Kickstarter Consultants for Board Games
By Hersh GlueckA Kickstarter consultant is an expert who helps you plan and run your crowdfunding campaign: building an audience, setting the goal, writing the page and running ads. Hiring one costs from about USD 20 to 75 an hour, and it is worth it if this is your first campaign or your pre-launch is not growing. Below are the crowdfunding consultants we recommend, and the campaign help we give ourselves.
What Does a Kickstarter Consultant Do?
Funding a board game on Kickstarter takes a lot of work. You need to gain followers and subscribers, keep them updated, and turn them into backers on launch day. A consultant, or a Kickstarter marketing agency, helps you with the parts you have not done before:
- Planning: milestones, launch date and a realistic funding goal.
- Audience building: a landing page, an email list and a pre-launch plan.
- The campaign page: story, reward tiers, stretch goals and add-ons.
- Ads: Facebook, BoardGameGeek and Reddit ads that bring subscribers and backers.
- Community: social media and backer updates during the campaign.
When Should You Hire One?
Hire a crowdfunding consultant if this is your first campaign, if your pre-launch list is growing slowly, or if you would rather spend your time on the game. Before you call, prepare as many details about your project as you can: the game, your goal, your audience and your launch date. That way the first session is spent on advice, not background.
Kickstarter Consultants We Recommend
These consultants have helped many board game campaigns. Mention Hero Time when you contact them to get a free half-hour consultation and overview.
| Consultant | What they help with | Price | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gabe Barrett Founder of the Board Game Design Lab community; author of Board Game Kickstarter Advice | Sets milestones in the first session, then one-hour support calls through the campaign. Projects include Legacies, PlunderBund and Pedigree | About 5 hours at USD 75 an hour | Through the Board Game Design Lab |
| Nalin Chuapetcharasopon Head of Meeple Marketing; author of the Game Designer Marketing Toolkit | Step-by-step marketing: landing page, email list, conversion and funding. Projects include Endless Winter and Reckless Sloths | USD 75 per session when you mention Hero Time; support throughout the project | meeplemarketing.com |
| Dina Ramse 15 years as a playtester and community manager | Social media and community: a weekly check of your accounts and advice to grow reach. Projects include Numpty, Top Tale and Tale of Sampo | At least one hour a week, USD 20 an hour | |
| The Crowdfunding Nerds Our crowdfunding partner | Courses on Facebook ads, page optimisation and email marketing. Over 15 million USD raised for game creators; 87% of clients fund on day one | USD 129 per course (instead of USD 399) or USD 349 for three, for Hero Time customers | Their crowdfunding tips |
Campaign Help from Hero Time
As your manufacturer, we also help with the campaign itself:
- Page critique: feedback on your draft campaign page before you launch.
- Campaign page design: we connect you with Rob Ingle, a lead artist and designer with more than 15 years in board games, for the page graphics, reward tier images, stretch goals and main image.
- Quantities: advice on how many copies to make for your reward tiers, stretch goals and add-ons.
- Comments and updates: we can help manage comments and backer updates during the campaign, so your page stays responsive.
- Prototypes for reviewers: up to 10 prototypes, to send to reviewers before launch. See our lists of hobby board game reviewers.
For the campaign video, see our guide to the Kickstarter video, and to choose a platform, read Gamefound vs Kickstarter.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a Kickstarter consultant cost?
Do I need a Kickstarter consultant?
What is the difference between a consultant and a Kickstarter marketing agency?
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