Whatās the secret to a successful launch?
I just wrapped up a launch (selling ONE $197 product) over the last week or soā¦
And in this blog, Iām going to pull back the curtain and show you exactly how I did it.Ā
Keep watchingā¦
Hey, Posse! Whatās up? Itās Alex.Ā
Coming at you this week with a super juicy, behind-the-scenes snapshot of how we approach all of our launches over at the Copy Posse.
But before we get into all of that⦠if youāre new to the crew ā welcome!Ā
Here on my blog, youāll get the lowdown on the copywriting, marketing, branding and entrepreneurship tips you need to know to kickass and take names in the digital age.Ā
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Now if you read my blog last week, we talked all about social selling ā and how many brands will utilize their social media platforms to promote their offers HEAVILY from fall through spring each year.Ā
Now, social media is an important aspect of any launchā¦
But like most things in life, itās not as simple as just posting about your new launch a whole lot on Instagramā¦
And then expect to have a smashing success of a launchā¦
No.Ā
Great launches are going to take a little more thoughtful planning than that.Ā
Ever since I started the Copy Posse, I have done 3-4 product launches and promotions each yearā¦Ā
So after doing approximately 12 launches over the past 3 years, weāve found a launch strategy that works pretty well for us ā and thatās what weāre going talk about todayā¦Ā
Specifically, Iām going to take you behind-the-scenes of my most recent product launch ā the 5-Day Posse Eye Brand Voice Challenge.Ā
But before we get into the nitty-gritty, I just want to sayā¦Ā
THIS strategy is not the ONLY strategy.Ā
There are hundreds of variationsĀ of launch strategies you can follow, Iām just sharing my personal experience and what has worked well for my brand.Ā
Cool?
Alright, letās get into it.Ā
Now if youāve been following me for a while then you probably already know that I am a HUGE BELIEVER in “Attraction Marketingā.Ā
Iāve spent most of my time over the last few years creating content and building my list and audience organicallyā¦
I donāt do a lot of classic direct-response marketing. I donāt spend tens of thousands of dollars on paid ads or get tons of affiliates to promote my stuffā¦
Not saying thereās anything wrong with any of that ā itās just not my styleā¦Ā
And if youāre a small business or just getting started, buying traffic can also be pretty expensive.
Which is exactly why I went theĀ content marketing route and spent my time nurturing and growing my audience with high-value content and then promoting new products and offers to themā¦
And for us, that means we start seeding our product MONTHS (yes months!) in advance.Ā
Which brings us to the first step of my launch strategy ā seeding the product.Ā
1. Seed The ProductĀ
Attraction marketing means your customers are compelled ā or attracted ā to buy your product or service WITHOUT being pushed or coerced to do so.
And one of the ways we can accomplish this is by dropping subtle hints of the benefits of our product wayyyyyyyyyy before mentioning the actual product or service at all.Ā
We do this, so that by the time our launch does come around, our audience already knows the importance of whatever it is weāre sellingā¦.
Theyāre already excited about the possibilities. And in many cases, they are SUPER READY to buy.Ā
For example, we didnāt officially launch the Posse Eye Challenge until November 7th.
But we started posting on about the power of a Brand Voice on our social media page in early Septemberā¦
So we spent the better part of TWO MONTHS doing āprep workā to get our audience educated, excited, and primed to buy.
Again we did all of this without making a single mention that we would be later offering a program to help our audience do this.Ā
So step 1 is a big one ā educate your audience, seed the importance of your product, and do the prep work.Ā
Then once your launch date gets closer, you move to step #2⦠tease whatās coming.Ā
2. Announce Something Is Coming
Okay⦠so up until this point, you have been VERY SUBTLY educating on the importance of whatever it is youāre about to promote.
But now itās time to be much less subtle.Ā
About 3-7 days before we start promoting a new product, we doa little teaser of whatās comingā¦Ā
The goal here is very much: to communicate something exciting is coming and hereās why itās so epic.Ā
The goal here is to BUILD ANTICIPATION.
Remember, youāve been educating them on the importance of this for MONTHS.Ā
This teaser should give your community a feeling of:
āFinally!!! We have been waiting for this!!!!ā
This is also when Iāll start to email my list and run some paid adsā¦Ā
So weāve now moved into an Omnichannel Marketing Strategy ā weāre sending our message through social media AND through email ā to increase the likelihood that my audience will see what I have to say.Ā
For our latest launch, we posted on social media and sent out emails to my list about 3 days before our launch officially startedā¦.Ā
Remember, you donāt want to give awayĀ too many details of your offer yet ā youāre just getting people excited so they COME BACK on launch day.Ā
If youāve seeded the importance of the product well enough, then you should have A LOT of excited people on your hands.
And that (finally) brings us to LAUNCH DAY!Ā
3. 7-Day PromotionĀ
I like to do a 7-day promotion on all my product launches ā but you could do longer or shorter, itās really up to you.
Hereās what my promotions look like:
- Daily email to my list promoting the offerā¦
- Posting 2x/day on social media promoting the offer with user-generated content, videos and carouselsā¦
- And running paid ads that promote the offer.Ā
I know, I know ā that sounds like a lot.Ā
But honestly, running paid ads is totally optional (I didnāt start running ads until last year! I had tons of successful launches without running any ads at all).
And I already post on social media twice a day.Ā
So really ā the only thing I kick in high gear during my launches is emailing my list.Ā
I go from emailing twice a week to emailing them every single day ā for 7 days. And I cannot stress the importance of this enough.Ā
EMAIL IS IRREPLACEABLE IN LAUNCHES.Ā
I donāt care how big your social media following isā¦.Ā
If you havenāt built an email list from that community, then you are going to have a hard time monetizing it.
Period.
For every single launch Iāve ever done, the majority of my revenue has come from EMAILS.Ā
NOT from my social media links, NOT from my ads, from EMAIL.Ā
From my recent product launch ā the Posse Eye Brand Voice Challenge, well over 50% of revenue came from email, 30% from organic social media, and 20% from ads:
So if you take ANYTHING from this blog, let it be thisā¦
Start your email list now ā even if you have nothing to sell.Ā
Start your list, start nurturing them, and build your community.Ā
Then when it comes time to sell or promote or launch something⦠youāre going to have a much easier time with it.
But youāre not done yet!Ā
The final component of all my launches isā¦Ā
4. Step Up Customer SupportĀ
Iām a big believer that a community that feels seen and heard is a community that stays loyal and continues to buy.Ā
Thatās why I do my absolute BEST to interact with every single comment, message, and email I getā¦Ā
And during launch time, this is EVEN MORE important.
You really need to step up your customer support and make sure you answer every single question that comes your way about the product or service.Ā
And remember ā time is of the essence when it comes to customer objections.Ā
The longer it takes you to respond, the more time they have to convince themselves they donāt need it.Ā
So if you normally check your messages once a day⦠step it up to twice or even 3x a day during your launches.Ā
You want to get people the answers theyāre looking for ASAP so you can crush their objections and chat with them about any other concerns they might have.Ā
The same goes after my customers purchase as well.Ā
My community groups are POPPIN’ and thatās because my team and I are in there ALL THE TIME answering questions and offering support.
And there you have it!Ā
- Step 1 ā Seed the importance of your product
- Step 2 ā Tease whatās coming
- Step 3 ā Heavily promote with omnichannel marketing for 7 days
- Step 4 ā Step up customer support
I hope you found this behind-the-scenes insight helpful.Ā
Until next time, Iām Alex. Ciao for now!