There are many tips out on the inter-webs, and I feel like I've read at least a hundred of them. The common theme is the strength in building your own personal following before launching a campaign, which in itself is possibly the most daunting task.
Safe to say you probably are having just as much trouble as I am building that crucial following. Today is day one of my Kickstarter campaign and this is my road map to a successful 30 day project:
Blog Posts - I am going to increase my blogging during this 30 day period on topics related to both Kickstarter, and areas where my project category coincide. These blog posts will all have direct links to the campaign, and the right post has the ability to pull in tons of free traffic. If you are reading this phase 1 of my plan is working and I'm drawing you in with related content with the ultimate goal of converting you into someone who is interested in the campaign overall.
Email Blasts - I spent a large deal of time gathering email contacts of parties I thought would be both interested in the project, and have the influence necessary to spread the word to a larger audience. I also gathered a few press contacts who I thought would be interested in covering Orahs. I created three basic html draft emails, an introductory email, a Kickstarter launch email, and the press inquiry.
Facebook Advertising - After launching the campaign I immediately took to Facebook. I made an appeal for pledges, and shares on my personal page as well as my fan pages. I then boosted the post initially for $25. I also created a Facebook Ad, investing $50 in total.
Create YouTube Videos - The hope of a video going viral springs eternal. I planned out 4 videos that I will release periodically during the course of the campaign. If one video does go viral it will be a huge help to the campaign. Despite the slim odds, it's another free alternative to explore. Paid promotion via YouTube is also a viable option but while it may drive video views, those clicks might not make the jump over to Kickstarter.
Instagram - My final plan is to take pictures through the entire process. Instagram is excellent at gathering views. Each eye ball could possibly drive a word of mouth share, and most importantly it's free.
Physical Fliers - I'm approaching my $50K goal as a more reasonable 5,000 initial user sign up. So I'm printing up 5,000 fliers to try and reach real world $10 backers. The only real success I've seen thus far has been the power of real interactions.
Finding a large audience is difficult, on almost any medium. I found that having direct conversations is the most effective way to turn a stranger into an evangelist, but that method is slow and very difficult to scale. In the end we have to settle for any and every eyeball we can get onto our campaign, in this numbers game a pledge is important but earning a share can be equally as powerful, and in the long run more valuable.