The Secret Headline Formula Behind The World’s Most Funded Kickstarter Projects
The big reason why some crowdfunding projects raise millions of dollars… while others fall short.
If you were to look at the top 50 Kickstarter projects of all time, there’s something they all have in common.
Obviously they are all amazing products. The product creators ran incredibly well orchestrated launches. And each one of these businesses probably had a healthy amount of traffic to support their efforts.
But there’s something else they all have in common.
As it turns out… almost all of the most funded projects on Kickstarter use a secret copywriting formula in their headline/product title.
Can you guess what it is?
Take a look at a few of the top grossing projects in history and see if you can figure it out:
Did you figure it out?
Ok… ok. I’ll tell you what it is:
The Best-Selling Kickstarter Headline Formula
A cool, catchy name + a superlative label + an easily understood, communicable, and unique benefit = Big Money
Let’s break this down:
- Your name needs to be cool and catchy. What does this mean? Well, think about what happens when you buy something. Products that spread via word of mouth always have a cool, catchy and sometimes even funny name. Why is this? Because it makes it’s a lot easier to tell people about that thing you just bought if it has a name. And this isn’t just for crowdfunding products… it’s all products.
Pebble Time
Coolest Cooler
Exploding Kittens
Squatty Potty
The World’s Best Travel Jacket
Filippo Loreti
Scrubb Daddy
ShamWow
Snuggie
ThighMaster
Power Fryer
Insanity
When thinking about your name, don’t just call your product what it is.
Don’t call it a hoodie. Call it the World’s Best Travel Jacket.
The first is a feature. The second hints at a benefit.
See the difference? Think catchy, memorable and shareable.
2) It also helps if your product has a superlative label.
For example:
Is your product’s the “World’s Best ____?”
Is it the “most _____?”
Is it the “least _____?”
Is it the “______ ever?”
Is it the “first _____?”
Is it the “fastest____?”
Can you tell people how your product is lighter, faster, quicker, bigger, smaller, better… whatever.
Let that benefit be known.
3. Describe your product with an easily understood, communicable and unique benefit.
Ok. That was a loaded sentence. Let’s take this one at a time.
First, your product’s description and headline need to do a few things.
The first job of your title and headline is to get attention. Without first capturing someone’s attention, everything else on your landing page doesn’t mean shit. Because if you don’t capture their attention first and pique their curiosity… then that sale is lost.
The way you capture someone’s attention is by describing your product in an easy to understand manner.
You might think of your product one way. You might have company facing language you use to describe it. But you need to look at this from a customer’s point of view.
You need to describe your benefit in an easily understood way.
That means (ideally) one sentence or less.
Look at Filippo Loreti — Italian luxury watches without the high markup
Coolest Cooler: The COOLEST is a portable party disguised as a cooler, bringing blended drinks, music and fun to any outdoor occasion.
The reason it’s so important to get your description down to 1 sentence or less is because…
You want your product to be communicable.
How do things go viral?
People share cool stuff that they can easily explain to their friends… when they KNOW their friends will understand it’s significance… and will get the same enjoyment they did as well.
If it’s hard for people to understand what your product is or does… it’s going to be even harder for them to communicate it’s benefits to other people, even if they decide to back it themselves.
Make your product easy for your customers to tell people about. Give them one or two sentences they can repeat verbatim. Don’t rely on other people’s communication skills to get the word out about your product.
Finally, the last part of this equation…
Describe your unique benefit.
What makes your product unique? What makes it different from all the others?
If you don’t have this, then you’ll never raise a lot of money.
Explain what makes your product, different, better, cooler… more unique than all it’s competitors.
Now…
Want to know the best way to get more headline and product title ideas for your project?
Luckily for you and I, Kickstarter and other crowdfunding platforms have a virtual swipe file available at your fingertips of the highest grossing projects ever.
- Go to this page: Most Funded Projects
- Look at the top 50–100 projects
- If you really want to get good at writing these titles or headlines… or if you just want your subconscious to go to work to create the perfect one for you… then you might even want to copy out a few of these by hand. That way… you’ll be able to “feel” what it’s like to write a really compelling headline and title.
Now… go out there and create yourself a winner.
If you liked this article and found it useful, please like it, leave a comment and share it with someone you know who would benefit from it.
