Publishing lessons

There are 2 dates that need to be decided when running a crowdfunding campaign, the launch date and the end date. Both of these dates are incredibly important and if you want to have the best chance of success, I strongly recommend using the suggestions below.

The launch day

You should always launch a Kickstarter on a Tuesday.

There are a number of reasons for this, but it comes down to the first 72 hours of a Kickstarter being the most important period.

You do not want any of your first 72 hours to include the weekend and this leaves only Monday and Tuesday as valid options. For a large portion of the world Monday is the start of the week which means catching up with work, getting back to school runs, and the end of the weekend. It presents more distractions in the day and Tuesdays typically offer more chances for casual browsing.

The end day

You should always end a Kickstarter on a Thursday.

The reasoning for this is exactly the same reasoning as used for the launch day. Your last 48 hours are the second most important part of your campaign and you don’t want them to be over the weekend. Starting your last 48 hours on Tuesday sets your end day as the Thursday and gives you the best shot at catching the most people.

Competition

To quickly touch on a common question:

If everyone launches on a Tuesday and finishes on a Thursday, aren’t I going to get lost amongst the crowds?

While this is true (and it’s up to you to find a way to stand out), those other projects are also bringing thousands of people to the platform. All of which will back the game that brought them there, then be recommended several other new games by Kickstarter. This makes it the day where the most eyes will be looking for new projects and many backers will actively support multiple projects at the same time.

The time of day

The time of day is just as important as the day itself and I recommend the following:

Launch at 08:00 Pacific time | 11:00 Eastern time | 16:00 British time

The UK, EU, and USA are your biggest audiences and by launching at these times you will catch the UK as they are in their last hours of work and commuting home. Most of the EU will be the same or just settling in at home for the night. While in the US half the country will be checking their phones as they wake up in the morning and the other half will be ready to start their lunch.

This time period provides all your core audiences with an opportunity to back, whether it’s while relaxing over a meal, commuting, or wasting time at work. They’ll also be up for a good few hours meaning they have time to see the hype growing on social media before logging off for the night.

End at 13:00 Pacific time | 16:00 Eastern time | 21:00 British time

This end time allows all your core audiences to be active for the last 5 hours of your campaign without forcing anyone to stay up too late.

People love to be there at the end and count down the last few minutes!