BackerKit add-on items are extra rewards that backers can purchase via their survey in addition to the items they receive for their pledge. It’s a great way to generate extra revenue for your crowdfunding campaign.
On average, creators raise an additional 22% of their initial pledge amount in BackerKit, and add-ons are a huge part of that.
We did a deep-dive on the top 15 add-on performers of last quarter, and we want to share those insights with you!
Some of these results were expected and can be reviewed in our previous Add-On best practices article here. In the last three months of 2019, 100% of the top selling add-on projects used add-on descriptions, 93% used professional-grade images, and 80% used our “Categories” feature to break out their add-ons into different groups. These numbers were congruent with our previous observations, but we also noticed a few new trending surprises.
Creator’s Choice
80% of creators used our “Creator’s Choice” tag to call out their personal favorite items. These items performed better overall, generally outselling similarly priced add-ons without the tag. Our advice is to use them selectively, however, and only highlight those items you’re truly excited about. Authenticity is important!
Retail Prices
73% of the top performing add-on projects used special backer-only pricing. Your Kickstarter backers are your biggest fans, and if they know they’re getting an exclusive good deal in the BackerKit survey, creators have a better chance of converting sales.
Run a Special Promotion during your Kickstarter campaign
This was my personal favorite surprise while researching add-on all stars. Four out of five of the top add-on performers (who raised an additional 48-76% of their campaign total in BackerKit) ran add-on promotions during their campaigns.
One particular example that stands out is Dwellings of Everdale who asked backers to solve a riddle in order to receive a coupon for a free $9.99 add-on in BackerKit. Here’s their description:
Other promotions included a single free add-on for backers who backed at $X or more on Kickstarter, encouraging backers to over-pledge on Kickstarter to access limited add-on pricing, and including add-on specific stretch goals in the campaign.
Post an update about your add-ons
73% of the projects we looked at posted an update on Kickstarter about their add-ons. It might sound obvious, but your backers are excited about the extra goodies that will be available post-campaign. A good time to do this is right before surveys go out, or right before you decide to lock down orders.
Send a final lock down notice to your backers
BackerKit has a brand new feature where creators can send a “final notice” to their backers via BackerKit letting them know it’s their last chance to add add-ons or make any changes to their orders. Only 50% of our top-sellers used this feature, but it seems like the upside is worth the extra click!
If you have any questions about add-on optimization, reach out to [email protected]. We’d love to point you in the right direction!