Planning to launch a course or program? Swipe this pre-launch marketing checklist.
Surprises are only cool when your bestie travels miles to spend the weekend with you or when your partner plans the most lit party of the year to mark your birthday. Surprises are not for launching a course or a program, so don’t surprise your audience.
If you announce your offer one week before launch day and say, “Tada! Here is the XYZ program,” people will be confused and uninterested because they weren’t anticipating it.
You need to plan and prepare your audience for what’s coming so they can anticipate your offer. Anticipation builds interest, and interest makes people buy.
In this guide, I share eight of the best pre-launch marketing strategies for you to prime your audience so you can slay your next launch.
But before we get into the list, let me explain exactly what the pre-launch phase is.
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What is the pre-launch phase?
This pre-launch phase is the stage where you prime your audience. Essentially, you nurture them and build a launch funnel to capture leads before you finally open your cart, so they feel pumped to get your offer.
There are three stages in every launch, and each stage has its own unique advantages and copy asset requirements:
- The pre-launch period
- The launch period
- The post-launch period
The pre-launch phase takes six to eight weeks, on average, before your actual launch day. You’ll need content that attracts and nurtures your target clients during this period.
Having an effective pre-launch plan requires certain action steps. It is one thing to be able to create buzz for your launch, but it’s another to know the right pre-launch strategies to make the most of whatever hype you generate.
Pre-launch checklist: 8 Strategies to try
Here are the best pre-launch strategies for coaches and course creators to build anticipation and generate leads for their offers before launch day.
1. Nurture an email list
False hype is a tricky situation, and it happens a lot of times during a launch.
You see many of your social media audiences showing interest in your promotion until you open the cart and everything gets awfully quiet, and you’re like, “Where did all that hype go?”
It’s because social media is rowdy and the algorithms are unpredictable. The person who showed interest in your post yesterday may not see the one you’ll share today. The average engagement rate on Instagram, for instance, is 0.98%.
Less than one freakin’ percent. Isn’t that wild?
This is why you need to start an email list that will allow you to reach your audience during your launch. You can ask them to sign up for a waitlist, webinar, or masterclass.
With an average engagement rate of a whopping 21.33%, email marketing is one of the most effective ways to collect, nurture, and convert hot leads.
2. Plan your editorial calendar
To effectively prime your audience, you need to map out a strategic messaging plan. Planning your launch editorial calendar is a good pre-launch strategy that lets you focus on creating and stacking aligned messaging—from connection to sales.
With a launch editorial, you can plan your entire course or program launch and monitor everything (timeline and copy) from a calendar overview.
For your launch messaging plan, here are some things to consider:
- What will be your first, quick-fix lead magnet?
- What topic will your content revolve around?
- What will be your tease piece (aka anchor lead magnet)?
- When will the cart be opened, and for how long?
- When will you write your sales page copy?
- How will you write your open-cart messaging sequence?
By creating an editorial, you can find content gaps and opportunities right from your pre-launch phase and organize messaging that nurtures them through each stage of their buying journey.
3. Run a challenge
Hosting a challenge is another great pre-launch strategy for coaches and course creators.
Most people love participating in challenges and contests because they get them to “act.” Suddenly, they become empowered to overcome their fears—whether that’s social media engagement, procrastination, poor visibility, or no clients—because they’re not doing it alone.
Running a challenge builds hype and helps you filter out potential leads from all the traffic hits you get.
Your challenge can be a free or low-ticket offer.
For example, if you’re about to launch a client acquisition program for service-based pros, you can first run a challenge like “get 7 leads in 7 days.” This is great for your launch because it pumps your audience to a stage of intense desire for a solution, thus qualifying them for your course or program.
4. Collaborate with others
Don’t be a loner when planning a launch, especially if you are not doing a closed community launch and know you need visibility.
Network with other similar or complementary businesses—coaches, course creators, and influencers in your industry. Going to those with similar and larger populations of your ideal clients is a launch strategy that works quite well.
Think of it like this:
You’re a business coach with 2000 followers, and Abby (also a business coach) has 4500 followers. You could host a joint venture masterclass with Abby to reach her audience. That’s 6500 in total—meaning you have just more than 3x your audience size and, ultimately, your reach.
For your pre-launch, you can collaborate with others by being a podcast guest, going on a live social media presentation, or featuring in someone’s newsletter.
5. Tell your origin story
Stories have been a major factor in human existence since the beginning of time. Even better is the fact that it’s another effective pre-launch strategy.
And that’s because stories stick. Stories sell. It’s like they’re engraved on the tablets of our hearts. We connect with (and understand) them.
You can help your audience connect with you by sharing the story behind your motivation for your new program. What is your WHY? Why did you create your ready-to-launch offer? What makes solving your audience’s problem(s) important to you?
Sprinkle your story throughout your launch messaging, especially your sales sequence. Sharing your origin story is your chance to let your audience know that you genuinely care about making their challenges disappear, and their dreams come true.
6. Share activation content
Create launch copy that does more than just highlight the features and benefits of your course. Create content that gets them to “take action.”
It’s important to increase the perceived value of your offer so your ideal clients deem it a “must-have” even before it launches, and one way to achieve this is through activation content.
Sharing the benefits of your offer is enlightening, but it’s not enough to convince people to buy.
Activation content, on the other hand, walks your audience through the awaiting transformation and convinces them to take action now. It is the perfect content type for the conversion phase.
7. Explore different content types
There are different content types, and it’s best to explore all of them because focusing on just the promotional content will not do much for your launch goals.
You must have heard that people don’t like being sold to. But here is a little secret:
We (people) sure as hell like to buy.
So, how do you shake things up? How do you create a balance so your ideal clients don’t feel choked by your sales pitches but instead become curious about your offer?
Share other posts like educational, personal, aspirational, behind-the-scenes, and sneak peek content. Also, don’t just focus on a content format. Try other formats and marketing features on whatever platform you’re using.
For instance, on Instagram, you can share picture-based content, carousels, reels, live, long-form videos, and stories.
8. Offer fast-action bonuses
You might have seen phrases like “early bird discount” and “fast-action bonuses” before. Offering fast-action rewards is a great pre-launch strategy that uses FOMO (fear of missing out) to increase sales.
People like discounts because it makes them believe they’re getting a really good deal.
Offer incentives—discounted prices, superb bonuses, or both—to people who sign up early for your course or program.
End note: Pre-launch marketing strategies for coaches
Setting up pre-launch strategies will help you nurture your audience, boost lead generation, and build anticipation for your offer.
With these eight tips, you can slay your next course launch with pre-launch strategies that increase your offer’s perceived value.
Download this launch strategy workbook if you’re interested in planning and prioritizing your launch with ease.
Want someone to help with your launch funnel strategy and copy assets? Check out my DFY funnel solution, and let’s chat about your project.
Or, if you’re looking for structured guidance to DIY your launch with confidence, book this 90-minute strategy consultation instead.
