Crowdfunding Nerds: Kickstarter Marketing For Board Games & Beyond!

Interviewing David Finn of Bridge Distribution & Fulfilment

David Finn of Bridge Distribution & Fulfilment shares his insights with the Crowdfunding Nerds about Kickstarter Tabletop Game shipping.
 
00:02:10 – Who Is David Finn
00:03:51 – How Was Distribution Impacted in 2020-2021?
00:09:48 – Giga-Bites Cafe
00:12:40 – How Andrew and David Connected
00:18:02 – Understanding Tracking Labels
00:24:18 – Directing Backer Excitement
00:31:05 – Three Types of Community Trolls
00:33:32 – Handling Unrealistic Expectations of Backers
00:37:48 – Charging Backers VAT
00:41:31 – The Danger of Pledge Discounts
 
 
Bridge Distribution & Fulfilment - https://bridgedist.com/
 
Giga-Bites Cafe - https://giga-bitescafe.com/

Managing Expectations In Crowdfunding Fulfillment

Scott Pease of Snap Ships Tactics, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, and Guitar Hero fame joins the Crowdfunding Nerds to talk about setting backer expectations for tabletop fulfilment. 00:01:41 – How Long Does Fulfilment Take?00:06:43 – What To Do When Backers Freak Out 00:10:43 – Lots of SKUs Can Slow Things Down00:11:37 – Differences Between Tabletop & Video Game Fulfilment 00:16:17 – Setting Deadlines 00:27:39 – The Importance of Frequent Communication 00:34:00 – What To Do After Fulfilment ShownotesSnap Ships Tactics - https://www.snapshipstactics.com/Bridge Distribution & Fulfilment - https://bridgedist.com/
 
 

The Virtuous Cycle In Action: A Case Study

Alternate title: Making Your Game Undeniably Great. Matthew Meeple joins The Crowdfunding Nerds to talk about the virtuous cycle of board game marketing, the challenges of game development iterations, and making your project "undeniable."
00:02:11 – Who Is Matthew & What Is Ascendancy? 00:06:28 – How Ascendancy Was Made 00:09:12 – Understanding The ‘Feeling’ Players Have 00:13:22 – Impostor Syndrome 00:15:52 – The Pain Of Making Your Game Good 00:20:28 – The Game Only YOU Can Make 00:22:54 – Marketing Ascendancy 00:41:53 – Final Advice To Game Designers & Publishers
Ascendancy Kickstarter - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/matthewmeeple/ascendancy-0?ref=4q4czu
[Podcast] The Virtuous Cycle Of Kickstarter Marketing - https://crowdfundingnerds.com/episode14/
[Article] The Virtuous Cycle of Kickstarter Marketing - https://crowdfundingnerds.com/the-virtuous-cycle-of-kickstarter-marketing/

Leveraging Supply & Demand: A Case Study

The Crowdfunding Nerds breakdown the post-campaign sales strategy for Deliverance and the goal of building demand for an expansion and re-print Kickstarter campaign through controlled scarcity.
00:02:44 – Post-Campaign Influencer Strategy 00:11:25 – Leveraging The Excitement of Your Community 00:13:37 – Creating Demand For Your Game 00:31:56 – Community Game Development 00:35:46 – Expanding The Sphere of Influencer Marketing 00:40:37 – The Importance of Diligence
Shownotes:
One Stop Co-Op Shop Podcast - https://open.spotify.com/episode/1Lwv73d54uuu7DMbIycy1B?si=e1csVOATSEC9eRdAXUVStA
Planet Unknown Supermoon - https://gamefound.com/projects/adams-apple-games/planet-unknown-supermoon-expansion-and-deluxe-edition-reprint
Diagnosing Underperforming Crowdfunding Campaigns With Marco Pecota - https://crowdfundingnerds.com/episode139/
TF2 Community Update - https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Versus_Saxton_Hale
Crowdfunding Nerds Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/crowdfundingnerds

Diagnosing An Underperforming Kickstarter Campaign

Marco Pecota of Raybox Games joins the Crowdfunding Nerds to discuss the underperformance of a crowdfunding campaign with a proven IP.
 
Timestamps:
00:02:21 – Marco’s Expectations
00:04:31 – Email Open Rates?
00:04:52 – Pledge Levels Comparison
00:08:18 – Issues With Cash Flow
00:11:04 – Thinking About Post-Campaign Sales
00:14:33 – Challenges of Selling Heavy Strategy Games
00:15:16 – Conflicting Crowdfunding Campaigns & Releases
00:18:41 – Why Warhammer 40K Was Created
00:20:17 – Don’t Compete With Well Established Brands
00:23:24 – What Marco Would Do Differently
00:27:35 – Backer Perception of Premium Add-Ons
00:35:59 – Running A Tabletop Company Takes Time
00:41:41 – Last Advice
 
Shownotes:
 
First Campaign: Escape From Stalingrad Z - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/legionsofsteel/escape-from-stalingrad-z
 
Second Campaign: Escape From Projekt Riese - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/legionsofsteel/escape-from-projekt-riese
 
Zombie Tango Oscar – Insiders - https://www.facebook.com/groups/165197702028508
 
 

