Most of us are in business either because we hope we create an impact with the work we do or because we want to generate revenue for ourselves, or maybe both. So no one wants to launch to crickets. We want our products to be well-received and successful. But what happens when our launch numbers start returning with numbers less than we’d hoped? The good news is it doesn’t mean you have to throw in the towel. No launch is truly a failure. It’s a learning experience. The good news is, there are some small changes you can make to increase conversions in your next launch.
First Track Your Metrics
This might seem like an odd place to start. After all, don’t you track your numbers at the end? When looking at your launches, you can get a good sense of what to start improving in order to increase conversions for your next launch by conducting a thorough launch review or launch debrief.
You’ll want to review numbers like how many people visited your sales page, how many of them clicked through to your cart, how many of them purchased, how many people on your email list opened your launch emails, and so on. I’ve created a free Launch Planner to help guide you in tracking your metrics.
You won’t know what needs to be changed and it will be like shooting arrows in the dark. Once you have your numbers, you’ll see at a glance what worked well and what needs to be adjusted. You can also take some time to reflect on what felt good to you during your launch and what didn’t. In other words, did you do a webinar because it was recommended, but you really felt uncomfortable with it? Did your energy come through and affect those numbers? Are there better alternatives for you?
Add In Some Bonuses
I don’t care who you are, everyone likes a gift. It’s human nature to love free stuff.
If you haven’t tried it already, try adding a bonus or two into your launch. If you’ve already done this and your launch tracker doesn’t reveal any change in the numbers, try offering different bonuses.
My favorite types of bonuses include –
- Waitlist Bonus – if the doors to your course are only open a few times a year, be sure to have a wait list page up in its place. Give those who are signed up for your wait list and express an interest in joining when you’re ready to launch a special gift for sticking around and waiting to work with you.
- Webinar Bonus – reward those who attended your webinar with an incentive. Common webinar bonuses include a discounted price, an audit or a coaching call.
- Fast Action Bonus – similar to the webinar bonus, the fast action bonus would encourage your audience to enroll in your offer within the first so many days, hours, or while on live during a webinar.
- Early Bird Bonus – similar to the fast action, this would be an incentive to those who enrolled in your course or program within the first few days of your open cart.
- Mid-Cart Bonus – most people will buy in the very beginning or the very end of your launch leaving many business owners stressing mid-cart. A mid-cart bonus like an extra course that will enhance the learning, an audit, a coaching call, an invite to a special event, or an extended payment plan will sometimes encourage some buyers who are on the fence.
- Cart-Close Bonus – similar to the mid-cart bonus the cart-close bonuses are usually offered on the last day of the launch.
- Pay in Full Bonus – often those who pay in full are afforded a discounted rate as extended payment plans usually result in a higher cost overall, but sometimes pay in full bonuses might be a series of templates or swipe files, a listing in your referral program, an ebook, access to an event, or a coaching call with you.
While bonuses are one of the best ways I have found to increase conversions for your next launch, you’ll want to be mindful that those that include your time (such as Q&A calls, audits, and coaching calls) may take a toll on you. Sure, your audience will want access to you and will be incentivized to spend time with you, but you’ll also want to be sure how much of your time and energy you can reasonably extend. After all, an audit may sound like a good idea, but if you get 300 people signing up under that bonus, can you do 300 audits while also running a live round of a course? You may want to set a number limit which isn’t fake scarcity since there is only one of you!
Ask Affiliates for Support
Create your own affiliate army to advertise to their audiences for you. If you don’t already know, an affiliate is someone who shares a similar audience with you and agrees to promote your product or service in exchange for a percentage of the sales.
There are many software that will keep track of commissions for you automatically and provide the links needed for your affiliates to promote your program. Some popular programs include ThriveCart, FirstPromoter, and SamCart. Some course platforms have affiliate programs at higher tiers like Thinkific or Podia for example.
The average affiliate rate is between 5 – 30%, with some entrepreneurs offering as much as 50% commission! Ultimately, you are in control of how you ask others to share your business. Your affiliates may choose to offer their own bonuses for those who enroll with their link as well.
