This is a LONG overdue post from last year when I launched my online course for influencers, The Blogger Blueprint. I spent months researching, hired coaches, outsourced services and now I’m going to share everything I learned in this little launch series.
Step 1: Make sure you have a great product
First and foremost you need to make sure your digital product isn’t crap. So ask yourself the following:
Is it quality?
Will people want it?
Have people asked for something like this/is there a demand for it?
Does it add value?
Would you pay for this?
Does it solve a problem or improve people’s lives?
When done right, your digital product will check all the boxes. This means it’s a high quality, in demand, problem solving, valuable product that’s worth every penny.
50% of the sale is having a great product that people believe in, the other 50% is having a strong marketing/launch plan. Think about it: what’s the point of a great product if no one knows about? Likewise, what’s the point of a terrible product that everyone knows about? Either of those scenarios is not ideal and will prevent you from creating a successful launch and sustainable business.
Of course it’s impossible to make a perfect product off the bat, even Kylie Jenner has made tweaks to her lip-kits over the years, but the closer you can get to a great product, the better off you’ll be in the long run. It’s much harder to rebrand a crappy product or brand than a good product that’s been transformed into a great product.
Step 2: Make sure people believe in you/your product
Like I said before, it takes more than a great product for people to want to buy it… especially in this day and age when everything is so accessible and there’s an abundance to choose from. How many home workout programs are there? How many Photoshop courses are there? How many Instagram growth eBooks are there? Yes, the online market is saturated, but there’s always room for more.
This doesn’t mean launching an online product is impossible by any means, but it does mean you’re going to have to put a lot of thought and planning into it. In fact, this was the exact reason my first eGuide failed – because I put zero thought into how I was going to execute the launch and get sales.
In order to get people to believe in your or your products you have to build that “know, like, and trust factor.” This looks a little different for everyone depending on the type of brand you have and product you want to create.
For example, maybe you’re launching an online fitness program so for X amount of weeks you release free 5-10 minute workouts as a teaser. From there, people might record themselves doing your workouts and tag you on Instagram.
This is exactly how Melissa Wood Health built her brand. She now has a monthly subscription workout program, fitness props, and a fitness clothing collaboration… and she still offers a 7-day free trail of her program because she knows the importance of building that know, like, and trust factor.
Building trust with an audience or customers takes time. It doesn’t happen overnight, but having an engaged following to start definitely helps. This doesn’t necessarily mean a social media following, it could mean email list subscribers too.
Before you launch any product, I recommend getting people to believe in you and your brand through content, freebies, giveaways, collaborations, etc. before asking them to buy from you.
Step 3: Determine a launch strategy
When are you going to launch and how?
Any day/time for a launch can be argued whether it’s “good” or “bad” but *they* say mid day, mid week is best for any marketing campaign. This means Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday from 11am-2pm would be ideal to launch a product. Honestly, if you’ve made sure you have a great product and people believe in you/your brand then you can pretty much launch whenever you want and have it be a success. However, the more strategic you are and proactive, the better the outcome of your launch will be.
What’s your timeline of execution?
Once you’ve nailed down a day/time for your launch, you want to calculate how much time that gives you to prepare/execute the launch strategy. For example, when I launched The Blogger Blueprint I made a 90-day launch plan. I wanted to prime my audience and get them ready for what was about to come so I made all my content for 90 days around the product I was going to launch.
Will this be a campaign strictly be on social media, email, podcast, digital ads, direct mail?
I didn’t just talk about what I was launching, but I provided value about what would be found in The Blogger Blueprint so people knew exactly what to expect, who it was for, what problems it solved, etc. I had IG lives, giveaways, freebies, newsletters, and blog posts planned about topics like how to grow your Instagram, how to create an aesthetic, how to find your niche, how to get paid to work with brands as an influencer, etc. that were directly related to The Blogger Blueprint.
Will you offer a discount code?
Limited time discount codes always get people to act. Think about it, don’t you go nuts on Black Friday, Mother’s Day, 4th of July, etc.? Most stores provide a discount to celebrate. So what I did to “celebrate” the launch of The Blogger Blueprint was I offered a discount code for the first 2 days. I actually took it one step further and offered The Blogger Blueprint for free PLUS $100 to the first person who purchased the course.
Are you going to upsell people who are interested?
This question only applies if you already have multiple products/offerings. So for example if I wanted to upsell, I could throw in my Pitch Playbook or Lightroom Preset for a percent off. This sweetens the deal and lets people know they’re getting something not normally offered – people love exclusivity and a deal. While they would only be spending $X, they’re now spending more than $X.
What questions do you have about launching a successful digital product? Share below and I’ll answer in part 2!
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