Why Should You Have A Pre- Launch Strategy For Your Online Course?

A prelaunch strategy is key to a successful course launch. It's a way to build interest and excitement for your product before it even hits the market.
Why should you care about having a pre-launch strategy?

Because without one, you're essentially leaving your course launch to chance.

Many people have wonderful ideas for courses but they never come to fruition because they lack the proper knowledge of how to bring them to market.

According to Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen, each year more than 30,000 new consumer products are launched and 95% of them fail. The reason for that is simple: many people fail to develop a solid prelaunch strategy.

In its most basic form, a prelaunch strategy is a plan of action for how you will promote your upcoming product or service launch.

This can include everything from creating a landing page and social media ads to email marketing and influencer outreach.

This blog will look at what a prelaunch strategy is and why you need to develop one.

What is a prelaunch strategy?

Before you launch your courses to the public, it's a good idea to have a plan in place to generate interest and awareness.

The purpose of a pre-launch strategy is twofold: to get people excited about your upcoming product or service and to build up a customer base before you launch.

There are a number of different ways to go about implementing a prelaunch strategy, so let's take a look at a few of the most common methods.

There's no easy answer to this question - it depends on the product, the market, and the competition. However, all successful prelaunch strategies share some key principles.

• Firstly, a successful prelaunch strategy starts with a clear understanding of the product and the target market. This understanding forms the foundation for all subsequent decisions about the prelaunch strategy, from the messaging and positioning to the go-to-market plan.
• Secondly, a successful prelaunch strategy is built on a solid foundation of market research. This research helps to validate the product concept, understand the target market, and identify potential early adopters.
• Thirdly, a successful prelaunch strategy requires a well-crafted plan for getting the word out about the product. This plan should include a mix of marketing activities and should be tailored to the specific target market.
• Finally, a successful prelaunch strategy requires a flexible and agile approach. The prelaunch phase is a time of experimentation, and the best prelaunch strategies are those that are constantly evolving and adapting to the latest data and insights.

The importance of having a prelaunch strategy prior to launching a product

As the saying goes, "By failing to prepare, you’re preparing to fail."

This is especially true when launching a new product or service. Having a pre-launch strategy in place helps to ensure that your launch is successful.

Without a prelaunch strategy, it is easy to miss important details or overlook potential problems.

Your prelaunch strategy is your roadmap to success and should be given the time and attention it deserves.

By taking the time to develop a strong prelaunch strategy, you can set your business up for success from day one.

By starting to build hype and excitement before you launch, you can create a snowball effect that will help carry your product through its launch phase.

Check out how it's done!

One of the FreshLearn creators, Deepak put social media and email marketing to perfect use for his Azure data science course prelaunch and generated more than $6500 in sales in the first 48 hours.

This is an excellent example of how effective pre-launch marketing can be for a new product. By generating interest and excitement before the launch, they were able to get a huge number of people signing up and eager to try out the app.

This is a great strategy to emulate if you're launching a new product or service!

Just like having a good insurance policy, having a prelaunch strategy is something you hope you never have to use, but when you do, you're really glad you have it.

So make sure you have a plan in place before you need it.

When Is The Right Time To Create A Prelaunch Strategy?

There is no one answer to this question, as the right time to create a prelaunch strategy will vary depending on the product or service being launched, the market conditions, and the goals of the launch.

However, in general, it is advisable to start working on a prelaunch strategy several months before the launch date, in order to give yourself enough time to develop and test the strategy and make any necessary adjustments.

If you're not sure when the right time is to start working on a prelaunch strategy, it's always best to consult with a marketing or launch expert who can help you to develop a plan that will work for your specific product or service.

Common Prelaunch Mistakes You Should Avoid

No one is perfect, and this is especially true when it comes to pre-launching a new product or service.

Even experienced entrepreneurs can make common mistakes that hurt their chances of success.

In order to give your business the best chance for success, it’s important to avoid making these common prelaunch mistakes:

Not Defining Your Audience Clearly

If you're not defining your audience clearly while creating your prelaunch strategy, you're likely to end up with a product or service that doesn't resonate with anyone.

Take the time to understand who your target market is and what they're looking for, and you'll be much more likely to create a prelaunch strategy that's successful.

Before you start putting together your prelaunch plan, take some time to think about who your target audience is.

• What needs and pain points do they have?
• What language do they use?
• What kind of content are they likely to engage with?

Answering these questions will help you create a prelaunch strategy that's tailored to your audience, and that will ultimately be more successful.

When Deepak started on his creator journey, he did not have proper audience ownership. He quotes,

“Though students were buying my course, I couldn't understand my audience better.”

But with the proper understanding of his target audience and assistance from the FreshLearn course, he now says he totally owns his audience.

“While on this journey, my audience loved and appreciated my work on the blog, shared it in their network. I took the next big step and built and launched my own data engineering course to help them learn in the right way. “

Not Having A Clear Message To Entice Readers

Creating a prelaunch strategy without a clear message is a recipe for disaster.

Your prelaunch strategy is the first and most important step in getting your course noticed and generating interest, so it's essential that you take the time to craft a compelling message that will grab readers' attention and make them want to learn more.

Without a strong and clear message, your prelaunch strategy will be ineffective at best and could actually do more harm than good.

So take the time to develop a message that will resonate with your target audience and make them want to learn more about your product or service.

The best way to have the right and clear message is to talk about the top benefit your learners will get by taking your course.

Ex:

• Learn to do a handstand in 30 days with No Prior Yoga Experience
• Become a Data Scientist without an Engineering degree
• Recipe to reduce your waist by 3 inches in the next 30 days.

Not Picking The Right Platform

Any great product or service prelaunch strategy heavily depends on identifying the right platform that will amplify your message and grow your audience.

If you don't carefully consider which platform makes the most sense for your product, you risk having a prelaunch strategy that falls flat.

It's essential to understand not just the different types of platforms available but also how to use each one to its maximum potential.

For example,

A platform like FreshLearn is ideal not only for building amazing courses but also marketing them to the right audience.

Don’t believe me?

Hear what one of our creators, Kristina Konstantinova has to say.

“While looking for the right platforms to create and sell my online course, I bumped into FreshLearn, an all-in-one creator platform. I launched my course all by myself with zero coding knowledge in less than 48 hours.”

So, the key is to choose the platform that best aligns with your goals and then use it in a way that maximizes your chances of success.

By taking the time to select the right platform for your prelaunch strategy, you can set yourself up for success from the very beginning.

Being Overambitious

Being overambitious is often the downfall of many prelaunch strategies.

You might see the potential in your product or service and want to go all out to make it the next big thing.

However, this often leads to overestimating the interest and excitement that consumers will have.

As a result, they end up spending too much money on marketing and promotion, while failing to deliver the actual product or service.

This can be a huge blow to any business and make it harder to stay motivated and keep going.

So, it's important to be realistic when setting goals and expectations.

Otherwise, you might end up feeling frustrated and giving up. Start by setting small, achievable goals.

Then, as you meet those goals, you can start to increase the scope of your ambition.

By taking small steps, you'll be more likely to achieve your long-term goals and create a successful prelaunch strategy.

Summing It up

A prelaunch strategy is key to a successful course launch.

It's a way to build interest and excitement for your product before it even hits the market.

By creating a prelaunch campaign, you can generate word-of-mouth buzz, get people talking about your product, and increase your chances of success when you finally do launch.

So if you're thinking about launching a new product, don't forget to create a prelaunch strategy first!