post

<p>What goes into a good product launch? Naturally, the first thing that comes to mind is having a relevant, high-quality product to sell.</p>
<p>When selling digital products, it’s important to <a href="https://convertkit.com/how-to-create-online-course-survey" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">determine what problem you’re solving</a> before you dive into the creation process. This saves you from creating a product that doesn’t help your intended audience.</p>
<p>This brings us to the next thing you need which is a clear picture of <a href="https://convertkit.com/build-loyal-audience-generate-inspiration-within-community" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">who your ideal customer is</a>. If you don’t create your copy with an ideal customer in mind, you’ll have a hard time selling the true benefits of your product. Marketing becomes way easier when you know who you’re talking to.</p>
<p>After you know who you’re helping and what problem you’re solving, you can start to choose a <a href="https://convertkit.com/choose-blog-topic" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">relevant topic</a> that fits nicely into your niche.</p>
<p>With your idea in hand, you’ve reached the final step of a good product launch: marketing.</p>
<p>While social media and blog posts are a great way to promote your product launch, email marketing is proven to have the <a href="https://convertkit.com/email-subscriber-worth" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">highest conversion rates</a>.</p>
<h2 id="chapter-1">Using a sales funnel to successfully launch your product</h2>
<p>Going into your product launch with a rock solid email marketing strategy will help you educate and connect with more of your ideal customers. The more your ideal customers feel like you understand where they are in their journey, the more likely they are to buy. So how do you market your product in a non-salesy, helpful way?</p>
<p>Marketing funnels, also known as sales funnels, are a great way to automate product launch emails that educate your ideal customer on your topic. Before someone invests in a product, they need to have a basic understanding of how the product might fit into their life or business. This happens in the initial education phase which is filled with helpful lessons, personal experiences, and results that other customers have found through utilizing the product.</p>
<p>When setting up your marketing funnel, you’ll include a mix of educational content with soft and hard sales pitches.</p>
<p>Once you’ve created an outline for your product launch emails, it’s time to create your email sequence and segment your list accordingly.</p>
<h3>Why you should segment your email list</h3>
<p>While you may be tempted to email everyone on your list about your product launch, chances are it won’t be a fit for everyone. You run the risk of turning off some of your subscribers if your product isn’t relevant to them.</p>
<p>Instead of mass emailing everyone, you can <a href="https://convertkit.com/use-email-segmentation" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">create segments within your list</a> to ensure your ideal customers feel seen, heard, and understood. You have a much better chance of converting subscribers who fit your ideal customer description than those who are in a different stage in their journey.</p>
<p>When you <a href="https://convertkit.com/why-email-segmentation" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">segment your list</a> for an upcoming product launch, you can also use the same segmentations for future products. Let’s say you’re creating a course on Embroidery for Beginners. After your product launch wraps up, you can include this segment in your next intermediate level course but save the advanced level subscribers for the next course.</p>
<p>We recommend segmenting your list as early as possible, which is made easier with product launch emails.</p>
<h5>Pro tip: Add a “PS” note at the bottom of your product launch emails with a <a href="https://help.convertkit.com/en/articles/2502518-how-to-use-link-triggers" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Link Trigger</a> to give subscribers a chance to opt out of your marketing funnel. This ensures you don’t lose subscribers just because they aren’t a right fit for your current product.</h5>
<h2 id="chapter-2">Creating winning product launch emails with Visual Automations</h2>
<p>What if I told you there was a way to automate all of your product launch emails so they run entirely on their own?</p>
<p>The time you save with Visual Automations helps you put more energy toward answering customer questions, interacting with social media followers, and creating engaging content during your launch.</p>
<h3>Step 1: Create a product launch specific tag</h3>
<p>When a current email subscriber decides to opt in for your product launch email sequence, they’ll be tagged as interested. You can set this up easily by creating a special <a href="https://help.convertkit.com/en/articles/2502518-how-to-use-link-triggers" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Link Trigger</a> for those who click the link.</p>
<p>We recommend creating a unique name for your tag like “Interested In: Product Name” or something similar so you remember what the tag is for.</p>
<p>You may already be able to add subscribers to your list of potential buyers if they:</p>
<ul>
<li>signed up for a previous content upgrade that’s similar to your product topic (check your <a href="https://convertkit.com/features/forms" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">forms</a> with ConvertKit)</li>
<li>clicked a link in your email to a blog post or outside resource that specifically pertains to your product topic (check your email sequences and broadcasts)</li>
