In recent years, we’ve designed and run several product launch strategies in e-commerce that have generated hundreds of thousands of dollars for our clients. Over the years, I’ve seen many different techniques to launch a product, and I’ve had the opportunity to go deep into this topic and figure out what works best. What’s the ideal timing for a launch? How long should the launch process last to get the best results?
Before we start, I just want to clarify the type of product launch I’m talking about here.
Two Scenarios Of Product Launch Strategy
The first approach is that your company maintains a strong brand identity along with its built-in email subscriber list. Your organization prepares to introduce a fresh product along with an event-based launch program. Merely listing your new product on website platforms and sending an email stating “We have a new product” will not be effective. When you establish a business goal, it should offer value to your customers through interesting content and produce earnings that support your company’s financial goals. That’s one approach.
Another option is launching a brand that doesn’t yet exist. In this case, you can use a product launch as a pre-order method to generate cash before the product is even created. This can also apply to any other type of business, not just e-commerce, because the strategy I’ll outline is based on psychology. The key is how you get from the point where a customer doesn’t know about your product to the point where they’re eagerly awaiting the email that gives them access to the product page to make the purchase.
Let me walk you through the process using a working document from a past launch. It’s a simple Google Sheets file with dates, email content, and associated actions that lead to the next part of the strategy. Let’s dive in.
Step 1: The Pre-Pre-Launch Email
The first email Digital Oasis always sends is the pre-pre-launch email. What does that mean? The main goal is to spark customer interest so the real product remains hidden until they want to learn more. I choose to send unclear pictures or ask perplexing questions through emails. I might create a quiz or something interactive that gets them thinking about what’s coming.
This email is short, intriguing, and should leave your customers wondering what the product is without actually telling them. For example, you could link them to a quiz or a short video. The point here is not to give everything away but to create curiosity so they’re eager for more.
Step 2: Complementing Social Media
For each of the first few emails, I recommend posting something related on social media. Your email list serves as a powerful tool that stimulates subscribers to follow your social media profiles and then interact with the content. New audiences discover your brand through the social media posts and had no knowledge of your brand before.
Your goal should be to synchronize your email subscriber pool with your social media audience because this combination enhances public awareness and audience engagement. For the first three emails in your product launch strategy, there should always be an email followed by a related social media post.
Step 3: The Big Announcement (Email #2)
By the second email, it’s time to go a bit deeper. Feel free to adjust the timing to suit your business. So, let’s say the first email goes out on a Sunday. A week later, the second email goes out, and this is when you make the announcement.
In this email, you finally reveal what’s coming but not the details like price or how to order. Instead, focus on the why. What motivates the launch of this product? You can share the creative process of your business along with describing the reason behind creating this specific product and your drive for introducing it to your clients. Your why behind product development and how it relates to your brand’s goals is a fundamental aspect of your product launch marketing strategy.
Step 4: The Product Reveal (Email #3)
In the third email, you’ll go into the what. After explaining the reason for creating your product (the why), you need to present an explanation of its features and how they solve customer problems (the what). The features together with their associated benefits make up your description at this point.
Until now, customers received only ‘Why’ about the product development. Now, they demand to understand the exact product features alongside their benefits that guarantee life-improvement. The essential point at this moment is to avoid discussing pricing information. The information about price does not belong at this moment because customers cannot handle it. Determine a detailed description of your product while creating enthusiastic anticipation through it.
For pre-order information, you should supply both the delivery timing and pricing structure with the delivery schedule to your customers. The customers acquire a complete understanding of the product through the third email while awaiting the last message to finalize their purchase.
Step 5: The Launch (Email #4)
Now, after several weeks of anticipation, it’s time for the final email the launch email. This is straightforward. There’s no fluff. You simply tell your customers that the product is now available, and they can go ahead and buy it from the product page.
At this stage, everything should be clear. They know exactly what they’re getting, when they’ll get it, and how much it costs. All that’s left is to click the link and purchase.
Step 6: Post-Purchase Email
After purchasing, it’s very crucial you send an email to your client post purchase. However, for pre-orders, this is especially necessary, as that is exactly what the customer will be looking for reassurance that whatever they purchased was worth it. After the purchase, the thank-you email should thank them for placing their trust in you and reassure them about the product’s delivery.
Extra Tips to Boost Your Product Launch Strategy
To make your product launch strategy even more successful, consider these extra strategies:
- Engage with New Leads: Offer a link in each social media post whereby people can sign up for more launch information. It helps you to build your email list while the campaign is on.
- Reminder Emails: On winning the campaign, send reminder emails to the people who haven’t opened previous emails or haven’t acted. During the last weekend, always send a reminder in the middle of the week and again at the end of the week.
- Two-Email Strategy: If you think that some emails are not emphasized enough, you could be a little less aggressive. In this case, you think that you should send another email a few days after that first one. Be aware that this is a bad idea, especially in the case of email tracking changes made by Apple.
Your Take On
Launching a product doesn’t have to be a rush. For Digital Oasis, we found that a one-month timeline is just the right amount of time; doing this is good enough to build a desire people have for the product but not so much that people start losing interest. You send emails in this time that tell stories and features of the product and work to create excitement with the product. By the end of the product launch campaign, your customers will be wishing to make a purchase seemingly without a delay.
Have questions or need help with designing your product launch strategy? Reach out to us, and let’s make your next launch a success!
