The $1.3 Million High-Flying HEXO+ Crowdfunding Case Study In the medical field when a person dies under mysterious circumstances autopsies are
almost always conducted to catch the culprit. In business big wigs sit down after failed
projects to discuss strategies, find fault and often even push powerless colleagues
under the bus.
But why in our vast wisdom as a species do we so improperly fail to take advantage of
the success models all around us? How often do you hear of case studies and post-
mortems on the most influential and accomplished individuals and businesses in order
to uncover what makes these high achievers tick and perform at such
outstanding levels?
Today let’s try it. Let’s look at one of the most historically successful and well executed
Kickstarters of all time to unlock the methods and strategies employed by one of
crowdfunding’s champions of change and innovation.
Creating a Killer Kickstarter Campaign
The first thing anyone notices about a crowdfunding campaign is almost always the
thumbnail. That little preview which shows the product or gets backers excited to click
and check out your project is absolutely critical to creating a successful campaign. You
need the ability to pull in organic Kickstarter fanatics in addition to your own loyal and
devoted network if you’re looking to succeed. So work to get potential backers on your
page as quickly as possible.
As you can see in the HEXO+ campaign they did a smashing job of selling the drone
before backers even arrived. From an exciting HD action shot of a pretty sexy
quadcopter to the sneaky product placement of the GoPro camera the Squadrone
System team immediately got the tech and artsy individuals of Kickstarter compelled to
click.
As if their epic images weren’t enough they nailed the headlines with compelling copy
which beautifully and succinctly shares both the story and experience of the HEXO
drone. This is extremely important in your own Kickstarters as well. You need to pull
people in with titles that tease and excite. Get backers begging to know more now.
Social Media Sells
In case you missed it take a glance back up below that beautiful drone. What you see is
amazing social media savvy. With 49,338 Facebook shares, I personally cannot recall a
campaign reaching such prolific sharing numbers. That is impressive, no amazing.
Getting people to fall for and love a campaign is a challenge but look at the results it
brings.
It is tough but not impossible to get backers, friends and family to really super share
your project and make it go somewhat super successfully viral. The biggest thing to
keep in mind is that individuals share what they really really like and what they think will
make them look cool. In the case of Kickstarter your product functionality, photography
and of course the all-important video play a pivotal role in this.
Show Social Proof
Usually after showcasing your product video and a pretty compelling tagline covering
your company, many successful campaigns like to lift their coverage to the forefront.
You’re probably wondering why this is if not feeling a little off put by the blatant
showmanship being displayed by campaign creators or maybe you don’t even care
cause almost every project page puts forth something similar.
In fact there’s actually real important reasons and cold hard facts supporting showing
off, at least a little bit. It’s credibility.
Everyday people put their trust in the Mashables, Engadgets and Washington Posts of
the world to bring them the most up to date and accurate information from across the
world and the web. These news networks, media sites and amazing blogs are like
trusted friends and comrades in the search for truth. They have built rapport and good
standing with their readers and garner amazing public support and strength around
them and the stories they spread.
This lends a greater feeling of legitimacy around prospective campaigns looking to fund.
If Wired, MSN and The Next Web put their support and stories behind the HEXO guys
they must be for real. It is the ultimate form of personal recommendations and social
proof.
Show your Stuff and How it Works
One thing that makes Kickstarter and crowdfunding so vastly different from commerce
in a traditional sense is the feelings of uncertainty and unexpectedness surrounding the
products. Typically startups aren’t absolutely finished finalizing and perfect their mass
market versions when they come to Kickstarter. What with backers’ suggestions, small
tweaks and potential hiccups in production people often end up getting something
slightly different than what they expected.
This is tough to commit to. Backers are supporting your campaign and buying your
product without ever having the chance to hold it, play with it, touch it or really
understand exactly what they are getting. You need to alleviate these internal buying
fears and convince prospective supporters with amazingly detailed product pics and
awesome walkthroughs of how your invention works.
Look at this guide walking the user through the inner workings of HEXO. From the
amazing hi-res action shots, the in-depth app usage picture s and even a well-made
video showing the drone and app in use the creators nailed it here.
Try to do something similar in your own projects if you can. Having a rich mixture of
informative, well written copy, sexy photos and a video worthy of Mr. Spielberg himself
hit the major logical and creative components of the brain in all the right ways. Like inour
recent interview with Indiegogo entrepreneur Seymour Segnit, you need to hit all the triggers
of both left and right brained buying decisions in order to really knock it out of the park.
