My Board Game Creation Blog: First Kickstarter Post Synopsis

   I am extremely happy to report that my first KS, through FunDaMental Games, became successfully funded far beyond my expectations! There was a strong initial support, funding in the first 2.5 days of the launch, then a lull for a few days, then a gradual climb upwards from there.
   By the end of the KS it was 260% funded to the $500 goal, with one stretch goal achieved. Considering I have never promoted or sold a game to the public before, and this is a first creation on KS, this felt like an accomplishment to be proud of.
   I learned a few lessons from this KS, both before the launch, during the campaign, and now some post launch thoughts. Here are a few I can share with you:

The video is crucial, and I don't think I put enough time or energy into it. Also I did not add a personal touch, which could have been something as simple as 10 seconds of me introducing FunDaMental games. Of the 215 people that played the video only 21% of people completed it, which meant it may not have been compelling/interesting enough. That would equate to 46 backers if only full video watchers backed the game, so at least the video was not the sole selling point, but it was important and I would like to improve on this for the next game (while staying within the time limit).
Having a physical copy of Pledge rewards would make it a much more visual experience to promote those pledge levels. I had offered holographic cards based on research and videos I had watched of the card making company, but I hadn't actually ordered the product until a week before launching the KS. This meant that the cards didn't arrive until the night before my KS ended. I think the holographic cards actually encouraged a lot of last minute backers due to the video posting of them, and this really should have been included from the start of the campaign as a key visual selling point.
Ship wherever you can, and advertise this well! I limited shipping to US/Canada for free, and options for four other countries in the pledge details. At least five backers mentioned this limitation for them, which means likely 25 more just didn't bother with the campaign since they could not back it at a physical level anyway. Figure out logistics and other shipment costs as early as you can, and make it an option (even if it is very expensive), then anyone could back the game if they chose to pay those shipping fees.
If you are going to run a Facebook Ad or other Ad process you will want to have it reviewed/planned for at least a week out. I ended up with a credit to do an add on Facebook, but didn't request it until the day before the campaign ended. They did not review the request in time to advertise, so I ended up not advertising on any paid channels. If this were completed it may have resulted in more backers near the end of the project.
Checking for backers and pledge increases is addictive... find your zen and try to avoid looking at the app every five minutes. Plan to look for funding updates and backer q's every two hours, and use your time more effectively.
The Backer reports are pretty useful to look at and can help push your campaign/game event to be more enticing to others.

Those are just a few to share first hand. Thanks for reading!

September 28, 2018