Launches be hella intimidating, amiright?! So much pressure, such big expectations, and many moving parts. But it can be SIMPLE, my friend. I’m a massive fan of email launches, because I love simplicity and email, duh. So let’s look at the 4 phase approach to product launch email campaigns for simple and effective launches.
Let’s dive into the four phases of email launches:
- Pre-launch
- Cart open
- Midcart
- Cart close
Set the Stage During Pre-Launch
The pre-launch phase is wildly important because it creates excitement. We really want that for the cart open phase. It’s like releasing the floodgates, all that anticipation leads to sales.
If there’s anything you take away from this pre-launch section it’s that you have to be your own hype man. No one is going to be more excited about your product launch than you. Bring the energy and excitement in those emails.
Tell your readers why you built the thing you want them to buy and who you built it for. Hint, hint: it’s for them! Highlight the problem you’re gonna solve for them with your product, and why you’re solving this specific problem. Give your readers something they can see themselves improving their life because of your product.
People don’t buy when you sell, though. They buy when they’re ready. So don’t be discouraged when some people aren’t into it. They’ll filter themselves out. Every customer’s journey is different. Just because they don’t buy now doesn’t mean they won’t buy later. So give people an opt-out if they don’t want to receive more emails about your launch at the top of your emails that they can click, and then tag them in your ESP so they don’t leave your list altogether.
Honestly, the pre-launch emails are the most important. So share every step of the launch. People love behind the scenes stuff! Even if you’reB2C (business-to-consumer), people want to see the process. They want to know the why and how you got to creating this product in the first place.
You can use your pre-launch emails to connect more deeply with your audience, too. Say you’re writing the sales page, and you want to put a headline, but you can’t decide. Let your audience decide, send out an email that says, “Hey, I can’t decide between this sentence and that sentence.” Let them vote!
If you’re promoting an existing product that you’ve launched before, make sure you tell them what’s different this time around, what’s improved or what you’ve changed and why.
And absolutely include any testimonials you’ve gotten for the product before. If it’s a brand new product, you can still use testimonials and screen shots (be sure to black out any emails or sensitive info and ask permission first!) for other products or services that speak to how great you and your product are. Social proof is GOLD, my friend!
Be very clear about who the product is for—and who it’s not. Sometimes describing who isn’t right for your service/membership/product can be just as effective as talking about who will benefit from buying.
Bottom line: If you can get people invested before the product is even launched, that’s when you’ll see that big money roll in as soon as you open the cart.
Let the Magic Begin: Cart Open
Decide your cart open and close dates before the launch and let your audience know exactly when the cart opens and when the last chance to buy is. This is when the actual buying takes place. Money magic, baby!
Share the Value—Addressing Objections
The goal of these emails is to address any objections your potential customers might have. The most common objections are money and time. “I don’t have any!” Your prospects say. Show them why your product is worth the financial and time investment. Maybe it saves them time in the long run. Maybe it’ll pay for itself over X amount of weeks or months. Be encouraging, but also realistic in setting those expectations. Don’t promise what you can’t deliver.
Keep the Momentum Going
Don’t let your excitement wane! A launch is a marathon, and you’ve got to keep that hype running for every email of the race. Mid-cart bonuses are your banana and gatorade break during the race.
The middle of an open cart is usually the slowest time for conversions. It can feel like you’re losing momentum, and when those sales slow, it can definitely feel like just plain old losing. Adding a fresh bonus in this slow spot can help boost sales as your folks get excited about the new stuff.
Mid-cart is also when you want to share testimonials, go deeper into the solutions your product brings, and address more, less common objections, like mindset issues and quiet creepers that set limitations for people. Reminding them that you believe in them—and your product—can help overcome those silent confidence killers.
Pattern Interrupt Email—Tell a Story
A pattern interrupt email often comes at the end of the sequence. Readers get tired of sales emails and their excitement may wane with the repetition. You can wake your people up by throwing out a different kind of email—the pattern interrupt.
I don’t usually advocate for storytelling in emails, but story based content works really well here. It’s a perfect email to interrupt the pattern of sales emails you’ve been sending out.
Ohh, The Pressure: Cart Close
The final countdown, the final three, the end of an era—whoops! I’m getting carried away. For real though, the last day of a launch can be nail biting. The last day of cart open can be your biggest sale day as your audience starts to feel the pressure of FOMO of not getting in while the getting is hot.
You’re gonna feel the pressure too, friend. All the time invested, blood, sweat, tears…these are the results in real-time.
Cart close is the launch phase when you wanna bust out the countdown timers and time-sensitive subject lines. You gotta let your peeps know it’s now or never! Well, maybe not never, but you get the idea.
But more to the point, I want to make clear something that you don’t hear too often in the marketing space. This is the time to steer your audience to a decision, even if that decision is a no. You heard me! Tell them it’s ok if it’s a “no”. You’re building long-term relationships, not one-off purchases.
Your last few emails should cover all the different objections you typically receive around your product or service. Every email should focus on a different reason for your customer to get off the fence and purchase the product.
How Many Emails Should You Send During Live Launch?
How many really depends on the length of your launch and the tolerance that you and your audience has for sending and receiving emails.
Some marketing folks will tell you to send out 20 emails in five days, but you don’t have to do that if it doesn’t feel right for you and your list and product.
Look, I’m never going to tell you to send out a bunch of emails if that’s gonna give you hives. But I will challenge you to send out maybe one or two beyond your comfort level, because growth happens just outside the comfort zone, baby.
For general starters, you want to send out 7 emails for a 5-day sales sequence.
- Cart Open/Days one & two : 1 email
- Midcart/Day three: 1 email
- Cart Close/Days four & five: 5 emails
TL;DR Recap on Launch Phases and Launch Email Campaigns
The four main phases of a launch are:
- Pre-launch—Get your audience involved and invested during pre-launch.
- Cart open—Share the obstacles and solutions to those obstacles, even if they aren’t aware of them yet.
- Midcart—Keep the momentum going throughout the launch.
- Cart close—Get your audience to a decision by the end of launch even if it’s a no.
Want more help and easy to follow templates on what and when to send your sales emails? I got you, boo! Check out my Launch Course Training, designed to make launching easy and stress-free.
