Words sell. But only if you use them well. Ecommerce copywriting is a tricky skill to master, but the basics are easy to understand.

Well-crafted copy can be the difference between a sale and a lost opportunity. A successful product line and a dud. A thriving business and a dead one.

In this article, we’ll teach you how to make your copy more persuasive so you can win customers and keep them loyal.

Understanding the Basics of Ecommerce Copywriting

Ecommerce copywriting is basically just writing, but used for the purpose of promoting and selling products online. It includes product descriptions, landing pages, and other written content aimed at convincing customers to make a purchase.

Effective copywriting attracts attention, builds trust, and encourages conversions. Ineffective copywriting makes people zone out, doubt your value, and makes them click the X button on the tab.

Bearing that in mind, here are some practical ways you can improve the copywriting on your eCommerce store.

Crafting Compelling Product Descriptions

People read product descriptions before they buy. As a result, these descriptions play a big role in convincing customers to make a purchase…or not. So product descriptions needs to be engaging, informative, and focused on the benefits of the product.

Below, we’ll share a few quick examples on how that works in practice.

#1: Focus on benefits, not just features.

Highlighting benefits that speak to customers’ real needs is key. Instead of simply listing features, explain how the product solves problems or improves the customer’s life.

For example, instead of saying “This jacket is waterproof,” say “Stay dry and comfortable even in the heaviest rain with our waterproof jacket.”

The goal here is to paint a vivid picture. You want the customer to imagine themselves staying dry and cozy in a downpour. When you do this, you help your customer think about how the product will function in their day-to-day life.

#2: Use persuasive and descriptive language.

“This sweater is soft.”

“Experience the luxurious softness of our cashmere sweater, perfect for cozy winter evenings”

That second quote felt more persuasive, didn’t it? And it’s not just because the second option is more benefits-focused, although that definitely helps.

When you look at the second version of the copy, it makes you feel something. It puts an image in your mind and stirs up emotions. That makes the product a lot more appealing.

“This sweater is soft” is something you think when you’re feeling shirts at the thrift store. But “perfect for cozy winter evenings” is what you think about when it’s December, it’s snowing, and you’re snuggling on the couch with your loved ones.

This is how you turn a description into an invitation.

#3: Be concise yet informative.

So far, you might be tempted to think that flowery language outsells plain descriptions. But that’s not the case.

You need to balance between providing enough information and keeping it succinct. The trick here is to avoid overwhelming the reader with too much detail, but still make sure they have all the necessary information to make an informed decision.

Consider using bullet points and short paragraphs to make the content easy to read and digest. For example, instead of a long-winded paragraph about a phone’s features, use a list:

• Battery Life: Lasts up to 48 hours on a single charge.
• Camera: Capture stunning photos with a 12MP dual-lens camera.
• Storage: Available with 64GB, 128GB, or 256GB of storage.

This format is easier to scan and helps customers quickly find the information they need.

Enhancing Usability and Readability

Good copy is easy to read. But it’s also easy to use, which means it is practical.

That means your copy needs to give your customers what they need to find and understand the information they want before they make a purchase.

The principle here is simple – if customers that can easily find and understand the information they need, then they will naturally be more likely to make a purchase.

#4: Use bullet points for clarity.

We mentioned this in the previous tip, but it bears repeating.

Structure information in a digestible format by using bullet points. This helps highlight key features and benefits, making it easier for customers to scan and absorb the content quickly.

For example, list product specifications or unique selling points as bullet points to enhance clarity and readability. Instead of a dense block of text, you could write:

• Material: 100% organic cotton.
• Fit: Slim fit, tailored for a modern look.
• Care: Machine washable, easy to maintain.

This way, the information is clear and immediately accessible.

#5: Maintain a consistent voice.

Having a consistent brand voice across all content reinforces your brand identity and builds trust with customers. Whether your brand voice is casual, professional, or playful, ensure it remains uniform in product descriptions, emails, and social media posts.

Consistency helps create a recognizable and reliable brand image. For example, if your brand voice is friendly and approachable, your product description might say, “Our jeans are perfect for every adventure, from casual Fridays to weekend getaways,” and your social media might follow with, “Ready for the weekend? Our jeans sure are!”

#6: Optimize for readability.

Make your text easy on the eyes by using short paragraphs, varying sentence lengths, and plenty of white space. Use subheadings to break up long blocks of text and improve the flow.

Choose a readable font size and style, and avoid cluttering the page with too much information at once. Instead of a long, unbroken paragraph, break it up:

Comfortable and Stylish Our sneakers are designed with both comfort and style in mind. Whether you’re hitting the gym or going for a casual walk, you’ll love how they feel.

Durable and Long-Lasting Made from high-quality materials, these sneakers are built to last. You can trust them to keep up with your active lifestyle.

This structure makes the content much more inviting and easier to read.

Using Psychological Triggers

Good copy is compelling. But to know what’s compelling, you need to use psychology. There are certain triggers you can use in your copy that will motivate customers to take action and make a purchase. Here are a few that come to mind.

#7: Use urgency and scarcity.

Procrastination kills sales. You need to create a sense of urgency and scarcity to encourage immediate purchases.

Phrases like “Limited time offer,” “Only a few left in stock,” or “Sale ends soon” can prompt customers to act quickly to avoid missing out. Highlight time-sensitive deals and limited availability to drive sales.

For example, if you’re selling a popular toy during the holiday season, you could say, “Only 5 left! Order now before it’s too late!”

This makes customers feel the pressure to buy right away, fearing they might miss out if they wait too long.

#8: Use social proof.

Use testimonials, reviews, and ratings to build trust and credibility. Sharing positive feedback from other customers can reassure potential buyers of the product’s quality and your brand’s reliability. Use quotes from satisfied customers and display ratings prominently on product pages.

For instance, include a customer review saying, “These shoes changed my life! Super comfortable and stylish,” along with a 5-star rating. Seeing others’ positive experiences makes new customers more confident in their purchase.

#9: Appeal to emotions.

Connect emotionally with readers by addressing their desires, fears, and aspirations. Use storytelling techniques to make your products more relatable and appealing.

Let’s say you’re marketing a new pair of noise-canceling headphones. You could describe them as, “Your personal escape into a world of clarity and peace. Perfect for drowning out the bustling noise of daily life, these headphones let you immerse yourself in your favorite melodies or podcasts.”

If you’ve made it this far, then you probably noticed that this combines the vividness and benefits-focused language of tips #1 and #2. But there’s more going on than that. This picks a specific feeling – a desire for peace – and completely focuses on it. That’s how you can make an effective appeal to emotion.

SEO Best Practices for Copywriting

You’re not just writing for people on the internet. You also need to write for robots.

Ecommerce copy needs to work well in search engines. Do this right and you can drive more organic traffic and boost sales.

Here’s how you can do that without making it feel overly-optimized or robotic.

#10: Include targeted keywords naturally.

Work keywords seamlessly into your copy without compromising readability. Use keywords in product titles, descriptions, and headers. Be sure they flow naturally within the context.

For example, instead of keyword stuffing, write: “Our organic cotton T-shirts are perfect for eco-conscious consumers looking for stylish comfort.” This not only includes the keyword “organic cotton T-shirts” but also adds context that appeals to the target audience.

When in doubt, read your copy out loud. If it feels like you’re repeating yourself too much, then you are probably overdoing it on keywords.

#11: Use SEO-friendly headings and titles.

Write headings that improve SEO and attract readers. Use relevant keywords and make headings clear and informative. For instance, “Top 10 Summer Shoes for Women” is better than “Summer Shoes” because it is specific and keyword-rich, making it more likely to rank well in search results.

Being specific helps search engines understand what your content is about and can improve your page’s ranking.

#12: Optimize meta descriptions and titles for search engines.

Create compelling meta descriptions and titles that include targeted keywords. These should accurately reflect the page content and entice users to click.

For example, a meta description like “Shop our wide range of eco-friendly T-shirts made from organic cotton. Perfect for a sustainable lifestyle!” can boost click-through rates. People can see what the page is about before they click.

This description tells potential customers exactly what they can expect while incorporating relevant keywords, making it attractive to both search engines and users.

Continuous Improvement and Testing

Even if you write the perfect copy today, it won’t be perfect tomorrow. You have to change things up regularly. That’s how you keep copy effective and relevant.;

Here is how you can tweak your copy while making sure you don’t break what’s working.

#13: A/B test different copy versions.

Use A/B testing to compare different versions of your copy. Change one element at a time, such as headlines or call-to-action phrases, and see which version performs better.

This method helps you understand what resonates with your audience and continually improve your copywriting efforts. For example, test two headlines: “Grab Your Discount Now!” versus “Limited Time Offer – Shop Today!”

When you see which one gets more clicks, you learn what drives your customers to act.

#14: Gather and act on customer feedback.

Collect feedback from customers to identify areas for improvement in your product descriptions and other copy. Use surveys, reviews, and direct feedback to understand customer preferences and pain points.

Make changes based on this feedback to enhance the effectiveness of your copy. For instance, if multiple customers mention that they love the softness of your T-shirts, highlight the softness in your product descriptions.

Naturally, not every change can be fixed with a copywriting update. But collecting the feedback will help all the same. After all, if your customers want more color options, collecting feedback will give you a sign that it’s time to expand your color palette.

Advanced Copywriting Techniques

The following tips require a greater understanding of the basics of copywriting. But if you can work these techniques in naturally, you can enhance your eCommerce copywriting even more, which will help drive sales.

#15: Tell a story with your copy.

Use storytelling to create a memorable brand experience. Share stories that highlight the benefits of your products or your brand’s mission. For example, describe how your product was developed to solve a common problem, connecting with customers on an emotional level and making your brand more relatable.

Imagine saying, “Our founder created this eco-friendly backpack after struggling to find a durable, stylish, and sustainable option. Now, you can carry your essentials guilt-free!”

#16: Integrate multimedia elements.

You can sell even more by pairing written content with images, videos, and audio. Visuals can make your copy pop and help explain product features better.

Use high-quality images and demo videos to provide a richer, more interactive experience for your customers. This can increase time spent on your site and improve conversion rates.

As an example, you could use a video showing how to use a multi-functional kitchen gadget can be far more persuasive than a written description alone.

Final Thoughts

When in doubt, keep your copy clear, concise, and compelling. You want to give people reasons to trust you enough to give you their hard earned money.

Ecommerce copywriting is not an easy skill to master. But it’s easy to start and mastering it is worth the time.

If you can master eCommerce copywriting, you’ll increase sales, engage your customers, and you may very well build a successful business as a result. Naturally, this is a skill you will need to practice again and again to truly master. But starting from scratch is intimidating, so hopefully the tips in this guide will help ease that learning curve for you!

Additional Resources

To further improve your copywriting skills, consider these resources:

• Copyblogger for in-depth articles and tips on copywriting.
• HubSpot’s Content Marketing Course for comprehensive training.
• Yoast SEO Blog for SEO best practices and tips.
• Grammarly for writing assistance and grammar checks.
• Ahrefs Blog for advanced SEO and marketing strategies.

How do you know when you need help with order fulfillment? It’s not an easy call. But deciding when to outsource order fulfillment is absolutely critical if you want to grow your business and keep it running efficiently.

As your business scales, shipping physical products becomes increasingly difficult. So does handling the logistics in-house. This can quickly become overwhelming and expensive.

Order fulfillment partners can help streamline operations, reduce costs, and improve customer satisfaction. Knowing the signs that indicate the need for outsourced order fulfillment will help you make an informed decision when the time comes.

6 Signs Your Business Needs to Outsource Fulfillment

Outsourcing fulfillment can significantly benefit your business. But knowing when it’s time to do this isn’t easy.

Below, you will find a list of signs that your business needs to outsource fulfillment. If you say “yes” to any of these, it’s probably time.

#1: Your customer base is growing faster than you can keep up.

As your order volume increases, it becomes harder and harder to keep up with demand. But once you are set up with an order fulfillment partner, a surge in the size of your customer base doesn’t have to mean hours spent packing boxes in your home office.

Order fulfillment companies can easily handle large volumes of orders. That way, they all go out in the mail on time and to the right address, keeping your customers happy and loyal.

#2: You are unable to quickly and accurately ship orders to customers.

If you can’t ship orders out on-time or to the right address, then you need help. If you even suspect that your order fulfillment process is becoming slow or inaccurate, it’s time to consider outsourcing.

Delays and mistakes can frustrate customers and damage your reputation. Fulfillment companies specialize in quick and precise order processing, helping you maintain high service standards and customer satisfaction.

#3: Your staff are overworked.

When your employees are overwhelmed with fulfillment tasks, their productivity in other areas can suffer. This overload can lead to burnout and decreased morale.

Outsourcing fulfillment can free up your team to focus on core business activities, improving overall efficiency and job satisfaction.

#4: Your business feels overly complicated.

As your business grows, it becomes more complex. This increased complexity can weigh heavily on your mind and you may feel like you can never reach the end of your to-do list!

There are a lot of aspects of in-house fulfillment that can be hard to manage. If you have a lot of SKUs, ship internationally, or have special packaging requirements, this can all add to the complexity.

A dedicated fulfillment partner can handle these complexities for you. That way, you can concentrate once again on strategic growth and business development.

#5: Shipping costs are adding up.

Postage and supplies are expensive. Shipping costs can eat into your profits, especially in eCommerce.

Fulfillment companies almost always get bulk shipping discounts because of the sheer order volume they handle. The same is true of supplies like boxes and other packing materials.

But fulfillment companies are also very competitive, and cannot simply pocket the savings for themselves. They often split the difference with their clients.

By outsourcing, you can take advantage of these cost savings, improving your bottom line and offering competitive shipping rates to your customers.

#6: You are running out of storage space.

If you run out of space to store your own items, you need help. Storing products in-house can clutter your workspace and limit your operational capacity. When you outsource to an order fulfillment center, they handle the inventory management for you and that can free up a lot of space.

How Order Fulfillment Services Are Priced

Order fulfillment pricing can seem complicated. That’s because order fulfillment services are priced based on several factors.

These factors include account or storage fees, the number of packages shipped, postage, supplies, and pick and pack fees. Understanding how fulfillment pricing works will help you estimate fulfillment costs and decide whether or not outsourcing fulfillment is financially sensible.

Order fulfillment pricing can generally be understood by using the following formula:

Fulfillment Cost = Account/Storage Fees + (Packages Shipped * (Postage + Supplies + Pick and Pack Fee))

In the following sections, we break this down further.

#1: Account/Storage Fees

Account and storage fees are the baseline costs for holding your inventory. These fees cover the space your products occupy in the fulfillment center. They vary based primarily on the amount of space required. However, for some special cases like hazardous or refrigerated materials, there may be additional upcharges.

#2: Packages Shipped

When it comes to calculating order fulfillment costs, the number of packages shipped is the most important factor. The more you ship, the more postage and supplies you need. Plus, fulfillment centers charge a fee for each package they handle. So as they handle more packages, you pay more of these fees as well.

In short, the more you ship, the more you pay.

#3: Postage

Postage costs are the fees associated with shipping your items to customers. Fulfillment centers often negotiate bulk postage rates, which can be significantly lower than standard retail rates.

Like with retail postage, the most important factors here are the size and weight of the package to be shipped, as well as the destination.

Heavy and large items shipped long distances cost more. Smaller, lighter items shipped short distances cost less.

#4: Supplies

Supplies costs cover the materials needed for packing and shipping, such as boxes, bubble wrap, and tape. Basic materials are typically included in the pick and pack fee (discussed below), but special packaging requirements may incur additional charges.

#5: Pick and Pack Fee

The pick and pack fee is the cost of retrieving items from storage, packing them, and preparing them for shipment. This fee covers labor and basic materials for each order processed. Think of this as the cost to have a human being put your items into a box and get them in the mail on your behalf.

How Outsourcing Fulfillment Can Save You Money

Saving time and running your business more efficiently are good enough reasons to outsource fulfillment on their own. However, outsourcing fulfillment can – in some scenarios – save your business a lot of money.

These cost savings come from bulk postage rates, reduced supply costs, and better labor allocation. Understanding where these cost savings come from is worth it, since they can help you see whether or not outsourcing fulfillment will be financially beneficial rather than merely an operational necessity.

#1: Fulfillment centers get bulk discounts on postage and supplies.

Fulfillment centers usually have lower postage rates because they ship so many packages. Carriers are more willing to cut them a price break. The same principle applies to supplies, which are purchased in massive bulk quantities.

Because the fulfillment industry is competitive, these savings are passed on to you, which can reduce your shipping and material expenses. Over time, these savings can really add up!

#2: Order fulfillment companies have staff that dedicate 100% of their time to shipping.

Outsourcing fulfillment allows you to reallocate labor to more valuable tasks. Employees can focus on revenue-generating activities instead of packing and shipping orders. This improved labor efficiency can lead to higher productivity and profitability.

#3: You can cut down on training and overtime costs related to shipping.

Fulfillment centers handle all aspects of order processing, reducing the need for overtime and extensive training. That means if you or your staff are doing overtime shipping packages, you can stop!

Cutting down on overtime, or even time spent training employees on how to ship, can save a lot of money. This isn’t just because it helps keep wages in check, but it also helps smooth out your workflows.

#4: You no longer have to purchase your own supplies.

