This band’s Kickstarter is at $2560 with 5 days left to reach $4000. For a change, I thought it would be a valuable exercise to approach Hoyle’s project with a 5 day plan as if I were running this Kickstarter project myself.

What would you do in this situation? Let me know in the comments if you have other ideas for how you’d handle this dramatic time crunch.

It’s not just the tactics and specific project changes I want you to steal.  Instead, it’s my thought process, mindset, and marketing perspective that I’m hoping you can absorb through osmosis and adapt as your own.

Let’s Assess Exactly Where We’re At

I did talk to Nathan, the lead singer, but I don’t have all of the insider knowledge about this project that I would need to truly jump in and lead the charge towards goal domination.

Ideally I’d get the full rundown of what their Circle of Influence looks like.  Often, that’s the number one indicator of how to approach a Kickstarter project.

The Challenges

• There’s no mailing list, just social media
• The current pledge-per-backer is $31.60 ($70 is the music Kickstarter average we’re aiming for)
• Current packages have dangerously low margin

Assets

• Hoyle has a great back story that’s NOT displayed prominently
• Six band members = six Circles of Influence (1000’s of personal Facebook connections)
• 1386 Facebook Page Fans
• There are pricing holes in the rewards that can be filled

Plan of Action

I’ll reference specific timing in this post so keep in mind that I’m writing this on Monday, December 31st.

By the time bands get this far into their project, their brains are fatigued from refreshing the Kickstarter project page 127 times a day, lack of sleep from anxiety, rehashing the what-ifs, and second guessing their whole purpose.

This is common, but we can’t let this brain fatigue keep us from digging in for a final push that involves critical thinking, possibly pivoting the entire plan, and uncomfortable one-on-one personal engagement.

6 Things Hoyle Should Make a Priority NOW

HOW TO DO IT

Create an eye catching graphic or change the text to read “(Before reading any further, please click here now to read this story)”

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

To draw potential backers into our story, we need to shed light on as many connection points as humanly possible. Hoyle’s story will connect with people touched by cancer, people who appreciate passion and diligence, people who’ve lost everything, people who believe in God, people driven by human connection and so on.

HOW TO DO IT

$15 Signed Physical CD – This fills the gap between $10 and $25 and adds a high margin item.

$35 Make New Hoyle Fans: 5 SIGNED CDS + SHIRT + DIGITAL: Receive 5 signed copies of “Massa Peccati” to Give to Your Friends + the Limited Edition Hoyle T-shirt + Digital Album download two weeks before release date!  Includes advanced download of “Little Things” and “Prodigal”. TIP: Add an image of your shirt to the description area asap. People don’t buy what they can’t see.

$350 Acoustic House Show: Hoyle will play an intimate “Storytellers” style acoustic show for you and your guests. May include travel expenses outside the Central Florida area. [includes $75 reward]

Tease “2 New Rewards” announcement in all promo efforts (direct emails, FB event, personal FB updates)

TIP: From the Kickstarter admin dashboard, email all $5, $10, and $25 backers and tell them about the new $35 package and what it offers.  Ask them to upgrade to the new package.

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

Vinyl is extremely expensive and alone will most likely eat up all of the money raised. $25 for a shirt, CD, and shipping leaves under $10 of margin. This isn’t good considering it’s positioned as the go-to reward.

There are people who want to give more than $25 but aren’t quite at the $50 level, so by stacking the $35 package to seem extra valuable while adding very little extra cost to the package, we can bring up the average margin of our rewards while filling the pricing gap between $25 and $50.

The $350 acoustic show appeals because it’s different than a typical Hoyle show.  You’re providing a unique experience and a show that caters more to personal connection than a typical rock show would. Also, just selling one or two of these is the best way to raise our pledge-per-backer average which is currently far too low for our taste.

HOW TO DO IT

Get the entire band in front of the iPhone in decent light, close enough to get decent audio. Make it black and white to add a touch of vibyness. Keep the video under 60 seconds and say something like this:

“Hey guys, we’re getting really close to the end of our Kickstarter project so we wanted to let you know how important this is to us. If you didn’t get a chance to read the whole story, please consider doing that now.  It’s at the top of our Kickstarter page.

I had a life changing near death experience with my Dad when I was 12. That experience has influenced everything we write and do as a band. Last year we worked with 36 collaborators for two months on this record.  All of this work was lost in a tragic hard drive incident and we were left empty handed.

The point is that we’ve travelled so far to get this close to releasing this inspired record and we need your help to get us the rest of the way there.

Please consider clicking over to our Kickstarter project and pledge today. We’re depending on you. Even if you can’t afford to pledge right now, just sharing this project with friends who might be interested would mean the world to us.

We’re humbled by your support. Thank you!”

