How to Create a Launch Strategy From Scratch: A 10-Step Plan

After building your product or course, one thing is next — launching your offer. This is why you need to create a launch strategy.

Real talk, yeah?

How does the thought of having a launch make you feel? Scared, nervous, happy, expectant, maybe a mix of all? 

You see, launching isn’t predicted, it is planned. A well-built launch strategy will get you successful results.  

Instead of marketing your offer, counting down to 7 days, and praying that your tactics will – at least – catch some buyers, you can create an effective launch plan that sells your service or product.

So, how do you plan a launch from scratch — whether it’s for a product, course, or service?

Grab a seat ‘cause I’m about to spill the tea.

What is a launch strategy?

A launch strategy is a roadmap or plan for how you sell a new offer to your ideal customers. It involves the breakdown of every step you’ll take from message planning to marketing and sales.

I like to say, “launching refers to your message and marketing.” Therefore, your entire launch strategy should revolve around these two things.

The two major aspects of your launch strategy

I know sometimes, the word “launch” sounds so complex you might think it’s a 15-people task. 

It’s not. And you can totally launch solo. 

“Launching” involves two major parts — messaging and marketing. 

1. Messaging: This refers to launch copywriting. Every message you share from pre- to post-launch. It involves your social captions, landing pages, email copy, sales pages, and blog posts you share to promote your launch.
2. Marketing: This refers to the processes for promoting your launch. These processes include your list-building strategy, marketing channels, and lead management systems.

Why do you need a launch strategy?

This research found that a whopping 60% of products don’t make it to the market, and 40% of those that do aren’t profitable.

What this means is that:

• A product might never go live
• It can go live, but not be profitable 
• It can go live and make a good profit.  

But, 

1. A well-planned launch strategy calls attention to your offer, far more than it’d normally get
2. You can improve your brand authority and credibility through your launch strategy
3. A launch plan lets you make more sales, thanks to increased exposure
4. When you create a launch strategy, you can monitor every process of your launch effectively.

Now that you know how important a launch strategy is, let’s dive right into how you can create one.

How to create a launch strategy from scratch

1. Be mind-ready
2. Plan your money and metric goals
3. Do offer scrutiny
4. Create a content bank
5. Create a marketing plan
6. Build a pre-launch strategy
7. Craft your launch messaging
8. Acquire tools and hire talents
9. Focus on your launch
10. Set up post-launch activities

Planning a launch isn’t quite an easy task. But, it can be stressless and less overwhelming if you put the right processes in place by creating a launch strategy.

I created a free launch strategy worksheet to summarize this post and help you plan your launch immediately. Download it here.

Let’s break down each of these steps and what you need to do.

1. Be mind-ready

The first step to planning a launch strategy is to polish your mindset. This is the first task in the launch worksheet.

This isn’t some growth guru blah blah. But, the extent to which you’re ready for abundance is the extent to which you receive it.

Surround yourself with big dreamers and fellow entrepreneurs who have achieved the goal you’re moving towards. Declare positive affirmations over launch. 

Decree scriptural blessings over your launch. It gives strength and a lot of great vibes — I promise. Listen to podcasts, read success stories, watch marketing videos, and practice the insightful tips you learn.

2. Plan your money and metric goals

This is the part where you break down your financial goals. 

Ask yourself these three questions:

• What’s your money goal for your upcoming launch? 
• Does that fit into your annual goal?
• How many products/slots do you need to sell to hit your $$$ goal?

For example, your launch goal is to hit $10,000. Your product is priced at $555.

Launch goal/price point = target purchases. That is 10000 / 555 = 18. You need 18 people to buy your product to hit your launch goal.

Pretty realistic, right?

Also, it’s important to track your metric goals.

Some vital metrics to track during a launch include engagement rate, lead generation, number of sales, and profit.

3. Do offer scrutiny

Offer scrutiny is the part where you ask in-depth questions to analyze your offer. This is important for effective messaging, targeting, marketing, and sales.

Ask yourself eye-opening and value-driven questions to create sales messages that connect with your audience and convert to cash. 

Some of these questions include:

• How does your offer work?
• What is the value-price point juxtaposition?
• What makes it different from others like it?
• Why are you interested in providing this solution?
• What sales objections might your ideal clients have that you need to counter?

