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With a whopping 84 x Return on Investment, Carvera CNC’s $1.7 million campaign turned one founder’s idea for a better CNC machine into what is now a 60-person company.
When Josh Zhang first came to YG his idea was simple, he wanted to make CNC machining as accessible as 3D printing. With that brief and a relatively small marketing budget of $20,000 we built a complete marketing campaign from scratch to turn his vision into the most funded standalone CNC campaign ever in crowdfunding history.
1. The challenge
CNC machines, just like 3D printers, laser cutters, and other fabrication tools don’t show what they are capable of until you actually make something with them. We realized that in order to convince backers to pledge thousands of dollars for an unknown machine and brand, we needed to inspire them with what this machine could do for them.
2. Using Meta ads to find the killer application
The first thing we did was test different creatives and use cases through Meta (Facebook & Instagram) ads. We used simple videos of the machine in action, making a wide variety of items, from robots to furniture to electronics. Through our proprietary A/B testing system, we quickly learned that making PCBs (printed circuit boards) deeply resonated with audiences online. Our top-performing ad had a Cost Per Lead (CPL) of just $0.20, compared to the average $2.5. Armed with that knowledge, we produced more creatives focused on this use case to fuel the remainder of the digital marketing campaign without boring audiences with the same creative.
3. Building trust through reviews and influencers
When you’re asking someone to back a project on Kickstarter, you’re asking them to take a leap of faith in the creator and the product. To build trust, especially with higher-priced items, we always encourage creators to have samples ready to be reviewed by experts. We put together an extensive list of trusted voices in the niche of the project, and crafted irresistible outreach emails. Once we had top-tier influencers, like MAKE Magazine and Naomi Wu secured, we used these reviews to build trust with potential backers. Pro tip: by embedding a review video early in the Kickstarter campaign page, you signal that everything else a person is reading on the page is trustworthy!
5. The result
We raised over $409,000 in the first few minutes of launching the campaign, and went on to create the most-funded campaign ever for a standalone CNC machine in all of Kickstarter’s history! We turned an initial investment of $20,000 in advertising budget in a $1.7m campaign, providing a ROI of 84, which has ensured the creator could launch his company and now has over 60 full-time employees.
" Our target was $1 million, but the YG team actually helped our project reach $1.7 million. We will definitely continue working with YG and strongly recommend YG to anyone looking for help with any aspect of their campaign. "
Josh Zhang
CEO Makera
Key Takeaways:
- Use ads to A/B test which use cases resonate most with your future backers
- Make sure you have enough ad creatives to last you through the entire campaign
- Find reviewers and influencers in your niche to build trust