[Everything About the Pre-Order (Encore) Project #3] Tips for a Successful Funding Campaign
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- Encore projects have the advantage of being able to leverage the funding amount, number of supporters, ratings, and reviews from the original campaign.
- However, don’t let your guard down! Even if the previous funding campaign was a success, there’s no guarantee that the Encore Project will be a success.
- We asked three directors who successfully led Encore Projects what challenges they faced.
Silver Spoon’s Barley-Cured Mackerel Project, Which Has Successfully Received Funding Three Times
Silver Spoon’s Barley-Cured Mackerel funding project is one of the most talked-about projects on wadiz every holiday season. There are surely many supporters preparing gifts for their loved ones during the holidays. As a result, there have been many projects offering holiday gift-style Rewards. Among the countless holiday gift projects, what made Silver Spoon’s Barley-Cured Mackerel project succeed in its funding campaign three times?
What kind of maker is the Silver Spoon team?
Silver Spoon is a maker that has conducted a total of nine funding campaigns, gaining experience with both new and encore projects. In particular, the maker plans to continue releasing products funded on wadiz exclusively through wadiz. Therefore, they always prioritize building strong relationships with their supporters over short-term results. Throughout these nine funding campaigns, their top priority has been to demonstrate “trust.” Regardless of the funding scale, they have consistently maintained the highest product quality and ensured smooth delivery. In this way, trust, which began to build up bit by bit, became the driving force behind the creation of a fanbase that loves “Silver Spoon” itself.
What strategy did you use for the encore funding campaign?
After running several funding campaigns, Silver Spoon had secured a base of approximately 3,000 existing supporters. Our primary strategy was to use News from previous projects to announce the “3rd Barley-Cured Dried Yellow Croaker Funding.” In particular, we put a lot of thought into when exactly to announce the encore project—whether during the period when the project is launching soon or the main funding period. And we decided to use News from past projects during the period when we are launching soon. Above all, we felt it was right to let our existing supporters know first that the encore funding campaign was taking place.
What strengths did you highlight when creating the Story (project page)?
We emphasized that this was a “verified” project on wadiz using keywords such as “Legendary Barley-Cured Mackerel” and “Cumulative Raising of 180 Million Won.” In addition, we prominently displayed the fact that the average supporter rating from the first and second funding rounds was 4.9 out of 5 at the beginning of the Story for easy visibility. In particular, among the supporters’ reviews, we focused on highlighting those that aligned with the project’s purpose—such as “I gave it to my parents as a gift, and they loved it so much”— —which align with the project’s purpose—to enhance trust.
1.9 Billion Funding Record: The Aging CCC Rider Jacket Project
CCC Company’s Aging CCC Rider Jacket, which has recently been garnering significant attention in the fashion industry, also attracted a great deal of interest through its encore funding campaign. Let’s take a look at what challenges they faced. CCC Company is a maker that has just begun to gain widespread popularity—so much so that when you search for “Aging CCC” on a portal site, “National Rider Jacket” appears as a related search term. Without the mindset of “Story as Rewards,” they would never have been able to make such a significant leap forward through the encore funding campaign.
What aspects did you focus on most while preparing for the encore funding campaign?
After the first funding campaign ended, there were shipping delays during the production process. Even back then, we made a concerted effort to clearly explain what had happened and communicate sincerely with our backers. However, we knew we couldn’t afford to make the same mistake twice, so we publicly announced that we had switched production lines. In other words, we explained exactly how we had addressed the issue. Throughout the entire Story, we made a significant effort to build trust regarding the production methods for the Rewards we were offering.
You successfully raised 1.1 billion won in your second funding round. What marketing strategy did you use?
To be honest, this isn’t a method I would recommend to all makers. In CCC Company’s case, we had a goal to exceed the amount raised in our first funding round, and we believed that to achieve this, we needed to make an effort to attract new users from outside of wadiz on our own. That’s exactly why we decided to “collaborate with a fashion-focused YouTuber.” Rather than simply advertising the product, we prepared content in which the product was reviewed and endorsed by a fashion-specialized creator.
What was the maker’s mindset going into the encore funding campaign?
While results were important, above all, we approached it with the belief that “how our project is presented on wadiz will ultimately determine our future success in the market.” I believe you can fully sense this just by looking at the Story. The reason the maker came to this mindset was none other than the “supporters” themselves. Through comments like, “I visited the showroom on a friend’s recommendation,” or “I participated in the funding after seeing posts shared by people around me,” we realized after the first funding round ended that so many people truly loved CCC Company’s products. Once we realized—even without intending to—that we had formed such a close bond with our supporters, we knew we couldn’t simply “copy and paste” the first campaign for the encore funding.
Kinonix’s Cleansing Pad Project
In the case of Kinonix’s Cleansing Pad project, unlike the two projects mentioned above, the encore campaign was launched shortly after the first funding round ended. In fact, some makers who achieved good results in their first funding round launched an encore campaign while still somewhat unprepared, resulting in less-than-satisfactory outcomes. Kinonix achieved satisfactory results through an encore funding campaign right from its very first project on wadiz. What new insights will they discover by engaging with even more supporters? The real challenge is just beginning.
We prepared for the encore funding quickly. What were some of your concerns?
To be honest, because we were preparing so quickly, we were worried about whether we could succeed. As we pondered what was most important in this rushed preparation process, we ultimately we came to the conclusion that our supporters’ reviews were our greatest asset. We focused on highlighting these reviews not only in the Story but also in our ads.
What specific marketing strategies did you implement?
Given the nature of beauty products, if a customer is satisfied after trying a product once, there’s a high likelihood they’ll go on to make bulk purchases. In fact, the satisfaction rate was quite high among supporters who backed single items or small-quantity rewards during the first funding round, and we realized that these very people would be the ones most interested in rewards with bulk packages. To cater to them, creating bulk Rewards packages was another key factor in our success. To promote the bulk Rewards options, we ran word-of-mouth events, which also yielded excellent results. I encourage you to take a look at the details yourself.
What did you learn from these two funding rounds?
The key insight was that the answer lies with our supporters. The reason we designed the bulk rewards was because supporters trust Kinonix Maker’s products, and as mentioned earlier, this led us to design events that effectively drove funding for the bulk rewards. Furthermore, based on the insights gained from the first funding round, we realized we could prepare even better for the encore funding. For example, when running ads, it was extremely helpful in formulating strategies—such as refining or completely eliminating advertising and promotional methods that hadn’t yielded results during the first funding round.
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[ Everything About the Encore Project ] Series
- Storywriting Tips
- Tips for a Successful Funding Campaign