Building Anticipation: Pre-launch Marketing Strategies To Try Out

Launching - whether it be live or evergreen - can be a lot of work! There are so many moving pieces to coordinate and on top of that you have to be promoting your offer heavily in order for your audience to see it.

Clients are always asking ‘Is there a way to have easy launches?’ and the answer I give is there are definitely ways to have ‘easier’ launches and a lot of it comes down to all the work and marketing efforts you are putting into before you even launch.

So what are some of the strategies and ways that you can use pre-launch to make your audience so hyped up before doors even open?

1/ Have a consistent marketing channel

What I mean by this is that no matter what platform you decide to market on - social media, YouTube, podcast, blogging - you need to be super consistent with it and really learn how to maximise that channel. These days so many people lurk and watch content without even interacting with you.

And one of the things that will build up over time is trust and also your credibility. If people see you talking day in and day out about finances for example they will start to recognise you as the finance person and in their mind you will become a trusted source and authority on that content.

However if you start talking about finance for a few months then don’t post consistently, then start talking about your affiliate marketing company then disappear again for a long period of time then pop up talking about being a PT people will not trust you as someone who they can buy from. It’s not that you can’t have different passions/ businesses but if you are going to weave them together then it has to be consistent and done authentically. Not just randomly chopping and changing.

I know that creating content can for a long long time feel like you’re talking to thin air but it’s part of the process. Just think of some of the big names in the industry - I bet that you can immediately link a topic or subject with their name - something that they’re known for. That’s what we are trying to build here.

Especially in this current climate where it feels like there are so many new business owners, coaches, service providers popping up and offering stuff. The ones that will win are the ones that are consistent and around for the long term.

Building your authority on a topic (or couple of topics) will mean that whenever you launch any connected offers you will find it much easier to do so.

Pick one platform, nail it and then as you’re growing start to branch out to other platforms and build on there so that people do start seeing you in more than one place.

2/ Build your community

Alongside being consistent with your content you also want to be really nurturing and building your community. This could be through daily engagement on your social channels, answering emails that come in from your audience, or responding to reviews of your podcast. Whichever way that your audience reaches out to you, make sure to be taking the time to interact with them.

Make it genuine - as if you were connecting with people in person - be interested in people for them and not just potential sales. Building a base of super fans is one of the most overlooked components of sales. When you have a loyal base of superfans they will come back time and time again to buy whatever you have to offer and they will pass your name on to everyone they know and this is gold dust!

I have two clients who have spent years building free Facebook communities related to their businesses but not direct ‘business group’ pages and when they release new offers they always put it out to these audience first and often get incredible results. I have helped one client create a 10k launch just leveraging her existing audience and another build a 90k annual income on a membership using this strategy as well.

3/ Use a waitlist

I love this strategy when launching! Not only does it test the interest with your audience but it also lets you create some hype around your offer which is a crucial part of launching! Launching is not just the open cart phase - it’s also about all the prep and hype before the cart even opens.

Waitlists can be super simple to set up - you just need a landing page, email sequence and an incentive for people to join the list (think super juicy bonuses or a good ol’ discount). I have clients who only use this strategy when launching and they often sell out their offers without having to do any public announcement about them! Now that is ‘easy’ launching at its best!

4/ Let your lead magnet do the work

This goes back to points 1 and 2 - when you are consistently showing up, when you’re nurturing your audience then you want to be able to lead them somewhere especially if you’re not actively selling anything.

One of the best ways to do this is to create a lead magnet or freebie that is related to what you do and will be of use to your ideal client. If you put some time and effort into this and create something that gives them either a perspective shift or a quick win then they will be even more primed to take the next step with you.

These days lead magnets can be mini courses, video trainings, private podcasts, workbooks…anything you want to create that will be valuable and helpful to your ideal client BUT not so valuable that they don’t need to get support with the next step from you!

Importantly what we want to make sure that we’re doing is not just creating an amazing lead magnet, sending it to them and then nothing. There needs to be a nurture email sequence attached to the lead magnet that continues to warm them up by building the trust in you, your authority, that you understand the issues they are facing and that you have the solution to help them. This is all about priming them to know that you are the go-to for the solution that they’re looking for.

5/ Build your network (and start getting affiliates)

This strategy can at first seem like a lot of effort for not much reward but remember that we are thinking LONG-TERM here! And it’s also one that’s best done a little more slowly and authentically to really work well. 

As you grow your business you will naturally come across other entrepreneurs - if you consciously take time to nurture these relationships then you can start to build a network of potential people that you can either connect with for interviews, guest appearances or you can reach out to become an affiliate marketer for your offer. This is super powerful because as we spoke about before because of the know, like and trust factor that other people have built with their audiences. By connecting with them and working together you are tapping into that source and that will make sales from potential new ‘cold’ leads much easier and have a shorter sales cycle. 

This strategy is not a quick win but if you can start planting the seeds and carefully choosing people who have similar audiences to you but not the same then longer term this will make your launches ‘easier’.

There is no magic pill for easy launches- there is always a level of work involved but if you start to weave some of these strategies in and keep building on them there is a sweet spot in launching where you become known for the thing, people are dying to join the waitlist and find out when your offer is next open and they will jump in as soon as it is!

Don’t skip the building blocks as you grow your online business because they will all lead to greater success down the line. 

Looking for support with creating and managing these launch strategies? Click here to book a call with us and see how we can help you!