Show & Tell: How to Build an Effective Music Campaign
Hi there. I’m Hayley, Kickstarter’s Music Campaign Strategist. Over the years, I’ve helped thousands of musicians on Kickstarter build community around their new projects, including some of our biggest Music campaigns. I want to share some of the not-so-secret secrets of how to get started so that you too can build a strong Kickstarter campaign for your new project. Your campaign should be as unique as your music and as distinct as your personal story, but it can be helpful to see how other creators have approached their campaigns to help you develop your very own.
Let’s start by analyzing a project together. We’re going to take a look at Lauren O’Connell’s Next Album campaign, section by section, to help put into context how to approach each of the elements that go into building a project page.
Project Video
Think of your project video as the elevator pitch of your campaign. Viewers should walk away from watching your video with a clear understanding of what you’re making and how they can get involved. You don’t need a huge budget or a professionally shot video. You can have a simple “stare into the webcam” type of video that introduces you, your music, and the project you’re embarking on in a way that clearly invites people to join along and pledge.
Lauren’s video is a relatively straightforward webcam clip — she is sitting in front of a camera speaking directly to the audience. Take note of how Lauren provides context to the project she’s working on now, who she’s working with, and makes a clear call to action to her fans to support her new project on Kickstarter. Lauren also touches on her previous work, giving a nod to not only where she’s going, but where she’s already been. She weaves in music in the background of the video and even cuts to pre-recorded footage in a studio and shows examples of her reward tiers.
If you watch this Kickstarter video and read nothing else about the project, you’ll walk away understanding what’s happening and know exactly how to get involved. In essence, that’s what your Kickstarter project video should provide. You’re answering, “Why Kickstarter? Why now? How do I support the project?”
Project Image
Your project image is the “face” of your campaign, it will appear in Kickstarter’s search and wherever your campaign is embedded or shared on the web. Keep in mind that this image will also be visible in different sizes depending on where your project is viewed and shared (for instance, thumbnails for search, scaled to device screens in Kickstarter iPhone, iPad and Android apps, mobile web, and sized for web-shares on places like Facebook and Twitter, etc.).
Aim to have an image that stands out on its own. It should draw potential backers into the page and be clean and clear of text, which will make the image more shareable (and eligible for Kickstarter feature placements!). Select an image that stands out in all sizes from thumbnail to main project page.
We have tips for picking a great image on our page aptly titled, How to make a great project image. Check it out for more tips and examples.
Rewards
The best Kickstarter rewards are ones that share the experience of what you’re making. If you’re making new music, think of ways to offer that music and special experiences around it to your most dedicated fans and to the casual listener. Consider offering a variety — a reward as low as $1 to as high as $10,000 — open up your campaign to people at all budget levels. Your rewards should be unique to you and your project. You can always add additional reward tiers while your campaign is live if you’d like, but for starters, aim for about seven or so options when you launch. You don’t want to overwhelm your backers with too many options.
Don’t forget: the more elaborate your reward, the more complicated and expensive it may be for you to fulfill. Aim to have a mixture of experiences and digital rewards alongside physical items like merchandise and mementos. Be mindful that even digital rewards may be time consuming to complete, so consider offering some tiers in limited quantities.
Project Description
Include formatted titles and text in your project description. Use headers and titles to help divide sections of text and draw your backers’ eyes to different elements of your story.
Use media to support your story by sprinkling in embedded videos, images, and song clips to break up large chunks of text. You can include band members’ pictures next to their quotes about the new album, and you can reference your previous albums (by embedding album artwork and music videos). You can also include pictures you’ve taken in the studio, or even a picture from a live set.
Remember that there are two sets of people that will look at your Kickstarter page: those who already know you and are fans of your work, and those who are discovering you and your music for the first time. Be mindful that not everyone reading your page has heard your music, or knows what you’re about. It’s a good idea to share examples and reference your previous work before diving into the story of your new project.
Lauren’s project video referenced taking Polaroids in the studio, and her rewards offered the one-of-a-kind photos to backers. She used scans of some of the Polaroids to illustrate the recording process and to provide a sense of what she is offering in the rewards. She also shared a SoundCloud embed of a song she’s working on, and this does a great job of introducing who she’s working with and what fans can expect with the new album.
Risks and Challenges
The Risks and Challenges section of a Kickstarter page is the place that refers to what happens after your project gets funded and you begin to complete your project. Every project has the potential for setbacks, delays and unexpected hurdles and communicating this to your backers reminds them that your project is in development, which helps them be more patient and compassionate down the road if you experience any hiccups.
What your risks and challenges are depends on your project — collaborators could hold you up, the production quality might not be what you expected, weather might postpone your event, permits could fall through. You can speak to your own project’s risks and challenges best and show your backers that you are not only excited to bring new work to life, but prepared and open to communication each step of the way
Additional Resources:
One of the best ways to prepare for your project is to take a look at what other musicians are doing on Kickstarter for inspiration. You may see examples of things that are working well that you’d like to try yourself or inspire you of how you can share your story. You may also see projects imploring tactics that you don’t like and that can give you a sense of how you want to approach your project differently. Browse through Projects We Love in Music, and search through projects in other categories.
And if you’re hungry for more best practices, tips and advice from Kickstarter and fellow creators, check out some of the helpful resources below:
Creator Basics for Musicians on YouTube
Behind The Music: Resources Edition Blog
Discover Music Projects We Love on Kickstarter
And if you found this post helpful, show us some ❤. 🎶
