Have you ever poured your heart and soul into an offer, meticulously crafting every detail, and genuinely believed it could change lives, only to watch it disappear into the void?
That moment when you’ve done everything ‘right’ – recorded all the materials, fine-tuned each word – but the echo of silence is what greets you at the launch?
It’s incredibly frustrating, isn’t it?
You’ve put in all this effort, believed in your offer, and yet, when you launch, it’s like whispering in a windstorm – no one hears you.
But here’s the thing: it doesn’t have to be this way.
Here’s a foolproof guide to never launch to crickets and have a list of people excited for your offer, much like the anticipation of waiting in line at the mall to buy the new iPhone. Ya know back when people still went to the malls instead of ordering online.
My best advice is to build an interest list of at least 500-1000 people before you launch a new offer. Ideally, 1000 people but it really depends on your offer type and price point.
There’s only 2 things you need to build an interest list: landing page software and an email marketing provider.
Here’s the foolproof guide to never launch to crickets:
Landing Page
Your landing page is going to be your waitlist page. It should have at minimum a captivating headline that calls out who your offer is for and what problem will be solved.
Bonus points if you can include your offer name, the offer promise, and a countdown timer. If you don’t have any of this ready, it’s ok to just focus on the topic your course will cover or the problem your offer solves.
Opt-In Form
On the landing page, you will need an opt-in form so people can virtually raise their hand to say they’re interested.
Note: Most email marketing providers have forms that can be embedded on an external website. Depending on your provider, there may also be an option for landing pages too.
In your email marketing provider, set up an automation to tag any one who completes the form with a waitlist tag. Ex. “waitlist: offer name”. If you can’t use tags in your software, you can also segment your waitlist using a “lists” option.
After someone gives you their email address, don’t just say you’re on the waitlist stay tuned. Do these two things:
– Redirect to a thank you page with a one question survey.
– Send an email that they open AND click.
Thank You Page (Bonus)
On the thank you page, confirm they’re on the list and have a form space to ask one question.
This question should be along the lines of “what’s your biggest challenge when it comes to [the topic/or problem you solve]”?
A one-question survey collects insight into what your leads are struggling with to help you create a better offer.
Autoresponder
Immediately after someone signs up for the waitlist, send an email that gets them excited about what’s to come. I tend to offer incentives for joining my waitlist by giving away a free resource or lead magnet.
The goal here is to get the new subscriber to open AND click so the email gods let you show up in their inbox.
That’s pretty much all the steps to start an interest list for your offer.
Before I wrap up, a few more things to note…
Now that you have people on your waitlist, keep them excited! Send an email at least once a week that builds up anticipation and interest for your offer. Remember to provide value to your waitlist with topics relevant to your offer, not just sending newsletter content.
In some cases, you may have to bring up your subscriber’s awareness level to make a buying decision by providing educational materials emails, videos, webinars, etc.)
Statistically, only 3% of your market is actively buying and industry conversion rates are around 1-5% depending on a few variables such as where the traffic is coming from, lead quality, price point, etc. That means if you have 1000 people on a waitlist it’s possible to bring in around 10-30 new sales for the offer.
When you get closer to launching your offer, you can enter into sales mode and convert leads from your waitlist into customers.
