This post covers how we planned, created and constructed a Kickstarter page down to the intricate details with a demanding deadline! We wanted to create a page that would both captivate prospective backers and sell a product… with all this in mind, we set about to create a Kickstarter page design quickly.
The crowdfunding page is a final hurdle, the last and important bastion of your project which shouldn’t be ignored.
How to create a killer Kickstarter page
As you may or may not be aware, creating A Kickstarter isn’t a small undertaking. There are many contributing factors that can influence the success of your campaign, these can range from: the product you are trying promote, the size of your audience, your marketing, page design, your authenticity – the design of the page is a single element of a much larger project. There is no absolute rules to designing your page, Although I have listed some key elements you should certainly consider.
Kickstarter Page | Basic Design Steps
The General Outlay Of A Kickstarter Page Template
- Introduce the product / campaign
At the top of your page, you should place your product or item you are trying to promote. It will be the first thing a potential backer will see. Take this into consideration.
- What is the campaign about
Introduce what your campaign is about and why they (the backer) should back you. You could also consider a talking a bit about yourself here.
- Product Contents
Break down the campaign or product down into details. The KS crowd love to know about what they are backing. For example if you are making a game you could place some of the individuals characters or miniatures.
- Key Information
it is a good idea to break down reward tiers, shipping, when etc so Backers know the details of what happens when they back you what they get at the end of the Kickstarter campaign. Remember to keep it simple to skim.
- Trust
Can you make your product? Do you have experience? Are you passionate about it. Build trust with your campaign.
Also, place the emphasis on how it will help a backer if they offer their money. Don’t focus on you too much.
Look at the visual template below on how to Structure a Kickstarter Page design. This is your pitch remember!
This post focuses on the page design, being a designer this was my largest part in creating project.
HOW TO START YOUR PAGE DESIGN
Plan your page design
If you are well underway with creating a Kickstarter or a crowdfunding project, then you are probably fully aware of how much you have on your plate. You may considering, the video, the hero header, details etc but, have you considered the actual ‘content’ on your page once you have potential backer? Consider what you are saying.
Research and ‘rough out’ your Kickstarter page
You shouldn’t just jump into your graphics package and start making pretty things. Before getting stuck into the details of your Kickstarter it would wise to look at other successful campaigns and inspect what cool elements they have on their pages. When we created pages, we did a lot of research and studied a lot of successful page designs. You shouldn’t copy, but it is worth looking at the best bits of campaigns to see what they are doing right – especially if they are promoting a similar product.
Now, start designing your page
If you have an idea of how you want your page to behave or act now could be a time to move onto your graphic design. A Kickstarter page is not only about creating a fancy theme, it needs to have easy to read content packed with relevant and interesting information about your campaign and product. Sell your campaign and show how it’s a must have for your backers.
Keep it clear and concise
You need to keep your page easy to navigate and perfect for those with a 2 second attention span. The backer should be able to skim the content easily and pick out the useful data. Such as ; what the product is, rewards and when you are intending to manufacture the game.
Make the rewards stand out
Web users are impatient. Make the rewards easy to find in the body of your page and make them look exciting! You want to grab a potential buyers attention and drive them to make a call to action. In other words – ‘back your campaign’ – now!
Be authentic
The crowdfunding community can sniff out anything that is a little bit off with your campaign – it’s like blood to a shark, you don’t want sharks swimming around you I’m sure.
Be as honest and as open as possible. You should be clear and open with your backers, you want them to trust you! Using rendered images, fluffy ‘Maybe’ language, or concealing parts of the project will only arouse suspicion when at this delicate stage you want to win trust.
Tell a story
Who are you and why are you doing a Crowdfunding campaign? Don’t be afraid to create a story about why you want funding and why others should feel as passionate about your campaign.
Validation
To convince a backer that you are able to fulfill your demand, you will need to make sure you cover a few areas on your page design. Eg.
– Do you have previous experience in what you are trying to create?
– How many years experience do you have?
– Do you have a trusted supplier?
You don’t have to focus on all the fears of your project, but mentioning a couple can add an extra layer of sincerity.
Make it VERY interesting
Keep your page interesting, you want to hold the backers attention for as long as possible. Writing line after line of text about your campaign is too much, you are expecting too much from the backer.
You need to break up the information and make it easy to skim. Vary the page by including diagrams, illustrations, photo’s, animations, videos, timelines and any other element that could stimulate the reader. This is about designing your content and how you intend for it to be read. Make it great for ‘them’ not you.
Don’t be boring!
A killer Kickstarter page design isn’t a guarantee
With all of this excitement about creating a killer Kickstarter page getting you bouncing with joy, I feel it is only responsible for me to say this
– A killer Kickstrarter page doesn’t guarantee success.
The page design is a slice of a very big crowdfunding project cake, an important slice, but not the only part.
The page design is important but it is useless If you are creating with no audience to see it…
But don’t scrimp on the page design either
The crowdfunding page is an import stage to the campaign, don’t neglect it. The page design is your last port of call – a landing page – to convert a speculate backer into your product champion!
That was a guideline that will hopefully fast track your page design
The pages I designed came from study and collaboration and a little extra sauce. Below outlays my involvement in the creating the Kickstarter.
Guess poo, was a parody game about ‘guessing’ what poo your opposing player has. You can read more on my crowdfunding design services here >
The Characters – the characters were an important part of game, this is where I could go to town on creating characters that would capture the infantile fun and playful nature of Guess Poo. The Character Illustrations are a composite drawing created by me using a pen and Adobe Illustrator.
Time Line – a pooing timeline, how could I resist. A game about poo, it would have to be a sewage pipe. Pipeline
Video intro, placed at the start of the video on the Kickstarter Page.
Did you know?
That you can integrate your campaign with Google analytics and see how many visits the page is getting? I would recommend doing it, it will show you the peaks times for you campaign.
That is all on how to design a Kickstarter page, quickly and on a shoe string budget.
Thank you for reading, if you would like help with you campaign or design project feel free to get in touch.
You may wish to read how we created a successful game or look at my design services.