So, your digital product is done. And you are ready to plan your online product launch. What now?
First things first. Celebrate your work. You did something few people do. You finished a big project and are ready to start selling your work to the world. That’s huge. Honor yourself.
And now let’s look at 5 steps to execute on a simple online product launch. Working through these steps will truly honor the time and effort you’ve invested by being sure it reaches as many people as possible, as soon as possible. Because a product launch is an opportunity to get the sales machine moving and receive compensation for all of your hard work.
(To receive a step-by-step planning guide to planning your launch, check out the Digital Product Launch Planner.)
Product Launch Step #1 – A Sales Page
The absolute first thing you want to do is create a sales page on your website to sell your product. This page explains why someone might need or want your product, what the product includes, what format it is in, and provides a clear call to action asking your reader to make the investment.
This page ends with an “add to cart” button that enables someone to buy your product.
This page’s only job is to sell your product, so make sure every word you write serves that purpose. No more and no less than what is needed to close the sale. And no links, except for the product-specific link to your cart.
Product Launch Step #2 – Decide On a Special, Time-Sensitive Offer to Get Initial Sales
Your initial sales during the launch of your product will be much higher if there is a time-sensitive offer. (This is an optional step, but an important one if you truly want to run a product launch and not simply add the product to your catalog.)
You have two basic options:
- Discount the price (a 5o% discount is common for a digital product).
- Add a bonus, such as time with you or a Q&A call or an extra component or product. (Once you have a digital product catalog, you can use other products as bonuses.)
You can add bonuses and discount the price, if you really want to encourage sales.
The most important thing is that your special offer is something your audience will respond to. When it doubt, discount. Most people like a good deal.
Feature your special offer prominently on your sales page and in your marketing copy around the launch.
Product Launch Step #3 – Write and Send Communications About Your Offer
If you’ve decided to make a time-sensitive offer, you’ll want to promote it heavily to your potential customers, which will typically be your email list and social media following. A typical series of communications looks like this:
- Pre-launch communications to build anticipation and prepare your audience about the upcoming product offer. Most often, these should focus on the problem to be solved by your product, and benefits of receiving your product.
- Initial announcement about the new product and special offer.
- Follow-up messages to answer questions about the product or special offer.
- If time allows, additional messages about the benefits of your product. Client testimonials or success stories work perfectly here.
- One day left (sent the day before the special offer expires).
- Last day (if via email, send 2 messages on the last day).
This might seem like a lot of communication. And it is! But it potentially takes several exposures for your customers to think about acting on your offer, especially if they are via social media.
As an aside, you’ll see much better conversion via email, which is why the core part of any online marketing strategy is to create an opt-in and an email list. You’ll benefit from it greatly come launch time.
Product Launch Step #4 – Take Down Your Special Offer
Once the time expires on your special offer, update the sales page to remove any mention of it and update the price if necessary. Now the product can go into your product catalog.
It’s very likely that you’ll receive some private messages from people who, for whatever reason, missed the deadline. Decide how you want to handle these. My go-to approach is to error on the side of being generous, especially when it comes to a discount.
Product Launch Step #5 – Conduct a Launch Review
After all of this marketing work, you’ll probably be ready to celebrate with a few glasses of wine and think about anything other than marketing your product. It’s well-deserved and you should totally do it!
However, there is one more thing that will help you learn from this launch and do even better next time, and that’s a launch review. Basically, you want to look at all of your stats around the launch, including page views, email open rates, email click-through rates, and total sales numbers.
Consider whether there is anything you wish you had done but didn’t. Or anything that didn’t work out as you expected.
I also like to look at the number of sales each day. It’s so easy to forget how slow the first day can feel and that most of the sales typically come on the last day. Being able to look back on your numbers from previous launches will help you adjust based on what’s happening inside future launches, or trust that you are on the right track.
>>Learn more about launch sales
To learn more about planning your launch, check out the Digital Product Launch Planner. You’ll learn exactly how to structure your offer to kick-start the selling process, how to communicate with your audience about your offer, and what to do before, during, and after your launch. The Guide also includes a planning checklist and launch review template, so you can get started planning your launch right away!
Click here to learn more about the Digital Product Launch Planner