Outsourcing eliminates the need for purchasing packing supplies like bubble wrap, boxes, and tape. These costs are largely covered by the fulfillment center and included in the pick and pack fee. This reduces your overall expenses and simplifies budgeting.

#5: You may be able to reduce storage costs.

Storing inventory in a fulfillment center can be more cost-effective than renting additional space. You avoid the expense of storage units and the hassle of managing inventory on-site. This can free up valuable workspace and reduce overall costs.

#6: Order fulfillment partners are generally more efficient.

Outsourcing streamlines your operations, making them more efficient. With professionals handling fulfillment, you reduce errors and improve workflow. This allows you to focus on core business activities instead of shipping.

#7: More consistent shipping experiences can reduce customer turnover.

According to eCommerce delivery platform, FarEye, 85% of customers will not shop again with retailers after negative shipping experiences. This is really bad, since acquiring new customers is far more expensive than retaining them.

Fulfillment centers ensure faster, more reliable shipping, improving customer satisfaction and retention. This reduces refund requests and increases repeat business.

#8: More consistent shipping experiences can improve customer retention.

Reliable fulfillment improves customer satisfaction, leading to higher retention rates. Happy customers are more likely to make repeat purchases and recommend your store to others, boosting your revenue and growing your customer base.

How to Choose an Order Fulfillment Company

Deciding to outsource fulfillment is one thing. Choosing the right company is another.

In order to pick the right one, you will need to consider a number of factors. Among them, include your average item weight and size, shipping volume, number of SKUs, and the location of your customer base. You will also need to make sure that any fulfillment company you choose to work with provides good quality service.

Here is a quick guide to help you make the right choice.

#1: Consider the weight and size of your items.

The weight and size of your products significantly impact shipping costs and handling requirements. Select a fulfillment company with experience in your industry.

For example, if you sell small, lightweight items, choose a provider experienced in handling such products. Likewise, if your items are large and heavy, find a partner experienced in managing big and bulky shipments. That way, you can choose a fulfillment partner that provides cost-effective shipping tailored to your needs.

#2: Estimate shipping volume.

Understanding your shipping volume helps in selecting a fulfillment partner that can scale with your business. If you have a low order volume, choose a company with no minimum requirements, allowing you to pay only for the services you need.

For businesses with high order volumes, select a provider capable of managing huge quantities of orders. That way, you can rest easy knowing they can handle your peak times and have capacity for future growth.

#3: Count the number of SKUs you plan to ship.

The number of SKUs you have affects the complexity of inventory management. Choose a fulfillment company capable of handling your SKU count efficiently. If you have a high number of SKUs, find a provider with a flexible system that can manage diverse inventory without additional costs.

This ensures accurate order fulfillment and streamlined operations, preventing issues such as stockouts or mispicks.

#4: Consider where your customers are located.

Customer location is very important when choosing a fulfillment company. Make sure you choose a fulfillment company that has a location which can cost-efficiently ship to most of your customers within a short period of time. This will have a dramatic impact on postage costs, which is almost certainly going to make up the largest percentage of overall shipping costs.

#5: Carefully vet fulfillment centers for service quality and fit.

Vetting fulfillment centers ensures you choose the right partner. Start by researching online reviews on platforms like Google and Trustpilot to make sure their client base is happy.

Request quotes to understand their pricing structure. Make sure they are good communicators and that you feel like you can trust them. Check for hidden fees or long-term contracts that may not suit your business.

Finally, test their software for ease of use and functionality. Software is going to be the primary way you interact with the company, so make sure you like what you see.

Final Thoughts

Deciding to work with an order fulfillment partner for the first time can be scary. But once you start shipping a lot of orders on a regular basis, it’s something you will want to think about.

The right order fulfillment company can really help you streamline operations and save money. That can put your company on the path to long-term growth for years to come.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is order fulfillment important?

Well-managed order fulfillment means that customers will receive their products on time and in good condition. This directly impacts customer satisfaction and brand reputation, not to mention customer retention. Efficient order fulfillment can reduce operational costs, minimize errors, and improve inventory management, leading to better overall business performance and profitability.

Should I use a fulfillment company?

Using a fulfillment company can streamline operations, reduce shipping costs, and improve delivery times. Outsourcing fulfillment allows businesses to focus on core activities like marketing and product development.

Can you imagine trying to organize international trade without a standard code system? That’s why Harmonized System Codes – HS codes, for short – exist: to standardize the classification of goods for international trade.

HS Codes were first introduced in 1988 by the World Customs Organization (WCO). Despite the technical sounding name, HS Codes have helped detangle a really complicated logistical problem.

HS Codes help countries efficiently trade goods and calculate duties owed for imports and exports. In this guide, we’re going to talk about what you need to know about HS Codes in order to trade goods internationally.

Understanding HS Codes

As mentioned above, HS Codes are used globally to identify and categorize products for customs and trade purposes. But let’s break that down a bit further.

What Are HS Codes?

HS Codes are numerical codes used to classify products in international trade. Each code consists of six digits: the first two digits represent the product category. The next two indicate the subcategory. The final two further specify the product. This system makes it easy to have uniform classification across borders.

For example, 0101.21 classifies “live horses, purebred breeding animals.” No matter where you are, 0101.21 always means the same thing.

How HS Codes Work in Global Trade

HS Codes standardize product classification worldwide. That way, countries can seamlessly trade with one another.

Accurate codes are essential for compliance with international trade regulations. Incorrect codes can lead to delays, fines, and even seizure of goods. Using the right codes helps businesses clear customs without a hassle.

For instance, if a company mistakenly classifies furniture under an incorrect code, it might face higher duties or scrutiny, delaying the shipment and increasing costs.

Using HS Codes for Goods Classification

To classify goods with HS Codes, follow these steps:

1. Identify the Product’s General Category Begin by identifying the general category your product falls into. For example, if you’re importing shoes, you’ll start by looking under categories related to footwear.
2. Find the Corresponding Chapter Use the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) to find the corresponding chapter for your product’s category. The first two digits of the HS Code represent this chapter. For instance, shoes might fall under chapter 64.
3. Narrow Down to the Specific Heading and Subheading Next, narrow down within that chapter to find the specific heading and subheading. The next four digits will provide more detail. For example, 6403.59 would be for “other footwear with outer soles of leather.”
4. Verify the Code in the HS Code Database Finally, verify the code using an HS Code database to ensure accuracy. You can use online HS Code search tools, consult with customs experts, and refer to the product’s specifications for precise classification. For example, websites like the WCO’s HS database or your national customs website can be invaluable resources.

Accurate classification helps you comply with international trade regulations. And that can help you avoid costly errors in duties and taxes.

Impact on Tariffs and Taxes

Correct HS Code classification directly affects tariff rates and import taxes. Accurate codes ensure that the right duties are applied, preventing overpayment or underpayment.

Misclassification can lead to nasty financial surprises, such as unexpected tariffs or penalties. For example, classifying electronics as clothing can result in higher duties and fines, impacting the overall cost and profitability of imports.

Imagine accidentally classifying a high-end smartphone as a basic mobile device. The resulting tariff discrepancy could be substantial, leading to unexpected costs.

Legal and Compliance Considerations

Incorrect code usage can lead to legal issues, including fines, penalties, and shipment delays. To avoid these problems, stay compliant by:

• Regularly Updating HS Code Knowledge. Stay current with changes in HS codes, as they are periodically updated to reflect new products and trade patterns.
• Using Professional Resources and Tools for Classification. Use tools and services from customs brokers and trade consultants who specialize in HS code classification.
• Keeping Detailed Records. Keep detailed records of classifications and corresponding documents. For example, keeping a log of how each product was classified and the rationale behind it can be critical in case of an audit.

Again – can’t stress this enough – accurate code usage is very important for legal compliance and smooth customs clearance.

Advanced Uses of HS Codes

Beyond basic classification, HS Codes are valuable for in-depth trade analysis and optimizing logistics. You may be able to use this information to help your business in ways that go beyond just coordinating the movement of goods from one place to another.

Here are two common advanced use cases of HS codes:

#1: Trade Analysis and Market Research

Businesses use HS Codes to analyze trade patterns, identify market trends, and plan strategically. By examining trade data categorized by HS Codes, companies can assess demand, competition, and market potential.

Tools like the International Trade Centre’s Trade Map and the World Bank’s World Integrated Trade Solution (WITS) provide lots of detailed information. That information, in turn, can be used for strategic planning and market research. As you’d expect, the businesses that use this information can make more informed decisions.

For example, if a company wants to expand into a new market, analyzing trade data with HS Codes can reveal the demand and competition landscape, helping to shape their strategy.

#2: Optimizing Logistics and Supply Chain

HS Codes streamline logistics and supply chain operations by ensuring accurate documentation and compliance. HS Codes help logistics providers manage inventory efficiently and optimize shipping routes. That helps keep up overall supply chain efficiency and cut costs.

As an example, using the correct HS Codes can speed up customs processing. That means shipments move swiftly through ports and reach their destinations on time, ultimately saving money and improving customer satisfaction.

Final Thoughts

Understanding HS Codes is important if you want to be successful in international trade. These codes standardize product classification. If you know where to look, you’ll see these codes come up in a ton of different places, affecting tariffs and customs procedures, not to mention trade statistics.

Accurate classification on your end will prevent costly errors, guarantee compliance, and optimize logistics. Using HS codes properly, and really understanding what they mean, can streamline your import/export processes, reduce delays, and improve overall efficiency.

Further Resources

For more information on HS Codes, check out:

• World Customs Organization (WCO)
• Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS)
• International Trade Centre’s Trade Map
• World Integrated Trade Solution (WITS)

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between HS Codes and Tariff Codes?

HS Codes are a global classification system used to categorize traded products. They are used worldwide to classify products for trade. Tariff codes, specific to each country, have extra digits beyond the standard six-digit code. These additional digits offer more detailed duty rates and statistical information.

How often are HS Codes updated?

The World Customs Organization updates the codes every five years to keep up with technology, trade practices, and new products. The next update is in 2027.

Can the same product have different HS Codes in different countries?

The first six digits are universal. However, countries can add more digits to further categorize products based on their specific requirements. This may result in variations in classification.

How do I find the correct HS Code for my product?

To find the right code for your product, check the official database from customs or trade authority in your area. You can also use online tools to find the code based on product descriptions.

What happens if I use the wrong HS Code?

Using the wrong code can cause problems with tariffs, leading to paying too much or too little. It can also cause delays in customs, fines, and legal issues. Proper classification is important for following rules and making customs go smoothly.

Launching a successful Kickstarter campaign requires a ton of different skills.

Strategic planning. Marketing and promotion. Supply chain management. People skills. The list goes on!

In this guide, we’ve compiled a list of every single tip we can think of to help you increase your odds of Kickstarter success.

We’ll cover everything from setting realistic funding goals, to building a strong social media presence, to creating compelling campaign pages, and much more.

Pre-Launch Preparation

Most of your Kickstarter success is baked in long before you hit the launch button. It’s because of this that you need to focus on research, setting realistic goals, and building up an initial support base.

Below, you will find some specific tips on how you can do that.

#1: Choose the right platform (it might not be Kickstarter!)

Kickstarter is the biggest crowdfunding platform. But it’s not the only one.

Kickstarter is ideal for film, music, and games. So it’s great for those needing all-or-nothing funding to avoid insufficient capital.

Indiegogo performs well in the tech, fitness, and home products niches, plus it offers flexible funding. That is, you don’t have to reach 100% of your goal in order to raise capital.

Then there’s Gamefound, which is a growing alternative to Kickstarter for board game creators.

Make sure you choose the platform that best fits your project’s needs. That might very well be Kickstarter – but don’t just pick it because it’s the first name that comes to mind!

#2: Set a realistic funding goal

Set a goal too low and you won’t be able to fulfill your promises. Set a goal too high and you lower your chances of funding.

Calculate the minimum amount needed to create your product, considering all costs, including production, shipping, and marketing. Setting a realistic goal helps you attract more backers and also helps you deliver on your promises.

Once you figure out the minimum amount you need – don’t go too far beyond that. Stay in the Goldilocks zone.

#3: Research campaigns – both successful and unsuccessful

You need to understand what makes other campaigns successful. Go to Kickstarter and look at campaigns. Find successful and unsuccessful ones and learn as much as you can about why they have or haven’t succeeded.

There’s no reason to create plans completely from scratch. There’s also no reason to duplicate others’ mistakes!

Pay extra close attention to the campaigns that line up most with your niche.

#4: Line up your earliest backers

Build initial support by reaching out to friends, family, and contacts before launching. Early backers can help create momentum, attracting more support as a result.

Personal connections are often the first to pledge, so their support can be critical in the initial stages of your campaign.

Few people want to be Backer #1. But if Mom wants to put $100 in, you don’t have to deal with that problem.

#5: Create a pre-launch landing page

Collecting email addresses is one of the best ways to stay in touch with potential backers so you can start marketing early. Gathering emails means that you can tell a huge group of people when the campaign is live.

One way you can convince people to provide their email is to build a landing page. On the page, you can tease your project and encourage visitors to sign up for updates.

This is one of the most effective ways to build stream for projects before they launch.

#6: Build a strong social media presence

Social media helps you connect with potential backers, creating a community around your project before you launch. Share behind-the-scenes content, updates, and teasers to build excitement. 

Think about the platforms where you are going to be most likely to find potential backers. Prioritize using platforms first instead of spreading yourself thin over too much channels.

#7: Set up email marketing

We touched on this in #5, but it’s so important that it bears repeating. Build an email list so you can notify potential backers about your launch and provide updates.

Regularly communicate with your subscribers, providing exclusive insights and early access to your campaign. This is traditional wisdom because, when combined with other smart marketing tactics, it can be very effective!

#8: Prepare press releases for media outreach

Get your project featured in relevant media and blogs. Draft compelling press releases and pitch them to bloggers, journalists, and influencers in your industry. Early media coverage can help build credibility and then attract more backers to your campaign, increasing your chances of success.

#9: Engage with the Kickstarter community

Join forums and groups to network and gather support. Participate in discussions, share your project updates, and seek feedback from experienced creators. When in doubt, look for Facebook groups, LinkedIn groups, and certain subreddits.

#10: Plan your logistics

Before you announce a launch date, make sure you have a plan for production, shipping, and fulfillment to avoid delays. You also need to do some detailed logistics planning to make sure you can deliver rewards on time, maintaining backer trust.

Consider partnering with reliable suppliers and shipping companies to streamline the process. Don’t forget to make a budget too!

Campaign Page Setup

Your campaign page needs to give people great reasons to back your project. That means have high-quality visuals, clear copywriting, and all the information backers need to feel like they can trust you.

Here are some tips on how you can make a campaign page for the ages.

#11: Create a captivating campaign video

Your campaign video is going to be one of the first things that people notice when they see your campaign. Make sure you use high-quality visuals and audio. Your video needs to have a strong narrative as well as a clear call to action.

You want to introduce your product, show people why they should back it, and tell them what to do next. It’s an easy way to increase the number of pledges you see. The vast majority of successful campaigns, after all, have videos!

#12: Design a visually appealing campaign page

Your campaign page needs to look beautiful. That means using lots of high-images and breaking up the sections of your page with easy-to-read headers for maximum skimmability.

Every bit of text you use needs to serve some function. You need to provide a lot of information, but not at the expense of good looks. Appealing pages lead to increased pledges!

When in doubt, look at what the most financially successful campaigns in your niche are doing.

#13: Write an excellent campaign page

Clearly explain your project, its benefits, and how backers’ funds will be used. People need to know exactly what they’re buying, why it’s great, and what makes it different from all the other products.

Every line of text you use needs to help potential backers understand your vision and the value of their support. Use straightforward language, because that’s the best way to keep your copy clear and avoid confusion.

#14: Make your unique selling proposition (USP) immediate and clear

Use an eye-catching headline and concise summary to grab attention. Clearly state what makes your project unique and why backers should support it. A strong USP can differentiate your campaign from others.

This is extremely important because Kickstarter is a noisy marketplace, and unless your USP is super clear, you’ll blend into the crowd.

#15: Add a detailed FAQ section

Address common questions and concerns to build trust. Cover topics like reward fulfillment, project timeline, and risks involved.

Pro tip: write your FAQ in advance so you can copy and paste it into your campaign page right after you go live.

#16: Take and use great product photos

Use images that show your product in use and resonate with your audience. High-quality photos can make your product more relatable and appealing, helping potential backers envision it in their own lives. Visual storytelling is a powerful tool to enhance your campaign.

Even if you’re on a shoestring budget – buy a few lamps and get some bright LED bulbs. This will dramatically improve your picture quality, even on an older model iPhone.

#17: Provide detailed product specifications

If your product is technical, make sure you provide all the information you can. The more specific you can be, the better.

When in doubt, make sure customers know how big the product is, how much it weighs, and what materials go into making it. This will help backers feel like they are making an informed purchase as a result.

#18: Share your journey and story

Personalize your campaign by sharing your background and the creation process. Let backers know who you are, why you created this project, and the challenges you’ve faced. This connection builds trust and makes your campaign more relatable and engaging.

People buy products. But they back creators.

Marketing and Promotion

If you launch your Kickstarter, but don’t tell anyone about it, you probably won’t fund. You need to have a killer marketing and promotion plan if you want to succeed on Kickstarter.

Because marketing is so important to success, we’ve compiled a list of marketing tactics that might work for you.