NOTE: Do not over think this video.  It needs to be rough, imperfect, and real. That’s the whole point. Just get it done. If you can’t get all the guys together, just have Nathan do it.

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

Nathan regrets not focussing on the main story behind Hoyle and I have to agree.  This project needs more personal connection.  Releasing this raw and personal video will absolutely help as long as they keep it concise and conversational.

HOW TO DO IT

Go live with this Tuesday night at 7pm. Once it’s live, share it on your band page, then invite all of your friends.

The title of this new event is important as it’s most likely all people will see.  I’d suggest something like: “Hoyle’s Kickstarter Has Just X Days to Reach $4000: You can make a difference”

As with all project correspondance, include brief update with specific call to action:

“Hoyle has raised $2560 of our $4000 and we’re down to the last x days.  If you didn’t get a chance to read our story, please consider doing that now by clicking here: http://kck.st/RECibx

I had a life changing near death experience with my Dad when I was 12. That experience has influenced everything we write and do as a band.  Last year we worked with 36 collaborators for two months on this record.  All of this work was lost in a tragic hard drive incident and we were left empty handed. It was heartbreaking. We had to re-record everything.

The point is that we’ve travelled so far to get this close to releasing this inspired record and we need your help to get us the rest of the way there.

Please consider clicking over to our Kickstarter project and pledge today: http://kck.st/RECibx.  We’re depending on you.  Even if you can’t afford to pledge right now, just sharing this project with friends who might be interested would mean the world to us.

We’re humbled by your support.  Thank you!”

a) IMPORTANT: All 6 band members must personally invite every one of their Facebook Friends to this event. Most people will not “accept” the invitation but they’ll all see it and get your event updates unless they “decline” the event (most won’t decline).  You guys should easily be able to invite 1000’s of people to this event.

b) Once you’ve invited everyone possible, post the Youtube video from step 3 as a comment on your event page.  Everyone invited will get a notification and see this video.  Leave a comment on that video with a link to your kickstarter (again, make sure it’s the full clickable link: http://kck.st/RECibx.

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

Hoyle doesn’t have an email list and relying on traditional Facebook wall posts is very hit or miss. In most cases, only a very small percentage of your personal or page followers will see your updates.  As of now, a Facebook Event, if used correctly, is a great fit for the big challenge of getting the word out to everyone you know.

This is by far the most effective tactic you can spend your time on. Here’s what David from The Bischoffs told us:”I’ve gone through my entire Gmail address book and have sent a personalized note (with form letter below) to dozens and dozens of people—selecting the ones I think are most likely to give something. It’s been a really good strategy and well worth the extra time to personalize each letter.I know when I get a mass email, I ignore it and think that hundreds of other people are receiving it and my response isn’t that important. But if someone reaches out directly to me, I always respond.”

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

David couldn’t be more correct. If there’s one thing you learn here today, it’s that one-on-one personal connection trumps EVERY OTHER TACTIC by a huge landslide.

Of course this tactic comes with a very large caviate: We all cringe at the thought of reaching out to people individually.

You have to get past this fear of douchiness. If you really believe in your project and your purpose, you need to push through the anxiety and uncomfortableness and reach out.  In person, by direct email, personal text (not mass texting!), or even a phone call.

HOW TO DO IT

Go live with this on Facebook Saturday morning at 8am (you can schedule it).  Make sure all six band members share this with their own words.

**Also do a version of this short but crucial update at 8am as a Kickstarter project update, but make your call to action a request for your backers to share the project.

Include clickable hyperlink “Click to Watch –> http://kck.st/RECibx at the top of the description text that has a quick update with call to action “We’re at $2560 with only X days to hit $4000 or we get nothing.”

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

A graphic or photo works much better on Facebook than video or all text.  Asking people to “like” can garner more likes and comments which will, in turn, show the post to more of your followers. Using the graphic with the clickable link in the description is one of the better tricks for getting people to click away from Facebook.

People put things off and nothing closes a deal better than a sense of urgency.  This is why projects can raise most of their goal during the final hours. Tap into the psychological power of urgency by taking action in the final hours to promote the last minute nature of your project.

The Takeaway

Having a marketing mind set doesn’t mean you’re trying to “sell” your fans all the time.  It’s much more nobel than that.

A marketing mind set simply means you understand people and how they act online and offline.  You understand what annoys them.  You understand what drives them to care.  You understand how to use that knowledge to drive them to act.

Most importantly, you understand what grabs their attention.  People are in a hurry, skimming headlines, graphics, and making tons of subconscious decisions to click or not to click.

The quickest way for you to crack this code is to simply give EVERYTHING you write the “what would I do” test. Would you pay attention?  Would you care?  Would you click?  Would you pledge?