PLF launch - how to launch a product so that someone will know about it

I'm going to launch several products and understand that you need to do the right start. And this is not just advertising in Yandex.Direct and SEO-optimization, but also some kind of pre-launch actions. In one of the Like Center trainings, I stumbled upon Jeff Walker's book Launch (Launch). It was announced as a unique tool for successful product launches, and I decided to try this tool on myself. In a few articles I will tell you how it looks in practice. But in this article only theory, i.e. abstract book.

Jeff Walker has developed a unique launch technique. It consists in the fact that for the launch you need to make some sequence of actions that will help to sell the product and provide confidence. He called this technique PLF: Product Launch Formula - product launch formula. It consists of sequences, stories and triggers.
')
Who wants to feel the problematics with his gut, listen to the Uma2rmaH song “Envy” .

Sequences in PLF

Every day we are attacked by a ton of information and it will be very difficult for us to stand out against this background. My 2200 friends of VKontakte generate such a dense news feed from the seals, smart quotes and demotivators that it is almost impossible to see something useful. One can stand out against this background only by providing obvious benefits, and not through the news feed, but, for example, through private messages or targeted repeated ads.

1. Pre-pre-run . With this we begin. At this stage, your fans are beginning to anticipate the emergence of a new product, and you can further clarify the needs of the market and adjust the final offer. Duration: 1 day.
2. Prestart You provide potential consumers with three high-quality pieces of pre-launch information materials. This, for example, is a video that will be useful and make you wait for the next material to be released. Inside, we use mental triggers such as authority, social significance, society, anticipation, and mutual benefit. Duration: 5-12 days.
3. Run This is the most important day when you open the sales window: a limited period of time in which you take orders under certain conditions. Duration: 1-7 days.
4. Post start . Prepares existing and potential customers for the next purchase. Gift, announcement, teaser, tasty. Duration: 1 day.

Stories

We like to listen and tell stories. I, as an inveterate Vaishnava, often listen to lectures on philosophical topics and always the lecture is perceived much better if the lecturer tells some life stories. Without them, the story becomes boring, and students fall asleep.

Knowing this, we need to prepare stories for pre-launch and pre-run, which will tell more about your product than stupid advertising texts. The story can be divided into several parts within the pre-launch sequence. Or, each of the pre-launch information materials will be a separate story, but within the framework of a common pre-launch line, leading consumers to loyalty.

Mailing list - license to print money

All launches are done via the mailing list. This may be a mailing list or a social network, but this is definitely a list of target customers who have subscribed to receive your messages. The reason for the subscription can be any: you know personally, and you are interesting, you give interesting information on the desired topic, through you you can get a discount on some product. Anything, if only people subscribed to you and wanted to read.
By creating your own mailing list, you will take a huge step toward your financial independence. 37signals are writing about this in their book Getting Real.

The first thing to do to create a mailing list is to understand who your potential customers are. For this you need to create a portrait of your client. Marketers call this portrait "avatar." I like the term persona more. For example, for our school for parents, this portrait looks like this: “A woman of 25-35 years old with one or two children of preschool age. There is no experience in education, but wants to do everything right the first time. "

The second step to create a mailing list is to find out where these very targeted people live. Forums, groups in social networks, live clubs in your city, public organizations, state. institutions, business clubs, etc.

The third action is to create a contact capture page. This page offers to subscribe to your newsletter and get a favor or leave the site. It sounds scary, but the experience of the author of the book shows that the number of subscribers is growing with this approach. It looks like a bribe: give us your mail and subscribe, and we will give you snacks and health items.
You need to understand that most users will prefer not to enter anything into the contact capture form, however, those who fill out the form are so valuable that you should not worry. You still do not need a person who does not leave his mail. So boldly encourage potential buyers to take action.

The bribe you offer should be powerful enough for people to leave you a contact. A video in which you tell a cool trick is quite suitable. For example, in the school for parents, we make a video about 5 principles of responsible parenthood.

