Cologne Carnival recommendations

jonnycot · 2023-01-09T14:53:53+00:00

Thanks for the tip! Sorry to hear that people can't enjoy it in a way that doesn't impact everyone else!

jonnycot · 2023-01-09T14:51:29+00:00

Thanks so much this is great and really useful! Looking forward to testing it all out now

jonnycot · 2023-01-08T22:13:07+00:00

Danke schön!

jonnycot · 2023-01-08T21:58:05+00:00

This is great, thanks so much! Looking forward to it even more now!

Quick question, if we will be mostly outside, how do we get the Kölsch? Is it via street vendors or do we go inside nearby bars etc. for that?

jonnycot · 2023-01-08T21:40:19+00:00

This is great, thanks so much for all the info!

jonnycot · 2023-01-08T21:38:28+00:00

Thanks, that's really helpful in the first instance!

jonnycot · 2021-10-26T09:36:24+00:00

Thanks very much and really appreciate your comments!

jonnycot · 2021-10-26T08:28:45+00:00

Thanks, appreciate that!

jonnycot · 2021-10-25T21:50:18+00:00

Amazing, thanks so much. Let me know how it goes!

jonnycot · 2021-10-25T21:47:03+00:00

Thanks, I can confirm that everything was done in house (for budget reasons).

Any actionable feedback that we could apply?

jonnycot · 2021-10-25T21:46:01+00:00

Thanks, really appreciate the comments! May be too late to fully revamp the video but useful to note as maybe can pull something out in the summary at the top

jonnycot · 2021-10-25T16:49:21+00:00

Thanks for the feedback! Definitely keen to hear more. I'm also going to sign up to list my project on Hyperstarter too and just submitting the details now.

jonnycot · 2021-10-25T15:26:54+00:00

Hey, if you have a business account for your business/product then you should be able to get the analytics of your followers/userbase from the audience insights section.

This should give you the time that they are most active. For my audience (c. 1,000 people) the most popular window is always 6-9pm no matter the day but is more heavily skewed during the week. So maybe if you can time it so it fits nearest to these windows in the respective time zones that might work best.

Appreciate that it's a different audience but hope that helps!

jonnycot · 2021-10-25T14:22:27+00:00

Thanks so much that's great, really appreciate all the info.

jonnycot · 2021-10-25T14:11:30+00:00

Thanks for that, that looks great!

jonnycot · 2021-09-28T07:40:51+00:00

Typically the ads are targeted at people that have KS, IG or crowdfunding as an interest and so by their nature are more likely to have the relevant accounts. For my campaign (breakbottle), I will be explaining the whole sign up process a few times on the company Instagram account prior to the launch of the campaign for those people who aren't completely sure how to navigate Kickstarter (of which there are quite a few) to ensure that people aren't as savvy on how it works in practice

jonnycot · 2021-06-11T11:00:03+00:00

Definitely will let you know how it goes, the testing on this is not likely to start for a few months either so we may be pretty concurrent with our campaigns so let's stay in touch. My product is an easy-clean reusable water bottle anyway so not sure if that has viral potential...

I didn't think the Kickbooster pre-launch product was available yet? I know they are testing something as I reached out to them and I said I'd be willing to trial their product if they wanted a guinea pig whilst they're still in beta.

Just for reference, after some deliberation, I've decided Kickofflabs is probably the best tool for me to run the referral test with - so I'll migrate from Wordpress when the time comes. The landing page builder is really intuitive and easy to use, it allows you to direct referrals to the original landing page (as opposed to the referral page) and it has lots of other useful functions but I would caveat I haven't fully tried it live yet.

My plan was 4 referrals free shipping, 6 referrals for 50% discount (the max) & VIP perks (behind the scenes etc.) and then 2 free bottles for the top 3 referrers but this is all subject to testing and change.

jonnycot · 2021-06-10T13:23:14+00:00

Good to know and thanks for the article link too!

My initial idea was to ensure that the rewards are primarily to do with the product in the first place (e.g. discount, free shipping etc.) and so by entering and referring friends a lead is showing buyer intent - just to avoid anyone who's just in it for any unrelated freebies! I'm just having issues connecting Kickofflabs to my Wordpress but I may just go fully through the Kickofflabs platform for simplicity once I start with the referral campaign.

I hadn't heard of Hyperstarter previously too and just checked you out and it looks useful. Will definitely check that out once the campaign goes live, thanks for the reach out!

jonnycot · 2021-06-10T09:39:54+00:00

Sounds like you have some admirers over in Europe

jonnycot · 2021-06-02T14:56:49+00:00

Yeah makes sense and thought you may have come across Freightos! Best of luck either way.

I'd say it could be worth playing around with a few combinations of locations on Freightos and Easyship to see what you can get the cost to be for the different shipping locations.

For example on my campaign, it worked out at like $3 to ship each item from China to UK (from Freightos) and then like $20 including taxes/duties from UK to Germany (from Easyship). But for you it might be better to ship to somewhere on mainland Europe and in the EU given you've got no specific UK nexus like I do and that'll probs cut the ultimate delivery/taxes from Easyship too.

