When is the best time of year to launch your Kickstarter? The best way to figure this out is by referencing the most successfully funded projects on Kickstarter. By examining the top 10 projects that collectively have brought in $123,562,722 since 2012, we can work out similarities and craft a time frame to plan your Kickstarter launch. 

Secondly, it would be essential to compare this data with Google Trends and worldwide search results to help us determine when is the "rush hour" of Kickstarter. We have discovered that Kickstarter enables you to acquire on average  40% of all backers, so you will want to launch when there are the most eyeballs on the site. 

Experimentation can be useful but risky. Why reinvent the wheel when you can leverage the success of other creators to your advantage? 

Top 10 Projects of All Time

Below we have conveniently listed the top 10 Kickstarter projects of all time (up to this date, of course) for you to consider: 

#1 

Pebble Time - Awesome Smartwatch, No Compromises
Launch date: FEBRUARY 24, 2015 (Tuesday)
End date: MARCH 27, 2015 (Friday)
Campaign length: 32 days
Pledged: $20,338,986
Backers: 78,471
Community updates: 35 

#2 

COOLEST COOLER: 21st Century Cooler that's Actually Cooler
Launch date: JULY 8, 2014 (Tuesday)
End date: AUGUST 29, 2015 (Saturday)
Campaign length: 53 days
Pledged: $13,285,226
Backers: 62,642
Community updates: 58

#3 

Frosthaven
Launch date: MARCH 31, 2020 (Tuesday)
End date: MAY 1, 2020 (Friday)
Campaign length: 32 days
Pledged: $12,969,608
Backers: 83,193 
Community updates: 72

#4 

Pebble 2, Time 2 + All-New Pebble Core
Launch date: MAY 24, 2016 (Tuesday)
End date: JUNE 30, 2016 (Thursday)
Campaign length: 37 days
Pledged: $12,779,843 
Backers: 66,673
Community updates: 20

#5

Kingdom Death: Monster 1.5
Launch date: NOVEMBER 25, 2016 (Friday)
End date: JANUARY 7, 2017 (Saturday)
Campaign length: 44 days
Pledged: $12,393,139
Backers: 19,264
Community updates: 85

#6 

Travel Tripod by Peak Design
Launch date: MAY 21, 2019 (Tuesday)
End date: JULY 18, 2019 (Thursday)
Campaign length: 59 days
Pledged: $12,143,435
Backers: 27,168
Community updates: 30

#7 

Critical Role: The Legend of Vox Machina Animated Special
Launch date: MARCH 4, 2019 (Monday)
End date: APRIL 19, 2019 (Friday)
Campaign length: 46 days
Pledged: $11,385,449
Backers: 88,887
Community updates: 34

#8 

Pebble: E-Paper Watch for iPhone and Android
Launch date: APRIL 11, 2012 (Wednesday)
End date: MAY 18, 2012 (Friday)
Campaign length: 38 days
Pledged: $10,266,845
Backers: 68,929
Community updates: 57

#9 

TRAVEL JACKETS with 15 Features by BAUBAX
Launch date: JULY 7, 2015 (Tuesday)
End date: SEPTEMBER 3, 2015 (Thursday)
Campaign length: 59 days
Pledged: $9,192,055
Backers: 44,949
Community updates: 23

#10 

The Wyrmwood Modular Gaming Table: Coffee & Dining Models
Launch date: AUGUST 11, 2020 (Tuesday)
End date: OCTOBER 9, 2020 (Friday)
Campaign length: 60 days
Pledged: $8,808,136
Backers: 7,713
Community updates: 27

Launch On Tuesday

As you can see, Tuesday is a good day to launch. Days omitted from this list are Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, so it would be wise to avoid launching on these days. 

Launch In Spring

The most popular months were March, May, and July, while spring was the most popular season (March-May).

Months that were completely absent from this list included: January, June, September, October, and December.

Keep Your Community Updated

All of these projects regularly updated their community with an average of 44 posts per project. It would be expedient to plan these updates before your Kickstarter launch so that you can publish them consistently and promptly. 

When People Are Searching For "Kickstarter" 

By examining the search results for Kickstarter from 2012-2020, we can have a better idea of how consumers are frequenting Kickstarter. 

Below we have overlaid the years of search results and marked the most significant months.

The most consistent and high search results for Kickstarter are from the end of January to February and then May through to July.

September has consistent traffic through the years, but none of the top 10 projects were launched in September, so we recommended avoiding this month. People may have exhausted their budgets by September and are window shopping as they await their Kickstarter pledge fulfillment from backed projects earlier in the year. 

Kickstarter Searchers from 2012-2020

The Optimal Campaign Length

From Kickstarters top campaigns the most frequent day to end a campaign was Friday, followed by Thursday and then Saturday.

The average campaign length was 46 days with 59 days being the only number in the top 10 that repeated. Kickstarter recommends a campaign length of 30 days or less:

“We recommend setting your campaign at 30 days or less. Campaigns with shorter durations have higher success rates, and create a helpful sense of urgency around your project.” (Source)

The Optimal Launch Date

From comparing the most successful Kickstarter projects and the results of Google Trends from 2012-2020, you should have a good idea of where to slot your launch date.

From this data, we would recommend launching late February or early March on a Tuesday.