#19: Use Facebook and Instagram ads

Meta, which includes Facebook and Instagram, remains one of the best advertising systems in the world. It’s also one of the most approachable.

With Facebook and Instagram ads, you can target your audience and make sales while your campaign is live. Facebook’s robust targeting options allow you to reach specific demographics, increasing the likelihood of attracting backers who are interested in your project.

#20: Collaborate with influencers

Partner with relevant influencers to promote your campaign. Because the right influencers can reach a large audience and lend credibility to your project.

Choose influencers who align with your project’s niche and values. That way, you can be sure their followers are likely to be interested in your campaign, enhancing its visibility and appeal.

Influencers don’t necessarily have to be social media stars, mind you. They can also be TV and radio professionals, reviews with well-read blogs, or even local community organizers. The point is that you want to find people who know people.

#21: Use multiple marketing channels

Don’t rely on one marketing channel for success. Use social media, email marketing, and online ads to reach your target audience in as many places as possible.

Every marketing platform has unique benefits that can enhance your campaign’s visibility. A multi-channel approach will help you make sure you catch potential backers wherever they are online.

#22: Run pre-launch ads

You can use Facebook, Instagram, Google, and other ad platforms before you launch your campaign. As long as you have a landing page and a way to collect emails, it’s actually best practice to generate as many leads as you can before launching. That way, you can dramatically increase the odds of day 1 success.

#23: Engage in online communities

This is similar to the advice on engaging with the Kickstarter community.

Join forums and groups to network and gather support. Participate in discussions, share your project updates, and also seek feedback from experienced creators. When in doubt, look for Facebook groups, LinkedIn groups, and certain subreddits.

Reward Strategy

Your campaign is only as good as your rewards. That’s because rewards are what get people to take action in the first place!

With that in mind, here’s how you make sure your rewards are doing their fair share of the heavy lifting.

#24: Offer great rewards

This is a simple tip, but it’s so important. Make sure backers like your rewards before you launch your campaign. If you don’t get an enthusiastic response to your rewards, then you should probably delay your launch date until you do.

#25: Set strategic reward tiers

On Kickstarter, the structure of your reward tiers can make or break your campaign. Create tiers that not only offer tangible value but also enhance the Kickstarter experience.

Start with a low-entry “Thank You” tier that allows backers to show support without a significant financial commitment.

Then your mid-level tiers should offer the core product plus unique add-ons that aren’t available post-campaign.

For high-level tiers, consider offering limited edition items or experiences that tap into the exclusivity that Kickstarter backers often seek, like signed prototypes or an invitation to an exclusive launch event.

#26: Include early bird specials

Create a sense of urgency with limited-time offers. For example, you could provide early bird specials which incentivize backers to pledge early, helping build momentum for your campaign. This can help push you over the funding goal early on in the campaign.

#27: Provide exclusive rewards

Offer unique items or experiences that aren’t available outside of Kickstarter. Exclusive rewards add value and entice backers to support your campaign at higher levels. These can be limited edition products or special experiences related to your project. Exclusivity makes your campaign more attractive and can drive higher pledge amounts.

#28: Use bulk packages

Encourage larger pledges with discounted multi-unit rewards. Bulk packages provide better value and can increase the average pledge amount. As an added bonus, offering bulk options helps reach your funding goal faster by encouraging bigger pledges.

#29: Offer behind-the-scenes content

Engage backers with exclusive insights and updates. Share behind-the-scenes content that showcases your project’s development, challenges, and successes. Part of the appeal of Kickstarter and similar platforms is the chance to feel like you’re “in on something” early in its development – so take advantage of this!

Campaign Management

You can’t just launch your campaign at 9 in the evening. Nor can you launch it, forget about it, and check back in 30 days later. You need to be hands-on about how you manage your Kickstarter campaign.

Here are some tips on how you can do that effectively.

#30: Launch at the right time

Time your launch for maximum impact. Pick the right launch month, day of the week, and time of day. It needs to line up with your audience’s availability and interest.

When in doubt, Tuesday or Wednesday is a good day to launch. Choose a reasonable launch hour like 9, 10, or 11 in the morning eastern time. Don’t launch between mid-November and mid-January. And lastly, avoid major holidays.

#31: Engage with backers

Respond promptly to comments and messages to build a strong community. Answer questions, acknowledge feedback, and keep the conversations going. Remember: this is part of what makes Kickstarter appealing. Backers have a direct line to the people making the things they want!

#32: Provide regular updates

Keep backers informed about progress, challenges, and successes. Regular updates build trust and maintain interest. Share milestones, production updates, and any hurdles you’re overcoming.

In general, you should be sending a Kickstarter update at least once per week during the campaign. Then after the campaign, it’s a good idea to send an update at least once per month. More is often advisable, depending on your situation.

#33: Thank your backers

Show appreciation and acknowledge support throughout the campaign. Regularly thank your backers through updates, comments, and personal messages.

This advice may seem basic. But when gratitude is absent, it’s noticeable, not to mention off-putting.

#34: Address challenges transparently

Be honest about any issues and how you plan to resolve them. In fact, backers expect Kickstarter campaigns to be a little chaotic.

It’s for that reason that being open about unexpected challenges and even mistakes can go a long way toward keeping trust.

#35: Monitor and adjust your strategy

Stay flexible and make necessary changes to your campaign based on feedback and performance. Part of what makes Kickstarter such a good launch platform is that backers will be vocal about what they like and don’t like. That makes it easier to know when to pivot.

Post-Campaign

Launching a campaign is fun. Funding successfully is even more fun.

But what do you do after the funds clear?

At that point, you’re on the hook to keep your promises. But there’s a lot that goes into that. Here is what you need to do next.

#36: Fulfill your promises

Yes, it’s obvious, but it’s necessary. Ship rewards on time and keep your promises.

This is harder to do than you think. Most Kickstarters ship late, so if you manage to ship yours out on time, you’ll make a good impression.

Do this well and it will help build your credibility, keep your backers happy, and lay the groundwork for future success.

#37: Continue engaging with your community

Keep backers updated even after the campaign ends. Regular communication helps maintain the community you built during the campaign.

Share updates on product development, future plans, and any new projects. That way, you can keep in touch with the people you worked so hard to find in the first place!

#38: Launch a dedicated website

Use the momentum to continue promoting your product and attract new customers. A dedicated website allows you to showcase your product, provide updates, and also sell directly to new customers.

Kickstarter campaigns draw a lot of attention. You can use the visibility and community from your campaign to kickstart your eCommerce operations too.

#39: Create a newsletter

If you’re spending money collecting email addresses, you shouldn’t just email them once and then let the leads slip through your fingers. Keep backers and potential customers informed about your journey and future projects with regular updates.

Newsletters are a classic form of ongoing communication that can help you build a loyal community over time. Plus, it keeps your audience invested in your success.

#40: Seek feedback

Use your Kickstarter surveys – as well as any direct message conversations you have going – as a chance to understand what worked and what can be improved.

Gathering feedback from backers will help you understand your campaign’s strengths and areas for improvement. Then you can use this information to help you launch even better campaigns in the future!

Additional Tips

Kickstarter, both as software and as a cultural entity, is pretty complex. Some of the tips and tricks on how to use it don’t fall into a neat category. But you still need to know them!

Here is all the advice we can think of that doesn’t neatly fit into one of the previous categories.

#41: Use Kicktraq

Kicktraq is a cool website that’s been around for almost as long as Kickstarter. You can type in any Kickstarter URL and check out its funding data and a bunch of other stats. When you research other campaigns, this can help you get a feel for how their funding process went. For example, did they fund quickly or steadily over the course of weeks?

#42: Set stretch goals

Stretch goals motivate backers to continue pledging even after the main goal is met. While not required, they’re considered a tradition on Kickstarter.

If you decide to set stretch goals, clearly communicate what additional funds will be used for, such as enhanced features or extra rewards, to maintain excitement and support. And, of course, make sure you can actually ship your stretch goals!

#43: Create a sense of urgency

To some extent, the time-limited nature of Kickstarter campaigns already creates a sense of urgency. If you want to dial it up a little more, consider offering limited-time offers like early birds or rewards with limited quantities. This can encourage backers to pledge earlier and help boost campaign momentum.

#44: Proofread meticulously

Typos are bad. Check your spelling and grammar. Make sure there are no mistakes.

Yes, this is an obvious tip, but it’s so important. Putting effort into quality control shows people you care.

#45: Use a professional editor

If you can swing it, consider hiring an editor to polish your campaign materials. A professional editor can enhance the clarity, coherence, and overall quality of your content. They’re also more likely to catch typos that you miss. 

#46: Optimize for mobile

Kickstarter is a bit unusual in that it’s common for creators to put most of their content inside of images rather than plain text. This advice flies in the face of traditional advice when it comes to mobile usability.

However, what you can do is make sure you check your campaign page on your phone. All the text needs to be clear and legible. Ideally, it shouldn’t take forever to load as well, although your ability to influence that is somewhat limited by Kickstarter’s page editing software.

#47: Include testimonials

If you have endorsements from early supporters or industry experts, share them on your page. Like with any other kind of product launch, testimonials can build credibility and trust with potential backers.

Highlight positive feedback and quotes that emphasize the value and quality of your project, because that will make it more appealing to prospective backers.

#48: Highlight previous successes

If applicable, mention past successful projects to build credibility. Showing your track record of successful projects can reassure backers that you can and will deliver on time. Also highlight key achievements and positive outcomes from previous campaigns to instill confidence in your current project.

#49: Be authentic and personal

Let your personality shine through in your campaign materials. Authenticity helps build a connection with backers.

Share your passion, vision, and the story behind your project in a genuine way. Personal touches can make your campaign more relatable and engaging.

#50: Invest in basic equipment

Use tripods, microphones, and proper lighting for a professional video. High-quality videos enhance your campaign’s appeal. Basic equipment like a stable tripod, clear audio from a microphone, and good lighting can significantly improve the production value of your campaign video, making it more persuasive.

You would be surprised how inexpensive quality equipment is on Amazon and other online stores can be. A $50 microphone and $40 tripod and ring light can go a long way. And if that doesn’t work – check with your local library, as many now have on-site recording rooms. 

Because of how easy it is to create quality videos these days, you don’t have an excuse not to!

#51: Follow up with surveys

Gather backer feedback to improve future campaigns. Surveys are an effective way to understand backers’ experiences and gather insights for improvement.

Use this feedback to refine your approach, address any issues, and enhance future projects. Engaging backers in this way also shows that you value their input.

#52: Maintain momentum post-campaign

Keep the excitement alive with continuous marketing and engagement. After your campaign ends, continue to promote your product and engage with your backers.

Use social media, email updates, and your website to keep your audience informed and involved. Sustained engagement helps build a loyal community and drives ongoing interest in your project.

Crowdfunding is not just a way to get one high-profile success. If you use it properly, you can set up a business for the long run.

Final Thoughts

It takes a lot of different skills to succeed on Kickstarter. This long list is evidence of that fact!

But don’t let the overwhelming size of this article scare you off the platform. Kickstarter is a proven way for upstart entrepreneurs to get noticed for a simple reason: because it’s a great place to try new ideas. Modern-day Kickstarter is a great place to build an audience, and lay the foundation for a lasting business.

Kickstarter success is not just about your launch day. It’s about everything you do leading up to it and everything you do after it. You don’t have to do everything perfectly – just focus on making something people want and being thoughtful in the way you get it to them!

Kickstarter is loved by creators and backers alike because it provides the tools to raise funds and connects people looking for the next new thing with creators.

It’s no secret that many creators still favor launching on Kickstarter over other platforms because of Kickstarter’s traffic. Kickstarter draws in millions of unique visitors every month, so getting a slice of that traffic can greatly benefit your campaign.

But making sure Kickstarter drives traffic to your particular project can be challenging. We’ve seen more than enough examples of creators who just launch a project without much preparation, hoping for Kickstarter to drive all their sales, and the project falling flat on its face.

Luckily, there are tangible things you can do to rank higher on Kickstarter, like having a strong pre-launch game. But pre-launch alone is not all you can do, in this post, you’ll learn from YG Crowdfunding’s founder, who also used to work at Kickstarter, what you can do to rank higher in the Kickstarter algorithm.

How Kickstarter promotes projects

Before diving into the algorithm and how to optimize your project for maximal exposure, it’s important to understand the different ways in which Kickstarter promotes projects.

First, there is editorial promotion, which means, ways in which your project gets promoted by the team at Kickstarter, without the algorithm being involved.

This includes being awarded the “Project We Love” badge, and receiving a placement in one of Kickstarter’s newsletters.

Both these forms of promotion are completely at the discretion of Kickstarter staff and are based on their preference for a project they see on the site. A great way to make your project more eligible for editorial promotion is often overlooked, yet is extremely simple. On Kickstarter.com/honest, you can find clear guidelines on how to talk about your project, which greatly increases your chances of receiving editorial promotion.

The algorithm explained

Now that you know how editorial promotion works, let’s take a look at how the algorithm works.

The first thing to note is that an algorithm factors in multiple metrics, and this may be a moving target. Doing the things outlined in this blog post will not guarantee success, and you should never fully rely on Kickstarter to drive all your traffic.

In fact, Kickstarter’s algorithm doesn’t drive traffic, it amplifies it!

This means you need to light the fire yourself, Kickstarter will only pour rocket fuel on it, but a project with 0 traffic or transactions will not magically receive backers from Kickstarter.

#1: Get fully funded in the first 24 hours

One important metric for every campaign is whether or not it reaches its funding goal within the first 24 hours.

Not only does this give a strong signal to future backers that this campaign is something not to miss out on, but the Kickstarter algorithm also looks at this as a weighting factor.

Campaigns that reach their funding goal in the first 24 hours typically see increased visibility and traffic from Kickstarter for the remainder of their campaign.

#2: Video through plays

Your campaign video is an important marketing asset, but not just because of the video content.

Once your campaign is live, Kickstarter measures how many people complete your video and watch to the end, this is called through plays.

Projects that have a video with a high percentage of through plays are seen as good projects and get boosted as a result.

That’s why you want to make sure your video is no longer than 2 minutes, as videos longer than that get dramatically fewer people watching it till the end, which can negatively impact your Kickstarter algorithm score.

#3: Transaction frequency

There is a common misconception that the more you raise on Kickstarter, the more Kickstarter will promote your project.

And although it’s an understandable theory, it’s not completely true. The absolute number of funds raised does not impact your ranking, but rather, the number of pledges does.

Kickstarter is a great platform for projects of any size, and it does not prioritize projects that raise large sums of money. To keep things fair for smaller projects, or those with rewards that have lower prices, Kickstarter looks at the frequency with which you receive pledges.

That means that having a lower-tiered reward, for example, a sticker pack can be a great way to increase your frequency!

Final Thoughts

Kickstarter can be a huge driver of traffic for your campaign when you play your cards right, but don’t rely on it completely!

As you can see from these tips, you need to bring traffic to get traffic. Only campaigns with strong performance out the gate will benefit from Kickstarter’s reach. Think of Kickstarter as a way to amplify your campaign, but don’t expect Kickstarter to do all the heavy lifting for you.

Need help with your Kickstarter marketing and ensuring a strong launch? Feel free to schedule a meeting with me so we can review your strategy together. 

George Lam is the founder of YG Crowdfunding and former Kickstarter outreach lead. He and his team have helped hundreds of creators raise millions of dollars across the games and hardware categories on Kickstarter.

Canada is really big. And the population is the size of California.

So how do you ship to such a big country in a cost-efficient, timely way?

That’s a big question, and that’s why we’ve brought on Adayra Lopez from InterFulfillment to shed some light on this question!

Transcript

This transcript was generated by AI and may have minor errors.

Brandon Rollins: Canada is big. Yes, that’s right, only the hard hitting facts here on Fulfillrite YouTube. But seriously, look at this on the map. Even when you account for the distortion up at the top, it’s still enormous. And the population? Considerably smaller than the U. S., about the population of California. That makes shipping tricky, and that’s why you need a local expert.

That’s why I brought on Adaira Lopez from Interfulfillment to talk about that. Now, we’re going to cut to the interview in just a minute, but real quick, my name is Brandon. This video is brought to you by FulfillRite. We ship orders for e commerce and crowdfunding. Link below for more details. Quotes are always free.

Now, one last quick note. We edited this with a light touch on the interview because we wanted to keep it lo fi and simple, uh, just an honest, just like two professionals on a zoom call. All right, let’s cut to the interview. All right. Well, thank you so much for joining and for taking the time to do that, to do this video with us.

We really appreciate it.

Adayra Lopez: My pleasure. It’s really a pleasure, uh, you know, uh, having, uh, this interview with Fulfillrite, uh, and being able to help, uh, Online vendors to understand the Canadian market a bit better.

Brandon Rollins: Absolutely. And, um, I, I’m going to go ahead and just start with a ridiculously naive question.

Just to, uh, just go ahead and get that out there. And that is why not ship to Canada from a US based fulfillment center?

Adayra Lopez: It’s not. necessarily something that, uh, businesses should avoid. Um, most of the time is necessary because you’re exploring the market. And, uh, it is really a big decision to do it, to make that big jump.

And, um, And do it from here locally. So most of the customers that, um, are just penetrating the Canadian market, what they do is they start from their origin point. If that, let’s say, is the US, then they start shipping from the US to Canada. For a short period of time, it’s okay to do it, um, but it’s not sustainable because at the end of the day, you want to have your Canadian customers, uh, happy.

