Earlier this year I launched my first crowdfunding campaign for my product called the Voyage Pillow. I initially launched on Kickstarter and moved to Indiegogo InDemand raising $125,393 in pre-orders from early backers for the Voyage Pillow. Our second campaign for the Voyage Bag just launched!
This was a huge success in my eyes and I was ecstatic to be bringing the project to life at such a level I wasn’t expecting. However I didn’t want this new product and company to be a one shot deal and used to success the campaign to keep the momentum going. These are a few key things that helped the post campaign process.
Indiegogo InDemand
The Kickstarter campaign ended on March 31st but I knew there would still be residual traffic coming to the campaign page. I needed there to be a quick and easy way to capture those potential sales of people who missed the campaign.
The Indiegogo InDemand marketplace team reached out about a week before the campaign ended on Kickstarter and they were amazing to work with. They took all of the content from the Kickstarter page and recreated it over on Indiegogo for me. Within minutes of the Kickstarter campaign ending the InDemand campaign was live and redirecting traffic to capture sales.
Indiegogo InDemand e-mail Blast for the Voyage Pillow
Not only was I recapturing visitors from the Kickstarter campaign, this also allowed the Voyage Pillow to reach a new demographic of consumers who might be simply browsing their InDemand campaign strictly on Indiegogo. Their marketing team set goals with me to reach to be included in their weekly newsletter to get even more eyeballs on the campaign.
In the end, I was able to raise an additional $30,000 through this program and add 667 new supporters to the brand.
BackerKit
After the initial Kickstarter campaign wrapped up I had 2,356 early backers expecting a timeline of when their new travel pillows would be in their hands. The last thing I wanted was 2,356 angry customers who could band together if things were not going as promised.
Backerkit was an absolute savior for managing each backer; their reward levels, capturing their address, printing shipping labels, and everything in between. The backer survey you are able to create allows you to have each backer choose their reward options, fill out their address, and most important purchase add-ons! You have already earned the trust of your early backers so they may be more inclined to purchase again, and BackerKit allows it to happen very seamlessly and organically.
BackerKit Survey Add-On Page
I was able to up up-sell additional campaign rewards as well as products from my other brand Eastern Collective as complimentary additions to their order.
I simply couldn’t imagine managing the logistics of a campaign without BackerKit.
Tip: Work on your BackerKit survey 1–2 weeks before you plan on sending it — it has a lot of information to fill out and manage so it is seamless for your customers. But don’t worry the BackerKit team does very through reviews of each survey to help you improve them!
International Markets
While a fair number of our early backers were based in the U.S., the project was very popular in Asian regions. There are a number of international crowdfunding type websites to introduce new products to different areas of the world.
I worked with two websites in Asia, CitieSocial and SeachingC. You’ll find a lot of crowdfunded and trendy products on these websites - as well some random things you might expect. They are able to take your content and translate it for their market. This can help your product resonate more with international markets being presented in their natural language and voice.
The Voyage Pillow on SeachingC
Plus they will ship the individual orders to their customers, so you aren’t managing multiple individual orders to internationally. This alone can help save big money and precious time.
Amazon Launchpad
It’s pretty common knowledge the powerful force that is Amazon. There was once a time you could try to fight it but Amazon is where the online consumers are. Amazon Launchpad is Amazon’s curated marketplace with successful crowdfunded, VC backed, and current trendy products.
The program gives you access to a lot of additional benefits that a typical seller on Amazon might not have access to. First you have access to the Lauchpad team to answer questions to help get you set-up. From there you can get listed on the LaunchPad marketplace as a cool & new product for easier discovery. Additionally you’ll have early access to A+ Enhanced Content on your product page. This is below the fold additional content that helps tell the story of your product with information about your crowdfunding success.
Amazon LauchPad A+ Enhanced Content
You’ll also have access to webinars on how to improve your listing, prepare for holiday sales, and more. Similar to other platform, Amazon is and algorithmic feed based on a number of attributes, so the more you know how to affect your ranking-the better your sales will be.
Warning: Be prepared for counterfeits on Amazon, and get out ahead of them! Chinese sellers will rip your content from your crowdfunding page to sell a knockoff version of your product. Keep an eye out for them and report them soon and often. Amazon can be difficult at times to remove fakes if you don’t have a fully filed, approved, and listed trademark and patent for the product name and invention. However be persistent and report infringements!
Direct Website
The last key strategy should be the most obvious, build out your direct website to accept orders. You should have amazing content that you used on your Kickstarter campaign — craft an equally compelling product page on your website to drive additional sales.
This should be the destination people reach when you have PR opportunities or through social media posts. Selling direct to the consumer will always result in the highest profit margin as you won’t be relying on middle men taking a cut.
A Snippet of the Voyage Pillow product page
Additionally you can use a retargeting pixel when consumers land on your page to reach them again across the internet. Test different messages at different points in the funnel to make a conversion.
Meet the Voyage Bag
I am back again with my newest product — the Voyage Bag! I wanted to design a minimal but versatile travel bag that would work for your every day commute, a weekend adventure, the perfect carry-on, and anything in between. I’ve been using different versions of the Voyage Bag every day for the past 5 months and absolutely love the final product.
Introducing the Voyage Bag