Now that we’ve given you the formula to creating a compelling video, here is some Kickstarter video advice that could potentially save your campaign.
I know it’s super tempting to use humor in your Kickstarter video. Some would even advise you to do whatever you feel is right in your Kickstarter video. While humor may seem like a great way to entertain, it is also very tricky to use correctly and could end up hurting your campaign. Most of the time, it’s not what you need to fund your Kickstarter or Indiegogo campaign anyway.
Youtube is where people go to be entertained, while Kickstarter is where people go to be convinced they need your product. 
I recently worked with a creator of a crowdfunding campaign who thought he was funny. His whole video was filled with humor, except it didn’t work for his campaign. In fact, it was not very funny at all. The humor was very distracting, confusing, and even degraded the integrity of the brand he was trying to build.
Remember that what is funny to you, may not be funny to everyone. Even if you are the funniest person alive, it may not actually help to promote your product.
If you are 100% confident in your ability to use humor effectively, go ahead and use it if it works with your product. In most cases, the “sense of fun” or professional approach is a much safer route to take. If your script is well-written, you can capture the attention of potential backers without even touching humor.
As a general rule, it is actually more difficult to make a video shorter than it is to make it longer. Unless creators exercise discipline in their communication, many Kickstarter videos fail to perform well for the campaign they promote because they are too long. Viewers get bored and move on to something more captivating.
The ideal Kickstarter video length to convert viewers into backers is 1-3 minutes. There are exceptions for certain products that are so complex in function, features, and/or purpose that it takes longer to explain.
Just remember you don’t have to explain everything in the video. Include the major selling points, then utilize your page design to explain the rest. This can be hard to determine without a background in Kickstarter video production, so if you need help, consult with our creative team.
One last note of Kickstarter video advice in regards to length: Start your video out strong with a good hook. Recent studies show that the average attention span of adults is only eight seconds, so you have to quickly capture your backer’s attention. If potential backers don’t feel like your product is something they want or need within seconds of being on your campaign page, they will likely leave.
Keep in mind that although people usually watch your video first, not everyone will. This means that you need a good hook in your page design as well.
Be careful of over-editing. When you fix or adjust every tiny detail that seems imperfect, the video can start to feel choppy, pieced together, and loses its finesse. We compare these overly-edited videos to Frankenstein’s monster--the video has been modified so many times that it has lost the integrity of the original video.
If the result does not simply motivate your potential backers, all those changes turn out to be a waste of time. The best way to persuade your backers is with a compelling script. If you have a great product and your script is on point, then the tiny imperfections don’t matter.
Yes, perfection is desirable, just remember that if you sweat the small details in your Kickstarter video production, you may lose sight of the bigger picture. In fact, why should you sweat at all the small things when you could hire an agency like Funded Today who understands what it takes to make your Kickstarter video or Indiegogo video an effective sales tool.
Obviously, if you copy someone’s product or idea, you risk getting sued. This is common Knowledge.
Background music, on the other hand, is often given little thought because it’s in the background and doesn’t seem as important. You risk receiving some degree of legal action if you use music that is copyrighted. When in doubt, it’s always best to assume that you don’t have the rights to use music you find. It’s not worth the risk, especially when the goal is to have massive amounts of attention and traffic directed to your campaign.
I recommend purchasing the rights to music through an online music library, such as AudioJungle, Freeplay Music, or Shutterstock. Sometimes it’s worth purchasing custom music from a composer. Funded Today does both, depending on the other production costs.
According to a recent search, Bill Gates makes $22,946 per minute and $1.38 Million per hour! DIY (do it yourself) is a common trend nowadays, but entire businesses profit from cleaning up the messes of DIYers. Even though you may be saving money up front by taking on the massive project of video production and page design, your time is still very valuable and worth just as much, and maybe even more money.
In order to create an adequate Kickstarter video, you will need to do research on how to write a script that sells, lighting techniques, imagery, music, sound, graphics, actors, video editing, and the list goes on. This will take endless hours of research and even more time to test and implement what you learn. Then you’ll start the research process all over again with the page design.
The reality is with the DIY approach, you could possibly end up LOSING actual money in the long run. Besides having an awesome product to start with, the video is the number 1 factor that can make or break your campaign. If your campaign fails because the video didn’t do its job, you will have lost time and money that was spent on marketing and other resources for the failed launch. Not to mention the money you could be earning after a successful campaign.
It is possible to create a Kickstarter video by yourself. Before you do, just make sure you look at the cost of getting all the necessary equipment, and put a dollar value on your time. More times than not, it just makes sense to hire a video production company, like Funded Today, that is prepared with all the right equipment and expertise in order to make you a video and page design that sells.
We’ve already done the extensive research so that you don’t have to. One of the best things about working with Funded Today is that we started out in a basement with very little but an idea just like you. This company originally started with a couple of marketing experts, breaking the barriers of crowdfunding, and has expanded to include an exceptional creative team.
Funded Today has raised over $140,000,000 for campaigns, which is more than any other crowdfunding marketing agency in the world. True, not every Funded Today client will have massive success. Still, if the crowdfunding community doesn’t validate your business, we can teach you how to pivot and relaunch to success.
The best Kickstarter video advice I can give you is to fill out this online form to get a one on one consult with one of our client specialists today.