And that means you want to make sure that their shipments get delivered fast as opposed to having to wait for a delivery for 10, two weeks and, or God knows how much it will be. Um, and also they will encounter, uh, paying duties and taxes. And, um, You know, when as a consumer, when you go out and try and buy something from another country, uh, you know, you don’t know what you’re going to get hit at a later time.

Uh, and then you, you, you have extra costs that you did not anticipate. So in order for, uh, you to test the market is okay. But once you, um, are. Ensure about, uh, the growth that you can have in Canada. It is ideal to find a partner here for your order fulfillment, logistics, uh, solutions, and be able to then grow the market from within.

Brandon Rollins: I think that’s a good consideration because it is expensive to have multiple different warehouses in a whole bunch of different locations. Um, but once you start shipping a bunch of Canadian orders, I have to imagine the crossing the border and the customs that come along with that is expensive. The postage itself is probably a lot.

And then it’s like you said, 10, 12, 14 day travel times. And that can, um, not every customer is going to want to agree to that, especially once you start shipping a larger order volume and fewer people know you personally.

Adayra Lopez: That is right.

Brandon Rollins: So. Obviously, Canada is a really big country, but, uh, like really big.

It’s kind of ridiculous when you look at it on a map and you realize that. Along those lines, what are the factors that make Canadian order fulfillment different than other countries?

Adayra Lopez: You know, I can think of three factors that are important to emphasize. Population is one of them. Um, the country is huge, but we’re not as populated as, for example, the U.

S. Um, just to give you a perspective, you know, it’s 39, 000, 000 people in Canada, which is only. I believe the population of California stayed alone. So, um, in Canada, we have 10 provinces and 3 territories. Then if every province has remote locations. So, number 1, because of that, population or their volumes are not going to be as perhaps, uh, other countries, um, with more people in them.

And, uh, also you have those remote locations that will increase the shipping costs. Um, so that is different, um, than The European nations or the U. S. or the U. K. Um, and you also have the fuel store charge. Um, Canada seems to have more strict, um, gasoline taxes and also more strict environmental regulatory aspects.

So that drives the cost of gas to be higher at the pump and therefore carriers here delivering the goods will Continue to change the fuel surcharge on, um, the shipments and that changes every week. Um, and as you advance in the year towards the last quarter, um, that’s when you see the highest fuel surcharge on shipping.

So it is important to be aware of it. So that you can, um, be able to price your, uh, products correctly and make changes if necessary. Um, but Canadians are used to it. So that is the good news. So whoever lives in Canada, we know that. The cost of shipping is what it is, and we’re used to it. And if I live in the middle of nowhere, in an island in the North Pole, and that has been very extreme, um, I know I will pay a lot for shipping.

So, and I’m used to it. So it is more of a learning curve. For, um, foreign, uh, companies doing business in Canada, then the consumer that you are trying to target, which is, you know, well aware of

it.

Brandon Rollins: And I suppose if a lot of your markets and your Vancouver or Toronto areas or other larger cities, I think like Edmonton and Calgary, places like that, maybe Halifax, it’s probably less of an issue, but I have to imagine if you’re out and say, Yellowknife, or, um, I think you would say it Iqaluit or something like that.

Very different story than you’re talking about fuel surcharges and some of the stuff that people wouldn’t be thinking about all that often if they don’t ship to Canada very much.

Adayra Lopez: It is. And, um, it is very true that. You know, Canada Post is the only carrier that gets to every corner in Canada. Um, and so they do have, uh, airstage locations, uh, in which there is no more, uh, you know, they have, um, uh, a depot where in very small towns, remote, super remote locations where they drop off the packages by a small plane.

And people from that. Town will need to go there and pick up their packages. So it is as extreme as that, but you know, I don’t really want to scare anybody. Uh, uh, because of that, it’s really a very small percentage of orders that you will ever get to ship to those locations. Um, you know, the, the. Most of the orders in Canada are shipped to the East coast and the West coast and metropolitan areas.

So, um, you do have to pay attention to those remote areas, um, but you can still definitely, uh, run a business, uh, here and ship your products to many, many Canadians in, in metropolitan locations.

Brandon Rollins: Yeah, that makes sense. Um, so along those lines, what do you think are the biggest challenges of Canadian order fulfillment?

I feel like we’ve already touched on it a little bit anyway.

Adayra Lopez: Yes, you’re right about that. It is, um, the biggest challenge is learning, uh, the landscape in Canada and therefore be able to price your products uh, accordingly. Um, You know, the postal codes in Canada that have 2 zeros in them indicate they are remote areas.

So you can always have a way to, um, add more charges to those locations when customers get to your shopping cart. And, or you can also plan for targeted marketing so that you, um, start by just doing marketing in, um, populated cities. So that can be another option now successful online vendors. What they do is, uh, and that we’ve seen, uh, we’ve seen working is they incentivize customers by, um, you know, on the website.

Setting up offers such as buy a hundred dollar, uh, in, in, in products or 150 or depending on what it is and what the cost of it is in order to get free shipping, or they will put a flat fee for shipping across Canada and the rest will be. added to the price of the product. Um, so those are working well.

And, um, Canadians definitely, um, are able to, you know, also make the best out of their purchase. They can buy more products for almost the same amount of shipping. And, and that’s typically what happens for when you sell, you know, not, you Huge products, but more on the smaller size items that if it’s the same shipping costs, if you buy one, or if you buy two, it’s practically going to be very, very similar in cost, especially because carriers in Canada only charge, um, they don’t break, uh, the one pound, uh, weight, um, of parcels like it is in the U.

S., um, which is broken by, uh, One ounce, two ounces, three ounces and so on. And here is, if you ship a feather, still going to be a one pound price that you pay for.

Brandon Rollins: Yeah. And I suppose that’s something to definitely be aware of. If you’re shipping really lightweight items, there are only a couple of ounces or maybe like, uh, two ounces.

I think that would equate roughly to 60 grams or something like that, two ounces, literally. Um, because you are right. If you, if you are rounding up to the nearest pound, which is about 450 grams thereabouts, then yeah, that could be a very nasty surprise if you’re on the low end of that range.

Adayra Lopez: Yes, definitely. And also there’s the volumetric weight too, right? Um, carriers will take whatever is the, the, the biggest of the two, the actual, between the actual weight and the volumetric weight. So those factors are, uh, are something that can change the, the outcome of the cost for sure.

Brandon Rollins: Something to keep in mind if you’re shipping something lightweight that is huge, like, for example, a pillow might be a good example.

Adayra Lopez: Right. Yes, exactly. And then you can get hit by surcharges too. So, yeah, it is just important just to see all the costs that it involves to ship your products. And based on that, you can put a strategy, uh, um, and an offering on the website that will allow still to, for you to generate profits, but also for customers to be able to be, you know, happy going to purchase your items for sure.

Brandon Rollins: That makes sense. So what’s the best way to handle cross border shipping and customs?

Adayra Lopez: You, it is very straightforward, Brandon. If you’re a foreign company, you can always, um, get a status of a non resident importer, and that is, um, a process that you can get in place through a Canadian broker. Um, basically what they do is they.

Ask you to fill out a form. Um, and within three to four days, they get back to you with your importer number. And that allows you to be able to import the product in Canada and shipping, shipping that to your, uh, 3PL center. But the government also allows foreign companies to do business here. Um, Under that status.

So, so long as you don’t go by over the threshold that they set up for your revenue sales quarterly. And I always encourage customers to get familiar with their visit the Canadian government to see. What the threshold is, because regulation change from time to time, and you always want to be aware of it.

The idea from the government is that they find you, they invite you over to start doing business here. But once you get over that threshold, then you are supposed to create, uh, to register your, uh, company here in Canada and then be able to operate as a Canadian corporation. Um, the other, um, factor or important detail to to look at, look after is, um, make sure that your items are not regulated here.

You know, every country is different. Um, if you have products that are regulated, such as vitamins or supplements, um, those most likely are regulated in Canada by health Canada. And there is a certification that you have to have in place per SKU. So, um, Again, again, it’s nothing impossible, it’s just you just need to be aware of it to start the process.

Mm-Hmm. , get that in place and then be able to, uh, you know, legally sell products here so that you don’t encounter problems down the road. Mm-Hmm. Or get your inventory stocking customers because you don’t have a regulation that, uh, or a certification that is required. Um. But yeah, those are practically, um, the ways and how you can handle cross, uh, wording.

Brandon Rollins: And it sounds like working with a Canadian 3PL is probably a good way of going about, um, just making sure those things are taken care of as well.

Adayra Lopez: Yes. Yes, Canadian regulations and the government and everything is, it’s a strict, um, and it’s a structure, but they also, um, it’s just, at the end of the day, these are just processes that some take longer than others.

But once you have that, um, in place and approved, then. You know, everything else is just like in any other country where you operate. Um,

Brandon Rollins: that makes sense, which speaking of regulations, there’s also a lot of taxes as well, like GST and HST and PST, which are just some facts, some things I found when I was Googling this, um, how does that work when you are talking about e commerce order processing and fulfillment?

Adayra Lopez: So GST is the federal tax. PST is the provincial tax and the combination of both is the harmonized sales tax, GST. If you’re a Canadian corporation, you do have to file your income tax return, corporate business income tax return annually. Um, and when you operate as a Canadian corporation, then you definitely have to charge your customers with taxes.

Um, so I always encourage customers to be familiar with, um, with that by seeking the advice from a charter accountant. Um, that honestly is the best. Um, we pick, pack and ship, but we’re not necessarily extreme experts on, in that matter. So it is always good to, to consult with a charter accountant to be able to know at what point, uh, a registration is required and then what.

Uh, are your obligations as a Canadian corporation, uh, around taxes.

Brandon Rollins: Do you have a sense of when it might be a good idea to reach out to somebody to help with that?

Adayra Lopez: You know, it doesn’t hurt to do it right away just so that you know what to expect once you go over the threshold that we discussed before, in which you go from a non resident importer To a Canadian corporation.

Um, so it is good to do it as soon as you can. If you’re thinking to do business in Canada for the long term, um, that way you are able to have everything, uh, ready, uh, by the time that you actually have to register and be able to start, um, collecting taxes and

dealing

Adayra Lopez: with that.

Brandon Rollins: That’s understandable. Um, So going back to just shipping for a minute, what’s the best way you can go about, um, getting fast and reliable delivery within both the major Canadian cities and also some of the remote areas as well?

Adayra Lopez: Because Canada is very different in terms of how big we are and, and, and,

you know,

Adayra Lopez: You know, all the carriers in Canada that the major carriers in Canada have a state of the art technology in their facilities that allow already for them to, uh, support, uh, when it comes to shipping, uh, parcels fast and, uh, reliable.

So that is there already in place. You assuming that you already work also with a 3PL, uh, partner that helps. With, uh, meeting the call of times, shipping daily, um, that is also important that you look after, um, so that everything moves, um, and nothing gets delayed and, and then it ends up being in an, uh, you know, having an angry customer on, uh, at the other end.

Now, the services in Canada are available through carriers that are, um, because it’s such a. Huge territory, um, you can offer customers on your website, different options and not just stick to standard services, standard services. Let’s say, Brandon, if you ship from Toronto to Toronto is one day. Toronto to Vancouver across the entire nation, it can be five to six days.

So having said that, um, you can offer customers with standard Extra options when it comes to shipping, and that will be one standard. Uh, the second one can be express and the third one can be overnight. Obviously express and overnight will be more costly, but it allows your customer to have that, uh, service available and you know, why not make them, Um, Accountable for the decision as to how fast they want their package, right?

Um, and the carriers offered. All those services, um, and, and they’re reliable when it comes to guaranteeing it. So, um, it’s important to take advantage of that. The other option is to consider shipping from Toronto. And from Vancouver, because that will definitely reduce the delivery times for your customers that are on each side of the country.

Um, you know, keep in mind if you do fulfill from Vancouver, um, now your customer will have also the same delivery time than a Toronto, Toronto one day, um, rather than five to six days. And you hope that there is not a snowstorm or flooding that he can. affect that even more. So, you know, it depends on the situation for every online vendor.

Um, many of them start fulfilling from Toronto and they continue for years. Uh, and maybe they never really have that other step on location more precisely because of their items may be very small, but any other customers that do want, uh, to have that faster delivery, the solution is having, uh, orders fulfilled from both sides.

And be able to reduce costs as well, because that will bring the cost down on the shipping. Um, for you and your customers, you know, what it, what it used to be across nation. Now it’s going to be a local price.

Brandon Rollins: And which carriers tend to be the most reliable when it comes to speedy and, um, cost efficient shipping?

Adayra Lopez: All the major carriers here are. Reliable and they all have different footprints in the market for what they’re best for. So Canada Post, uh, gets to every single corner of Canada, P. O. boxes, uh, condominiums, uh, and they are great for very small parcels. Then you have UPS. UPS is a carrier that can handle heavier parcels and bigger in dimension.

Um, and. So, and they also do express services in a really remarkable way. They are incredible for that type of service, as well as a standard. And then you have the overnight, which I think the king of overnight, um, parcels is always, uh, It’s going to be FedEx, at least up until today. And so if you want to offer customers an overnight shipment, then FedEx will be the option to go to.

There are other carriers like Pirolator and Kampart and, um, and, and the key is also If you offer a standard service in which they’re all equally reliable, and try and use, uh, features such as Ray Shop, um, if your three PL has that feature, um, into fulfillment, offers, ratio feature, so that you can, um, shop amongst them all and pick the lowest, uh, to ship to that particular destination.

And, and this service will be equally good at the end of the day.

Brandon Rollins: That’s good. Now, of course, Canada is also bilingual as well. So does that create any issues with packaging and communication orders? And if it does, how do you, how do you handle that?

Adayra Lopez: It, you know, some people may call it a challenge and, uh, others will just say it’s just a requirement.

Uh, and that’s the way we see it. It is really just a requirement. Uh, from the government to have, uh, labels in French and English, and there are companies, um, that specialize in providing you advice about, uh, labeling your products and depending what they are, uh, is how you are supposed to have the format of the label.

So again, it is really just a process that, um, you just need to Have in place and once it’s done, it really is good for, for, for the, for, for any other, uh, plans you have to, to work here for any other products in Canada. So, um, stick for, um, help when it comes to, um, labeling, if you’re not sure of it, there are companies that I specialize in, in that service and that can help with that.

And the process then becomes very smoothly.

Brandon Rollins: Yeah, it seems like one of those things that once you get it right for the first time, every other time after that is not going to be an issue.

Adayra Lopez: Right. Once it’s done, it’s done. For sure. Absolutely.

Brandon Rollins: So, um, what advice would you give to companies who are looking to improve their order fulfillment processes overall in Canada?

Adayra Lopez: Uh, there are several things that I can think of. Um, one that is very, uh, straightforward, but not everybody perhaps has it at the beginning is, uh, obviously, obviously established companies, they, they do, or anybody that is already dealing with retailers that they do, but, uh, any online businesses that are just launching, uh, the business barcoding is key.

Barcoding your units. It’s an important because the 3PO, um, partner that, uh, works with you will receive big pack, um, with using barcode scanners. It’s just a quality, um, measure that, um, It is important to have in order to avoid misspeaks. It’s just the domino effect. You have a misspeak, then you have an end consumer that will not be too happy to get the incorrect product.

So always make sure that you have barcodes for your products in order to have that quality control when it comes to your fulfillment. Um, Another one is do plan for a marketing, um, campaign or campaigns to have a marketing plan throughout the year. Um, many times what we see is Canada is, um, it’s a, it’s a country that has, Enough, um, drive, I guess, on, on for e commerce, uh, orders.

And so customers that expand outside their own country, they usually have Canada in their, um, in their top three list of countries to expand to, but once they come and launch, uh, uh, the, the, the account, uh, sometimes what happens is they just forget about it because. It may not be a priority such as their biggest market that they can have.

So let’s say if you have a US and Canada, the US market will have a lot more volume than Canada. And once they launch here, they tend to forget a little bit that. Unless you do marketing here, you will then accelerate those sales, boost your sales in order to gain a more volume of orders. Um, so I always remind customers to have that marketing plan in place and not let it just grow organically because oftentimes that will be a very slow, uh, growth.

Right. And long

Brandon Rollins: term storage and a fulfillment center gets expensive pretty quickly.

Right.

Adayra Lopez: It can be and so that takes me to the next point, which is inventory. So it is important that you. When you start, if you don’t know how good or bad, even though you have an established company in another country, you still don’t know maybe how good or bad is going to, uh, go in Canada in terms of maybe having right away the order volume that you plan for, or maybe that’s not going to happen.

So I always suggest customers to start with the most minimum amount of inventory. Um, that way. They don’t find themselves in a situation where they overstock and now they have a lot of, uh, inventory that does not sell, but it does carry cost of storage. Um, so trying to have management around inventory is key, not just to start, but ongoing, um, because you also don’t want to be on the other side of the spectrum, which will be.

Now you have no inventory. You don’t have enough to be able to fulfill you, get your orders fulfilled. And then now you have customers waiting for the product to arrive. So you want to, um, you know, start with, uh, an amount that is. It’s good to cope with the demand of your orders, um, but then you can adjust to what it is, uh, that you’re, um, scaling it to, right?