<li>clicked the link to your <a href="https://convertkit.com/free-landing-page-creator">landing page</a> or a pre-launch sales page (check your email sequences and broadcasts)</li>
</ul>
<p>Once you start segmenting your current list, you can use the Link Triggers to continue segmenting based on clicks and actions. Then it will all be automated for the future!</p>
<h4>How-to:</h4>
<ul>
<li>Click the Automate dropdown in your dashboard navigation and chose Visual Automations.</li>
<li>Click the red New Automations button on the top right to create your educational email funnel.</li>
<li>Click on the Create Automation button and choose Tag is added to subscriber.</li>
<li>Choose a previously created Tag from the drop down for Interested In: Product.</li>
<li>Click Add Event.</li>
</ul>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-37257 lazy" data-src="https://083950260099-ck-com-media.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/post/GUqe08oX-tag-sequence-automation.gif" alt="Product launch email marketing in ConvertKit" width="1080" height="608" /></p>
<h3>Step 2: Connect your pre-launch email sequence</h3>
<p>You’ll want to start priming your audience for a few weeks leading up to your product launch. This weeds out the subscribers who aren’t interested in your product and tags those who are. Plan to send this pre-launch email sequence about one to two weeks before your actual launch.</p>
<p><a href="https://083950260099-ck-com-media.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/post/3cSUIlNI-Advanced-template-1-merged-2.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Get Your Pre-launch Email Template</a></p>
<p>In your pre-launch sequence, you can give little teasers showing how excited you are about a big project you’ve been working on. People love feeling like they’re getting a behind-the-scenes look at what you’re creating, especially with email marketing since it feels exclusive already.</p>
<p>You’ll want to use this email sequence to educate your audience about your product topic. You can expect to have three to five emails dedicated solely to education before introducing your product, before you let them know the detail of our launch.</p>
<h4>How-to:</h4>
<ul>
<li>Click (+) and under Event, choose Date occurs to set the date you want to pull all your Interested in: Product tagged subscribers to the date you’ll start sending your pre-launch promotion.</li>
<li>Click Add Event.</li>
<li>Click (+) and under Action, choose Email sequence and scroll through the drop down to find your product pre-launch sequence you’ve created, or create your sequence from scratch at this point.</li>
<li>Click Add Event.</li>
</ul>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-9412 lazy" data-src="https://083950260099-ck-com-media.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/2017/10/oxYU7YS4-product-launch-emails-step-2.gif" alt="Product launch email marketing" width="990" height="616" /></p>
<p>Here’s a few mistakes we’ve seen in the pre-launch stage that we want to save you from:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Mistake #1:</strong> Selling too early. You don’t want to go right in for the kill. Everyone likes to feel cared for and nurtured before they buy. Lead with educational content that’s super helpful, showing that the content within your product will be of the same quality.</li>
<li><strong>Mistake #2:</strong> Being afraid to repeat yourself. Not everyone will read every email in its entirety. Some people only skim emails so don’t be nervous about repeating yourself. While you may include some of the same information, you can always present it in new, unique ways to keep it fresh.</li>
<li><strong>Mistake #3:</strong> Making assumptions about what people already know. This one can be tough, but it’s important to understand the exact stage your ideal customers are in when they consider purchasing your product. That’s why we recommend taking ample time before creating your product to understand your audience.</li>
</ul>
<p>Adding those “PS” notes with opt-out messaging for subscribers who aren’t interested is a great idea in this stage so you don’t turn them off when your product launches.</p>
<h3>Step 3: Connect your product launch email sequence</h3>
<p>Now you’re ready to bring in the big guns! It’s time to get into launch mode.</p>
<p>Your product launch email sequence is meant to continue educating your audience while you pitch your offering. You want to be smart about how you weave your product seamlessly into the educational content, making the purchase seem like a no-brainer.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://convertkit.com/online-course-timeline" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">most successful product launches typically last seven to 10 days</a> so keep this in mind as you create your product launch email sequence. You may want to add in a FAQ email to answer consumer questions, social proof or case study emails to show results, and bonus offers to sweeten the deal.</p>
<h4>How-to:</h4>
<ul>
<li>Click (+) and under Event, choose Date occurs and set the date you want to start your product launch sequence.</li>
<li>Click Add Event.</li>
<li>Click (+) and under Action, choose Email sequence and scroll through the drop down to find your product launch sequence you’ve created, or create your sequence from scratch at this point.</li>
<li>Click Add Event.</li>
</ul>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-9413 lazy" data-src="https://083950260099-ck-com-media.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/2017/10/qCciorCj-product-launch-emails-step-3.gif" alt="Product launch email marketing" width="990" height="616" /></p>
<h3>Step 4: Nurture customers who purchase your product</h3>
