When I started learning about online marketing back almost ten years ago, one of the very first information products that I stumbled across was Jeff Walker’s iconic Product Launch Formula. This was the first version of the product and it was entirely revolutionary in its systematic approach to launching new products online.
From about 2007 – 2011 the people using Jeff’s systems and formulas generated hundreds of millions in sales collectively. There were million dollar launches that turned into million-dollar days that eventually became million dollar hours. It was insane.
People get really mixed up about what the Product Launch Formula is all about and entirely miss the point. When Jeff first created that product, I think he articulated it so well and to be honest, that’s clarity has become a bit lost in “tactics and tools”.
A good product launch isn’t about making three videos, building a pre-launch list and then pushing them to a sales letter. It’s not about recruiting tons of affiliates and getting them to mail for you. It’s not about opening the cart and closing the cart.
It’s about all of it… It’s an event.
What great product launches all have in common is that they become an event, they gain momentum and eventually, people feel left out when they aren’t part of it.
Don’t believe me? Look at the stupidity of the Pokemon Go crazy at the moment.
The product became available in the App Store just two weeks ago. In the next fifteen minutes, it will be downloaded over 72,000 times and generate over $150,000 in revenue for its maker… In the next fifteen minutes. Over the course of just one day, that’s seven million downloads and north of fifteen million bucks.
In under two weeks, that game has been installed in over 10% off all phones in the United States and has surpassed the daily usage of Twitter and Tinder. For perspective, that means there are more people playing Pokemon Go every day than looking to hook up with random strangers on the internet.
That’s a successful launch.
They didn’t create three videos of educational content, have an optin page or have a ton of affiliates bombarding people with links. There was no long form sales letter written by an NLP ninja. None of that.
They got buzz, they got hype and Pokemon Go right now has become an event. While I was waiting in the seemingly magic pudding of taxi lines at the airport this evening, there were four or five grown adults wandering around the baggage carousels playing that game – some of them looked like they specifically went to the airport to play the game, they weren’t there to pickup up Auntie June or drop off their kid sister for her trip to India to get in touch with her spiritual side. They drove to one of the busiest places in the city to chase graphical representations of imaginary characters on their phone.
Just let that sink in for a minute.
Will it last? Probably not. People are fickle creatures and in three weeks it will be a punchline for Jimmy Fallon. But as a launch, it has been unreal and it will completely revolutionize mobile gaming.
Ok, let’s bring this back to you – you’re not going to create Pokemon Go, sorry about that, let’s set your expectations a bit lower than that.
However, you need to think about launching your next product or service in a way that makes it an event. You want it to become something that your customers get excited about and that wraps them up in the moment so that they convince themselves to buy just to be part of what you’ve got going on.
For many of us, we’re pretty low key and this can be hard. I admit, it’s hard for me too – I hate being that self-promotional. It’s something I’m going to work on personally in some of the things I’m doing.
You can run your own product launch without being like one of those dirty internet marketers that make you want to have a shower after you read their emails or watch their videos. You can create buzz, hype and excitement about something you’re doing without selling your soul or becoming a sleaze.
In the August 2016 issue of the Casual Marketer Monthly Newsletter, I break down the elements of a launch and talk about some things you need to do to maximise your chances of success while at the same time, feeling good about what you’re doing – click here to buy that backorder issue.