So that is, that is good. Um, another suggestion is because fuel surcharge can be something that will change your shipping cost, uh, practically ongoing on an ongoing basis and more so in the last quarter, um, Always have someone paying attention to that fuel surcharge today. For example, from Canada post, I think this week is at 25.

5%. Um, but it can really go in November, black Friday, you now have a 40 percent fuel surcharge, so, uh, it can drastically change the price again, we’re used to it, we know that, but you do have to be aware of it because if you have a price that is now no longer. Um, you know, being able to get you to remain profitable because you didn’t adjust it.

Now you’re going to encounter problems and all those beautiful orders you got during Black Friday or holidays. Now it’s just not going to be, uh, you know, uh, good news once you reconciliate everything. So, um, Have someone looking after, uh, those, um, those trends on, on fuel surcharge, um, and then try to incentivize customers to, um, you know, buy more products for, uh, a good deal on shipping.

Um, so. Those things can help for sure. And have always a direct channel of communication with whoever you work with in Canada for your fulfillment solution. So it is important to have a point of contact for day to day. Um, inquiries, concerns, anything that, uh, is related to your operation so that it can run smoothly.

Um, and you can quickly get to, um, overcome challenges that happen on a daily basis, rather than not having that communication in place. And then you get to find out. In months from now, when you really need a smooth logistic solution, now you also have to cope with other challenges that you could have just addressed right away if you have that communication in place.

So, all those is what I would suggest to to pay attention to.

Brandon Rollins: Yeah, that’s all good advice. Now, how can InterFulfillment help?

Adayra Lopez: InterFulfillment has been in this industry for over 10 years. Um, we have the experience, the knowledge, um, to be able to help. Even if you’re unsure if this is the right time, do not hesitate.

You know, we welcome anybody and everybody to contact us and provide advice in what we do best. We pick, pack, and ship on behalf of our customers. And it’s whether that is direct to consumers or to businesses, we do it, we try to stay true to your brand. So we follow specifications to the T of how you want us to handle your orders, your packages, and so on.

We’re also very flexible around your business. So if during the year you have any sort of changes on the way you want us to package your orders, uh, we can follow that, uh, in order to help you get in that, um, you know, differentiate from others in this competitive market, because that is what ultimately we want.

We want to help you grow and we want to, uh, you know, be able to, um, you know, provide you a service that is fast, reliable, accurate, um, and scalable. Um, we have an HR department in place that can quickly scale, um, when needed. Um, also, uh, you know, we have facilities in both, uh, the East coast and the West coast.

Uh, in Toronto and in Vancouver, so if both are required, definitely we’re happy to help, uh, of fulfilling from both locations. And yeah, so definitely if anybody’s interested in our services, uh, we can, we can help send us an email, um, look, uh, visit our website, interfulfillment. com. And the email is sales at interfulfillment.

com. We’re interested in, in, in, in, you know, Discussing further in order to see how, uh, we can help, uh, contributing to your growth, uh, in market, in market, like, especially when you don’t know anything about Canada, you can rely on us to, to be able to serve you, uh, with extra information and advice

Brandon Rollins: and all the links are down there for anybody who wants to click on those.

Um, We, we can vouch for interfulfillment as you’re well aware, we send you leads quite a bit whenever we have somebody who needs to ship in Canada and it’s just not something we do. Um, and we, we, we always, we want to pass people along to partners that we trust for that sort of thing.

Adayra Lopez: Yeah, we’re extremely appreciative of it.

Um, we definitely, I know what you mean. We have referred at least to fulfill right, uh, seeking for a reputable company in the U. S. that they can not only start with, but start with. Scale with and grow. Um, so the common, uh, around that is, is incredible. Um, and, and we continue to, um, you know, seek opportunities in which we can help each other.

I, I am always a true believer that, uh, not because we’re in the same uh, industry, uh, we cannot, uh, you know. Also, uh, help each other.

Brandon Rollins: Absolutely. So on that note, thank you for your time on this. Lots of good information here about Canadian order fulfillment. Again, links are all down there below for anybody who wants to check out InterFulfillment and learn more.

Um, and thank you for watching.

Adayra Lopez: Thank you, Brandon.

Brandon Rollins: Thanks for watching this interview. I appreciate it. I know that Adaira does too. Details on both of our companies are down there in the description. And just in case you missed the name earlier, My name is Brandon, and I’m here on behalf of FulfillRite. If you need help shipping your orders, go to FulfillRite.

com and request a quote. We’ve shipped for thousands of crowdfunding campaigns before, and we’re happy to help you ship too. The quote doesn’t cost a thing, so if nothing else, you get some good information about pricing. Link in the description. Now, if you enjoyed this video, please take a moment to like and scribe and subscribe.

Don’t forget to slap some postage on the bell so we can express ship new videos to you as soon as they drop. And last but not least, if you have any questions, leave a comment below. I will personally answer as many as I can. Thanks for watching.

Launching your brand is exciting, but the journey to attracting customers can be daunting. Luckily, social media allows you to connect with your target audience and build a loyal following of potential purchasers all at once. But how do you navigate the vast world of social media effectively? Fear not, fellow entrepreneur! This guide will equip you with the key strategies to turn your social media presence into a customer-generating machine.

But first, let’s define what CPG, or consumer packaged goods, means. CPG brands are the everyday items you find at the grocery store, pharmacy, or big box store that you use up (consume) and then need to buy again. Think about all the things you consume every day that come in packages! Here are some examples of we’re talking about:

• Food and beverage: Cereal, milk, soda, chips, yogurt, frozen meals (like our clients Simek’s & Chung’s Gourmet Foods), bottled water (like our client Flow Water), ready-to-drink coffee, tea, etc.
• Personal care: Soap, beauty products (like our client Folk Potions), shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant, makeup, razors, etc.
• Household & pet products: Laundry detergent, cleaning wipes, pet food, dish soap, etc.
• Supplements & over-the-counter medicines: Pain relievers, allergy medication, cough syrup, Melatonin, tinctures (like our mushroom tincture client Rainbo), etc.

Basically, if it’s something you use regularly, gets used up over time, and comes in a container, it’s likely a CPG product.

Now that we’ve gotten all that out of the way let’s get into how you can use social media to scale your business!

Know your brand, audience, & craft your message

It all starts with understanding your ideal customer. Research their demographics, interests, and online behavior. Develop buyer personas to truly grasp their needs and aspirations. This knowledge fuels authentic content creation and helps you build that know, like, and trust with your ideal customer.

Before we start working with a new brand, we ask them identifying questions on things like who their brand is at its core, their tone & voice, how they want to be perceived, etc. We also identify their core customer using collected data from their previous purchasers, as well as customer surveys.

If you are a new brand without customers, you can use tools like Reddit, Instagram, and Amazon’s reviews section to help define your potential customers. To do this, first, identify the competitors in your category, then dive into each of your competitors through the above channels to see how their communities speak, who they are, what they’re saying, etc. Take note, as this is a great starting point to know who your ideal customer is and how to speak to them. Down the line, you’ll be able to better define this person as you gain more of your own customer data as your brand scales, and be sure to continue to revisit & iterate on your brand’s ideal avatars as your brand grows!

Pick the right platform, and play to its strengths

Not all platforms are created equal. Choose the social platforms your company will play on based on your audience and product. Does your customer mainly hang out on YouTube? Does your brand voice use long-form or short-form content? Research platform-specific best practices and content formats to maximize your impact.

Depending on your brand’s size, start with a few of these channels (the top channels your customer hangs out; FYI, you can’t go wrong with being active on Instagram no matter your brand) and then expand as you nail each channel and have the time to commit to ongoing, quality content for each.

Content is queen

Content is queen, and it’s the best way to properly connect to your core customer. Don’t focus on perfection, instead, focus on being genuine, relatable, and entertaining, as this will show your brand’s true authenticity on a smaller budget. Showcase your product in action, share user testimonials, and offer valuable tips related to its use. Remember, storytelling is key – weave narratives that connect emotionally with your audience whenever possible.

Brands that kill it at storytelling on social media are Diaspora, A Dozen Cousins, Omsom, and Force of Nature.

(P.S. If you need more inspo for storytelling on social media, be sure and join our free newsletter for top social trends delivered to your inbox each week!) 

Build a community, not just followers

Social media is about two-way interaction. Respond to comments, answer questions promptly, and engage in genuine conversations on your posts, DMs, and even strangers’ posts that have nothing to do with you. Posting content is only half the battle, jumping into your comment section, as well as other people’s content, is just as important. Encourage your customers to share user-generated content and their testimonials and share them by highlighting them on your stories or feed! Building a community fosters loyalty and turns followers into brand advocates.

Capitalize on influencers that share your audience:

Partnering with micro-influencers relevant to your niche is a great way to boost brand awareness and credibility among their engaged audience. Choose influencers who genuinely align with your brand values and engage in authentic collaborations (avoid serial promoters at all costs, especially if their engagement is low on those sponsored posts). We recommend starting off the relationship by engaging with an influencer’s content before working up to a DM gauging if they’d like to work with you! Taking these steps to actually form a relationship will go a long way for your brand. Most influencers, even micro-influencers, will request to be paid, but that doesn’t mean you can’t negotiate rates or even start by sending them free products to see what they think before you engage in a paid partnership. If they truly love your product, they’ll be more likely to be flexible with their rates.

Paid ads can be the boost your brand needs

If you’re looking to increase brand awareness and engagement on social media, you might want to consider allocating a budget to boosting posts. You can boost your top-performing social posts to reach a larger audience, boost collabs or giveaways to try and generate a low cost per follow, or boost a bit more targeted audiences to support a local event or launch. This is a great way to get that first touch point on potential new customers in a fairly cost-effective way.

In addition to boosts, you can also invest in social ads via direct response. So, if you’re launching in a new retail location, you can direct people to click on your ads link to find their nearest store. Or, if you’re a D2C brand, you can direct people to go to your website to buy.

Start small, target your ads carefully based on demographics and interests, and track your campaign performance. Remember, paid advertising is a tool, not a magic wand – use it wisely and optimize your approach for better results.

Consistency & cadence

Building a successful social media presence takes time and dedication. Post regularly, stay consistent, and experiment with different strategies. When we speak to early-stage brands and brands with small but mighty teams, who need to wear all the hats, one of our biggest pieces of advice is for them to get real with themselves on what they can commit to with their marketing. Even if that’s one post a week – great! It’s much better to set a cadence and produce consistent content vs. sharing haphazardly. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither is a thriving social media community.

Bonus tip: Track industry trends, stay updated on platform changes and adapt your strategy accordingly. The social media landscape is dynamic, so continuous learning is crucial. If you’re looking for resources to stay up to date with social trends and get daily inspo, join our free Facebook group here!

By implementing these strategies, you can transform your social media presence from a blank page to a vibrant hub that attracts customers and fuels your brand’s success. Remember: authenticity, engagement, and valuable content are your key ingredients. And if you’re looking for an agency to bring your brand to life on social, book a call with us here. We’d love to help you conquer your #socialmediagoals!

Howdy! We’re UMAI Marketing, a boutique digital marketing and branding & package design agency. We specialize in crafting content and winning strategies for consumer packaged goods brands. We’ve launched countless CPG brands, like Serenity Kids Baby Food, and helped them go from $0 to $12MM+ in revenue in only a few short years, to helping scale multiple multi-million dollar established brands like Om Mushroom, Mother-in-Law’s Kimchi, and CANTEEN Spirits. We love helping brands of any size relate to, entertain, and engage their customers, and today we’re sharing some ways you can do just that using social media marketing.

 

 

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Imagine making a board game about collecting flowers…

…And then raising over $1 million on Kickstarter.

That’s what Amy & Dusty Droz, the husband and wife duo behind Dux Somnium Games, did last year.

It’s a remarkable story of success, and one which is remarkably grounded, relatable, and repeatable. Not to mention interesting and shareable!

And so we want to share that with you today.

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Did you know that 40% of businesses struggle more with customer acquisition than retention? To entice someone to click the “buy now” button in this commotion may seem like conquering Mount Everest.

In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, customer acquisition is the lifeblood of online businesses. Businesses prioritize customer acquisition methods to stay ahead in the game. It is crucial to ensure you spend your customer acquisition cost wisely.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll unravel strategies to acquire new customers efficiently, ensuring your customer’s lifetime value far outweighs the initial investment. Let’s optimize and create a powerful customer acquisition strategy.

1. Defining Your Target Audience

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Recognizing and defining your ideal customer is essential for optimizing marketing efforts. It ensures your digital marketing strategies, content marketing, and influencer marketing campaigns resonate with those who matter most.

A fundamental step in this process is to do market research. This helps in diving deep into customer insights, understanding the customer journey, and fine-tuning acquisition marketing. By focusing on the right customer or client, businesses can reduce customer acquisition costs and increase their chances of converting prospects.

Every stage of the customer acquisition funnel should align with your target audience’s needs and preferences. This alignment bolsters acquisition tactics and emphasizes customer satisfaction and lifetime value.

2. Crafting a Compelling Value Proposition

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A compelling value proposition lies at the heart of an effective customer acquisition strategy. It’s more than just a catchy sentence; it’s the promise of value your business delivers. Your value proposition should address the needs of your ideal customer and stand out amidst the noise of today’s digital marketing landscape. It’s pivotal to your marketing and sales initiatives as the backbone for email campaigns and content marketing endeavors.

A robust value proposition can increase your chances of customer retention and define your customer acquisition marketing strategy. So, how do you craft one? Identify your customer’s pain points and uniquely align your solutions. Ensure it speaks to both customer experience and customer satisfaction.

Always measure customer acquisition outcomes after refining your proposition. A significant customer acquisition strategy pivots on how effectively you can communicate your unique value in a crowded market.

3. Leveraging Multiple Digital Marketing Channels

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Optimizing your customer acquisition strategy means being present where your audience is. One of the best ways to achieve effective customer acquisition is by diversifying your customer acquisition channels. Sole reliance on a single marketing channel can leave your business vulnerable to unforeseen changes, such as algorithm tweaks or market saturation.

By embracing various customer acquisition strategies, you not only lower your customer acquisition risks but also improve your customer acquisition strategy. For instance, while social media marketing effectively catches users’ attention, a well-timed welcome email can enhance that initial interaction.

Speaking of which, if you need inspiration, here are some excellent welcome email examples that can serve as a touchpoint in your acquisition funnel. A multi-channel approach is crucial in ensuring a sustainable customer acquisition strategy for your business.

4. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

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In pursuing a sustainable customer acquisition strategy, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) stands out as one of the best ways to optimize customer acquisition efforts. SEO, at its core, enhances the visibility of your online presence, ensuring that when potential customers search for services or products similar to yours, your business lands at the top of their search results.

SEO is an essential stage of the customer acquisition funnel, where new customer acquisition begins. When done right, SEO can significantly lower your customer acquisition costs by driving organic, targeted traffic to your site.

Strategies like social media marketing can be impactful; a solid SEO foundation ensures that you’re not just reaching out but that the right customers are finding you. It’s not just about acquiring new customers or clients; it’s about ensuring the right customer acquisition strategy for your business is in place.

5. Content Marketing

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In the online business landscape, optimizing customer acquisition is a clear growth path. Enter content marketing, a powerhouse in this realm. It’s not just about creating content; it’s about crafting relevant, engaging narratives tailored to your audience.

When you provide valuable insights or solutions through your content, you’re not just shouting into the void—you’re building trust. This trust, in turn, nudges potential customers closer to your brand. It’s essential to know your audience, understand their pain points, and address them with your content.

Distribute this content where they frequent and in formats they prefer. As you consistently offer value, you not only enhance your brand’s authority but also amplify your customer acquisition efforts. In the vast online marketplace, content marketing is your beacon, guiding prospects to your business and fostering growth.

6. User Experience (UX) Optimization

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User Experience (UX) stands at the forefront. When users land on your platform, the ease and intuitiveness they navigate can either boost or hinder your customer acquisition efforts. An optimal UX is one of the best ways to ensure effective customer acquisition. It goes beyond aesthetics; it’s about ensuring each stage of the customer acquisition funnel is seamless.

A positive experience can lead to customer referrals, significantly helping to reduce customer acquisition costs. A solid customer service team, attuned to user needs and feedback, can enhance the overall UX.

As marketing is the process of reaching new audiences, having an outstanding UX can make marketing to new customers more fruitful. The goal is not just acquisition but also customer retention and customer satisfaction. UX optimization is a pivotal component in your acquisition strategy for your business.

7. Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)

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Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) revolves around refining the user experience to drive more conversions. Think of it this way: marketing is a valuable way to bring traffic to your site, but without an effective CRO, potential customers might leave without making a purchase or taking desired actions.

A robust client acquisition strategy should not just focus on new acquisitions but also on harnessing the power of the traffic you already have. Here’s where your marketing or sales team comes into play.

By analyzing user behavior and making targeted changes, they can ensure that the amount spent on marketing yields a higher return. It’s like customer care but before the purchase. Get the right customer acquisition strategy, which is as vital as the strategy that works for CRO, and watch your business thrive.

8. Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

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Customer Relationship Management, popularly known as CRM, serves as the backbone of any sustainable customer acquisition and customer retention strategy. But why? Behind every successful online business is an unwavering focus on understanding, anticipating, and catering to customer needs.

A potent CRM system doesn’t just store customer data—it deciphers patterns, forecasts behaviors, and aids in crafting a tailored client acquisition strategy. The best way to get insights into your audience’s preferences and pain points is through a CRM.

