So here I am again, analysing another failed Kickstarter campaign for ‘The Coward’. Sigh…
Onwards.
This is a large subject, one critical to the project so I’ll be going into some depth and down into the nitty-gritty detail of where we had success and where we failed. I say ‘we’ but really in the end it’s just me – writer, producer, advertiser, marketer, researcher, social media manager – my responsibilities run the gamut of many different jobs. I get to point to where I scored a critical goal – but I also must own where I dropped the ball.
This is the first of three-to-four posts on this subject:
- What Went Right
- What Went Wrong
- Analysis & Conclusions
- Future Proofing
What Went Right?
- 1,400 Newsletter Subscribers
- Only about 50 unsubscribes
- Good Kickstarter page
- Clear imagery
- No typos, errors
- Multiple videos, gifs
- Clear tiers & rewards
- OK Website
- OK speed, good info, clear progress down the page
- Success as the newsletter sign-up portal
- OK Kickstarter Video
- Much better performance
- Style and format now settled
- OK Kickstarter Updates after Launch
- Upodates were responsive and timely
- Good Facebook Ads effectiveness
- Ads lead directly to the 1,400 subscriber count
- Targeting was much tighter, ad spend was much more effective that 2023
- Good pledge responses from Family & Friends
- Work friends especially were very supportive and engaged.
- Found additional Angle of Interest (being anti-Ridley Scott’s “Napoleon”)
- The line “Screw you, Ridley Scott!” was instrumental in gain Zack White’s support.
- Many online comments and messages specifically referenced the lost opportunity in “Napoleon”.
- Good Youtuber, Podcaster connections
- Zack White interview alone lead to a $10,000-$12,000 bump in pledges
- Positive contacts made with at least 3 other large-subscription YouTubers
- Very Good Video Interviews had large effect
- Tom Fournier’s interview gave me vital practice before the Napoleonice Wars Podcast with Dr. Zack White
- History Symposium is a respected podcast, adding credibility.
- The Napoleonic Wars Podcast interview was extremely effective, and very useful for oppening ideas about other angles of interest. Also Zack has commmitted personally to the project and is a great source of advice and support.
- Good reactions in Social Media
- Facebook Ads gained good reactions & comments
- Posting to historical Facebook Groups was generally allowed
- Groups commentary was positive.
- Good Cancellation process
- OK timing (a bit late)
- Good write-up
- Good reactions to the Update
- Good support to continue the project
SUMMARY
In terms of money spent / return, the Facebook Ads definitely worked – 1,400 subscribers, baby! Plus only 50 unsubscribes is a miniscule amount. By contrast I had 250 subscribers going into the 2023 Kickstarter. The Kickstarter page itself was much better this time around – more informative, better organized, more interesting to dwell on and it contained videos and gifs that were badly missing in 2023. Generally, once someone landed on the Kickstarter page they were likely to stay and eventually pledge. The page did its job – convince visitors to commit.
Speaking of videos, this time around my intro video was much, much better. First off – it existed. Last time I launcvhed without a video introduction.a dding it a little later. But I’m not a natural public speaker and in 2023 my video was very, very stiff and flat. This time I prepped for a good while and then ran a single session, with my DP friend Ian Macmillan filming. I tried to keep it more chatty and engaging – I wasn’t hugely successful but definitely better than last time, and it gave me a lot more confidence for the next video.
Finally – the cancellation was handled well. I gave enough notification to everyone involved, I was clear on what I felt had gone wrong and I owned the entire process. Asking people to commit financially to a promise is not a small thing; you must be 100% transparent about the decision, the why and the what next. Be honest – to the pledgers and to yourself. Honest begets clarity. Clarity => credibility; credibility => confidence; confidence => commitment.
Overall this campaign was much better prepped, much more focussed and much better equipped to convince visitors than the 2023 campaign.
All that said – we didn’t fund. I failed. Why?
TOMORROW: What went Wrong
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