When should you launch your Indiegogo or Kickstarter campaign?
By: Mark Pecota
Tags: Startup, Crowdfunding, Kickstarter, Product Launch, Indiegogo

When should you launch your Indiegogo or Kickstarter campaign?

One of the most common questions I get asked is “when should I launch my crowdfunding campaign?” By when, they mean the best month, day of week, and time of day to maximize their crowdfunding results.

I found awesome data analysis from the team at Kicknotify that looked at 342,287 Kickstarter Projects between April 2009 and February 2018. The analysis is fairly comprehensive and gives us insight into the best time to launch. Even though this is only looking at Kickstarter projects, I see no reason why this doesn’t apply to Indiegogo as well.

When is the best month to launch?

Each bar in the chart above represents a new month in the year. The higher the bar, the more projects were launched during that month. The higher the backer icon, the more average backers / project over that period.

Key insights:

December is the worst month to launch

March is the most popular month to launch campaigns

May receives the most backers/project

On average, the best month to launch is May but only by a small margin compared to the rest of the months (excluding December).

Since May is only marginally better, the data shows you can launch in any month besides December and run a successful campaign. It’s also wise to think about the seasonality of your product when deciding which month to launch. For example, if you are launching a portable AC unit, you want to launch that during summer when it’s hot even if you aren’t going to deliver it until much later. People buy products based on needs they have now more so than later.

When is the best day of the week to launch?

Each bar in the chart above represents a new day in the week starting from Monday and ending on Sunday. The higher the bar, the more projects were launched during that day. The higher the backer icon, the more average backers / project over that period.

Key insights:

Never launch on a weekend

Vast majority of projects launch at the beginning of the week

Tuesday has the most projects launched and the most backers / project

On average, the best day to launch is Tuesday.

Without looking at the data, Tuesday logically makes sense. Monday is the start of most peoples’ working week. It takes people some time to get back into “work” mode after the weekend and can be more chaotic than other days. By Tuesday, people are starting to settle into their productive work schedule and are more likely to buy.

We also see higher email open rates on average on Tuesday’s which is another reason why I think it’s so effective.

When is the best time of day to launch?

Each bar in the chart above represents a new hour in the day starting from midnight. The time is in EST. The higher the bar, the more projects were launched during that day. The higher the backer icon, the more average backers / project over that period.

Key insights:

The early morning (12–4AM) and end of the day are the worst times to launch projects

Vast majority of projects launch around noon EST

The most backers / project come in at 8AM EST

On average, the best time to launch is 8AM EST.

Earlier launches are better because it gives the entire US market (which is the biggest market for crowdfunding) time to take advantage of your day 1 sales. It also gives you time to be shown as “new and noteworthy” on the platforms before the vast majority of the projects launch around noon EST.

Let’s put it all together

According to the data, you should launch your campaign…

At 8AM EST on a Tuesday in May.

I think the most important stats to look at are time of day and day of week. Like I said earlier in the article, the month isn’t as important as long as you don’t launch in December. I’ve seen many campaigns rush to get a campaign out to hit a launch date in a certain month, but they ended up hurting their success by doing so. It’s more important to take the right amount of time to prepare your launch than hitting a specific month. That way, you don’t become part of the 63.5% of crowdfunding campaigns that fail.