are white. No color, no detailing. That equates to lost visual opportunity, the opportunity to engage your page visitors visually.

10. The name - SoDaptor - is boring. It's not particularly conducive to play on words.

11. The brief descriptive text immediately below the video - the opening line, as some call it, it lacks punch - yet, you're dealing with rocketry. Rockets have oomph!

You like odd numbers for your pledge categories, so here's eleven bits of critique for you.

I addressed quite a few of the things you mentioned Charles. At first I was a bit taken back by the length of your post, but I do appreciate your critique and it was exactly what I asked for. Clearly I'm not going to change the name on one person's opinion, but your points were spot on. Thank you.

Magnus, I love your line about fun wIthout gunpowder, I think it grabs. I used it on my campaign and clearly I owe credit to you. We are an educational focused company, but we have to grab the attention and that does it. Thank you.

I don't want you to change your item's name. Rather, the name that you chose comes with inherent limitations.

I understand that. Its just one product name though. All we intend it for is this one single product.

I just made a lot of changes to our campaign, sprucing it up. Have another look if you would like.

Victor,

At least, I assume that it's Victor, since Victor's name is on the link to the Facebook page. Here's some additional feedback for your consideration.

I pulled up an older version of your KickStarter page, via Google cache. On it, you had one backer pledging $4. Comparing that early incarnation of your project page to your current page, here's what my current thoughts on your current page are:

1. Your page isn't more visually exciting, although it is visually different.

Personally, I think that you have a great product, one with some terrific potential. All things considered, though, I don't think that your project page captures the vast majority of your project's potential excitement factor. The real question, of course, is how to remedy that.

Your website has better visuals than your KickStarter page. That said, it's primarily due to three things:
(a) The header image.
(b) The image that says "Support us on KickStarter."
(c) That tall, vertical banner image on the right-hand side of your website.

Take a good, close look at the photos that you are using on your KickStarter page. Compare how vibrant the color is on the one of that red-head boy with the bright blue shirt to the lack of vibrancy of the clothing on your project image (boy and girl at start of video), or even to that tall banner image on the right-hand side of your web page. You're using numerous photographs to tease and grab the eye, but you're project page suffers from either images that are not vibrant, or images that are fairly small in size.

When you shrink either photographs or images of art, you reduce their visual impact. Yet, you want visual impact, you want vibrancy. Why? Because the human eye gravitates toward those very things. Add some normal sized photos to the page. It will increase the visual impact.


2. Nothing personal, Victor, but while the big, blue boxes with white lettering do serve to break up the mass of text, that's only part of the role that such things serve. They are all clearly legible, but that's not the same thing as them being visually engaging or visually enticing. You need to get someone with some graphics expertise to create visual dividers for you, which is basically what those things are. For comparison's sake, look at some KickStarter project pages for board games. Board game projects often make good use of visual dividers.

On a separate note from that, I read somewhere a while back that having the color red on your KickStarter page increased your chances of getting funded. I don't have a link handy to that KickStarter tip page that I ran across a couple of weeks ago, however, that advocated that.

Additionally, in terms of visual contrast, some color combinations provide greater visual contrast than others. Think about newspapers and books - There' a good reason why black text on white paper tends to dominate. White text on light blue background (your visual dividers) doesn't yield as much visual contrast as other color combinations might. You are attempting to emphasize getting your product into schools. Have you consider working a school bus color with black text onto your project page?

Another color combination to consider is red, white, and blue. You could add some patriotic flair to your project page. Maybe incorporate an American flag, or even State flags. They are colorful, even vibrant, in many instances, and might make for visually eye-grabbing visual dividers. You could always place large text above and/or below them. SoDaptor is bigger than any one school, than any one neighborhood, right?


3. You've played up the school angle. What about other angles? Kids have fun with these things, right? What about birthday parties, or other get-togethers, such as the local park?


4. The SoDaptor makes learning fun, right? They make rocket science fun. If you're looking for catchy phrase, though, what about "Makes learning fun!"


5. Look at your project image, the one at the beginning of the video, that placeholder image. Your text is cut off.


6. The rockets that you have on display are overwhelmingly white. Plain white. Plain as in dull, boring, uninteresting. You are promoting rocketry, but your visual props aren't sending the signal of visual excitement. Look at that red-headed kid, again. His rocket is white, but the tip of it is bright red. Your visual props would stand out more, and have more visual impact, if they weren't so plain looking.


7. I stress the visual impact aspect for good reason - it makes a huge difference. What about your project page's audio impact? Your project video has a little music. You have a pretty decent voice, one that explains the product well. There's even a woman hollering, near the very end of the video, when the boy and girl launch that rocket that disappears off the top of the video.

BUT...Where are you video/audio endorsements of your product? Kids can make very persuasive spokesmen, as can adults. Other than yourself, who's endorsing this product? Nobody? If somebody, why not put them front and center? How many teachers or principals are endorsing it? Yet, you want to get this thing into schools?

8. Your KickStarter project page has a project video. That's a plus. Why only one video, though? For project page visitors who gravitate toward video persuasion, your project page is a one-shot Johnny. People like to have choices, right? Yet, you have one video for a product that is geared toward video promotion. You can talk about the product, all day log. But, seeing kids having fun with it, and watching the rockets launch and soar, those video instances are at least as persuasive as your scientific or educational explanation.


9. I'm not a big fan of your oddball pledge levels. Why not supplement them with some standard, $10, $20, and $25 pledge categories?


10. The Comments section of your project page has a total of five comments posted to it. None of those five comments belong to you. It is an additional opportunity to engage and to interact with your backers (as well as your potential backers, since some page visitors may click on your comments, just to see what people are saying. How engaged are you? In the comments section, you're not engaged, at all. Zip. Zilch. Nada. None.


11. Your project page currently lists 2 Updates, 14 Backers, and 5 Comments. You have no direct control over the Backers number, as far as making it continually grow. You can directly impact the Updates number and the Comments number. Grow your numbers. Be engaged. Be on fire for this project! Those particular sets of numbers are NOT on fire. Ignite the rocket that is your own participation on your own project page, Victor!


12. On a technical level, how many uses does one tend to get out of a single two-liter bottle, as it gets subjected to being stomped on? How long does it take to change the bottle out? Will it work with larger bottles, such as 3-liter bottles, also?


13. Many NASA Images of rockets are in the public domain. You can supplement your visuals, to better ignite the imagination of page visitors. Send a Tweet to NASA< to boot. They have a vested interest in people supporting rocketry.


14. Why is there no video of any simultaneous multiple rocket launches on display?


15. In your project video, the rocket launched near the end of the video shoots up and off the top of the video. How about some video shots that show the FULL and COMPLETE path of the rocket in flight and on landing? Give your page visitors the Full Monty - aka, the FULL VISUAL IMPACT! Show people just exactly what this item will give them and their kids.

16. Your pledge levels are geared toward adults. Why aren't there any pledge levels that are geared toward kids? What about a Sodaptor Astronaut? Sodaptor Cosmonaut?


17. What about a badge or a patch? Something colorful, something that will spark kids' imaginations? Think about the Apollo patches and other NASA patches as guides. In a nutshell, I'm talking about visual eye-candy, Victor. What's the SoDaptor logo? Disney has Mickey Mouse as its visual ambassador to kids. Who does SoDaptor have as its visual ambassador to kids?

I may join your list of backers, Victor,