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BackerKit Campaign Checklists - What to Include in Your Project?
GROUP/CROSS-COLLAB CAMPAIGN CHECKLIST
TOPIA CHECKLIST:
Add a Flair Image (required)
Flair icons are used on the Event Flair board and should represent clearly the essence of your main product offering. Best practice: Use a transparent background, no text, and can be viewed easily from a phone (JPG, PNG, GIF). Note: You are able to change your flair icon while your campaign is live, so you can test different versions!
Add Tags (required)
Tags are used by backers when searching for ‘similar’ projects. Be sure to add 3 tags, at minimum 1 to increase discoverability of your campaign in the Event.
Add a Topia Story Section
A dedicated Topia Story section can be added automatically to your Campaign Page before Launch of the event. This section will highlight specific Topia details, other freebies that may come directly from BackerKit, as well as direct links to browse and pledge to additional campaigns.
CAMPAIGN CHECKLIST:
STORY CHECKLIST
Highlight Main Reward Offerings at the top of Campaign Page
Placing your main offerings at the top of your campaign page will immediately grab attention, making the most of those critical first few seconds to engage and convert potential backers. Our data shows that backers do not scroll past the first 20% of the campaign page, so showcase your best assets first!
It is okay to have a bio, or About Me story section, but these should be below the main story sections.
Multiple Story Sections
Create multiple story sections to help backers navigate your page. A navigational drop down appears so backers can easily skip around to find the information most important to them. Use common titles that backers are already familiar with: Rewards, Stretch Goals, Add-ons, Shipping, Fulfillment etc.
If you create images for your titles, toggle on "Hide section headings" Check out this help doc on How to Put Together Story Sections for more tips.
Add Shipping AND Fulfillment Sections
Providing a clear timeline for reward delivery helps set expectations for backers. If certain countries are excluded from shipping, list them in the Story Section and under each Pledge Level in "Excluded Countries."
To avoid confusion, clearly communicate that shipping fees will be collected after the campaign. Include a snippet in both the Story section and in every physical Pledge Level:
"Shipping will be collected post-campaign in the Pledge Manager."
Over-communicating these details ensures transparency and effectively manages backer expectations.
You can now set up Estimated Shipping Date in Year, Month & Year or Day, Month & Year formats on your project using Project Details page.
Add Cross-Collab/Group-Collab Section
We recommend setting up a group/cross-collab story section to highlight your special collaboration. In the section, be sure to call out the collab incentive, who qualifies for it as well as how they will receive it if qualified. Example 1, Example 2. Check out this help doc for extra tips.
Ensure Your Campaign Page is Mobile-Friendly
Because the majority of backers pledge on mobile devices, preview your project on your phone & ensure all text on graphics is readable.
REWARDS CHECKLIST
Offer an All-in Pledge Level
ALL- IN Pledge Levels can increase the average pledge value of backers. We have seen All-In Pledge Levels increase overall funds raised by up to 30%! If your All-in Pledge Level costs more than $150, you can enable the Pay Over Time (POT) feature which allows backers to pay for their pledge in 4 installments. Please make sure this feature is a good fit for your campaign. You will not be able to send surveys to backers in POT until payment is collected in full. If this is important to your manufacturing process, please disable/do not enable this feature! If offering POT, add a section to go over important feature reminders for backers. Example.
If you are setting up an all-in tier that includes unlocked stretch goals, be sure to communicate this clearly with backers in the description by including something like " This tier includes one of everything if all stretch goals are unlocked. If not all stretch goals are unlocked, please note, you can choose multiple of the unlocked items and/or cancel your pledge before the campaign ends. Check out this guide for more tips on setting up pledge levels.
Set up Hidden Pledge Levels for fellow Topians
We recommend setting up a hidden tier to collect support from fellow Topians. Your group may come up with a shareable spreadsheet to list your hidden creator tiers prior to Launch Day!
When a creator pledges their support on your campaign, BackerKit will notify all of their Followers that they supported another project. This can result in more visibility to a new audience and potential pledges. You can track results on the Creator Backers page.
Offer Add-ons (8-10 max)
After analyzing past campaigns on BackerKit, we found that the average number of add-ons offered is 10, with a median of 8. Offering more than this can overwhelm backers.
Each add-on should include a clear image and a concise description of what’s being offered. Highlight a few as "Featured" by check marking the Feature this Add-on option. If offering more than 10 add-ons, use Categories to help for ease of navigation.
Avoid Upgrade Add-ons or Personalizations on Pledge Levels
If offering upgrades or personalization, set them up together with the reward it is upgrading or personalizing, not as a stand-alone add-on. You can offer upgrades and personalizations in post campaign survey.
Add Images to Pledge Levels and Add-ons
Add an image to every pledge level and add-on to highlight what’s included.
Sort Pledge Levels and Add-ons by Price, Limited Quantity or Early Bird vs Regular
Reorder levels (“All-In”/Base Level at top, $1/Digital at bottom) so backers see your higher priced tiers first. Use "Magic Sort" or drag the three-line icons.
Set up Excluded Countries on Pledge Levels with Physical Rewards
Exclude countries you’re not shipping to from pledge levels as needed.
ITEMS CHECKLIST
Set Up One item Per Unique Item or Type for Items with Options
If you are offering Pins in your campaign with Pledge Levels that come with increasing quantities of Pins, you can set up one item: PIN and apply it to X quantity times per applicable pledge level. For example, you can have 2 x Pins tier with PIN item included twice. If items have options, you can set up the options post campaign in Pledge Manager.
Please note, once a Pledge Level or Add-on has been pledged to, you will not be able to edit the items assigned.
CAMPAIGN IMAGE, INCENTIVES, STRETCH GOALS, FAQS, MISC PROJECT DETAILS CHECKLIST
Use clear and high-resolution image for Hero Image
Ensure that your main image is clear, high-resolution 16:9 hero image in the recommended format (1280x720 or 1920x1080px). Avoid portrait style image.
Indicate which Pledge Levels qualify and do not qualify for incentives.
When setting up incentives for Early Bird, Returning Backer, Pre-Launch and Reservation Funnel, you can now indicate which pledge levels should be excluded from receiving the incentive (eg. No Reward/Support/ Digital tiers should be excluded from receiving a physical incentive).
For cross-collab and/or group-collab incentive, please over-communicate which pledge levels do and do not qualify for the free cross-collab incentive in both Story section and in Pledge Level description, as the automated excluded tiers tech does not currently carry over to cross/group-collab incentives.
Set up Stretch Goals as Community Achievements
Consider making your stretch goals interactive with Community Achievements so followers (pre-launch) or backers (post-launch) can follow along, like and comment.
Avoid Offering Stretch Goal Designs as Rewards
Do not offer stretch goal designs as pledge level or add-on rewards until they are unlocked. You can indicate for multiple quantity of for example PIN tier, backers will choose X quantity from unlocked designs.
Set Up Project Specific FAQs
We recommend adding a refund policy for backers, who and which pledge levels qualify for cross-collab /group-collab incentives and anything else important for backers to know about the campaign including shipping details, timeline, product specs (size, materials used), contact info, and retailer-specific questions.
Note: Clearly communicate in your FAQ that pre-orders are not qualified for cross/group-collab incentives.
GROUP/CROSS-COLLAB CAMPAIGN CHECKLIST:
- Check out this help doc for additional recommendations.