Part 2 of How to launch a female focused product on Kickstarter: Preparing the campaign

Step 5: Capture visual content that showcases your brand and genuinely appeals to women

Before anyone is going to read your text or even watch the video, they have to get a sense that it appeals to them from the visual content. Images, icons and colors are all part of grabbing the viewer’s attention in the .5 second you have them while scrolling. It negatively impacts trust and therefore conversion when a page’s content or video is obviously designed from a male perspective and doesn’t genuinely capture the emotional appeal of a product that’s targeting women.

Plan a photoshoot with a local photographer who has some experience with lifestyle or product photography. Create a shot list that emulates the lifestyle of your demographic (without excluding men of course). Use a friend’s house, ask a few friends to model for you, bring props, and you’re set. Remember to capture video and images from your iPhone as well, since you’ll want to have extra content to use on social media throughout the campaign.

The video takes a bit more heavy lifting. Start by identifying 5-10 videos on Kickstarter that you like and that are targeting a similar demographic. We’ve found the best videographers through referrals and then get 3-5 quotes to find the right mix of quality and affordability. Storyboard out the idea and write a script that aligns with your brand’s desired tone, in our case eco-chic, tongue and cheek. Aim to keep your video under 3 minutes and be sure to: illustrate the current problem, save the day with your solution, show why it’s better by painting the aspirational world the backer could have, give it a human connection by involving the founders, and define a clear call to action. If you’re using voice over and targeting a female audience, use a female voice. If you’re using music make sure it’s appealing to all, but doesn’t sound too young, hip or masculine.

Lessons we learned with video: Your product should be the first thing they see. Remember, we all have short attention spans. You don’t need to hire someone to do a voice over, if your voice is enjoyable to listen to. Do it yourself or find a friend and have them record it. Make sure the person is comfortable reading the script and record it in a space that doesn’t echo (closets are great!). In the next video we’ll do more text and icons to tell the story and be able to use this content on social media in the future.

Knixwear is an impeccable example of authentic content that draws in the viewer.

Step 6: Start Email Capture - Create a landing page with email CTA.

Once you’ve checked availability for a domain and done a basic trademark search, purchase your domain. Don’t spend a ton. Remember, it’s still in the validation stage, try for a .com, but don’t blow the budget. Once you’ve picked the name, grab the best corresponding handle on Instagram, create a Pinterest account for the brand (Pinterest reaches 83% of all women 25-54 in the US*) and a Facebook Page.

Working from your brand style, select a basic theme from Shopify or template from Squarespace. I could do an entire blog post on all the pros and cons of website platforms. Here are my summarized thoughts: If you plan to sell products in the future from your e-commerce website, I’d go with Shopify even though it’s somewhat more stylistically limiting and more complex to use. If you plan to primarily share information about your brand or market a service, I would use Squarespace because I find it more flexible to achieve a specific style and intuitive. Both are great services. I’ve created numerous sites on both for my design business and if you have a few quality images you can create a polished look on either.

Build out the initial website using any quality stock photography until you can do a photoshoot., This is still a placeholder, but it’s good to have this live. Ensure the action is very clear to users and creates some kind of urgency or value add. For example: “Sign up to get early bird pricing for our Kickstarter” or “Sign up to get a bonus item with your pledge”.

Make sure that the email capture form is connected to your preferred email campaign management tool.

Teplo demonstrates the effectiveness a supporting website can in driving traffic to a Kickstarter campaign before and during.

Step 7: Tell a tech story and share the journey.

The Kickstarter demographic are tech savvy, early adopters. They are a wonderful, precocious group, but they may not be your long-term customer base. Consequently, you need to focus more on the technology and features that your product brings than you might when running Instagram ads to a broader audience. You want to explain how it works without causing eyes to glaze over.

I’ve noticed that the Kickstarter backers are much more interested in the material, the production details, and the journey, which is why they are a part of this wonderful community. In contrast, when telling others about Dorai, they are less interested in the nitty gritty and more in the finished aesthetic and how to buy it.

I was hesitant to blast my family and friends at first because we have this fear of being ‘salesy’, but I’ve really come to accept they care, they want to support you and they like hearing about it. I was amazed at how many of my friends supported us and how many family members who had never heard of Kickstarter. If there’s one thing women do incredibly well, it’s network. It’s key to share in advance of your campaign to get people interested. As with any marketing, it takes multiple interactions with a brand before someone is ready to buy. Start early by sharing on your social media and sending emails to let them know what you’ve been working on.

Don’t worry about it being intrusive or annoying, I’ve found the opposite and people are genuinely supportive and curious.

Skinners explains the technical benefits visually with relatable use cases.

Next comes the fun part: Launching your female-focused Kickstarter campaign. Read through the final steps to get your product across the finish line!