Tips for Kickstarting Your Crowdfunding Campaign

You’re almost there. You’ve nailed down your idea, and you’ve approached a product design firm like MAKO Design + Invent to help take you from a sketch on a napkin to store shelves. Oftentimes, our client’s next step is getting the finances to push their product to market, in which case crowdfunding is a great option.

Crowdfunding with companies like Kickstarter and Indiegogo has become a go-to method for engineers and product designers to finance their inventions. It puts you in direct contact with your potential consumers and allows you to build your own production timeline.

Running a successful crowdfunding campaign isn’t always easy. Here are three quick tips to get you started:

Speak With Your Product Design Firm to Know All Costs Before Your Campaign Begins

This seems like a no-brainer, but you would be surprised at how many inventors reach their funding goal and then run out of money before shipping a single product. Your funding ask should include any and every cost associated with your product, including manufacturing and shipping, additional promotional material, and anything else that may come up.

Working with a product design firm can really help you understand these costs, so you can make sure your funding ask isn’t just some arbitrary number.

Choose the Right Method to Promote Your Crowdfunding Campaign

Telling your product’s story may be the most difficult part of building your campaign. Kickstarter’s own Creator Handbook dives into the importance of a compelling story, especially using video. That doesn’t always mean simply sitting in front of a camera in your workshop showing how your product works. Check out these 5 tips for creating your crowdfunding video.

You product’s story should reflect the people who you invented it for. Start with a simple use case, answer the ‘why’ around your product, and if you can do so in an authentic way, that may be all you need. Your product design firm can help you communicate your story in creative, unique, and authentic ways beyond the product design. For more information on how MAKO can help, let’s get in touch!

Never Stop Communicating With Your Backers

Lasting relationships depend on good communication, which is exactly what you should be trying to build with your crowdfunding campaign. Raising funds may be one priority, but think beyond your financial goal. Your backers are people who have bought into your idea, they want to see your product succeed!

Keeping them up-to-date on your progress throughout the campaign, including any slight hiccups or delays, allows them to feel connected to your product’s journey and builds anticipation. They want to feel like they are a part of the process, working with the team, just like the product design firm.

Being honest, transparent and present throughout the campaign goes a long way. It might also entice current backers to advocate for your product to their own networks. Feel free to give us a call any time to help you throughout the process or our partner crowdfunding agency, Agency 2.0!

About: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Also, our founder Kevin Mako hosts The Product Startup Podcast, the industry's leading hardware podcast. Check it out for tips, interviews, and best practices for hardware startups, inventors, and product developers. Click HERE to learn more about MAKO Design + Invent!