Start: zoom on our crowdfunding campaign

Crowdfunding campaign

Each adventure begins with many projects to be carried out at the same time. For our part, after writing our business plan, establishing our visual identity and designing our first bag models, we decided to launch a participatory fundraising campaign on the Kisskissbankbank platform. Launching a brand on a personal basis requires a lot of investment in time but also in financial resources. So love money is often welcome! Let's take a look together at the main stages of this campaign…

Partner and scenario

First of all, we sought our partner for the production of the video presentation of the Rive Claire project. Thanks to our network of contacts, we found our great partner Brice from the PULSEMEDIA agency. Brice immediately understood our expectations and also supported us a lot with very good advice.

For the video to be well shot, the script must of course be written. A challenging but exciting exercise. It is important to let your heart speak and to remain natural. It is also important not to forget the different shots to be identified beforehand and the props to take with you that day. The people who have to intervene on the shoot must be well prepared as well. For the location, we decided to play at home in Switzerland near the beautiful Lake of Zürich. Of course, we prayed for sunshine that day!

Crowdfunding campaign redaction

Writing the project

Video is a very nice tool but it is not enough on its own. It is important to describe the project in detail so that contributors can understand the full interest of your products and obviously support you! It is a very long work because the writing must be both simple but effective and understandable by everyone. We paid particular attention to the photos used so that they were qualitative and small pictograms helped us to describe a concept very quickly without using too many words. This is a work not to be underestimated as it requires many hours of work in terms of choice of words, style and visuals.

How to make your contributors happy

After the video, the detailed description of your project, it is still a question of motivating your contributors by offering them interesting counterparts accessible to all budgets. There are different strategies concerning the contributions: pre-selling your products with several packs, gifts made in partnership with other complementary brands, goodies ... For Rive Claire, we were still at the prototype stage and therefore pre-sales could not be the only entry for our contributors. We therefore proposed in addition to accessories in the image of our brand to offer different packs ranging from 10 euros to 500 euros.

Crowdfunding campaign counterparts

The importance of animation on the networks

It is often clear that the first contributors come from your family and friends. This is why it is called the LOVE MONEY. A first circle is always needed and your entourage is very often present to help you. It is then important to target the 2 other circles, namely your professional acquaintances and friends of your friends and then the people you don't know last. For the second and third circles, commercial animation is essential. Whether it is via social networks, notably Facebook and Instagram but also by Email, your community must always have you in mind. For our part, we have set up contests with 5 different brands in order to offer bonus gifts throughout the campaign. This also allows you to gain visibility, to enlarge your community and to seduce your first fans. Don't hesitate to let yourself be advised by the experts of the chosen funding platform.

Social network animation for crowdfunding campaigns

What's next?

What we have observed during the weeks of the campaign is that the campaign starts strong at the beginning but also in the last week. That's when you have to give it your all! For Rive Claire, we were fortunate to exceed our objective with great joy. But even if your campaign is over, it is important to take care of your relationship with your contributors. The Newsletter really works very well to get messages across: thanks, stage of your production, delays etc. Just after our campaign, we had to face the Covid-19 epidemic and therefore faced many difficulties. We always kept the link with our whole community. The most important thing is to communicate because generally speaking, your contributors are always very understanding and patient. The crowdfunding campaign remains a highlight of your journey and we wish, of course, every success to all the future entrepreneurs who try the adventure!