A synchronized sales and marketing approach is paramount, and a CRM bridges the gap between marketing and customer experiences. When used effectively, it can significantly reduce customer attrition, ensuring that your digital marketing strategies and investments bear fruit. Attracting new customers is essential; retaining them and understanding the ‘why’ behind customer choices can propel your business to greater heights.

9. Analytics and Data-Driven Decision Making

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Understanding and leveraging analytics is crucial for an effective customer acquisition strategy. It’s not just about attracting a vast number of visitors; it’s about attracting the right visitors. To identify your customers and truly understand your target market, delve deep into the data. The insights obtained can illuminate the cost of customer acquisition and highlight the customer lifetime value for each segment.

Relying on gut feelings or hunches is no longer sustainable. Instead, adopting data-driven decisions ensures that every dollar spent produces the best possible return per new customer. Incorporating analytics into your customer acquisition plan helps fine-tune email marketing campaigns, ensuring email marketing is a valuable asset in your arsenal.

By monitoring the marketing funnel closely, businesses can adapt a variety of customer acquisition strategies, ensuring a strong customer acquisition strategy for steady online growth. The goal is not just to build a customer base but to sustain and grow it with precision and intent.

10. Scaling and Iterating

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Expanding your online presence requires more than initial success; it demands constant adaptation and refinement. A great customer acquisition strategy isn’t stagnant; it evolves. As you scale, it’s imperative to continuously create a customer acquisition strategy that factors in new insights, market shifts, and feedback. This dynamic approach ensures that the cost of customer acquisition remains optimal, maximizing your return per customer.

Regularly revisiting and iterating on your customer acquisition plan allows businesses to tap into unexplored avenues and improve current customer acquisition tactics. For instance, email marketing can constantly be enhanced, given its evolving best practices and tools. Your email marketing campaigns today might drastically differ from those a year later, emphasizing its adaptability.

With many acquisition tools available, it’s beneficial to experiment and iterate. Creating a customer acquisition strategy is a continuous journey, not a one-time task. The ultimate aim is to grow a robust customer base efficiently and sustainably.

Conclusion

In the digital realm, mastering customer acquisition is paramount for sustained online business growth. By clearly defining your target audience, you can craft a compelling value proposition tailored to their needs.

Employing various customer acquisition strategies, from SEO and content marketing to UX optimization and CRO, will ensure you reach your audience effectively. Leveraging multiple marketing channels emphasizes that email marketing is a valuable tool in this mix. Adopting CRM systems streamlines relationship-building, while analytics offer insights, guiding data-driven decisions.

For continuous growth, create a customer acquisition plan that allows for scaling and iterating based on feedback and results. It’s not just about attracting customers but nurturing them and refining your strategies based on the FAQs about customer acquisition that arise. The roadmap to success is multifaceted; each step, when optimized, propels your business further.

Will Schneider is the founder of WarehousingAndFulfillment.com, a company that operates as a match-making service for the fulfillment industry. Prior to starting WarehousingAndFulfillment.com, Mr. Schneider gained extensive experience in the logistics industry running two private warehousing and fulfillment companies, and served as the Vice President of netQuote, a real-time quoting service for the insurance industry. In addition to writing informative posts about outsourced fulfillment and shipping services, he is also passionate about helping businesses find the right solutions to improve their overall operations. When not working, Will enjoys coaching youth basketball.

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Successful crowdfunding comes from putting the same effort into the campaign story as you did the project itself.

Your crowdfunding campaign story:

• Is the first impression you give potential supporters,
• Persuades readers to engage with your campaign, and
• Encourages them to share your campaign with their networks.

Without an engaging story, how will the world know about your phenomenal project? Spread your passion for this project and solidify support with a gripping narrative that grasps readers’ emotions.

Crowdfunding campaign stories and online reader behaviour

All stories target emotions. Your crowdfunding story is no different, but you only have a few seconds to grab those emotions and hold onto them.

The average internet user doesn’t read articles, they skim. They look for headings, graphics, lists, and other eye-catching content to tell them what they want to know.

Consider your behaviour when you first opened this article. Did you start reading from line one and continue word-by-word? Or was your eye drawn to the three-point list in the first section, then moved to check out more section headers?

If you said the former, you’re in the minority. Most readers will predictably glance through the headers in this article to find the pieces they’re looking for.

However, there is one major difference between this article and a crowdfunding story.

Crowdfunding stories are NOT blog articles

Advice and best practices for writing online articles are focused on search engine optimization (SEO = ranking as high as possible in online search results). Depending on the content, ideal word count for SEO purposes is around 2000 (beyond for financial articles).

But a blog article is teaching something. A crowdfunding campaign is selling something. And there’s a reason why marketing ads are brief.

“But all of the information is important!”

I’m sure it is… to you. The people you’re targeting require much less information than you think. And when someone wants further information, you’ll have links to where they can find it waiting. The core story for the project, however, must communicate only essential details.

One study found the average word count for successful crowdfunding campaigns was between 300 and 500 words.

This means you have less than 500 words to establish a strong enough connection with someone that they’ll contribute to your crowdfunding campaign.

And yes, it’s possible!

Crowdfunding campaign story elements

Opening (25 to 50 words)

Start strong with something eye-catching and relevant. It can be:

• An agreeable statement to bring the reader into your mindset,
• A rhetorical question to spur their thoughts about the problem you’re solving,
• A glowing review, award, or other accolade from a credible source (i.e. not your mom),
• Product quote or tagline.

Your opening material’s role is to prevent as many visitors from ‘bouncing’ (immediately exiting out of the campaign) as possible. You won’t catch everyone – a high percentage will click away without even scrolling. But, once you’ve hooked them, it’s easier to keep them long enough to convince them to support the campaign. So, this section, while the shortest, also requires the most consideration and creativity.

Example from The Collected Doug Wright Vol. 2 (Designed & edited by Seth)

Project background (50 to 100 words)

Provide a BRIEF background on the project. This is part of what helps readers emotionally connect with you. Why did you create this? Is it a passion project? Are you solving a problem you or someone else has?

Be real and open with your readers. Transparency enforces trust, and trust in crowdfunding is essential. In most cases, campaign supporters won’t receive their rewards (if there are any) right away, as the campaign works to raise funds to produce the project. Therefore, your supporters need to trust you.

Example from the One Tin Soldier campaign, a Burning Man art installation:

A close-up of blocks on the sand Description automatically generated

Project description (100 to 150 words)

A project description can include a variety of things, depending on what the campaign is for. Of course, you must include what the project is, relevant specs and available options, but the key is to highlight what makes your project unique.

Every project is different, which means every project brings something new and valuable. Aim for two or three important value-adds to highlight in your campaign.

Communicating that value is crucial, and doing so briefly can be difficult. Consider these questions when writing your description:

• What problem does your creation solve?
• What does it include or do that other comparable creations don’t?
• Are there components, characters, themes, or other characteristics focusing on under-represented groups or ideologies?
• Why do you believe you and your project are extraordinary?

Example from TPK Brewing and “The Blooms That Feed On Fire, A 5e adventure by Portland’s first TTRPG brewpub”

Who is going to love this project? (25 to 50 words)

Hint: The answer is NOT “everyone!”

Identifying your target audience is important for your campaign promotion as well as its story. You’re solving a problem for other people as well as yourself, so shout it out to them. What makes your project unique is what drives this specific set of people to support it.

If you haven’t yet gotten far enough in your campaign to determine your audience demographic, now is the time. Detailed descriptions are unnecessary, but here are some traits to consider when outlining who that audience might be:

• Age, gender, orientation
• Socioeconomic status
• Common pain points
• Hobbies, activities, interests
• Where do they live (geographic location and living situation)?
• When might they be most interested in this project?
• What are they passionate about?
• What similar well-known products, media, etc. might they also enjoy?

Example from “Ain’t Got Time to Die: Film Festival Run”

Outline what funds will be used for (25 to 50 words)

As supporters are pre-funding a project before it happens, they must trust you. Part of that is being open about how you arrived at your crowdfunding goal. Doing so helps supporters understand your project’s scope and likelihood of success, shows how well-planned your project and campaign are, and helps them understand the value of their contributions.

Some choose to simply list expenses, but a word-conservative and more effective way is through visual representation. Like pie charts!

Example from “Backstory One-Shot Comic by Ryan K Lindsay, Jen Vaughn, and Teo Acosta“

What is going to happen and when? (50 to 100 words)

The next thing supporters want to know is the timeline of events from the moment they contribute or claim a reward to when they receive said reward (or, to when the campaign ends and fulfills all promises if rewards aren’t a part of your campaign).

Considerations for this section are:

• What happens if you do not hit your campaign goal?
• When do you expect to ship rewards? (An approximation, such as ‘June 2024’ is acceptable)
• Do you foresee any risks or challenges?
• How will you communicate updates and changes?

Your timeline might change, even for reasons out of your control (cough-worldwidepandemic-cough). And that’s okay! Communication is key, here.

Crowdfundr provides multiple avenues to communicate with supporters, through public updates and private messaging in the communication centre.

Consider updates a required feature of your crowdfunding story. Updates aren’t only useful for communicating changes, they’re fantastic pieces of content for you and your current supporters to share and drive more contributions! This article helps explain further.

Crowdfunding story calls to action (20 words)

There are two calls to action for every crowdfunding campaign story: contribute (or claim a reward) and SHARE!

Unless you’re running a private campaign for a select group, you’ll want people to share your campaign. Even if they cannot contribute (not everyone is in a financial position to do so), they can still help support you by spreading the word.

Be direct with your ask and make it easy:

Help bring this project to life by:

1. Claiming a reward.and/or
2. Sharing this campaign with your network!

What about the ‘extra’ information?

Some supporters might want the nitty-gritty details you left out of your campaign story. It’s important to provide easy access to more information (like FAQs, specs, shipping information, etc.) for those who want it, without crowding your story. There are multiple places you can put these details and link to them in your story:

• Outside website
• Newsletter
• Crowdfundr user profile / Organization account profile
• Crowdfundr extra story tabs
• Downloadable files

Where are campaign rewards included?

While every platform is different, Crowdfundr was designed to highlight rewards with descriptions, images, add-ons, and variant options to exist within the reward itself. So, when it comes time to describe your rewards, a simple “Discover reward options on the right side of the campaign (for desktop) or scroll to the bottom (mobile devices),” is all you need.

Visual appeal of a crowdfunding campaign story matters!

You could have every element listed above within the suggested word count, an intriguing project, and rewards to die for… but that will all fall flat if not presented in an attractive way.

Three things will help with this:

• Headers. Remember, online readers skim. Make it easy for them by separating story elements with headers.
• Colour and font style. Highlight extra-important information with a colour and/or font change. Keep these changes minimal to keep their effect, and don’t go overboard! One or two extra colours (with the main story components in black) are more than enough, and they should align with the rest of the campaign and your brand.
• Images. Of yourself, of your project creation, of your rewards, of anything of value that attracts attention. Break up content with carefully chosen images to bring supporters closer to you and your project.

There is no single “right” way to write a crowdfunding campaign story

The points listed above for writing your story are meant to be guidelines. We at Crowdfundr have seen successful campaigns ignore most of these recommendations, but they’re not common.

If you are to take one key message away from this article, let it be to keep your campaign story short, informative, and highlighting your project’s key values.

Yours in success,

Shan Reeb, Crowdfundr

If you are interested in tabletop role-playing games, Crowdfundr is currently running the Tabletop Nonstop Spotlight. Check out amazing crowdfunding campaigns from TTRPG creators!

Shipping to Canadian shoppers can be a daunting task for eCommerce merchants. With various regulations, duties, and shipping costs to consider, it is essential to establish best practices to ensure customer satisfaction while maintaining profitability. In this article, we will discuss the importance of shipping from Canadian fulfillment centers, considerations for free shipping promotions, selecting the right courier, and choosing the best 3PL partner.

Shipping from Canadian Order Fulfillment Centers

Shipping orders from Canadian order fulfillment centers can significantly benefit both the merchant and the customer. When Canadians receive an order with a declared value of over CAD $200, they are likely to be charged customs or duties upon delivery. Couriers such as UPS and FedEx are known to charge additional fees to collect these taxes and duties. This often results in the shopper refusing the package altogether, and the seller is forced to refund the order, ultimately losing the sale. To mitigate this, merchants should consider importing products and storing them at a Canadian-based 3PL company. By shipping from within Canada, shoppers are not charged any additional duties and taxes upon delivery, thus reducing the return rate on Canadian orders.

It is also important to note that using USPS to ship to Canadian shoppers from the USA is rarely a good idea. The parcels will be handed off from USPS to Canada Post for delivery, which can result in disjointed tracking numbers and potential delays, particularly during busy seasons. Carriers like UPS and FedEx will deliver parcels without handing them off, ensuring a more seamless delivery process. This is an important consideration if a merchant opts to ship products to Canada from the United States.

Canadian Customs has the authority to hold any parcel indefinitely. This is a crucial point for merchants shipping from outside of Canada to communicate with their Canadian shoppers. Clear communication about potential delays due to customs processing is essential. Failure to do so can result in negative reviews and a poor customer experience, especially if a buyer is expecting to receive a package by a specific date for a holiday, birthday, or other special event. By being transparent about the potential hurdles in the shipping process, merchants can set realistic expectations and foster a positive relationship with their Canadian customers.

Understanding Canadian Shopper Expectations

When it comes to online shopping, the expectations of Canadian consumers can vary greatly depending on their location. Generally, Canadians expect their orders to be processed and shipped promptly, similar to American consumers. However, the delivery time expectations can differ significantly.

For those living in rural or remote areas, there is an understanding that parcels may take longer to arrive. The lack of infrastructure and the vast distances that need to be covered mean that next-day delivery is not a common expectation. These consumers are usually accustomed to waiting a bit longer for their packages to arrive.

On the other hand, consumers living in city centers and metropolitan areas like the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and the Greater Vancouver Area (GVA) have higher expectations when it comes to delivery times. The presence of better infrastructure and more delivery options in these areas means that shoppers often anticipate shorter delivery timeframes, similar to what American consumers expect. This is a critical distinction that merchants need to consider when setting delivery expectations for their Canadian customers.

By taking into account the geographical and logistical differences that exist within Canada, merchants can better manage customer expectations and improve overall satisfaction. This includes providing accurate and clear information on delivery timeframes during the checkout process, and being transparent about any potential delays that may occur.

Considerations for Free Shipping Promotions

When it comes to promotions offering free shipping across Canada, merchants must tread carefully. The cost of shipping a package can vary greatly from one location to another. For example, shipping to remote Canadian addresses can be ten times more expensive than shipping the same parcel to the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). All merchants should familiarize themselves with remote location postal codes to avoid any surprises when setting up their shipping policies and charges. While some products may be suitable for free shipping promotions in certain areas, others may not be feasible. This can be a significant challenge for merchants shipping to Canadian consumers for the first time, especially when they are accustomed to USPS Priority Flat Rate shipping, which does not exist in Canada from Canada Post or any other carrier.

Selecting the Right Courier and Shipping Service

Understanding the Canadian landscape and selecting the right courier is crucial. Canada is a vast landmass, and not all carriers have the capability to deliver parcels to remote locations in a cost-effective manner. Choosing the same courier across all orders can have negative ramifications for the merchant. While a courier may be cost-effective when shipping to a major city or a specific part of a province, they can charge excessively for another. This can easily wipe out any profit margins and put an order in the red. It is also important to note that Canada Post Lettermail does not offer tracking, unlike USPS First Class. This is a crucial distinction, as eCommerce consumers typically expect to receive a tracking number as soon as an order is processed. Merchants must take this into account when shipping to Canadian consumers. InterFulfillment offers a RateShop feature that allows their system to automatically shop for the most cost-effective rate for each parcel, ensuring that the best carrier and service are selected.

Delivery Timeframes

Delivery timeframes can be just as tricky in the Canadian shipping landscape. Online shoppers typically expect items to be delivered in a timely fashion or at least have an estimated timeframe when checking out on a website. This is not always possible in Canada. One shipping service may result in a parcel being delivered the next day to a certain address, while another address may cost more and take over a week or even longer for delivery. This comes down to understanding the landscape and the various carriers and services offered.

Canada Post offers carbon-neutral shipping, with many tracking emails featuring a badge indicating that a shipment will be carbon-neutral. This may be an important value-added aspect of shipping for consumers. Generally, Canada Post is the most suitable across the board when it comes to shipping in Canada. However, there are instances when using UPS, a company that continues to improve its Canadian infrastructure and shipping capabilities, may be more cost-effective. The fact that a large number of Canada Post shipments are carbon neutral, paired with the fact that Canada Post is typically the most suitable carrier with their Expedited Parcel service, may be reason enough for certain merchants to choose them over others.

Choosing the Right 3PL Partner

Selecting the appropriate third-party logistics (3PL) partner is crucial to the success of any e-commerce merchant shipping to Canada. The ideal 3PL provider will offer a range of comprehensive order fulfillment services that can be tailored to meet the specific needs of the merchant and their Canadian customers. This includes warehousing, pick and pack services, and transportation management. By leveraging the expertise and infrastructure of a 3PL partner, merchants can optimize their logistics operations and focus more on growing their business.