Review & Change Your Copy
Sometimes when you are looking for small changes to increase conversion during your next launch, it may be in the copy. If you find people are visiting your sales page, but aren’t clicking through or buying, you may consider reviewing or changing your copy.
Don’t start over from scratch. Use a tool like HotJar to see where people are dropping off on your sales page. HotJar is an interactive heatmap tool that reads user behavior and can give you feedback on where and when people may be clicking off the page. You can better understand which paragraphs they are spending more time on, which links they are clicking on. . .or not.
Another thing to look at when reviewing your copy is that you may not be attracting the right audience to read your page. Start by looking at the headline to see if it engages the right person This goes back to doing the necessary customer research. Did you establish what their problem was and their desired solution? Are you speaking to them in words they would be using? Your copy isn’t the time to guess at what your audience wants.
Review Email Analytics
The copy in your email is just as important as the copy on your sales page.
Are you tracking which emails in your launch sequence are being opened and clicked on? You should be. Just as with your overall launch analytics, looking at your email metrics can provide you with details about where you can keep or tweak what’s working well and what can be changed to increase conversions in your next launch.
Maybe you started out strong but need to change it up in the middle. Maybe you need to finish up strong with the last few emails of your sequence by highlighting buy buttons. The open and click through rates of your emails may give you clues about the action to take.
Don’t forget to take the time to copy design your emails so it’s easier to read for skimmers. Take advantage of using bold, italics, and underlining where appropriate to give emphasis to your writing. Some readers will just read the bold or may just read the first lines of each paragraph.
Remember It's a Numbers Game
Sometimes you don’t have the necessary number of views on your page to get the conversions you need for your launch. If you need more eyeballs on your page, this can be done in a variety of ways:
- More social media presence. Remember social media is a great way to create brand awareness and create buzz for your site and your launch. Start your pre-launch campaign at least eight weeks in advance. Create content around the pain points and possible objections your audience may have around your offer.
- Utilize short form videos on Facebook, Instagram Lives, Reels, YouTube Shorts, and TikTok. All the algorithms are favoring this content lately over static posts. I promise you, you don’t have to be a dancer or worry about being a great video editor to create these posts. You can simply go on, record a video of yourself sharing some advice, add the captions as an overlay, and volia you’ve created a video!
- Consider investing in $5/day for engagement/video ads. I love this idea of a low-volume ad strategy to start creating buzz around your offer.
- Reach out to past clients, current clients, online friends. Contact people you have spoken to whom you think your offer might be a good fit for or ask for referrals.
Add Facebook Ads
Once you are looking for a more advanced tactic, you can include Facebook Ads (beyond the $5/day strategy). Over the years Facebook Advertising has increased in terms of cost-per-click and the strategy is a little different after the latest iOS 14 updates, but those who are able to take advantage of this platform can to really well.
Video ads do really well and having an established audience that is primed to your offer will come in handy as far as providing the necessary data needed to set up your ads.
Try a Different Launch Style
One of the most common mistakes I’ve seen working with people through their launches is utilizing a launch style that doesn’t work for them or their audience. Often people will go into a launch and do what they see other people do: Amy Porterfield did a webinar (or 4), so I have to do a webinar. Suzy Guru did a five-day challenge, so I should too.
There are so many different options when it comes to launching: webinars, workshops, challenges, video series, or a combination.
The truth is, you have your own unique personality, energy style, and audience. You need a launch style that works right for you, not someone else. There is no right or wrong way to launch. It may be that if your launch numbers are telling you a story of low conversions, it could be because you weren’t showing up authentically as yourself. Try changing it up to something you are more comfortable with and see if that doesn’t help to increase conversions in your next launch.
Get Personalized Launch Support to Increase Conversions in Your Next Launch
If you need help with this process, learn more about my VIP launch intensives where we’ll map out your launch strategy. We’ll look at your metrics and create a detailed launch plan to help you feel more confident going into your next launch.
2 Responses
Really love how direct and right to the solution this was Karrie – super helpful!
Glad it was useful! That’s me – straight to the point! lol