How this startup raised $200k on IndieGoGo in 1 week
Investment capital isn’t the only route to success. My favourite examples are the outliers Pantagonia and Mailchimp. Both are still wholly owned by their founders and have become respected brands across the world. But part of my mission is to look closer to home and showcase the best of East Asia. My recent example is EONIQ, founded by a a former management consultant, Quinn Lai. Established in 2014, EONIQ makes customised handmade watches and was revenue positive since day one. The company’s taken to crowdfunding to raise money for its new line of mechanical watches for under US$200. The US$60,000 IndieGoGo campaign was funded in 1.5 hours and has already hit US$200,000 within the first week. Founder and CEO, Quinn Lai, took some time out of his 18-hour days to share his concrete tips for other aspiring makers and entrepreneurs.
Do not share a page.
Fundraise using high-quality content on your brand/product page. Instead of asking people to share their page, EONIQ creates visual content that is easy for people to share. Their Indiegogo campaign video shows how a personal watch is made with close-ups and educational content. Non-buyers can share, which gives the video a chance of reaching new audiences.
Always choose a video if you have one.
Viral content is vital to a successful campaign. A picture is worth a thousand words, and a short video is a thousand pictures. The focus on the content makes the video feel more like a great FYI rather than an advertisement. Pro tip: remember to use platforms that have instant play (rather than a click-to-play). EONIQ launched their campaign on Facebook, where video feeds are instant.
Group and stagger.
EONIQ’s team segmented their sharing friends to strategically seed content before and during the campaign. The first group started sharing 6 hours before the IndieGoGo campaign launch to build the hype: “something awesome’s happening tonight!” A small group shared 1 hour before the launch: “Get ready!” The biggest group shared when the IndieGogo campaign went live. EONIQ timed the Facebook video release for 12:00–2:00pm (lunch time) leading up to the evening the fundraising began. The Facebook video post stayed at the top of newsfeeds for EONIQ’s 1st and 2nd connections. They also boosted the post so 3rd-degree connections saw the video to create a bigger wave.
Banners over style (sometimes).
EONIQ’s team tested 5 videos over 3 days and determined that top and bottom text banners were the most effective. The text was “Custom Watch” on top and “Under $200” underneath. People who hadn’t heard of EONIQ got the campaign message no matter where they started in the video. The silvery-grey banners were not intrusive because they framed the video and blended with the video’s white background. Quinn added, “Have to say that makes the post a little bit less visually appealing but it could be worth it.” Quinn cautions every team to test different versions!
Distill your email list.
EONIQ had a 5-day count down with one e-mail per day and two additional e-mails for “hours to go” and “LIVE”. Leading up to the IndieGogo campaign, EONIQ already had a large following (155,000 Instagram followers). Using tools such as Mailchimp and Survey Monkey, they tracked their e-mail open-rates and refined their e-mail content over two years. They did their homework on their community well before this campaign was ever conceived. For Quinn, learning about users helps gauge “how much more help you need outside of your brand’s follower base”. A huge email list with a low open-rate probably means many are irrelevant, whereas a high open-rate in a smaller group may is a strong foundation for a campaign kick-off.
“Engage your followers, make it a movement, and if possible, create an urgency for the followers to act.”
Build a movement around urgency.
EONIQ turned their website into a line up system. By the launch date, 3000 people had lined up for the initial 300 offers, which motivated instant purchases when the campaign went live. In addition, EONIQ had a handful of close friends pledge instant purchases to jumpstart the buying (which also reduced the perks and gave more urgency). The watches sold out in 1.5 hours. Pro Tip: Don’t leave your remaining followers stranded. EONIQ had set a fundraising goal of $60,000, but the team was prepared for additional orders and made that known.
Consider 1-Day specials.
This is a risk because if the 1-Day specials don’t sell out, Quinn notes, “You will have to hide the perks and you loose the opportunity to show sold out perks”. However, the offer gave EONIQ an opportunity to do another mass share to remaining contacts who didn’t share the initial launch video. The team also extended the deadline to give the posts time to spread. Their 1-Day special sold out too.
Launch when it’s convenient for your community.
EONIQ’s followers are mostly in the West Coast, South-East Asia and Hong Kong. Following social media scheduling wisdom, the team made sure the social media events are around lunch time, after dinner, and before sleep. For Twitter Users, figure out your optimal posting time with Buffer’s free Optimal Scheduling tool and check out Buffer’s advice on best times to post.
Launching means starting your 24-hour standby.
EONIQ’s team was up all night even though it raised its $60,000 funding mark shortly after launch. The team had prepared images, banners, and press releases that they filled in with numbers and content. This preparation helped the team post an update Facebook banner after the IndieGoGo target was reached in 1.5 hours. Each team member also continued to create relevant ad hoc content, tag friends and respond to questions, congratulations, and comments.
Be ready to give, and don’t feel bad to ask.
EONIQ’s Indiegogo had live chat to serve people instantly. The immediate interaction created a positive feed cycle: serve and create a positive experience, and finishing by asking a user to help share. Quinn sums up the rationale as: “If your product is good, a lot of people actually don’t mind sharing.” Many people don’t realise how much a share can help, so they don’t. However, if you ask after delivering a great experience, most are happy to do so.
Crucial final thoughts
Originally, I asked Quinn to share his tactical advice for campaigning with the startup community. However, a solid campaign is has a solid product and mission as a foundation. Quinn actually began his conversation with these two underlying principles:
“Build something that people want. When you build something that people want, selling the product to your friends become a win-win solution.” Do the homework on customer development and confirm customer need first.
“Have a good relationship with friends, always ready to give, and have personal integrity.” When Quinn asks his friends to share, they know that he won’t sell anything he wouldn’t buy himself. Quinn involved his friends since EONIQ’s beginnings as a side hobby and we have been following him since. He built trust through transparency, patience, and uncompromising standards. He kept telling everyone to wait despite our interest when he was still prototyping for himself. By the time he was ready, he didn’t even need to pitch his first customers.
EONIQ’s Indiegogo campaign is still on-going and runs until mid-November!
This post originally appeared on Tech in Asia and has been updated.
