Walkthrough VideoĀ
How are you shaking up the industry? Seek out editors that would relate to you and your story. Homophily, the tendency to associate with similar people, involves age, gender, ethnicity, social class, values, or beliefs.Ā
For example: a woman who is founder of a company in an industry dominated by men, will more easily land an interview with editors who are also women, and have previously written about topics like womenās rights.
You can watch this video walkthrough of how to find and catalog editors.
Search Methods
To find editors who write about Kickstarters & your product's category:
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List your expertise regarding matters of public interest on HARO (workplace diversity, trending industry topic, etc.)
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Click "Discover" on Kickstarter to find competitor projects.
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Google their project title to find editors who are actively writing about Kickstarters in your product category.
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Reverse Image Search a promotional image associated with a comparable Kickstarter, to find other publications which wrote about that Kickstarter project.
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Google your product category + the word āKickstarterā
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Google, 'Kickstarter "Roundup"', with Round Up in quotes. Also try other phrases in conjunction with the product-type: "Top 10", "Best Upcoming", or āComing to Kickstarterā
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Reverse image-search promotional images from a known article written about a competitor product.
- Spotify or Clubhouse, search for your product category + āpodcastā
To organize your outreach efforts, use a media list. A media list is a spreadsheet of contacts you want to reach out to, and their current status.Ā
You can download the media contact list template, here:Ā
Media Contact š List - [Project Name]
Press Kits
Provide editors with a prepared media kit that gets them important information quickly, makes their job easier, and a paid affiliate link.Ā
Here are example press kits, created in Google Docs:
Press Kit - Kristala (Coming to Consoles)
Press Kit - Kristala (Celebrity Guest Composer)
If there is an embargo, include a reminder in the press kit:
Embargo: Please adhere to the review embargo which is lifted on [LIFT DATE]. So reviews may be posted on [LIFT DATE] (TIME ZONE) or afterwards.
To host media kit assets, create a Google Drive folder with your trailers, key art, clip art, logos, GIFs, screenshots, wallpapers, music, etc.
Remember to enable āPublic Sharingā on both the doc and drive folder:
Example Outreach Email
The press needs a story to hook readers. A basic story angle is social proof:
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preview reactions by influencers
āMarkiplier recently played our game, and saidā¦[link]ā -
community membership size and activity
āOver 100,000 fans canāt be wrongā¦ā -
campaign funds raised or sales to date
āWe launched and have already raised $150,000 from over 1,100 backersā
The best way to start the email is by using an ice-breaker. An effective ice-breaker is connecting their recent work to something you're doing:
- Did they attend a relevant event recently? Discuss it!
- Does their social media show theyāve a keen interest in a topic? Nerd out!
- Provide an editorial correction that you may have noticed on an article they wrote
- Connect their recent work to something youāre doing at your business
Here is a press email template for the first outreach:Ā
"
SUBJECT LINE:Ā
[Exclusive News],: [project title and headline]
BODY:
Hey [name],Ā
was just reading your article "Title", and saw that your editor [reiterate articleās point or opinion]. Does anybody at [publication] currently use [product category] for [use case]?Ā Ā
ā¦ ORā¦
Iāve really enjoyed reading your blog over the last [time period which youāve been reading their blog]. I stumbled upon it when [explain how you found their blog], and I was immediately hooked by [offer a genuine compliment about this specific blog]. I really enjoyed the article about [mention specific blog article], and [insert a personal detail about you that relates to the blog article you just mentioned].
ā¦ ORā¦
I saw that you're looking for insight on new food trends and I think I have something of value to add. My company just released a new line of organic quinoa products that would be perfect for your next article.
ā¦ ANDā¦
[BTW,] I wanted to tell you about [product name hyperlinked to Kickstarter page], a new [insert your short hook]. We recently [were featured-in / launched] and [insert accomplishment, such as $ raised or # backers]. [Weāre launching our Kickstarter on DATE / Weāre delighted to invite your publication to exclusively announce X and would love to share more info with you].
