A-Z Launches: Everything you need to know for a stress-free launch

Launches are a lot.

In every sense of the word. They can be complicated, convoluted, and soul-sapping. Or they can be wildly profitable, revenue-building machines.

To the uninitiated, the sheer number of moving parts can be mind-boggling. But, every one of those moving parts represents both an opportunity and a potential pothole.

A-Z Launches is a glossary of marketing terms to help you make sense of launches so you can cash in and avoid a launch catastrophe.

P.S. Entries in purple are things you should be considering as you plan your next launch!

A/B Testing

When you test two variations of headlines, subject lines, landing pages, ads etc. against each other to see which one converts the best. Never make assumptions about what’s going to work and what’s not!

Ads

Ads are essential for each segment of your launch.

First, you'll use ads to attract people to your webinar, then ads to drive sales once the cart-open period has begun, and then cart close ads during the final stretch. You’ll need ad copy, images, and someone to set up each ad.

Affiliates

An affiliate is someone who earns a commission by promoting your products. Affiliates are a great way to boost your reach. You can ask past students/members or influencers to promote your program in exchange for a commission on each sale. Normally, you’d provide images, copy, and maybe even templates for your affiliates to use.

Automations

Automations are every business owner’s best friend, but in a launch, they’re your lifeline. With automations, you invest the time in setup upfront, then sit back and reap the rewards so you aren’t manually trying to tag webinar attendees, or moving each registrant one by one into your sales sequence. If Zapier isn’t your best friend yet, it soon will be.

Ability

Does your target audience have the ability to pay your listed price?

Benefits

What are people walking away with when they buy your product or program? We’re not talking about the different bells and whistles your offer has, but rather, the kind of impact your offer will have.

People don’t want a four-part money management system; they want the freedom to live their best life, buy their kids whatever they want, and take exotic holidays.

Bonuses

What bonuses are you offering? Think of bonuses as sweetening the deal. Consider including Fast-Action Bonuses (aka bonuses that expire if you don’t buy the offer within a set time period).

Bounce Rate

The percentage of people who pop onto your landing page or site and then leave without checking any other pages out. In a launch, your bounce rate is inversely proportional to your conversion rate.

Budget

Is your budget for your launch realistic? Always put aside at least 30% more than you think you’re going to need. If you don’t end up using it, great, more money in the bank. If you do end up needing it, at least you weren’t caught with your pants down.

Call-to-Action

The one action you want a lead to take at each stage, e.g. register for your webinar or click through to your sales page. Make it clear, catchy, and impossible to miss.

Cart Close

The final push before you stop accepting sales. The duration of the Cart Close period varies from launch strategy to strategy, but usually refers to the last 48 hours before you stop accepting sales.

Conversion

The action you want your audience to take. A campaign is made up of multiple conversions. For example, signing up your lead magnet, registering for your webinar, clicking through to your sales page, and finally purchasing your offer.

Marketers often position conversion as an event. It isn’t. Conversion is a process. And it begins long before a prospect is hovering over a Buy button. You need to start sowing the seeds for a successful sale early.

We use a three-pronged approach that combines data and your competitive advantage with a healthy dollop of personality to craft copy that cuts through the noise, speaks to your audience’s deepest struggles, and positions you as the solution.

Conversion Rate

The proportion of people who’ve seen your emails/ads/sales page/landing page/webinar and then gone on to take the desired action.

Conversion Rate Optimization

Fine-tuning your sales pages, landing pages, ads, and other launch assets to maximize conversion.

Copywriting

The art and science of crafting copy that taps into psychology, decision science, and behavioural economics to drive people towards a purchase. Copywriting is the foundation of conversion.

Cost Per Acquisition

The total cost of finding a lead and turning them into a paying customer.

CTR

Or click-through-rate. The proportion of people who’ve seen your ads /emails/landing page and then clicked the link.

Current Behavior

Where is your customer at right now? What behavior needs to change for them to purchase your program?

Debrief

Set aside time post-launch to go over all the stats, as well as your systems and processes. This is easily the most important step to ensure that your next launch does even better.

Decision Fatigue

When your prospect is overwhelmed by the number of options presented. Keep it simple and stick to one campaign goal, otherwise you risk leading your prospects into that dark place between analysis paralysis and decision fatigue.

Demand

Does your offer speak to your audience’s core demands/needs?

Downsell

A lower-priced lite offer to pitch to customers who couldn’t buy your full offer.

Email Sequences

An email sequence is a set of automated emails sent out to your list designed to nudge your customer from one point in their journey to the next.

A typical launch includes the following sequences:

• Pre-Launch

• Cart Open

• Main Launch Sequence

• Cart Close

Emotion

Also known as Empathy Marketing. This is the art of tapping into the emotional state of your target audience and making them feel heard, aligning your offers with their specific needs, and engaging with them in an authentic way.

Evergreen

An evergreen sales funnel is just your regular sales funnel running on autopilot. It runs in the background and strategically sells your courses everyday, all year-round, to your audience. Plus side: you don’t have to do any daily maintenance!

Fast-Action Bonus

Fast-Action Bonuses are offers only available to people who buy within a set time period. For example, if you’re doing live webinars, then a bonus that’s only available till the end of the webinar is a Fast-Action Bonus. They’re a great way to build urgency.

Framing

How are you presenting purchasing decisions? People are going to react differently depending on how you’ve framed the choice. $1 a day feels more palatable than $365/year. It’s why the whole “it’s cheaper than your daily latte” line is so popular.

Friction

Friction kills conversion. Watch out for inefficiencies that irritate the customer and slow down (or put a stop to) the buying process. Examples include things like glitchy payment systems, poor layouts, incomplete information, slow responses to inquiries, poor customer service, etc.

Funnel

A sales funnel is the marketing jargon for the journey potential customers go through on their way to purchase.

Goals

SMART goals are a cliche, but they really do matter. Set time out as you’re planning your launch and map out goals that are Specific, Measureable, Actionable, Realistic, and Timely.

Hero

An image or a video that lets people see themselves using your offer. Think of it as a quick peek into their future.