The Ideal Customer
When you are creating something new, innovative and totally transformative in the
marketplace you will inevitably turn some individuals off while attracting early adopters.
You need to get past these hurdles as quickly as possible with success early on and
begin penetrating the mass market. Here is where the true money is made and the
success of your startup ensured.
This is really hard though. How do you actively avoid scaring off easily frightened, not
too techy potential backers?
By making it beyond apparent what you are trying to do. Hit the high points, the early
adopters and awesome ambassadors of your brand but also bring it back for others as
well.
It’s easy aerial filming for all. That sounds cool. I could probably pull that off. This is
what the big shot superstars of action photography are using but HEXO is making it
accessible and awesome for everyone.
Testimonials
We covered the importance of trust and references earlier but really, more couldn’t hurt.
Especially when the individuals standing up to support you are world-class athletes,
Olympic skiers, snowboarding champs, and BMX bad boys. Look at this list. HEXO hit
the nail on the head in much the same way Neil Young’s Pono Music played upon
tremendous testimonials and superb feedback from stars and musicians throughout the
world these guys gained ground by showing the cream of the crop, the individuals most
in need of amazing aerial photography repping their product.
As a massive plus and something you should consider yourselves as well they showed
photos of each of their extremely influential brand ambassadors. Whether you know
their names or not when people put pictures, faces or even videos to their testimonials
and support of a product it becomes much more real and impactful upon potential
customers.
What Does it Do?
With a Kickstarter campaign or any type of product pitch there is somewhat of a logical
progression in which the team will need to convince the potential customer that their
product is something so awesome they just need to buy it.
In this case and in many of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns you need to start
with a strong, exciting push. The drone company came out swinging with jaw dropping
photography, captivating video and an amazing list of supporters and media willing to
back up the aerial excellence of the startup.
But in order to achieve the sale you usually need some kind of specs, some feature
explanations in order to share just what your product can do.
In doing so HEXO and any campaign alleviate fear of deception and reinforce the
reasons to buy their product. This is what makes their company, their product and the
experience of flying and filming with HEXO unique. It addresses all the common
complaints held by aerial photographers and sures up the startup in the eyes of
backers.
For the truly committed hobbyists however more information is almost always needed to
seal the deal. People familiar with and enraptured by the field of DIY drones and
photography want to know exactly what to expect in your product. Regardless of what
you are creating let people see precisely what you are offering. Share the weights,
speeds, sizes and so forth so people have real metrics in which to evaluate.
Technological Magic
Many Kickstarter innovators and technological masterminds are pushing the boundaries
everyday on exactly what science and technology can accomplish. When your
inventions are so forward thinking, revolutionary and unexpected be prepared to defend
your technological wizardry. Despite your best efforts trolls will almost always find
futuristic and fascinating campaigns and products and put up a fight with the creators.
But they are losers and lost souls. Don’t worry about them. Instead focus on the true,
excited backers legitimately interested in your campaign.
While every inventor wants his or her product to produce that Steve Jobs-esque magic
effect upon people you must explain exactly how everything works. Crowdfunding
scams while rare enough on Kickstarter(and more prominent on Indiegogo) do
occasionally happen. If you claim to have invented a time machine, invisibility cloak or
super Star Wars light saber you better back that up. Backers are bright individuals and
will only trust if enough insight and knowledge is given into the true powers behind the
product.
Call to Action, Call to Arms
If you have managed to hold a backer’s attention this long something is surely going
right. Whoever is on your page is clearly intrigued by your campaign. But sometimes
people need that extra little nudge to push them over the edge and become a backer of
your startup.
Here is where asking nicely and explaining exactly why and how Kickstarter can help
your company to succeed is critical.
As you can see the HEXO+ team does a terrific job here conveying exactly what they
need. They lay out the massive efforts they have put forth in perfecting the drone and
preparing the prototype to bring to market and again emphasize how awesome the
device has been in the hands of earlier testers. They get individuals excited but add a
flair of uncertainty in that they need this help in order to make the dream a reality.
This is powerful. It puts prospective backers in the driver’s seat of the campaign.
Suddenly they aren’t simply a customer but rather a generous part of the team helping
to make these lofty goals possible. And of course end with a heartfelt thank you to show
how much it means to you and your team.
Ridiculously Beautiful Rewards
Let’s face it, despite all efforts of good will and tingly feelings felt at helping an inventor
succeed, Kickstarter and crowdfunding are first and foremost a business. Many
individuals are interested only in getting their hands on super awesome gear and
goodies, especially before they hit shelves everywhere.