Mental Triggers

Mental triggers are a weapon of mass influence. You can read about them in the book of Robert Cialdini or in my abstract article . In this article, I will list those used in PLF. But you can use any triggers suitable for your activity in your activity.

1. Authority . PLF is a unique technique for building and maintaining your credibility. Become an expert in your activities and share your expertise with others. You can help fotochki with famous people, reviews, publications in the media, white coat.
2. Reciprocity . When you give something to a person, you put a small weight on your scale. A potential client will have the feeling that he owes you something a little bit. For example, if you were given a gift for the New Year, and you have nothing to give, it will cause you discomfort. Therefore, it is important to keep a supply of small gifts in such a case.
   
   PLF assumes that throughout pre-launch and pre-launch, you provide the customer with a sequence of pre-launch information materials that are just such a gift for the customer.
3. Trust . When you have won the trust you believe unconditionally. But in order to gain trust, we must build with friendships. Surely, you have friends whose opinion you unconditionally accept. And this is the kind of friend you need to become and you, and this is done through prelaunch information materials.
4. Anticipation . This is one of the very important triggers in PLF. It will allow you to break through the marketing fog and make customers wait for the release of your product. All of us as children can wait for some important events. It is important that the anticipation is strongly associated with the trigger of rarity, to which we reach a little lower.
5. Ability to like . It’s more pleasant to do business with people we like and trust. How to increase your attractiveness? Do good to people, give gifts, benefit. People like to deal with good people, so even the largest companies are actively engaged in "humanizing" their brand, attracting famous personalities to advertising. Prelaunch sequence is how people like you, give a favor, conduct a webinar, answer questions, participate in discussions in the comments.
6. Events People like time-bound events involving other people. The opportunity to feel part of "something more." This event is remembered and this event is waiting. This event will be your launch.
7. Society We are greatly influenced by social norms. If it is not customary for my friends to take any intoxication (even on holidays), then with a high degree of probability I, too, sooner or later will accept these values.
   
   Each of us belongs to a number of societies: residents, volunteers, programmers, parents, owners of porshe. The great thing is that you can form the community yourself among your subscribers. They will take part in discussions, pre-launches, leave critical comments to your products and, eventually, will become your most loyal customers.
8. Rarity . When your goods are everywhere, you don’t want them. And vice versa: the less often a thing occurs, the more desirable it is. Make a limited offer.
   
   Limit the offer by time and price. For example, after the expiration of the promotion, the price should rise or the sale should temporarily stop altogether. Then people will not delay the purchase to the last. More precisely, they will postpone the purchase, but already until the last day of the action of your special offer. Experience in sales shows that a lot has been sold in the last 24 hours. Often, even more than the rest of the time sales.
9. Social proof . Go to the Google Play or Appstore. Enter in the search for "alarm". You will find the issuance of a huge pile of results. Which application do you choose? The one with a million downloads or the one with only 100. When you see that the application has a million downloads, you think: apparently this million people knew what they were doing. Join them.
   
   Another example: two bistros opposite each other. In one bistro queue, and in another - no queue. Where are you going? Here the answer is not so obvious, but if you have time, you may be interested in, what is so tasty food that lined up? And there is a high probability that you will stand at the end of this queue and add +1 to the hype.
   
   In the PLF, reviews, comments on videos, likes will be social proof.
   

Speaking in combination with each other, mental triggers enhance their effect. Imagine that you have an interesting, rare, necessary product that people like, comment on it, like and even create groups on the social network about it.

Pre-pre-run. Warning shot

Here are ten questions to answer when you are preparing a pre-launch.

1. How to present people with information about the upcoming event without causing them to feel that they are selling something?
2. How to excite their curiosity?
3. How to get people to help with the creation of my product? How to make them willing to cooperate?
4. How to find out the potential comments on the product?
5. How to involve a potential client in the discussion of the product? How to avoid corporate-bureaucratic language, which will kill the launch?
6. How to start a fun, humorous and even exciting?
7. How to stand out in a crowded market?
8. How to understand what kind of advertising my market wants?
9. How to clearly formulate a proposal?
10. How does the prelaunch sequence result from all this?

