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Is it wise to launch in December? I'm thinking of launching my campaign next month for The Naked Game (thread) but I'm torn. I can imagine two possibilities:
1. People are looking online for gifts, so may be more likely to click over to our Kickstarter when we advertise it on target websites.
2. People will hold off on pledging because they only have so much money to spend during the season and know the game won't ship until after Christmas. (Nevermind that they won't actually be charged right away.)

I've done tons of research and the little I have seen about timing had said any time of the year is fine, but I still have my doubts.

Thanks

My theory is that no one seems to want to launch in december, so it is a great month to do so. Less competition equals higher results. always.

I don't think it's a good idea to launch in December - people are looking for gifts they can give at Christmas . . .

BUT . . . !

I have a campaign I'm going to launch on IndieGoGo in December to use as 'research'. I'm launching with an IGG Flex plan so I won't have to meet a funding goal. I'll be using this campaign to get ideas, comments, results and feedback, which will benefit a similar campaign I'll run in February.

It used to be common knowledge that you never launch in december, but I am starting to think differently. I saw some pretty big campaigns last month!

December is a terrible month for any campaigns that intend to do a lot of marketing. Social-media advertising costs tend to multiply, and so it's much harder to advertise profitably, if at all. For that reason, some crowdfunding marketing agencies shut down completely during that entire month. So, if you want to run some ads, then I'd advise waiting until January before launching. Otherwise, I see no reason to avoid December.

Some view January as a month to avoid because brick-and-mortar retail sales tend to be slow, but those same trends don't seem to affect worldwide crowdfunding nearly as much, as best as we can tell. In fact, when the weather is bad, the same people who aren't going to the mall might be comoftably surfing crowdfunding sites at home. Some data that I've seen suggests that the first six months of each year enjoy the highest success rates of the year, although autumnal success rates are rather high also.

The only other month to consider avoiding is August. Organic traffic seems to peak about then, which attracts a lot of projects (and competition)---and, so, the total number of projects running peaks, as well, even more than the traffic. According to the data that I've seen, August brings peaks in both successful and unsuccessful campaigns ending. But the latter peak is higher than the first, and so August endures the lowest average success rates of the year. Also, fewer million-dollar campaigns have ended in August than in any other month. That data should be taken with a figurative grain of salt because correlation doesn't prove causation. Even so, it may be reason to consider shiting your timing a month earlier (or later).

Other than those two months, the entire rest of the year seems to be pretty good. If your project is seasonal, then I'd recommend launching it during the season when people are buying such things, which isn't necessarily the season in which they'll actually receive it. Otherwise, you should be alright to launch whenever.

The greatest key to success won't be your launch timing, though---it'll be offering a great product at an acceptable price. If you don't get that sufficiently right, then the rest ultimately won't matter much. So, please take as much time as you need to refine your idea and perfect your prototype.