If you are a creative person with a product that needs funding, you may want to consider crowdfunding. Kickstarter is a crowdfunding platform where creators can connect with their backers and find funding for their projects.
Before launching a campaign, it’s important to do your research. Then, you can get the word out about your product to the right audience.
Ecommerce technology refers to the software, tools, and platforms used to support and facilitate online commerce. This includes a range of technologies, such as:
- Shopping carts and payment processing: Technology that enables customers to add items to a virtual cart and process payments securely online.
- Inventory management and order fulfillment: Technology that helps merchants manage and track their inventory and fulfill orders.
- Marketing automation and personalization: Technology that helps merchants create targeted and personalized marketing campaigns, such as email marketing, retargeting, and personalization.
- Customer relationship management (CRM): Technology that helps merchants manage customer interactions, track customer behavior, and store customer information.
- Analytics and data insights: Technology that provides merchants with data and insights to better understand their customers, sales, and website performance.
- Mobile commerce: Technology that enables customers to shop and purchase products and services from their mobile devices.
- Social commerce: Technology that enables merchants to sell products and services through social media platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram.
Ecommerce technology is a rapidly evolving field, with new innovations and solutions emerging all the time. The goal of ecommerce technology is to provide merchants with the tools and solutions they need to run their businesses effectively and provide customers with a seamless and convenient online shopping experience.
1. Set a budget
If you’re going to run a kickstarter campaign for your ecommerce product, you need to set a budget. This will help you determine whether or not you can afford to create the product, market it, and bring it to life.
You should also include in your budget any other costs that you think you might incur in the process. These can be anything from shipping costs to manufacturing and production fees, platform and payment processing fees, taxes, etc.
It is a good idea to get quotes from a few different manufacturers for your product. This will help you compare prices and make sure that the company you choose is the best for your needs.
Then, you should also find a shipping company that is able to handle your shipment efficiently. This will help you avoid shipping snafus and get your products to your backers in a timely manner.
Lastly, you should have a prototype of your product. This will not only help you attract reviews, but it will also give your backers a better idea of what they will be receiving when they pledge to your project.
There are a ton of companies that will be willing to manufacture your product, so it’s a good idea to reach out to your friends, family, and industry contacts for their recommendations. Choosing the right manufacturer can be a daunting task, but it’s an important step in your journey towards bringing your product to life.
After you’ve made your budget and calculated your Kickstarter goals, it’s time to start implementing the plan. You will need to create a spreadsheet that lists every expense you think you will have, as well as any other relevant costs.
2. Create a campaign
A successful Kickstarter campaign can help you launch a new product, boost your social media engagement, improve your brand reputation, and much more. However, they can also be a bit of a drain on your resources if you don’t run them correctly. Here are some tips to ensure you’re ready to take on the challenge.
Firstly, it’s important to decide what you want to sell before you start creating a campaign. This will help you narrow down your target customer persona and make sure you create a product that meets their needs.
Then, create a pitch video that describes your product and its goals in a way that backers can relate to. This will give you an edge over other businesses.
It’s also vital to have a plan in place for the production, packaging and delivery of your rewards. This will allow you to price out those costs and ensure that you have enough funds to meet your campaign deadlines.
Finally, you should set up a system for tracking all of your information, such as how many people have pledged, who has pledged and what perk tiers they’re in. These numbers will help you stay in touch with your backers, track their progress towards your stretch goals and ensure that you’re ready to get production started once the campaign ends.
Once the campaign is finished, you’ll need to take the time to make sure that your backers are happy with their products. You should update your social channels frequently and offer backers a chance to get in touch with you if they have questions or need support. This will keep them engaged and ready to support you when you’re ready to move your business forward.
3. Create a rewards page
One of the best ways to turn your Kickstarter campaign into a sustainable ecommerce business is to create an ecommerce website that complements the campaign. This could be a standalone product page (like what Olafur Eliasson made for Little Sun) or an ecommerce site that is attached to your artist website (like Pope.L and What Pipeline’s Flint Water).
Creating a rewards page is a great way to reward your backers for their support and get them involved in the project. However, it is important to set your expectations correctly when creating the page.
The key is to create a page that offers a clear reward structure and a timeline for delivery. The reward structure should include a variety of tiers, each tailored to the backer’s contribution amount.
If you’re selling products, it’s a good idea to offer multiple versions of your product as rewards. This will help you differentiate your products from other sellers and give your backers a reason to support your project.
It’s also a good idea to offer extra rewards that aren’t available at your main reward tier. These can include stickers, t-shirts or other novelty items that don’t cost much to produce and will help you attract new customers.
To set up an add-on, click on the “Rewards” tab in your project and select the “Add-ons” option. From there, click on the “Create add-on” button and complete all of the fields.
After you’ve created your rewards, send out emails to all your backers with the rewards they earned and the links to your rewards page. This will allow your backers to check out their rewards and purchase them through your Shopify store.
4. Create a video
A Kickstarter video is a must for any project that hopes to reach its funding goal. This is because it is the first step in generating interest and creating a positive impression of your product. The best way to do this is to create a compelling video that showcases the features and benefits of your product, as well as its uniqueness.
Videos can be created by a variety of methods, including filming your own or hiring an outside production firm to do the work for you. In either case, authenticity matters. This is because backers will be able to relate to your story and product, which is important for your campaign’s success.
Moreover, your video should also be short and concise. A long video is not going to appeal to backers, because they are often busy and want to get straight to the point.
It is also a good idea to use animation in your video. This will give potential backers a better picture of what your product looks like, as well as make it easier to follow the video.
The most effective Kickstarter videos are those that focus on a specific lifestyle and target audience. This is because it helps to convey your message directly to a segmented audience.
One of the most popular kickstarter campaigns is Darkfade, which targets handypersons, campers, and anglers. It uses a simple yet cunning concept that shows the value of Darkfade by gradually highlighting its key features.
Another video that fits the bill is Prynt, which is an invention that allows you to print pictures from your smartphone. It has a quick start and is very informative, which makes it the perfect example of a great Kickstarter pitch video.
5. Reach out to backers
In the world of ecommerce, a successful campaign is not only a success in raising funds but also a success in building a community. It can be hard to turn customers into fans, but a good kickstarter campaign will help you build a following and generate a strong community.
During your campaign, it’s important to provide regular updates and communicate with backers about how the project is progressing. This will keep the energy high and make sure everyone knows what’s happening with the project.
To keep track of your progress, create a centralized place to store all backer information, like their pledges, perk selections, shipping addresses, and stretch goals. This will save you time and ensure that all orders are tracked in one place for future fulfillment.
Before you ship out rewards, make sure that you have enough inventory to meet all of your orders. It’s not always easy to know how many shipments you’ll get from your Kickstarter or Indiegogo campaign, so it’s important to plan ahead.
Once you’ve finished your campaign, reach out to retail sites where you can partner with to get your product out into the market. You can do this through direct contact, or through a submission form on their website.
You can also use Facebook ads to drive traffic to your campaign page. However, it’s important to run them on a budget and use the analytics to test which ones are effective.
It’s also helpful to post about your campaign regularly on social media, especially if you have a large following. This helps build momentum and keeps people aware of your campaign, so they’ll be more likely to share it with their friends.