Interfacing With Retailers Just Got A Whole Lot Easier /w Brendan McCaskell

Brendan McCaskell of Open Owl Studios (formally OOMM Games) joins the Crowdfunding Nerds to talk about marketing Stonesaga and Mythwind while presenting a neat way for publishers to connect with retailers.
00:02:40- Brendan McCaskell Intro 00:05:53– Bringing Your Audience From Project To Project 00:07:47 – Developing Your Business Around Customer Needs 00:12:51– Marketing Stonesaga 00:19:24 – Product Market Testing – How To Make Games That Sell 00:25:56 – Why Rebrand? 00:27:41 – How Board Game Distribution Works 00:34:58 – What Problems Does FLGstore Solve?
Shownotes
Stonesaga Kickstarter - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mccaskellgames/stonesaga Mythwind Kickstarter - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mccaskellgames/mythwind Stars Of Akarios 1.5 - https://gamefound.com/projects/oomm-games/stars-of-akarios-new-content Black Magic Inserts - https://blackmagicinserts.com/ Kagan Productions - https://kaganproductions.com/ Open Owl Studios - https://www.openowlstudios.com/ FLGstore - https://flgstore.com/ Connect With Brendan on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/bmccaskell

Principles of a Thriving Business w/ Andrew’s #1 Mentor

The Crowdfunding Nerds are joined by Julie Lowen to discuss mentorship and the principles of businesses that thrive.
00:04:35 – Serving Everyone With Excellence 00:06:51 – Starting A Home Business 00:10:39 – Passion In What You Do 00:14:06 – Don’t Lose Sight Of Your Mission 00:15:37 – The Importance of Analyzing Customer Needs 00:20:01 – Making Life Fun 00:23:31 – The Foundation of Business Is Strong Relationships 00:26:13 – Business Must Make Money – You Need A Plan 00:29:13 – How To Get A Big Break 00:36:11 – Growing Your Mission 00:46:20 – Don’t Demotivate People
Shownotes
Children’s Paradise - https://childrensparadise.com/
Interviewing Andrew’s Sister - https://crowdfundingnerds.com/episode59

Planet Unknown’s Journey To ”Overnight” Success

The Crowdfunding Nerds are joined by Adam Rehberg of Adam’s Apple Games to discuss marketing Planet Unknown.
00:03:29 – How Crowdfunding Nerds Started Working On Planet Unknown 00:04:25 – The Baby Project 00:06:42 – Understanding Campaign Momentum 00:07:33 – The Impact of Board Game Influencers On Campaigns 00:11:45 – Getting A 30 Foot Booth 00:13:46 – Supermoon 00:17:22 – Using Cover Art In Game Design 00:24:32 – Inspirations For Planet Unknown 00:27:40 – Your Game Has To Stand On Its Own 00:35:42 – How Many Games To Print? 00:40:17 – Why Gamefound Over Kickstarter? 00:44:31 – StretchPay
Brewin' USA Kickstarter - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/adamsapplegames/brewin-usa
Rahdo Previews Planet Unknown - https://youtu.be/s3b3ICKsnvw
Machi Koro Board Game - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/143884/machi-koro
The Isle of Cats Board Game - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/281259/isle-cats
Michael Raftopoulos' Company, M.O.B. Vanguard: https://mobvanguard.com/
Planet Unknown: Supermoon - https://gamefound.com/projects/adams-apple-games/planet-unknown-supermoon-expansion-and-deluxe-edition-reprint

YouTube Content Strategy For Crowdfunding Games

Samuel Steele, of Tabletop Hub joins the Crowdfunding Nerds on a part 2 episode to talk about YouTube content strategy and paid reviews.
00:01:34 – YouTube Trends? 00:05:38 – YouTube Content Creation Cheat Sheet 00:08:44 – Start Small & Always Test 00:13:59 – Understanding Why People Watch YouTube 00:19:26 – Think About Creating Events To Market Your Game 00:22:43 – Is It Ok To Be Paid For A Review? 00:26:44 – Challenges Of Paid Content On YouTube 00:33:15 – The Bias Of Game Coverage 00:37:16 – They Are Only Opinions After All
Part 1 - https://crowdfundingnerds.com/episode134/ Crystallizing Public Opinion, by Edward L. Bernays - https://www.gutenberg.org/files/61364/61364-h/61364-h.htm Play On Tabletop YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@PlayOnTabletop Miniac YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@Miniac Should You Back It? YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@shouldyoubackit Tabletop Hub YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@TabletopHub Crowdfunding Nerds Community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/crowdfundingnerds/

Red Flag Mistakes Of Kickstarter Campaigns

We discuss red flags of Kickstarter and Gamefound pages with Samuel Steele of Tabletop Hub and Should You Back It.
00:05:03 - Red Flags of A Campaign 00:06:28 – Need Notable Reviewers? 00:08:23 – Optimizing The Page For Mobile 00:10:50 – Optimizing Web Images 00:16:00 – Is A First Time Creator A Red Flag? 00:25:30 – What To Include In The Risks & Challenges Section 00:31:09 – Picking Content To Cover For YouTube Videos
Tabletop Hub - https://www.youtube.com/@TabletopHub
Should You Back It - https://www.youtube.com/@shouldyoubackit
What Matters Most To Backers On Your Kickstarter Page With Jeremy Howard  - https://crowdfundingnerds.com/episode10/
ShelfClutter - https://www.youtube.com/@ShelfClutter
Tabletop Analytics - https://www.tabletopanalytics.com/