Before launching a crowdfunding campaign, I find that a lot of creators are hopefully optimistic (as they should be, as long as it is accompanied by hard work) with regards to the amount of funds that they can raise from strangers on the internet.
Unfortunately, the “build it and they will come” mentality doesn’t seem to work with crowdfunding. You can’t just place a project on Kickstarter and Indiegogo and expect that it will fund itself. You need to kindle the fire.
Check out some of the conversion rates below reported by real campaign creators on video stats and completion percentages. This information can give you an idea of the amount of traffic you may need to drive in order to attract backers.
Low Tide Toss raised $10,000+ on Kickstarter.
“Out of 489 video views, 29.86% of people completed the video and we’re up to 56 backers (at 3k point). I’m a little concerned about that percentage, but I have no comparable projects to go by.” – Low Tide Toss
25 Quick & Dirty Map Tutorials Guide Book raised $23,000+ on Kickstarter.
“My Kickstarter is 14 days in, 134 backers, 159% funded, 392 video plays, 48.47% of plays completed, and the video is 3 minutes 14 seconds long – no music.” – 25 Quick & Dirty Map Tutorials Guide Book
Wooden Writers raised 1.6k+ on Kickstarter.
“My first Kickstarter lasted 24 days, got 35 backers, 211% funded at $1695, with 554 video plays, 44.22% of plays completed, the first video I had was 1 minute and 33 seconds long, while the second video was 6 minutes and 51 seconds long.” – Wooden Writers
Popular Successful Campaigns
“Amanda Palmer ($1M): 155,637 plays, 24,883 Backers (16%)
Pebble ($10M): 957,344 plays, 68,929 Backers (7.2%)
Makey Makey ($500K): 379,580 plays, 11,124 Backers (2.9%)” – System D – Fred on the KickstarterForum.
Electron Microscopy Art Calendar raised £2,256 on Kickstarter.
“653 video plays by the end of funding, now gone up to 742 after funding ended. 50.05% of plays were completed. Project was 102% funded.
I had 66 backers, so approximately 10% video to backer conversion rate. 76% of backers were from external sources such as direct emails, Twitter, Google+, Linked In and my personal website. I didn’t look at page view stats. I have posted a more in depth breakdown here” – Electron Microscopy Art Calendar
What kind of conversions are you experiencing for your Kickstarter campaign? Leave a comment below!
14 Readers Commented
Join discussionPeople just admire the project and the video , encourage everyone to chip in but they dont do it themselves ! odd 🙂
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1795745192/yankees-in-persia
How is your campaign going so far?
It’s dead in the water.
Sorry to hear that. Any takeaways or things you would do differently?
Yes I learned that I need to promote as best I can way ahead of time and don’t just jump in and think it’s going to make it because I think I have a great idea.
I will succeed next time for sure.
MIne Sucks.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/plasanator/the-eic-1-wireless-remote-control-training-lab
I Have it on kickstarter, indiegogo, fundanything, gofundme .
Nothing, I think it’s a fun project.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/plasanator/the-eic-1-wireless-remote-control-training-lab
We had 9,305 video plays with 13.14% (1,223) plays completed. With 117 backers that works out to: Total video plays to pledge = 1.26%; completed video plays to pledge = 10%
Hi, what Kickstarter project was this for?
I seem to have around 10% conversion from completed video watch to backing the project so far: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/181714814/the-little-things-photo-book
Around 25% of people who start the video finish it.
We are also seeing a really close to 10% conversion rate. With ~550 video plays we have 54 backers on our wallet tracking device. 37% of people watch the entire video.
Here’s the project: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1661467729/kiwicard-smart-wallet-tracker?ref=3z2cdc
If the conversion rate means Video to Pledge conversion rate, we are havin 10%+ with 15K video plays on our Welle, a gesture controlling gadget. Here’s the project: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1781885077/welle-turn-any-surface-into-a-smart-interface
There are 2 stats of interest here:
% of plays completed versus total views: Ours is 1,084 out of 4,100 for 26% (4 min video)
% of pledges versus completed plays: Ours is 312 out of 1,084 for 29%
Very interested to hear others as well.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/803332256/rozebudstm-smart-convertible-fashion-earphones
We are seeing lower conversion rates, so 24hrs in and have high level of views but lower rate of backer pledges.
Any thoughts on why this could be: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/24059992/top-performer-journal-your-sidekick-to-sales-succe
Thanks