<p>After weaving your product offers into each product launch email, you’ll start to see customers roll in. When they purchase your product, you can tag them as a customer with “Customer: Product Name”. This puts them on a different path than subscribers who haven’t purchased yet.</p>
<h4>How-to:</h4>
<ul>
<li>Click (+) and under Event, choose Tag is added and scroll to find the “Customer: Product Name” tag.</li>
<li>Click Add Event.</li>
<li>Click (+) and under Action, choose Email sequence and scroll the drop down to find the sequence that delivers your product.</li>
<li>Click Add Event.</li>
</ul>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-9414 lazy" data-src="https://083950260099-ck-com-media.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/2017/10/BQwwWevj-product-launch-emails-step-4.gif" alt="Product launch email marketing" width="990" height="616" /></p>
<h3>Step 5: Create your final offer for email subscribers on the fence</h3>
<p>If a subscriber hasn’t purchased your product yet, they will be placed into another path separate from subscribers who have purchased your product.</p>
<p>If your subscriber is on the fence about buying your product during the launch period, you can create a separate email sequence that creates the “last push”. You may want to include special offers or bonuses to sway them.</p>
<h4>How-to:</h4>
<ul>
<li>Return to the Event box where you creates the tag Customer: Product Name.</li>
<li>Click (+) to the right of the box, and under Event, choose Date occurs to set the date you want to start contacting your subscribers who didn’t purchase your product.</li>
<li>Click Add Event.</li>
<li>Click (+) and under Action, choose Email sequence and scroll the drop down to find the sequence you created as a hard-pitch “last chance to purchase” email.</li>
<li>Click Add Event.</li>
</ul>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-9415 lazy" data-src="https://083950260099-ck-com-media.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/2017/10/U0A3cKRA-product-launch-emails-step-5.gif" alt="Product launch email marketing" width="990" height="616" /></p>
<p>The language of these emails will be more geared toward telling subscribers this is their last chance to take advantage of your offer. Many of these emails will be hard pitches focused solely on making the sale.</p>
<h3>Step 6: Downsell a more affordable option</h3>
<p>When subscribers purchase from the “last chance” product launch emails, they’ll be sent into the same nurturing sequence as those who purchased right away. For those who didn’t purchase, there’s still hope!</p>
<p>Although some subscribers may not be ready to buy your initial product, they may buy a similar product at a more affordable cost. This is where a three-part downsell comes in. Make sure you only offer this downsell to people who haven’t purchased your product.</p>
<p>It’s smart to downsell a product that teaches on a similar topic with just enough information to lead the customer into the next round of your original product. This helps you create <a href="https://convertkit.com/customer-lifetime-value" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">lifetime customers</a> who continue to grow with you.</p>
<h4>How-to:</h4>
<ul>
<li>Follow Step 4 to create a path for subscribers who purchase your product at this point.</li>
<li>Create another path next to the last one to create an Event: Date occurs that sends subscribers who still haven’t purchased your product into a new sequence that downsells them on a free or lower-priced product.</li>
</ul>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-9416 lazy" data-src="https://083950260099-ck-com-media.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/2017/10/PxLDor2i-product-launch-emails-step-6.gif" alt="Product launch email marketing" width="990" height="616" /></p>
<h3>Step 7: Send all subscribers into your newsletter list</h3>
<p>At the end of the email marketing funnel, if there are subscribers who haven’t taken any action, they can be shuffled back into your email list.</p>
<p>You can automate these newsletters with an email sequence of repurposed content, which we recommend, or start creating tailored emails to start lightly priming another launch if you’re really ambitious.</p>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-9417 lazy" data-src="https://media.convertkit.com/2017/10/zpj61zQk-product-launch-emails-step-7.jpg?fm=pjpg" alt="Product launch email marketing" width="990" height="475" /></p>
<h2 id="chapter-3">Create your own product launch email sequence and start selling today</h2>
<p>Not too hard, right? By using this product launch email automation, you’ll be able to optimize your launch to meet every subscriber where they are. And with <a href="https://convertkit.com/features/commerce" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ConvertKit Commerce</a> you can set up your product to easily sell to your audience in just minutes.</p>
<p>Today, I’d like to challenge you to do ONE of the following to get closer to your own product launch:</p>
<ol>
<li>Set up your digital product in <a href="https://convertkit.com/features/commerce" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ConvertKit Commerce</a>.</li>
<li>Play with the Visual Automations tool for a current product or service you offer.</li>
<li>Create placeholders within the Visual Automations tool for your next product launch.</li>
<li>Create your pre-launch email sequence (and even put it into action if you’re ready!).</li>
<li>Plan out or create your product launch email sequence with bonus offers.</li>
</ol>


What is churn rate? How to measure it & find how to keep customers happy

Increase your reach with freelance marketing

Product launch emails: How to use sales funnels for your product launch

In this Article

Support your growing business

Kayla Hollatz

Increase your reach with freelance marketing

What is churn rate? How to measure it & find how to keep customers happy