Your marketing goals may change throughout your campaign. You can exchange the call-to-action at various touch points at any time.
NOTE: The conversion rate of email signups will be higher without using a VIP System. This is because the VIP System identifies and segments the highest-quality leads within your existing email list, thus moving them into a different “bucket”.
Here's a chart of various types of pre-launch leads and their conversion rates into sales or Kickstarter backers:
- Email Signups
- Conversion Rate: 1% to 10%
- Conversion Rate: up to 3% (using VIP system)
- Acquisition Cost: under $1 (in-app leadform)
- Acquisition Cost: $1 to $3 (landing page)
- Kickstarter Followers
- Conversion Rate: 5% to 50%
- Acquisition Cost: $1 to $4 (direct ad traffic to prelaunch page)
- Acquisition Cost: $2 to $5 (landing page, hero banner button)
- Acquisition Cost: $4 to $6 (landing page, post sign-up offer and email)
- Community Members (Facebook Group, Discord, WhatsApp)
- Conversion Rate: 5% to 50%
- Acquisition Cost: $4 to $6 (landing page, post sign-up offer and email)
- VIP Reservations
- Conversion Rate: 5% to 50%
- Acquisition Cost: $5+ (landing page, post sign-up offer and email)
The average conversion rate of Kickstarter Followers into Backers is roughly 25% with a launch day success.
However, sometimes there are launch day failures which usually occur due to the campaign not being ready for launch - for example, if the team leadership decides that they must launch tomorrow because they have run out of funds and team members will disband, need to launch due to pressure from investors.
If the Campaign page is not properly designed, or the reward tiers are unclear, cluttered, or poorly priced outside consumer's expectations on fair market pricing, then a launch day failure can occur.
"Launch day failures" commonly result in conversion rates of 5%, whether using Kickstarter Followers or a VIP System. VIPs will not back a campaign if the campaign page does not fulfill their expectations, unclear descriptions, or the pricing is unrealistic and unfair for a premium product in that product category.
Regardless, these failures are relatively uncommon.
Deep Analysis of Kickstarter Follower & VIP Conversion Rates During Launch Failures
It is much more common to ask, "why did my campaign launch fail? Why didn't people convert?" than to ask "why did they convert above average?"
However, by looking at the launch failures and discovering patterns of mistakes or accidents -- it becomes clear how much each element of the campaign contributes to the whole average 25% conversion rate of VIPs or Kickstarter Followers into backers:
During the first 5 to 10 minutes, page visitors do not seem to explore the page or watch the trailer video, and instead go straight to checkout.
For example: if the Rewards fail but the page design is successful: users who back within 5 minutes will exit out of the Reward Checkout, review the page, but then re-enter and checkout.
Therefore, the reward tier design + programming takes priority on the first couple hours and majority of conversion % on KS Followers / VIPs / emails.
Furthermore, the Page Design then carries the remainder of mid-campaign in most cases. If the page design fails, then it can still be generally recovered using the techniques listed in the above chart image and result in a 15% to 20% conversion rate on KS Followers by the end of the campaign.
Reward tiers generally cannot be edited after somebody has backed them, making recovery more challenging. However, if the community voices heavy demand for a new type of tier bundle, add-on item, etc. this may be an opportunity for recovery by end-of-campaign, as well.
Examples of Kickstarter Follower Conversion Rates
For examples of Kickstarter Follower conversion rates into backers, here is a random sampling of the projects I have collaborator access on, mixed with some from within my Prelaunch Club Discord community:
GAMING PROJECTS
Necromancers of Monastis - 30% conversion rate for Kickstarter Followers
Whispers of Luminaries - 26% conversion rate
Kristala - 24% conversion rate
Imperial Grace - 39% conversion rate
Exalted Vales - 24% conversion rate
Dice Bites - 16% conversion rate
Tome of Hags - 33% conversion rate
Wicked Echoes - 21% conversion rate
Hearthkeeper's Almanac - 20% conversion rate 
Fiefdom - 14% conversion rate
Myths & Tales - 24% conversion rate 
Champions of Wind & Fire - 25% conversion rate 
Wonderbox of Alice - 31% conversion rate 
PHYSICAL PRODUCTS
SideSleeperZ - 31% conversion rate for Followers
Mechi+ Carry Case - 17% conversion rate
NANO TRACKS - 34% conversion rate
Galari - 15% conversion rate 
Volta MAX Cables - 43% conversion rate 
Velaflame - 19% conversion rate
Ultimate Hamper - 14% conversion rate
Power Of Five Omnibus - 30% conversion rate 
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