Based on the answers, you are making materials for pre-launch and pre-run. Record videos, prepare letters for distribution.

In the next article I will describe how to answer questions before starting one of the projects.

Prelaunch sequence

The sequence in the general case consists of three components (product launch component)

PLC # 1 - Possibility (or journey)

Designed to attract and retain attention and must answer the question "Why?". Why should this interest a potential client? Why should a client spend his time on this? Why should he listen to you? How can you be useful to him?

At the core of each product, each service is the possibility of transformation and transformation. If you make a product that allows you to spend less time on routine work - you offer a transformation. If you are proposing to improve relationships with children, you are proposing a transformation. If you offer a method of attracting investment - this is also a transformation. Advertisers say that if you trade in drills, you actually sell holes in the wood.

Recipe:

1. Demonstration of opportunity. Show customers how your product can change their lives.
2. Positioning Show / tell why they should listen to you
3. Training. You should not only introduce the possibilities, but also give valuable information.
4. Comments on the product and the response to them, or the promise of an answer in the following videos. Whatever product you offer, you should be prepared for comments.
5. Announcement PLC№2. Hint that PLC # 2 will be out soon. Make it clear that another video is coming soon and list what they can learn from PLC # 2.
6. Call to action. Ask for comments on a video on a dedicated blog or on social networks.

PLC # 2 - Transformation

PLC # 1 answered the question “Why?”. PLC # 2 answers the question “What will they give me?”. Answer your questions: what can you teach in 5 minutes, how can you change their lives right now?

Recipe:

1. Gratitude and repetition. Say thanks for watching the previous video, briefly recall its content.
2. A reminder of the opportunity mentioned in PLC№1.
3. Repeat positioning. Be sure to repeat who you are and why they should listen to you, without going into details. Do it quickly.
4. Give something valuable. Teach them one thing that they can immediately put into practice.
5. Responses to comments. Explain and respond to basic objections to the transformation you are proposing.
6. Announcement PLC№3. Say that a new video will be released soon. Briefly tell about what you will teach in the next video.
7. Call to action. Ask for a video comment on the launch blog or social networks.

PLC number 3 experience of owning

Teach potential buyers that the solution to all problems is buying your product.

Recipe:

1. Expression of gratitude and joy. Thanks for the comments and questions on the PLC # 2. Share your enthusiasm and tell about the enthusiasm and feedback from other viewers.
2. Quick reminder capability and positioning. Very briefly repeat what was said about this in previous videos.
3. Benefit. Benefit, tell us something useful.
4. Answers to basic questions received. Even if you answered these questions in previous articles, answer them again. You can reformulate the questions.
5. Explanation of the general principle and details of implementation. Go back a step and see the real possibilities: how buying your product will change the life of your customers. View this question from different angles and project it for their future.
6. Mild transition to the proposal. Give your proposal the last 25% of the material. At this point, potential customers already have warm feelings for you.
7. The idea of ​​a shortage of supply. Offer must have limitations. Hint that the following material will be an interesting, but limited offer and that in no case should you miss the output of the following material.
8. Call to action. Ask for comments on a video on a dedicated blog or on social networks.

Sale of inexpensive goods can cram in 5-7 days. A typical seven-day sequence will look like this:



Selling a more expensive product A typical ten-day sequence will look like this:

Launch day

This is the most exciting day in your business. You prepared for it, spent money on creating a video, found subscribers, wrote texts. Now it's time to start.

1. Finished selling page

On launch day, you'll need a well-made selling page. It usually contains a promotional video or text. On the same page should be the possibility of payment. Test everything thoroughly so that at the time of launch the page works, copes with the load and accepts payments.

2. Sending a letter (message).

"Hello! I just opened the registration for the School for Parents course. Here is the address: link_to_your_site.

The page is located on a good server, which, as they say, must cope with the load. If there are problems with access - write.