ā¦ ORā¦
I currently have a project on Kickstarter called [product name hyperlinked to Kickstarter page] that will run through [project end date]. Because [list connection between your project and one of the blogās primary topics], I thought I might share it with you.Ā
ā¦ ANDā¦
Was hoping you might be interested in [covering / hosting our trailer / product giveaway for your readers] the [product type] on the day of our reveal announcement, July 24th
Hereās a link to press kit:
[link]
ā¦ ORā¦
Would you be interested in doing a [exclusive first look / interview / guest entry / review] on your blog? My hope is that it would add value to your audience, especially since itās in line with [list the primary topic on the blog again].
ā¦ ORā¦
Weād love your support in an [review / press mention]. Can you see itās a good fit for [publication] or connect us with somebody in your network who loves [product category]?
Hereās a link to press kit:
[link]
[If you asked for a review, this line should read āIf youād prefer to review the final copy of the product, I would be happy to send you one when we complete production.ā] Thanks for your time, and I look forward to future entries about [topic on the blog that interests you].
Best,
[your name]
"
Ā
Here are some additional templates for outreach, in case youād like to mix and match or find them useful:
KICKSTARTER PHYSICAL PRODUCT
SUBJECT LINE:Ā
Exclusive Collaboration: [project title and its hook]
BODY:
Hello [name],Ā
I wanted to tell you about [product name], [insert your product blurb]. We recently [were featured-in / talked about / launched] and [insert some accomplishment, such as amount raised or community size]. [Weāre launching our Kickstarter on DATE / We have some news announcing X and would love to share more info with you]
We would love to [collaborate in / send you a prototype for] doing a [story reshare, sponsored post, product preview, sponsorship placement, interview, product giveaway, etc.]. Can you let me know itās a good fit for you or anybody you know?
Here is [a link to / an exclusive peek at our] trailer:Ā
[YouTube link]
With thanks,
[your name], [your role at company]
GAMING PRODUCT
SUBJECT LINE:Ā
Exclusive Access: [game name], a new [aesthetic] [genre] [hook]
BODY:
Hey [Youtube / Twitch name],Ā
I came across your [affinity game] content. Love it! I thought our game, [game name], might interest you.Ā
[game name] is a game where you [1 sentence hook]. Weāve just released a playable demo, open for immediate coverage, that is downloadable here: [Steam link]
ALTERNATIVELY -- Your [game name] Steam review key, open for immediate coverage, is here (please use the default branch of the game): [xxxx-xxxx-xxxx]
We will give you a shoutout when you go live in our discord, found here: [Discord link]
There is also a prepared Quickstart Guide for you that includes: special graphics for your video thumbnails, tips to excite your viewers, [how to access exclusive tools for content creators directly in-game], and an affiliate signup link to get 20% back from any of your viewers who pledge to our Kickstarter: [Google doc link]
Here is our Kickstarter if you want to check it out: [Kickstarter link]
We recently launched on Kickstarter and raised over $[x] from [x]+ backers, made the #1 post on [subreddit] last Thursday, and given glowing previews by [popular publication], [popular influencers in the genre].Ā
I look forward to working with you, and would love any reviews or feedback you have of our demo.
Thank you, and I hope you give [game name] a try!
[creator name],Ā
Producer of [game name]
SOCIAL MEDIA DM : LAUNCHING SOON
Hi [name] my name is [your name] and my company is based in [location], we are about to launch our Kickstarter for our project, [project name]. Here is my landing page [link]
We are making 5 pre launch influencer kits and would like to know if you are interested in testing it out and maybe being an affiliate marketer for our products as they continue to come out and evolve. If so feel free to email me at [your email]
SOCIAL MEDIA DM : NOW LIVE
Hi [name] my name is [your name] and my company in [location] just released a new line of [product] that is [hook]. Would you be interested in collaborating with our company to do [story reshare, sponsored post, product preview, sponsorship placement, etc.]? Let me know you're interested and email me at [your email]
SOCIAL MEDIA DM : ECOMMERCE
Hi there,
My name is [name] and I manage the promotions for our brand Company Name, where our main product is [hook].
Well the reason why I have reached out to you is because I love your Instagram page and would love to collaborate with you.
It would be awesome if you could promote our product by making a cool photo or video with you using our product and explaining the benefits of it!
Here is an example of the type of promotional post we are after:
[link to example sponsor post]
How can we make this happen? Let me know also if you have any questions and how we can get started!
Kind Regards,
[name]
Conversation
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