A potato Salad Raised $55,000 on Kickstarter: 5 lessons to learn

We all love potatoes, but do we love them enough to dedicate a crowdfunding campaign? 

Well, thanks to potatoes, a man raised more than $55.000 on Kickstarter. You must think I'm crazy or just hungry, but it is an incredible true story, and it has a moral too.

This is what I'm going to cover on today’s video up here, so make sure to smash like and subscribe to my channel to be always updated on fresh new content that I'm sharing weekly on my Youtube channel and on this blog.

Before continuing reading, be sure to check the video up here and smash the like button!

Watch the video on youtube

THE STORY OF A POTATO 

Back in 2014, a new campaign appeared on Kickstarter: ‘’Potato Salad’’ created by Zack Brown. The description was ‘’I’m making a potato salad’’, that’s some serious stuff we’re talking about.. right?

Well, while you’re laughing, this campaign raised more than $55.000 on Kickstarter, overcoming a $10 goal. 

There’s no serious intention behind it, that’s just it. Potato salad. But you know, the Internet is a weird, yet wonderful place. Basically, this campaign just became viral, and within 30 days it gathered around 7.000 backers! 

But in the end, it’s just marketing. And I think that it is a curious case study to analyze because this is how marketing is done in our modern times.

Why? Because we’re all fighting to get the attention of our users, clients, backers, etc... 

So obviously weird and hilarious things are always eye-catchy.

The power of this campaign relied on that. The simplicity (and weirdness) of this campaign allowed it to become viral in a few hours, and people we’re tipping in just ‘cause it was fun and they wanted to be part of it!

THE LESSON BEHIND

So, what can we learn from a potato? Just kidding, there’s a real lesson, or more than one, we can all learn. 

1) TIME IS KING

When being interviewed, the creator said that before making the campaign, he just looked at Google Search trends, and learned that all the searches for potato salad were maximized every year, the night before July 4th. And in fact, he launched his campaign on July 3rd! 

In that case, organic searches for ‘’potato salad’’ could have led more and more people to discover the campaign, and there lies the ‘’eye-catchy’’ thing. The biggest campaigns are the ones where big influencers or prominent personalities decide to back the project and make it publicly. In this way, the project will gain attention and credibility, and more donors will land on the campaign page. 

Now, tip for you: If you’re thinking about creating a Kickstarter campaign, be sure to check out when are the major peaks of your kind of project, and move according to it. 

2) GIVE BACK VALUE TO YOU BACKERS

The most important thing about launching a crowdfunding campaign is: giving value back to your backers, whereas it is a reward or just an experience. 

In its campaign, Brown had a lot of incentives for backers even for the lowest tiers, where he was sending out a picture of him making the potato salad or inviting them to a pizza party, all of that just for a few dollars backed! 

And this leads us to the third point.

3) MAKE PEOPLE FEEL THEY’RE PART OF SOMETHING

"People want to feel like they're part of something, even if they can't be there with you", said Brown. In fact, launching a crowdfunding campaign it’s all about building a community around an idea and making people feel passionate about it. 

According to psychologists, on a deeper level, people want to be part of something larger than themselves, and being in a community of 7.000 backers pretty much sums it up. 

4. FIRST THE HUMAN, THEN THE PROJECT

Who knows, maybe Zack Brown really loves potato salad, maybe it reminds him about his childhood or other memories, and the real thing stands just there.

Being genuine in promoting your project will show to your backers who’s behind the campaign, and if they connect with you, they'll probably want to be a part of it and back your project. Creating a trust atmosphere is the key, and this campaign here is the proof! 

5. DON’T TAKE YOURSELF TOO SERIOUSLY

Now, our last point: never underestimate the power of humor, sarcasm and irony on the internet, because entire online empires, like Buzzfeed, were built on it! 

Some backers said that they supported the campaign because the ‘’potato salad’’ subject put a smile on their face. This lesson could be applied to different materials like video, graphics, and commercials.

HOW TO LAUNCH A SUCCESSFUL CAMPAIGN? (EVEN WITHOUT POTATOES) 

Using irony could be a good turn around to get the attention from the people online, and my best suggestion is to be as much creative as possible with that. 

Just have fun, it will reward you! 

To wrap it up: a good strategy is always fundamental to success on Kickstarter and Indiegogo, but make sure to add some drops of craziness to your campaign in order to make it epic! 

Anyway If you’re about to launch an interesting project on crowdfunding, but it’s not crazy like the potato salad, you definitely will need a proper strategy to prepare it. 

Don’t panic, I got you covered with my crowdfunding pre-launch manual called: 3 simple steps to success on Kickstarter and Indiegogo

You’ll find the whole strategy to run a proper pre-launch phase to successfully launch your project in crowdfunding.

 consider subscribing to my youtube channel to stay updated on fresh new content that I’m gonna drop!

Privacy Policy: We hate spam and promise to keep your inbox safe, occasionally sending high-quality content related to this topic, according to your permission.