PS: There are no reasons for panic, we have as many as 30 places on the course, however, they are usually quite quickly dismantled and you should not postpone registration on the last day. ”

Sales process

The sales process should be limited in time. Even if you sell your products all the time, you are doing a promotion, during which special conditions apply. 4-7 days are usually enough. Sometimes there may be shorter starts: for one or two days.

There must be a clear completion date for your launch. Failure to purchase should lead to negative consequences. There are three main ways to activate a rarity trigger:

1. Increasing price
2. Disappearing Bonuses (bonus lesson, book)
3. Ending sentence

It is possible and necessary to combine these methods, imposing them one on another.

Send letters during sales

1. On the day of launch send two letters. The first is about opening the basket, the second is that everything works and we are ready to perform operations (after 4 hours). Tell us about the warranty on your product.
2. The next day, a letter is sent with information about how sales are going: social proof.
3. On the third day a letter is sent with answers to the main questions related to the product.
4. On the fourth day, send a letter stating that sales will close after 24 hours. Activate the rarity trigger.
5. On the day of closing 2-3 letters. The first morning - that soon the shop will close. The second is 6-8 hours before closing. Do not think that you have already sent too many letters. Be sure to send 2-3 letters on the closing day.

After launch

Stock up on extra bonuses that you don’t talk about during the launch process.
Record a video lesson , conduct a webinar, send a book.
Provide support . Spend money on providing written and oral technical support.

Send something useful to all those who have not bought anything yet.

Seed start

What if there is no mailing list yet? Planting seed will solve this problem. If you have any contacts in social networks and in the mail - you can make your first newsletter on the list of 200 of your friends. Already 200 people you probably will find. So the first step in creating your mailing list is to create a micro-list of 100-200 people.

Dial clients to your launch through this mailing list. If not all the places are sold, give the rest for free among your friends. It is important for you that the event takes place.
A very good idea during the planting season will be to collect as many opinions and feedback as possible. If you are just launching a product for the first time, conduct a few surveys and webinars to understand what basic questions buyers want to ask you. So you can form a product on the go without actually having a product.

Write a book

As a result of your first or second launches, record your seminars on audio and video. Transcribe, hire an editor and turn the material into a book. Now you have not only a good seminar, but also a book that you will distribute as a bonus or will be sold separately.

Joint launch

After the first (seed) launch, on which you have already tested all your materials, find partners who already have large mailing lists. They will work with you on some interesting financial conditions, up to 50% of revenue. But their participation will more than pay off due to the fact that people will join your mailing list and make the first purchase. And then - horror your work.

Not all partners are equally useful. Only 1% of 100 will bring you almost all the profits. Take seriously the choice of partner. This should be your target audience and they should be interested in what you are making. For example, do not send letters that you open a vegetarian barbecue to all contacts from Habr. We need to find partners who are already working in your market in your area. To do this, you can subscribe to all possible mailings in your area by selecting a separate mailbox for this.

Business startup formula

The author highlights six key points for starting a business.

1. Always offer valuable prelaunch material. Benefit
2. Build a list and relationships with members of this list
3. Make more than one sentence. It is normal to do from two to four starts per year.
4. Use run cycle: seed → independent → joint
5. Forever popular launches. Run a good product again and again. But prelaunch materials will have to do different.
6. Repeated sales. It is much easier to sell something to those who have already bought. Make a series of products for your customers.

Pair of add-ons

Do not write in the letters "we". People like personal appeals and personal relationships much more than interacting with some kind of firm. Write "I".

Think of opportunity costs. This is the loss of profits as a result of choosing one of the alternative uses of resources. Those. if you choose a path, it means that you have not chosen any other path. So you should be very careful about where you spend your time. Warren Buffett said that "the difference between successful and very successful people is that the latter almost all refuse." This is the magic of the word "no" that will save you from unnecessary adventures and useless projects.

Links

1. The book can be found in Yandex , but there is only PDF.

2. Ahead of me is launching several products. If you are interested in how the launches will take place, subscribe to the public VKontakte .

3. If anyone needs a book in epub-format, write to the LAN , I will send.

4. A good book webinar .

I wish all readers a successful launch!