What's Working In Launching In 2024
What’s actually working right now in launching in 2024?
With so many of my clients in the midst of launching or planning out their next launch, this is a hot topic of conversation in my world.
And as someone with a launch model, who launches multiple times per year and has had hundreds of women through her group programs over the last 8+ years (many of whom I support to launch their own courses and programs) – I’ve seen how launching has changed over the years.
So in today’s episode of the Feminine Fire Podcast I’m going to share what you need to know about what’s working right now in 2024 when it comes to launching your online courses and group programs.
I’m going to break it up into the three stages of launch – pre-sale, pre-launch and open cart.
This episode will be particularly relevant for you if you’re planning a launch right now – so let’s get into it.
The Pre Sale Phase
I’m a BIG fan of pre-selling an offer behind the scenes early so you go into your launch with people already signed up. It takes the pressure off and there’s just something so easeful knowing that the first sale (or sales) have already happened before you even open the doors.
One of the biggest changes I’ve seen in launching is the amount of time and nurturing people need on the path to buying and signing up for a program.
So the earlier you get in with making those first sales, the better.
Of course, you can still have those moments where dream clients will find you one day, binge all your content and sign up the next.
BUT for the most part – people need more time and nurturing, and I believe this is due to a number of factors.
Once upon a time, back before covid, there were less people in online business. I remember having to tell people what Zoom was before our first session. It sounds wild now because everyone knows Zoom, but back then it just wasn’t a thing. But now it is and online business is BOOMING, which is GREAT! We love this.
But it also means…
People are more discerning than ever before because there are more options out there and people are taking their time to do their research and feel into whether a course or program is for them.
Some people also may have been burnt by online courses and programs in the past, so there’s less trust out there and as a result people need more nurturing along that customer journey.
People are busier than ever before, the online space is noisier than ever before, attention spans are only getting shorter and the number of times people need to see a marketing message before they buy is getting bigger.
And I don’t share all this to scare you off launching. I share this because I believe there’s a REAL opportunity for online business owners, like you and me, with integrity and heart and soul, who are willing to take the time, put in the effort and nurture those solid relationships with your people so they are confident and ready to buy when you hit the go button on your launch.
Business owners who are putting in the time and the effort to do that relationship building are the ones who are standing out in the online space right now. They are the ones who are pre-selling their offers left right and centre, and making sales as soon as they open the doors.
It is because of the relationships they have built and nurtured over time.
I think so often in a launch or prior to a launch we can very easily get caught up in the whirlwind of lead generation and only focusing on bringing NEW people into our world so we can launch our thing to them, but we don’t want to forget the people who are already in front of you right now. The people you ALREADY have a relationship with.
And that’s what you’re doing when pre-selling your program or course. You are leveraging the relationships with your existing community.
So what’s working when it comes to pre-selling before your launch?
What incentive are you giving your people to act now, sooner rather than later? Is there a pre-sale or early bird price? Is it a program that has limited spots? Can you give them a special bonus for signing up early? The people who are ready to jump in early during the pre-sale phase are going to get the BEST, most juiciest offer from you.
HOW you’re actually going to pre-sell your offer. Is it on socials? Is it via email? Is it a waitlist? Is it a combination? Or something else entirely?
Now of course, the main goal is to actually make sales and get people in the door early BUT even if they don’t buy at this point, just going through the process of inviting people to opt in like this will help you identify your warmest leads and most ideal clients for the offer.
Remember, even if they don’t sign up during the pre-sale phase, people are always watching AND people need to see marketing messages multiple times before they buy and all of this is adding to those numbers.
The Pre-Launch Phase
The pre-launch phase of your launch is your opportunity to:
Grow your community and bring in new qualified leads
Start to educate and nurture your people, and position yourself as the go to person and expert who can support them
AND it’s also when you’re helping them overcome any mindset blocks that may stop them from buying during your launch
You do this via your content – so sharing content across your different platforms that’s all specifically geared towards your launch.
Pre-launch is the time to get hyper focused on the specific topic of your offer – you want to go ALL IN on that.
It’s not the time to get distracted and talk about everything under the sun, you want to be nurturing people down the path towards your offer and focusing on that.
And hear me when I say – you’ll not be annoying people.
Your goal at this point in time is to bring people into your vortex, invite them to lean in and come closer – the RIGHT people for your offer – and the way that we do that's by being SPECIFIC and focused.
And YES, often repeating similar messages and points again and again, and finding ways to talk about the same thing in different ways.
When we look at what is working right now in 2024 – being SPECIFIC is it.
Generic, beige, non-specific messaging and content just doesn’t cut it anymore. If you want to cut through the noise in the online space and STAND OUT amongst a sea of AI robot generated content, being specific is key.
What is the specific problem you help your client solve?
What is the specific outcome or result your clients desire?
How do you specifically help them get there?
This specificity needs to be woven through all your content.
Doing this with your content is how you nurture your community during the pre-launch phase and get them ready to buy from you when you open the doors.
The importance of this phase of your launch cannot be overstated. Successful launches are built on what you do BEFORE a launch, not DURING.
