We are going to profile Mines Audio, who are looking to raise $50,000 on Kickstarter.
Started by two brothers Tiernan and Steve Mines, with a background in design and a passion for Vinyl.
They aim to produce a turntable for vinyl enthusiasts that isn’t solely aimed at professional DJ’s but is better than mass market turntables seen at local electrical shops. A tough challenge but one they seem pumped for.
We will document it all. right from pre-launch, through to reaching their Kickstarter goal.
Firstly let’s discuss what they hope to achieve in the coming weeks…
- Pre-launch email list 1,000
- Kickstarter goal £50,000
- Number of backers 50
- Featured on 6 notable publications
All this with a budget of £600. And blood, sweat and tears (none of that please! ;-))
They will be using Maitre as a viral waiting list for their pre-launch but we will discuss all their tactics.
We will write about all aspect of their journey, so we can help this community learn and put into action, some the discoveries Mines Audio make.
Laying the cards on the table
Because their product has a high price point their modest aim of 50 is going to be a challenge.
Their marketing activities are…
- Press outreach
- Hustling their own network
- Viral waiting list
- Paid Ads
The (not so) secret to a successful Kickstarter campaign
Pre-backers are essential to every Kickstarter campaign, as it helps with social proof, build traction and hopefully trend on the site.
The Mines Audio boys are going to be working to build momentum. We will document their success and failure.
3.5 degrees of separation to Kevin Bacon
It used to be 6, it turns out it’s 3.5 on average now, thanks to social channels such as Facebook.
Let’s face it, most people start a business within something they enjoy doing, and we tend to have friends who share those interest.
Making them all potential pre-backers / investors.
The Mines brothers achieved 5 pre-backers so far from friends of friends, who have an interest in Vinyl.
Chat to your mates – they know people.
The Press – the Holy Grail
They want 6 good publications for social proof on their Kickstarter ad.
Networking is crucial again on this front. They’ve reached to old uni mates, hustled here, hustled there.
Another tool they will be using is HeyPress and JournoRequest for more direct reach outs via social channels.
Spin that Viral-Loop
For referral mechanism, they’ll be using Maitre
They will be offering Alpha versions (RRP £1,200) for the top referrer and smaller prizes for those in the top-10.
The three components they will be leveraging off to create referral growth of their list…
- Exclusivity
- Gamification (Competitiveness)
- Incentivized sharing
By leveraging these biases so long as you have a product people desire.
Our in-house team helped set them up, so we can maintain the best chance of success.
Drop that PPC
In the pre-launch phase, they are going to be testing PPC campaign across Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Google.
They aim to have a budget of £10 p/d across networks, the initial expenditure will be to measure the cost per acquisition on email.
We talked about a great strategy previously
Be sure to check the out the next post in the Case Study as we detail what worked and what didn’t.
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