The two main crowdfunding platforms have been around for just under a decade, with Indiegogo established in 2008 and Kickstarter the following year. While Kickstarter and Indiegogo may seem similar on the surface, the two platforms evolved significantly and grew to become different from each other over the years.
There’s a long list of differentiators between the two platforms and a simple search of “Kickstarter vs. Indiegogo” will highlight everything from fees to funding duration and all-or-nothing versus flexible funding. Below are a few lesser-known differences that can help entrepreneurs decide which crowdfunding platform is best for their startup.
Campaign Review Approval Process
Kickstarter’s most significant differentiator is its the two- to three-day review process for projects involving the manufacturing and distribution of something “complex.” This requires campaigners to show a prototype without using photorealistic renderings. With Indiegogo, campaigners simply enter their address, banking information and name before pressing live.
The review process implemented by Kickstarter can benefit campaigners, particularly those who have a product that is almost “too good to be true” in terms of its features. With the newly-introduced “prototype gallery,” entrepreneurs can showcase the product’s development and working features without overwhelming the crowdfunding page. With well-designed, complicated products, Kickstarter gives backers confidence that the campaign was vetted before launch.
Platform Back-End
A comparison of the two platforms provides a strong example of the open versus closed relationship of Indiegogo’s and Kickstarter’s back-ends, respectively. With Indiegogo, individuals can use the public API to receive real-time analytics, backer information, conversion pixels and tracking. If a campaigner has the knowledge of how to implement and use Indiegogo’s native features, the campaign can benefit greatly through:
Message Accuracy: the ability to determine the behaviors of page visitors and send appropriate messaging to backers, non-backers and return visitors across all outreach channels (adverts, email, social) in a highly-targeted and meaningful fashion.
Message Automation: By understanding the behaviors of visitors, key messages can be delivered at the moment they mean the most to Indiegogo visitors.
Data Marketing: The ability to access page visitor information also allows campaigners to precisely allocate marketing budgets for the best prospective backers. Creating cloned data via new advertisements increases return on investment (ROI) by lowering the cost per conversion.
Accurate Conversions: Pixels provide an accurate assessment of advertising efforts with exact ROI while optimizing for those who best convert.
With Kickstarter, it is possible to achieve what is native to Indiegogo, but it will likely require a marketing expert, as there is limited ability to insert a Google Analytics tracking ID. Just recently, Kickstarter unveiled Custom Referral Tags, which is an added plus for better understanding campaign efforts. This is still far from what Indiegogo provides and the information a crowdfunding marketing expert hopes for.
Funding Success Rates
While Kickstarter stats are open to the public and boast an overall success rate of 35.72 percent, Indiegogo does not disclose its numbers, making the comparison of crowdfunding stats between the two platforms difficult. Kickstarter is king when it comes to the most-funded campaigns of all time with their top ten campaigns totaling $108,866,609, while Indiegogo’s top campaigns total to $43,256,927. Kickstarter’s top ten most-funded stats are attractive, but it is important to put into perspective that campaigns raising $100,000-plus are in the top one percent of all campaigns launched. Those that raise $1,000,000-plus are in the top .06 percent of the 339,075 launched.
From my experience launching roughly 200-250 campaigns with Agency 2.0, it is more difficult to initially become successful through Kickstarter. If and when a campaign becomes “popular” via the platform’s algorithm, organic pledges will likely pour in from repeat backers (31 percent of 12,406,560 total backers) and loyal superbackers who have pledged to at least 25 projects.
Similar in concept, the crowdfunding platforms differentiate on the business side with Kickstarter stating that “[it is] not a store” but “a way for creators and audiences to work together to make things.” Indiegogo shaped up over the years to be exactly the opposite with its Shipping Now button, introduced in 2015, and InDemand feature that continues to raise money indefinitely after the funding deadline expires.
In order to determine which is best for an upcoming crowdfunding campaign, visit the Kickstarter Handbook, the Indiegogo Help Center or contact a crowdfunding expert to better understand how each can be leveraged for individual campaigns.
photo credit: crowdfunding scheme by Elveos. CC by 2.0