The pre-launch phase is also when you might release a new lead magnet or freebie and host a launch event.
This is how I like to launch and what I recommend to my clients because it’s a really great way to grow your community, bring in new QUALIFIED leads and serve them really really well within a short period of time.
Essentially this strategy gives you the opportunity to collapse that timeline around someone first coming into your world, getting to know you and ultimately buying during your launch.
Particularly if you run a LIVE launch event, people get to be in your energy, have an experience of what it’s like to learn from you and be supported by you and work out quite quickly whether they are an aligned, good fit. It’s really all about building TRUST.
Again, what is working really well right now in this space is being really specific and tangible. What are people practically going to get out of spending this time with you? Or by giving you their email address – what are they going to get in return? How are you making their life easier?
There are lots of resources out there on the internet. There are lots of events and masterclasses and workshops and challenges. Why yours?
The more specific you can be, the more tangible you can be, the more personalised you can be, the more CURRENT you can be, the better.
The fact is – you can ask ChatGPT to give you the 5 steps to do anything, BUT you can’t Google your specific process or your specific strategies or what you’re seeing work right now.
People are wanting the behind the scenes look, the information that you don’t share anywhere else, the real on the ground tangible stuff that’s actually working.
So how can you bring your knowledge and skills and wisdom that you’ve gained from what you’ve learnt as a practitioner and expert in your field AND from your own personal experience and experience supporting your clients together into your pre-launch content and resources and events?
The Open Cart Phase
This is where you’re actively showing up and selling your thing.
One of the biggest changes we’ve seen when it comes to the open cart phase of a launch, once again, has to do with timing.
We are now seeing longer launches and open cart phases.
It used to be typical that you’d see people open the cart in their launch for maybe 2 weeks at the most – but now longer launches are becoming more and more common.
And it’s in response to a couple of things:
People need more time and nurturing to make purchasing decisions and having a longer open cart phase caters to that need in the market.
People want to launch in a way that suits their energy and schedule.
So what’s working right now when it comes to the open cart phase of your launch?
I like to think about this in terms of what’s happening on the front end AND what’s happening on the back end.
On the front end we have everything that people see. This is you showing up and sharing your launch content.
On the back end we have the behind the scenes sales conversations that are happening – whether that’s on sales calls or in DMs or via email.
On the front end, when it comes to your launch content – you need to be specific, personalised, super clear on the problem and solution, and continue to show up and share the same message again and again and again. See a theme coming through here?
Something that's working really well right now is sharing client case studies.
Testimonials and social proof have ALWAYS been important, but client case studies give you the opportunity to take that a layer deeper and really showcase your unique process and HOW you support your clients to achieve their results.
It’s super tangible, clear and specific. It’s speaking directly to their desired outcome. It’s really hitting all those points and then some.
So if there’s one thing you add into your content plan for your next launch, its client case studies. Do the work now to collect the data and information you need from your clients to share some really robust client case studies.
Your launch content is an opportunity to really swirl the energy, bring your people closer to you, invite them in AND give them the opportunity to engage.
Something that I’m really conscious of doing in my launches is opening up those opportunities for engagement so I can see who it is that might be interested or swirling in the vortex and considering joining. Because this is what then allows for more sales conversations to happen on the back end.
During a launch, I’m looking at who is clicking on my emails, who is engaging with my socials content, watching all my Instagram stories – and then I’m following up personally with them.
I recorded a whole podcast episode on this exact strategy.
The fortune really is in the follow up. So make sure you’re tracking those conversations and following up with people. I’ve already shared a few times that people are busy humans with busy lives – they might have already decided to sign up but they’ve got other immediate priorities, they got distracted, they’ve got a million and one other things.
Don’t be afraid to remind people and follow up with them. Particularly if someone has already said yes or opted in for more info.
This is all part of serving and supporting your people. You have to sell to them before you can serve them, and when you start to see sales AS serving, it becomes way easier to show up and launch and sell.
The whole point of your launch is to make sales, so you can’t shy away from sales during your launch.
Stick with it and stay IN the energy of your launch.
I’ve been around the block enough times myself and with clients to know how tempting it can be to check out and start planning the next thing when things feel slow in a launch.
And there WILL likely be a slow point in a launch where sales slow down OR you might not have made as many sales as you thought you would have at that point.
Don’t get disheartened, don’t check out.
Stay IN the energy of your launch.
This is the time to stick to the plan, maybe get a bit creative in how you’re showing up and sharing your message, swirl some energy, reach out and follow up with your leads. You’ve got this!!
And, if you’re planning your next launch, I’ve got you!
Download Your FREE Copy of Your Group Program Launch Blueprint
My latest freebie where I’m literally sharing ALL my launch secrets.
I’m taking you behind the scenes of a recent 5-figure group program launch and sharing the exact strategy from pre-sale to pre-launch to open cart including my marketing and sales strategy, the exact content I shared, all my launch emails, the DM scripts I used, plus more.
This is an epic resource that you’ll be able to save and use when mapping out your next launch. It’s super detailed, so grab a cuppa and download your free copy at beccuzzillo.com/blueprint