That means having rocking rewards is an absolute must(if you are having trouble or
want help brainstorming out amazing rewards check out the recent post on The 9 Habits
of Highly Effective Kickstarter Rewards). But let’s assume you have compelling rewards
already that you know backers everywhere will be thrilled to get their hands upon. You
need to present these goodies in as awesome a light as possible in order to really let
them shine and build as big a base of backers as possible. The best way I have seen
this done time and time again is an infographic.
The HEXO guys did a killer job of nailing down their rewards and have two important
features any aspiring Kickstarter ought to employ. The first of course is the ease of
understanding. Just check out the shot above. They have truly taken the meaning of
infographic and compressed larger amounts of complicated rewards information and
made it extremely easy to understand and follow. With almost no text and in a simple,
aesthetic way this startup shows exactly what each and every level of support means
for backers. This eliminates headaches, hassles and misunderstandings and makes it
crystal clear what individuals need to contribute to get each.
The second and often underutilized strategy HEXO’s creators capitalized on was
updating the rewards infographic as the campaign progressed. As you can see the
Early Bird performed pretty darn well and sold out rather rapidly. That is important. It
conveys the scarcity of the campaign rewards, often pushing backers towards buying
but also makes it inherently obvious which options are still available, avoiding conflict
and questions down the line.
Show Some History
A big part of the appeal of Kickstarter and crowdfunding campaigns in general is aiding
in the genesis of startups and successful businesses. You connect on a much deeper,
more personal level with a company like HEXO than one of the industry
leaders because they’re the little guys. It is almost as if you get to know them.
Well to see where someone is going it often helps to know where they have been. By
including a timeline you share not only the schedule going forward of when you will
develop, manufacture and ship out backer gear but also on what came before.
As you would expect this historical chart extends beyond the Kickstarter campaign but
it’s getting rather long and illustrates the point either way. As you can see the HEXO+
team were incredibly detailed in their breakdown of each and every important step in the
creation of awesome aerial photography drone.
Here is one area in which I personally believe the company went a little overboard. The
timeline is more than a bit cluttered with focus given to both the hardware and software
sides of development which all-in-all makes for a slightly overwhelming investigation
into the startup’s life. Either way though it illustrates the point and allows backers and
builders everywhere to see exactly where HEXO stands, the enormous amounts of
effort they have put into the project and the next steps to succeed post-Kickstarter. Not
perfect but all-in-all effective.
Friendly Faces
We’ve talked about it but as important as it is, it bears repeating. Kickstarter is a
platform of creators, innovators and inventors looking to change the world. It is a place
for change, growth, and new life…not old corporate crap.
So show your stuff, showcase the team and tremendous people behind your products
and creations. Backers and individuals in general believe in and trust people. That is the
essence of business, relationships and life. So why do so few campaigns showcase the
studs behind the scenes?
The smaller the company, the more important each and every individual is to the
organization. People produce the impact, build the business, and especially in startups
deserve recognition for the ridiculous amounts of work they put forward to make this
product happen.
Giving your team time to shine will make them more excited about the company, the
campaign and their own contributions to the Kickstarter creation which is great for
morale and long term success of post-Kickstarter companies. It also personalizes and
humanizes your mission in the eyes of backers, giving an unfair advantage over the
Nikes and Walmarts of the world.
Final Findings
So all things considered HEXO absolutely killed it as a Kickstarter campaign. The small
startup from Palo Alto, CA raised a mind-boggling $1.3 million during their Kickstarter
campaign and amassed an impressive 2,338 backers throughout the process. As
you’ve seen from our autopsy of these tremendously successful aerial acrobats there is
quite a great deal to be learned from success.
Steal(or borrow ) some of the strategies companies like HEXO+ used in making
crowdfunding work for them. From amazing product photography, an excellent mixture
of compelling visual and technical content, and killer social proof strategies to showcase
the product and its performance there is much to learn from these guys.
What do you think? Was looking at the lessons of one of Kickstarter’s most successful
campaigns helpful for you? Is this something you see helping you in your own
crowdfunding projects or are their other more important problems and issues you would
loved to see tackled?
I’d really appreciate if this article or Art of the Kickstart in general had a positive impact
upon you and your life that you shared it with friends and other individuals in the
crowdfunding community looking to change the world. This case study alone was a
pretty sizable time commitment and if could help others I would love to have as many
people as possible benefit before launching their own campaigns.