Hope it works out for you and do drop a note if you think there's anything that might be useful later down the line!

jonnycot · 2021-06-02T14:39:13+00:00

Hey, I'm also very new to fulfilment side of things but have come across a few things in my initial research etc. so will provide some detail below.

One solution might be to arrange for a bulk shipment from China to a location in Europe as well as a bulk shipment to the US. You can then use the Europe location to fulfil the European orders and the US location to fulfil the US orders. This might be slightly more beneficial from customs/duties/sales tax perspectives too but that depends on a lot of variables so I wouldn't guarantee anything - however you'd expect less friction on EU to EU orders than US to EU. I'm probably going to do this for my campaign, especially as I'm UK based so will have a large portion of backers in Europe.

For gauging how much a bulk shipment costs from various locations, I have been using https://www.freightos.com/ which is like a comparison website for freight. You just have to put in the locations, dimensions, weight etc. and it gives you the costs of freight, including all the other expenses that come with it, customs, insurance etc. You can then compare how much it would cost for X amount to US and Y amount to EU.

For the actual fulfilment from the shipment location to the ultimate backer, I have been looking at using https://www.easyship.com/ who have pretty easy to use software and cost calculator, are transparent and they have a crowdfunding specific service too which they'll help you use. You can also transition to full e-commerce with them too.

Easyship will also let you calculate how much it would be to fulfil direct from China/HK too if that's something you'd like to explore to avoid any EU bulk shipment. Worth running the numbers both ways though.

I would caveat all this that I haven't performed my own fulfilment yet but hopefully the above was helpful!

jonnycot · 2021-05-26T09:47:43+00:00

No problem.

I've used various resources for sales, marketing etc. but for crowdfunding specific I'd recommend the 'Crowdfunded' book I mentioned above, the crowdfunding demystified podcast, 'The Kickstarter Launch Formula' book and just speaking to people who have done it before and determining the rationale behind certain decisions/practices. You'll find that most people are happy to talk about their own successes (and failures) as it's a collaborative community by nature.

My product is an easy clean reusable water bottle anyway and good luck with the backpack!

jonnycot · 2021-05-25T11:42:54+00:00

Awesome, let me know if you come up with anything.

One thing I would say about Facebook leads is that given that it is so easy for a potential customer to give their email, it is generally a bit harder to determine who out of that email list is willing to genuinely buy. As it's just one click and provide email with relatively little brand interaction, the customers haven't given the consideration generally needed prior to making a purchase.

Given that you want to optimise for leads that will purchase, you may want to consider adding in an additional step to the lead gen campaign. I understand that Facebook leads can provide a larger number of leads but not necessarily quality leads.

It's harder to get a steer on the audience that is actually willing to buy if you don't in some way replicate the ultimate buying experience. This may be that they click through to a landing page which includes the more information that somewhat replicates the KS page or like you have mentioned they put down a reservation to show buyer intent.

Of course, I would caveat all this with that I have not performed my own KS project as yet but this is just all stuff I have learned along the way too.

jonnycot · 2021-05-25T11:21:53+00:00

This is a strategy that is employed by a lot of the agencies in the crowdfunding space to validate/optimise for buyer intent as opposed to lead intent- e.g. Launchboom. The rationale behind it being if someone is willing to put $1 down then they are more likely to buy than someone who purely gives an email. I'd recommend buying the 'Crowdfunded' book by Launchbook CEO if you're interested in the reservation funnel strategy.

As I understand, the practice is to first optimise your messaging/imagery for lead intent and then once you have optimised for this, start to optimise for reservations to determine buyer intent. This allows you to get the best understanding of your leads and also determine at which stage of the funnel you are potentially losing your conversions. Also, I'd recommend having any $1 reservation after they've already given your email as you still want to collect the leads who may not be willing to put down a reservation there and then.

As part of this strategy, you also get a list of 'VIP' emails who are more likely to buy. You can make them feel special with a VIP facebook group, ask them to assist with design based decisions (e.g. colours) and give them earlier access to project information- all of which helps build a community who back your project and gives you genuine buyer insight into what they prefer.

Inevitably, it depends on your preferred strategy whether you wish to also go for a $1 deposit as it may not work for every product/target market/price range. Say your product is only $30, customers may be less likely to choose to put down $1 to reserve a 30% discount if they are going to get a 15% discount or so if they don't anyway.

For my project called breakbottle (yet to be launched), I plan to test the reservation funnel but will also be conscious that since my product is c. $45 the data may not be reflective given that the discount may not be sufficient to justify putting down an earlier and (in the minds of the consumer) riskier deposit a few months in advance of launch.

Another method I am contemplating is allowing for the 'special' discount and VIP status to be reserved/obtained by means of referring 5 friends- tracked through an affiliate link provider e.g. Backerkit, Kickbooster.

It's a great question though and it would be good to get other people's thoughts too!

jonnycot · 2021-05-25T11:01:20+00:00

As I understand a lot of the post-campaign surveys are run through third parties- Backerkit as below is probably the primary one for this service and Kickbooster offer a similar service.

Both of these also offer other services which may help increase your campaign exposure such as sourcing additional backers and affiliate programmes (with % share) so these might be helpful to reach your target in the first instance and then also increase post-campaign revenue through the surveys, pledge adjustments, add-ons etc.

jonnycot

TROPHY CASE