In addition to logistical support, a good 3PL partner should also serve as a knowledgeable guide for merchants navigating the complex landscape of shipping to Canadian consumers. This includes understanding the intricacies of customs regulations, taxes, and duties, as well as the various shipping options available to reach customers across Canada’s vast and diverse geography. The 3PL provider should take the time to learn about the merchant’s products, asking detailed questions about the shape, size, and weight of typical parcels to determine the most efficient and cost-effective shipping methods.

They should help the merchant strike the right balance between shipping costs and delivery times. This is especially important in the Canadian market, where shipping costs can vary significantly based on the destination. A suitable Canadian 3PL partner will have established relationships with various carriers and can negotiate competitive rates on behalf of the merchant. They should also offer a range of shipping options, from standard to expedited, to meet the expectations of different customers.

One way to ensure that you are choosing the right 3PL partner is to request a comprehensive quote that outlines all the costs associated with shipping your products to Canadian customers. Companies like InterFulfillment can provide detailed cost analyses that take into account all the variables involved in the shipping process. This will provide a clear picture of the costs involved and help you make an informed decision based on your business needs and budget.

Conclusion

In conclusion, shipping to Canadian shoppers requires a strategic approach. By shipping from Canadian fulfillment centers, considering the implications of free shipping promotions, selecting the right courier, and choosing a suitable 3PL partner, eCommerce merchants can successfully navigate the Canadian shipping landscape, ensuring customer satisfaction and profitability.

Ready to start shipping orders to your customers from Canada? InterFulfillment has you covered. Request your quote today or email us at sales@interfulfillment.com!

Adayra Lopez is the Sales Manager at InterFulfillment.

Let’s say you’re making a board game. Kickstarter’s an awesome place to get published.

The publishing model is great for crowdfunding, and Kickstarter got first mover’s advantage.

But – and I say this as a serial Kickstarter backer myself – the platform’s not really built with board games in mind. It was built in 2009 before the big board game boom.

So what if you want to launch somewhere that’s built by gamers, for gamers? That’s where Gamefound comes in.

That’s why I’ve brought on Alex Radcliffe, the Chief Marketing Officer at Gamefound, a company that specializes in crowdfunding for board games.

Transcript

This transcript was generated with AI and may contain occasional minor errors.

Brandon Rollins: Let’s say you’re making a board game. Kickstarter is an awesome place to get published. The publishing model is just a great fit for crowdfunding and Kickstarter. Of course, first mover advantage on actually making crowdfunding a popular thing that people do. But and I say this as a serial Kickstarter backer myself, the platforms aren’t really built with board games in mind.

Brandon Rollins: It was built back in oh nine before the Big Board game boom. So if you want to launch somewhere that’s built by gamers for gamers, well, that’s where gaming comes in. That’s why I brought on Alex Ratcliffe, the chief marketing officer at Game Phone, which is a company that specializes in crowdfunding for board games. We’re going to cut right to the interview in just a minute.

Brandon Rollins: But real quick. My name is Brandon. This video is brought to you by Fulfill, Right? We ship orders for crowdfunding campaign, so if you want more details, click on the link below. Quotes are always free. Now one last quick note we edited with a light touch on this interview because we want to keep it simple and a bit low.

Brandon Rollins: Find nice and honest. Just like two professionals on a Zoom call. So with that in mind, let’s cut to the interview. So thank you very much for joining me, Alex. I really appreciate it.

Alex Radcliffe: Absolutely. Thanks for having me on.

Brandon Rollins: Yeah. So my very first question I wanted to ask you, how exactly did game time get started?

Alex Radcliffe: So I have the game plan history. I don’t actually have all the dates, but game found Game font started with from where Week and Realms effectively awaken Realms, as you know, large board game manufacturer. They had a lot of board games and they created their own in-house solution. I want to say maybe 2014, 2015, but they create their own in-house solution to manage all the things that Kickstarter didn’t effectively, that they had all this extra level of prep that had to be done past the campaign itself.

Alex Radcliffe: And so they brought their own in-house tool to the surface to be able to do that. Then I don’t know exactly when it happened, but they started having friends within the industry who were like, Hey, we’d love to use your tool. And they were like, We we can have a conversation with them. And so they started sharing it with friends informally.

Alex Radcliffe: And then at some point again, I want to say I think 2016, maybe 2017, they actually branched out into the saying, you know what, we’re not going to be sharing this with like in friends, the industry, We’re going to create a full fledged manager system so that others can actually benefit from this infrastructure, from this software, from there.

Alex Radcliffe: They did that successfully for several years, getting to 100,000 backers in 2019, I want to say. And then in 2020, I believe again, my data not perfect on this, but they eventually said, you know what? We sat here and we built this platform to be a solution for the things that typical crowdfunding doesn’t do. But why do we just have to be that we can be the entire package from start to finish.

Alex Radcliffe: We can be not just a pledge manager to help people run all the things out of the campaign. We can be the entire ecosystem as opposed to forcing people to use separate tools to get the job done. As they jumped into crafting with a bang, they had hundreds of thousands of users. I think if I recall correctly, they had around 150,000 active users at that time.

Alex Radcliffe: They’ve recently crossed a million users on the platform. Now, like with the timing issue, crowdfunding full for full, fully all all ships ahead or whatever it is. All I feel is an expression not using all steam’s. I don’t know, there’s some attraction, but they jumped into it fully and they they’ve been actively and successfully crowdfunding campaigns for the past several years now, continuing to take a larger and larger chunk out of the market every year.

Alex Radcliffe: They grew 70% from 2020 to 2021, and 2023 is likely even higher than that. We’re hitting a lot of milestones, having a lot of big projects, but effectively it started as a passion project for realms. It’s split off and it’s worth noting at this point as well that the the ownership is completely separate. They have the ownership. They have shared ownership stake in realms, but completely separate companies outside of that.

Alex Radcliffe: A completely separate employees. They communicate, obviously, but it’s at this point when they branched off into doing their own pledge manager, they recognize even then the potential issues and they can start a completely separate company with completely separate people running that company.

Brandon Rollins: That makes a lot of sense. And I think there’s a couple of things that are really interesting about this. First being like I’m hearing of more and more companies that are starting with kind of soft launches by creating in-house the thing that they always which existed like period, they create their own software because it’s like the best possible option they’ve got and then they show it to some friends and then they show it to some friends of friends or maybe a handful of people in the industry.

Brandon Rollins: You just sort of heard about it. And then after that they go for a soft launch and then they go public. I think that’s interesting because I don’t even know that that was a thing like ten years ago. It just seems to be something people are doing more and more of these days and it’s like it’s cool. The game time is just another instance of that kind of slow, gradual slide into a bigger business model.

Alex Radcliffe: Yeah, I’m a customized after degree and like I’ve gone through that. I’ve worked with companies that do Code IV code in the past and like I built an entire bartering system that my partner wanted to like franchise and sell outside to other people. And it’s always a delicate balance when you where do you have enough of a framework that it could be useful to others versus when are you custom coding solutions that are just for you and it won’t be perfect.

Alex Radcliffe: Everyone else?

Brandon Rollins: Mm hmm. Yeah, there’s probably an XKCD comic strip down there that shows like this on a graph or something like that to Yeah, I think another really interesting thing and we’re going to obviously cover this in depth, but I’m just going to put some context out there for somebody who just finds us on YouTube and is like kicking around the possibility of crowdfunding for the very first time.

Brandon Rollins: The status quo, which is only really starting to change very recently, is like you crowd fund and then you you basically have to have another form of software to help you handle the pledges after the fact. Like you can use Kickstarter survey tools to collect addresses and that kind of thing, but it doesn’t work very well. You can’t cross.

Brandon Rollins: So if people try and change their addresses, that’s a mess. It’s got to be handled by like direct messages. And there has been for years this kind of third party software that handles that backer kit, proud of that sort of thing. Game time does that all in one. Basically, it’s like you have your crowdfunding and you have your pledge manager and you just roll from one to the other.

Brandon Rollins: I just thought that would be some useful context to throw out there for some folks who might have just stumbled across this, which almost enters my second question a little bit, but also still plenty. Anyway, which is what’s has game found apart from other crowdfunding platforms.

Alex Radcliffe: So game found, game found. I mean, the most biggest thing is going to be that ultimately, like you said already, there’s there’s tools, variety of tools out there that will help you run your campaign post crowdfunding. The biggest thing that will start game kind of argument is that we do crowdfunding and we do play strategy. We are an entire all in one solution.

Alex Radcliffe: We handle your marketing, we handle your crowdfunding, we handle your late pledge, and there’s even future plans as well to add even more to the long tail end of of of just full e-commerce, of being able to complete handle everything for you from start to finish. And so that’s before we get into the features, there are a bunch of features as well that are just features we don’t see on other platforms.

Alex Radcliffe: I, I would argue that game found is the cutting edge of development in the space right now that I think that there are other platforms Kickstarter back yet they are adding things but I think at this point if you just follow the if you follow what’s out there, it looks like game form for the most part. And obviously I am biased, I work for game hunting center account.

Alex Radcliffe: But if you look at the objective data, the game found is consistently adding features every single week, and those features sometimes are being mimic or copy where they can be and other times the behind being added in 2023 was Stretch Me the idea of having installment payments or crafting, which is a natural fit for crowdfunding. And it’s been a huge, huge early adopter by the community and it’s one of the things you want to be responsible back, only what you can afford.

Alex Radcliffe: But it is one of those things that has been a good tool for creators and backers alike. We have the most payment methods from any of the platforms. It’s a PayPal which I don’t believe any other platform takes profile yet, but we take PayPal as part of crowdfunding. Yeah, we just recently out of that’s been a large uphill battle to get.

Alex Radcliffe: That is not the nature of PayPal within the crowdfunding ecosystem is very unique and very different. PayPal often has very strict terms around crowdfunding, but we’ve actually been able to utilize and incorporate that into the system, and that’s an instant requested by the community for four years from the systems, from the various ecosystems out there. And that’s pointing out two of dozens and dozens of features that I think do make game found stand out from the crowd.

Alex Radcliffe: Again, we are an all in one solution. We cover you from start to finish, but past that generic aspect of things, which is far from generic, we have a ton of features, a ton of things that I think making found. I mean, one of the things that will set us apart to a degree again back at recently started doing it, but I think back it might be only one is even within the crowd, even within the pledge manager aspect of things.

Alex Radcliffe: Place managers for the most part don’t usually let you browse them to see what’s out there usually have to be coming at them with a link game account. Treat it like a store. We treat it like, Hey, by the way, a bunch of pledges over here. You want to come to the platform and see what you may have missed?

Alex Radcliffe: We don’t. She does like we don’t do counseling as an ecosystem that exists for two and a half weeks that’s done. We treat like a complete long tail. It’s there, it’s available, it’s part of the process. And so you can find things without having to, like, hunt down a link for something else. You can look and browse active open pledges on the platform.

Alex Radcliffe: Again, so many, so many ways against this, but there’s just a handful of key features.

Brandon Rollins: Yeah. And can people like launch on Kickstarter and then use game founders and pledge manager.

Alex Radcliffe: 100%? Yeah, we, we and just to be very clear on the answer, you can launch on Kickstarter and then use game plan as a pledge manager. We don’t let you launch on Kickstarter and then launch the same thing on game found as crowdfunding. We do want what you think the table to be unique to what extent you can come back a year and a half later with a reprint and expansion and all that stuff, but we don’t.

Alex Radcliffe: We had some people who want to run a campaign on multiple platforms. We currently don’t let that happen. The long consequence to why and how we just don’t think the ecosystem. We think we think the way crowdfunding operates. Focus is best for right now. It’s obviously like any like any policies. Obviously they will monitor and keep in touch with.

Alex Radcliffe: But as far as a place manager, you can launch on any platform you want on the market, on Kickstarter and on Game Bound and then use game found for the pledge manager.

Brandon Rollins: Yeah, no scheme can still 100% for games.

Alex Radcliffe: No, I’m going say no to board games, although the question of what you count as board games. So again, for our current reasons.

Brandon Rollins: Like board games and accessories and stuff that are related to the industry, there we go, like tables. Like what you got in the background is exactly.

Alex Radcliffe: It has tables, it has accessories, it has RPGs, it has board games. We don’t I don’t think we’ve done comics yet, but we are I think we are in talks to do comics around board games. I think so. Like it is very focused on the tabletop industry. We are open to expanding it to a degree, but we are.

Alex Radcliffe: We are very much a focus platform. We’re not looking to just do generic crowdfunding and even within I would say our focus is likely geek focused more. I say that’s more of a focus and board game focus. So like, you know, geek, the geek category tabletops that not videogames will get to a second, but anything that might be in generically in that umbrella, something we’re open to.

Alex Radcliffe: Like we’ve talked with creators about doing cosplay content, for example. That’s something we would consider doing, but we’ve done escape room things. That’s kind of a game. Video game is something that we’re very, very cautious about because of the high failure rate on. We want crowdfunding to be a safe place. We want it to be as safe as possible.

Alex Radcliffe: We can’t control everything. Ultimately, the creator is who has the obligation to you, but we want to cultivate an atmosphere and an environment that has a high degree of return. We don’t want it to feel like you’re gambling your money away. We want it to feel like you’re actually paying into it, supporting a project to bring it to life, but getting what you were promised to.

Alex Radcliffe: And unfortunately video games just have a very high failure rate on them. And so we don’t we are very mindful about whether video games is or isn’t a good avenue to dive into. It may happen one day, but we are taking it very seriously and right now we’re not doing it. Yeah.

Brandon Rollins: Yeah. And then that makes sense. Let me think. So what are some of the big, big projects that have launch on getting found through this?

Alex Radcliffe: So many to go through. But I’ll just I’ll, I’ll hit on a few. I mean, the biggest one this past year was the Elder Scrolls from a chapter of games that, you know, I think it hit was a 4.7 million. Five was a million did very high. I don’t know exactly where it went to, but it was one of the higher prices we’ve had in the platform ever in general.

Alex Radcliffe: You know, we’ve had we had Andromeda’s Edge did fairly well. We had, you know, kind of unknown. Did great. We had Scarface 1920. There are so many projects that have crossed that million mark and then some on the platform both this year, previous years we had we obtained two Grail Kings of Moon on the platform. We recently had Stalker Stalker from Waiting realms that did around 3 million.

Alex Radcliffe: And Dragon Eclipse right now as we speak, is trending towards that 3 million mark as well. So it’s been a lot of Firefly. Firefly was a very much a surprise hit. I think that was one that I do a lot of the internal projections of the company. And so I know I have a good sense of where Project Will head will end up just for my my time in crowdfunding.

Alex Radcliffe: I’ve spent a long enough year that I have a good sense where project lined up, regardless of what the ecosystem is on platform was on. But I would say that Firefly is definitely one that surprised me, that wanted significant about an unexpected crossing $2 million. And so there’s been a lot of smash, smash, just like smash successes, Smash hits on the platform this year, last year, hopefully next year as well.

Alex Radcliffe: But it’s been it’s been very fun to watch the platform grow.

Brandon Rollins: If for you, are you talking that to the early 2000 TV show they’re looking for a second season. You know, that’s what they’re doing. They’re going they’re going for the second season.

Alex Radcliffe: They had a collector’s edition board game from it’s a ten year, it’s a 10th anniversary edition of the board game. And they brought it to the platform and did very, very well.

Brandon Rollins: Yeah, that I mean, that’s a three million’s a little surprising on an old franchise. On a franchise about two decades old. But now anyway, yeah, that’s a that’s a ridiculous amount of stuff that’s raising in the multi-millions now. Probably sounds like a did you guys notice a big boom during like pandemic days back when that was really getting started up?

Alex Radcliffe: It’s hard to say because crowdfunding in general definitely saw, but it was actually surprising some of the things that wasn’t necessarily expected. But crowdfunding in general saw a bit of a boom and it’s gone a bit down since then. The tricky part to gage with game found is as a as a still newer platform, it’s always hard to to see exactly what effects things, meaning Kickstarter has a long enough track record that you can just say, Oh, look at the new thing that happened and how it impacted things.

Alex Radcliffe: This is Game Found has been growing consistently started. So did we see a boom? Yes, but we’ve been seeing growth nonstop since we started. So how much of that is pandemic? How much of that is, you know, the general fact that we are still I mean, only two or three years old at this point. And at this point, like we’re out of the exact sense of the market share.

Alex Radcliffe: We have available job gains, but we have a very satisfying percentage from from where we are. But again, it’s very hard to it’s very hard to say what was affected by what I would say. The pandemic had an effect only because I know it had an effect on crowdfunding in general.

Brandon Rollins: But it’s just unknowable how much are normal.

Alex Radcliffe: And then there’s a tailwind curve. Does it, Helen curve that as well. The issues that never caused the increased freight, the the additional shipping charges, they’re they’re rolling rolling delays and asks asking backers for more money had a additional effect on the tail end that brought things down. There’s less confidence in crowdfunding is one of the reasons we introduced the stable pledge on game found it a commitment from the creator that prices won’t change by more than 10% or you get a refund.

Alex Radcliffe: And it’s an option program. But it gives us an additional confidence that the creator can’t just change things without offering the refund on the table. And that was partly in response to this. The the uncertainties we were seeing in crowdfunding because of the pandemic.

Brandon Rollins: It makes a lot of sense. So I guess kind of in a different direction. So our question here, what kind of pros and cons you see for first time creators who are thinking of using game found.