4. Create a content bank

Creating a content bank makes it super-easy to plan your launch copy. Before and during your launch, lots of ideas will pop up in your mind. This doesn’t happen all of the time. So, take notes.

Open your notepad or computer, and scribble down your ideas. Set apart a couple of days to brainstorm relevant content ideas. Get industry-related insights if you will.

Go to the places your ideal clients hang — social media platforms, blogs, community forums, competitor pages — to mine for story ideas.

5. Set up a marketing plan

This is how you plan to generate buzz for your launch.

Here are questions to answer to help you build a marketing plan:

• Where are your people and how will you reach them effectively?
  • Are they on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest? 
  • What accounts or pages on this platform are your ideal customers obsessed with? 
• How will you get them to join your list?
  • Through an ebook? Webinar? Live masterclass? Any other lead magnet?
• Are you planning to use paid ads (or focus on organic marketing)?
  • What types of ads will you run? Influencer promotions? Social media ads? Ads in groups? 
  • What’s your ads budgeting going to look like?
• What marketing software will use for your lead generation and management processes?
  • Email marketing software? scheduling tool? Campaign management apps? Video hosting platform?
  • How much do they cost?
• What services and (other) tools will you acquire during this period? How much will they cost you?
• How much time do you need for your launch?

6. Build a pre-launch strategy

One costly launching mistake is poor launch strategy (especially, from the pre-launch stage). 

A pre-launch strategy is how you sell your product without selling yet. It’s marketing your offer and prepping your audience for your launch. 

You could get them into your funnel by sharing a lead magnet — ebook or webinars, or asking them to join a waitlist to get first-hand info about your launch.  

This is usually a period to pre-sell your product by building trust, sharing value, and promoting your offer. 

7. Craft your launch messaging

Create four to eight weeks’ worth of conversion-driven messaging for your pre-launch. 

Your copy is important because it’s what drives the connection and sales. It’s what you say about your offer that makes people buy.

It’s like Nelson Mandela said, “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.” And since 95% of sales are based on emotions, create your launch copy assets with empathy.

Here are some of what you’ll need:

• Launch editorials 
• Lead magnet landing page copy
• Sales page copy
• Pre-launch email sequence
• Launch sequence
• DM scripts
• Social captions
• Ads copy

If you need help with DIY-ing your sales page copy, you will find this template helpful.

8. Acquire tools and hire talents

You’ll need certain tools to aid your launch success. You can’t have it all by yourself during a launch, you need all the help you can get — from automation tools and expert talents.

Here are some tools you need when launching:

• Email service provider
• Video conferencing app
• Payment gateway
• Scheduling app
• Hosting site
• Funnel countdown

Depending on what you need help with, you can decide to hire a copywriter, virtual assistant, or system expert, or just launch solo.

9. Focus on your launch

Pay attention to the launch process. This stage is vital if you’re going to hit your money goals.

During your launch, you need to be hands-on. Replying to DMs and comments, answering questions, posting consistently, and telling people to subscribe to your offer. 

It’s important to stay active where you’re selling. This isn’t a time to fix your loose automation backend. So, ensure that everything is properly set up. promote your product shamelessly.

10. Plan post-launch activities

Well, yes — your post-launch plan is a part of your launch strategy. So after launching, you don’t just count your money and go MIA.

You should send “thank-you” emails to everyone who purchased your offer, and follow-up emails to those who abandoned their carts.

Take time to review your launch and evaluate every process of your strategy. What worked? What didn’t? How can you do better next time? Then, document all your findings.

Finally, celebrate your wins by planning a vacation to some dream destination. Have fun and thank yourself for a launch well done!

Getting ready to launch

Planning a launch can be overwhelming with the confusion about what to plan first. But, it doesn’t have to be.

With these 10 steps above and my launch strategy workbook, you can start planning a strategy for your launch.

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If you need more personalized help with building an offer-aligned launch strategy, you can:

• If you need guidance planning your launch, I offer a 1:1 launch strategy power hour, book a consultation with me today
• Do you need a done-for-you copy solution for your next launch, choose a launch copywriting package that works for you.