Alex Radcliffe: First time creators are a tricky, tricky conversation and pros and cons are the key word there, because I’m a big fan of being transparent with the strengths, but also the areas where game found is a little weaker. And for first line creators, that’s going to be the biggest area where we are potentially weaker. There’s still many reasons to engage in the platform, but I’d also be very mindful meaning effectively Game Fan comes in with, I believe and again our four game plan, take that into account throughout this entire conversation.

Alex Radcliffe: But I believe Game Plan has the best suite of tools compared to any platform out there, just period. And I will die on that hill. I will fight you on it. I’ll go through it, I think is the best platform. But what it doesn’t have is it doesn’t have the longevity and therefore the user base of Kickstarter. Kickstarter has more active users.

Alex Radcliffe: We’re growing quickly. We just crossed a million active users. We have around 2 million have 2 million unique visitors every single month. So we are a very large platform, but we still don’t compare to the scope and scale of Kickstarter. And that means Kickstarter tends to have more drive by traffic versus I think, gain function versus at a higher rate, which is basically short for if you are able to drive an audience to games.

Alex Radcliffe: On if you able to bring an audience because maybe you have a large IP, maybe you already launched, maybe already did seven other projects and you have an audience already box or games, whatever the reason is, maybe your advertising is creating a large advertising budget. You’re able to ratable there. If you have enough of a reason why people are checking out your project, I believe Game fan will convert at a higher rate than Kickstarter.

Alex Radcliffe: But the flip side of that is if you don’t have those things, if you are a smaller creative something for the first time and you’re hoping for more than drive by traffic, you might have a better time on Kickstarter initially just because of that larger user base. If you don’t have the tools to drive the audience yourself and so that’s always a tricky conversation where with first time creators, I like to have more nuanced conversations about what their plans are.

Alex Radcliffe: Sure, you’re a first time creator, but what is the draw of your project is to drive your project you’re working with? A large IP still may well be a great fit for game found, and a big part of it as well is, especially with the growth of the industry and the way things are shifting Game around is capturing a larger segment of the market every single year.

Alex Radcliffe: So you want to look at the strengths of launching and getting found is you’re launching on the platform that I do believe. I believe that the vast majority of tabletop crafting will be on game found over the next five years. I think we’ve done a credible job growing where we are and things only continue to grow and we are continuously putting time, effort and energy into a dedicated sector.

Alex Radcliffe: We are dedicated towards the needs of tabletop crafting that is our entire audience. And so we’re able to focus on that. And so I think that every time you launch a project, you are building an audience on that platform. I think jumping in on game found now as it continues to grow, as it continues to be the default place means you don’t have to wrestle with a decision through years now about whether to move or not.

Alex Radcliffe: You started there and you’re growing there. But again, I think there are mindfulness aspects. I always want to be very clear with the creator when it when I’m confident that game found the right choice, which does happen when I am confident Game Hunt’s the wrong choice, which also happens. And then when I’m just unsure and frankly, it’s your risk to take like we’d love to have on the platform, but I don’t want to.

Alex Radcliffe: I never want to sell someone on a solution that they don’t need.

Brandon Rollins: Yeah, absolutely. Ideally, we try and take the same approach here. It’s like if you if you go signing a big deal with somebody and it’s not actually going to work and it doesn’t like every everybody ends up losing as a result of it. So it’s better to kind of act as like a matchmaker. I think the one interesting thing about crowdfunding, it’s like you you do make an interesting point that is easier to get discovered organically on Kickstarter.

Brandon Rollins: Now that might very well change as more and more people start to just check game found for like board game specific news that I think that is already happening to some extent already. And like the calculus could be totally different for a first time or three or four years from now.

Alex Radcliffe: Yeah, very much. I think I think it is. I think we’re talking three or four years from now. I think it’ll generally be the right choice. I mean, it’s not impossible to predict the future, but I we are just growing in a large space and it’s becoming a big part of it is where do people go to find the board games, if you will?

Alex Radcliffe: Naturally I commit to game found. Is that where they understand where it is or are they still just Kickstarter users first and foremost? And again, that conversation is going to change every single year. Consistently. For right now, I just want to be equally mindful of our strengths as I am of our weaknesses.

Brandon Rollins: And that my With that in mind, how do the fees for games on compare to costs on other platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo?

Alex Radcliffe: So I don’t have the fees and structures for everything offhand, but I will say that we have the same rates as Kickstarter. So, you know, 5% of what you raise on the platform is crowdfunding then, plus of course, payment processing fees, which I believe are about par. And then and then so this is what passes a crowdfunding, which compared to game found compared to Kickstarter, we are at the same general area.

Alex Radcliffe: And then there’s the pledge manager, which I think I mean, coach manages 5% across the board, but it’s only on what you raise through the platform. And that’s what’s trickier to compare. Like so for example, this is in fact as one example, backer charges a larger percentage, but they also charge on everything you brought in from Kickstarter as well.

Alex Radcliffe: So they’re charging on the initial raise. And so usually and we usually we usually tell creators, okay, we’ll work with you on whatever, but I believe usually our fees are once you do the full math and our fees are equitable or less than that, yet we try not to be more. Every platform can have its own fees and there’s like seven of the pledge managers and whatnot.

Alex Radcliffe: So it’s hard to compare against all of them. But our goal is to be our goal is always to be competitive, you know, to to be offering, you know, someone else is charging much less. We want it to be very clear that bringing much less to the table, we don’t want to be perceived as the expense of crowdfunding platform.

Alex Radcliffe: We want to be either reasonably priced or cheaper.

Brandon Rollins: MM Yeah, I think that makes sense to me. And I also think it’s worthwhile to remind people if you’ve like, if you’ve never done a crowdfunding campaign before, there is a 3% plus whatever amount per pledge that is charged by credit card companies and they are set by credit card companies. And that’s not something like even though the payment looks like it’s going to kickstart, looks like it’s going to gain pound, it’s actually going to Visa, MasterCard, American Express, all these other folks that like actually set that charge limit.

Alex Radcliffe: Perceptually, I see a lot of people who think that Kickstarter charges 10%, and that’s because they’re getting charged around 8%, 5% for the platform and 3% from the fees. So like, it looks like, oh, yeah, Kickstarter takes 10%. No, it takes 8% and only 5%. Really?

Brandon Rollins: Mm hmm. Yeah, that’s about right. It’s like if there’s something weird, it’s like $0.29 plus 2.9% of a credit card or something. It’s like, depending on the price of your product, they can look like Kickstarter is taking nine and a half percent. Sometimes it can just look like a smidge over 8%. That’s it’s weird because like when you go, look this stuff up online, people are like 10%.

Brandon Rollins: It’s not the right answer. Yeah. Anyway, so what additional support for resources this game can offer to help creators succeed, particularly when it comes to like marketing.

Alex Radcliffe: So marketing is going to be a big one often, but I’d say in general we have we have dedicated people available to help. Any time you’re always talking to a live person, we have a support team, you know that it’s you usually have a direct rep depending on your campaign or you have a team you can reach out to.

Alex Radcliffe: In marketing, we have an entire marketing team that you can choose to utilize or not at your discretion, whatever you, whatever you prefer, whatever your preference is. But we’re there to help you run your ads and manage your ad spend and basically take the expertise we’ve developed across running. You know, dozens of million dollar campaigns and applying that towards the success of your campaign.

Alex Radcliffe: If you have your own personal marketing team that works for you that you’ve enjoyed using and you like, great, you can use them to you can work in tandem with a marketing team without a marketing team or exclusive to the marketing team. Our goal is to be a resource to you at all times. We are. We are very motivated by the success of the product on the platform.

Alex Radcliffe: Our interests inherently align with those of our creators. I mean, if we’re trying to grow our crowdfunding space, it’s in our best interest as all of our projects do incredibly well. And so we definitely chase that incredibly well as much as we possibly can.

Brandon Rollins: Aside from that, can you also talk a little bit more about the pledge manager? What kind of features does it have?

Alex Radcliffe: So the pledge manager is interesting because it’s a fascinating evolution because at one point it’s our bread and butter, but then at one point and the pledge manager for the longest time was free, we offered as a free service. The tricky part is once we pivoted to adding crowd funding, coffee was a paid service. We started putting all our time, effort and attention into crowdfunding because that’s what was paying for the employees effectively was this.

Alex Radcliffe: The pledge manager started to get left by the side is the wrong terminology, but it was less prioritized. And so eventually we decided that the part of the solution to that was we made the place manager have fees built in as well. And then we put our time after an attention to continuously making sure that there’s more service, more attention, you know, more service, more absence, more features there.

Alex Radcliffe: But as far as the pledge manager, the first the most basic thing is going to have is going to have I mean, I mean, this is like there’s so many things to get into. I’m going to focus on certain ones, but it’s going to manage manage your budget. So you got be able to input all your pledges, track everything they’re run everything, they’re insurable, getting what they need, pricing out, shipping, using our shipping calculators and different ways to be able to manage that shipping process to ensure that people are paying for their add ons.

Alex Radcliffe: A big part of it in place management in general is the use of having add ons. You may have have new things in the new place. Levels are new add ons that weren’t even there in your company campaign, and that’s all going to be built in there, of course, of using us as a crafting service. Porting it over is going to be significantly easier and less work than Kickstarter, but the way we can manage that for you, we recently added some other features that are been so highly sought after in crowdfunding to the pledge manager.

Alex Radcliffe: So if you want to pay in PayPal the payback check, if after paying in the paper on the pledge manager is there yet, I know we’re looking at I don’t know if it was added yet, but stretch pay was out as well. A ton of payment features. We have a lot of localization and payment features. I think we have the platform with the most payment features out there.

Alex Radcliffe: One thing that people don’t often realize is there’s a lot of countries that credit card is not the default way of having, and we’ve really added a lot of local payments across the world. And it might be 1% of your backers and 1% of your backers, but you do that three or four times and you have an additional 4% of reach for your crowdfunding that you didn’t have in another platform.

Alex Radcliffe: And we’ve had a ton of those, a ton of local payment methods that are very specific, but have communities, have audiences that are backing and are using these payment features. We have Apple Pay, we have Google Pay, We have a lot of a lot of ways to try to lower the barrier to entry as much as possible. Plus, of course, there’s I mean, it’s a ton of things is once you use our pledge manager if used for crowdfunding as well, you’ll you’ll be all your people all your backers who use this even pledge manager will be notified when you start new campaigns.

Alex Radcliffe: There’s a lot of that as well is there’s a lot of a lot of things going on to help you making managing your project better. We have a analytics dashboard set up so you can just track what’s going on, both doing crowdfunding and Pledge Manager. Yeah.

Brandon Rollins: Yeah. Plus all the additional benefits that just come with pledge managers in general. Easy surveys, of course, the ability to cross-sell on upsell, like all that stuff. That doesn’t really work well with crowdfunding, but those like really useful for that transition into e-commerce and perhaps even retail distribution after the fact. So with that in mind, what comes next for Game Pound.

Alex Radcliffe: Next the game found so so we haven’t heavily gotten into this, but we have we are constantly improving everything we do. We’re constantly improving our pledge manager, our constant improving crowdfunding or improving our marketing. If we do something, we want to be the best at it in general. But we’re also looking past that. We’re looking into what the ecosystem is and we think the next pivot for the forecasting in general is treating it like an ongoing e-commerce store.

Alex Radcliffe: To a degree, this has been in game pounds submissions since the very beginning, since when they started crowdfunding, but almost treating it like a essential hub, like a steam database or like like a steam store or epic games store. But it’s more than just crowdfunding, but also e-commerce in general. And so we are looking into that as a continued, you know, next step of the platform, like, hey, you know, he sat there and you have your campaign and you have all that audio of your campaign that was on crowdfunding did incredibly well.

Alex Radcliffe: Then you had eight months of the pledge manager, then you finally shipped Why waste all that? So why waste all that presence? Why not also continue to sell that game on the store as an e-commerce platform? And so we’re looking at that next evolution of crowdfunding, of having a having a hub, a hub for board games that is a central place, not that dissimilar from a board game store except us, the creator responsible.

Alex Radcliffe: We’re not selling and buying your products and selling that external retailer. We’re giving you an opportunity to connect with people continuously and not just doing a certain phase of your product lifecycle.

Brandon Rollins: Yeah, that that makes a lot of sense. I mean, people already kind of treat crowdfunding like a store in a way anyway, especially in board games because it’s like kind of a de-facto publisher is not quite the right word, but it’s like it’s taking the place of a lot of traditional publishing functions in some ways. So it’s interesting that nobody is actually trying to marry that with the actual distribution and e-commerce arm of it.

Brandon Rollins: It’s like you set up ecommerce and then like the literal only thing left is like order fulfillment. You like have got the entire process start to finish figured out pretty much.

Alex Radcliffe: Yeah, yeah. There’s a lot, there’s a lot of stuff going on there. And then that management as well, when they even talk about the whole I should mention this earlier, I think the what makes game fans stand out is like we have full on bat handling, you know in general for crowdfunding for that’s huge. It takes a lot of the burden off of creators to try to take care of a whole bunch of stuff.

Alex Radcliffe: It’s very hard to learn on the sand and we just process it for you as a marketplace. We are marketplace to recognize as a marketplace in the EU. And so like that means we can take care of all of that for you. Let’s put all that forth. So the crowdfunding for the place manager and possibly for whatever e-commerce steps happen next.

Brandon Rollins: I don’t want to let that one slip by. This is like really important actually, because Kickstarter and I think most of the other platforms, they don’t actually do this like maybe the pledge managers do, but like definitely the crowdfunding platforms don’t. They don’t account for the VAT or anything like that. You have to figure that out. Customs same thing.

Brandon Rollins: It’s like you can use software avalanche, a tax jar to kind of manage this stuff, but that is that’s another software to get in the mix that someone else to pay. That’s like that’s more software, more complicated stuff. It’s like having another system to handle that for you. Huge, huge timesaver.

Alex Radcliffe: Yeah, it’s a big deal. We’re very, very proud of. It’s been part of the part of it we’ve done since the beginning. Yeah.

Brandon Rollins: So one last question for you, and that is if there’s one message you’d like potential creators to take away from this interview, what would it be?

Alex Radcliffe: Whoo! Ooh, that’s a good one. The easy thing to say is huge game fan. This is insane. But I let’s, let’s be trying to be a bit more nuanced than that, I think. I think crowdfunding is still growing. We’re ten years into board game crowdfunding and it’s still growing and still evolving and it’s still constantly changing. You do have to make sure to find the solution that’s right for you and this is not right for you is going to be a wide, wide series of questions of the audience, the type of game it is.

Alex Radcliffe: You know, who that game, what type of audience there is for that game. How expensive is that game? What are your long term plans for the space? I think the biggest thing that I would caution any critic to take away from this, which is not really the focus of where we were, but I think it’s a big focus is know what you’re getting yourself into.

Alex Radcliffe: Crowdfunding is is very tricky because you’re effectively getting a payment upfront for a whole lot of work over the next year or two years, whatever it is. And it’s always tricky to balance that. And so you want to make sure you’re set up for success as much as possible. And that means, well, more than just choosing the right crowdfunding platform, it means choosing the right partners, things like people in the space, getting advice to understand what the actual things are.

Alex Radcliffe: Don’t sign up for something that seems like a good idea and it’s too late before you find out it’s not. And part of that part of that is choosing the right platform. And so that and I’ll say use game found but are only part of the messaging.

Brandon Rollins: Mm hmm. I feel like a lot of a lot of what crowdfunding has always been pitched at as as an entire industry has been like, all right, looks like fund the dream. That’s the idea In reality, it’s more like it’s a product validation machine. You do less work than the traditional business would have to do to make a thing.

Brandon Rollins: You don’t have to do the manufacturing yet, but you have to, like, prototype it and get a good. And in order to succeed, the idea has to be like valid enough to get a critical mass of people behind it. And it’s like that’s still a huge amount of work is still starting up an entire business. It just means that you get the money one step earlier and you get to mitigate just a little risk.

Brandon Rollins: I feel like that somewhat gets buried. So knowing what you’re getting into I think is definitely good advice.

Alex Radcliffe: Yeah, it’s a lot. It’s a it’s a lot. It’s a very fun space to be in, but a space you have to work hard to be in.

Brandon Rollins: I completely agree. Now, at this point in the interview, I will say that anybody who wants to learn more about game down, I’ve got all the links. They’re all down there in the description game found website game found dot com. I mean that’s right as a matter of game found that yeah yeah if game found dot com as far as all the social media that we’ll all be down there in the description and really all I have left to say at this point is thank you very much for your time Alex, I really appreciate it.

Alex Radcliffe: Thanks for having me.

Brandon Rollins: Thanks for watching this interview. I appreciate it. I knew that Alex game found us, too. Details on both our companies are in the description. And just in case you missed the name earlier, my name is Brandon here on behalf of full seller, if you need help shipping your orders, go to fulfill right dot com and request the quote we’ve shipped for thousands of e-commerce companies before and we’re happy to help you to the quote doesn’t cost a thing.

Brandon Rollins: So if nothing else you get some good information about pricing link in the description. Now if you enjoyed this video, please take a moment to like and subscribe. Don’t forget to slap some postage on that bell so we can expect ship New video. See us soon as they drop. Last but not least, if you have any questions, leave a comment below.

Brandon Rollins: I will personally do my very best to answer as many as I can. Thank you for watching.