Seed Launch: how to promote a product that hasn’t launched yet

Do you have questions about the product you want to launch? Or are you still new to the digital product market and need to validate a few ideas? A seed launch might be the perfect strategy!

And best of all, your product doesn’t even need to be ready to start promoting it! 

You can use this strategy to validate your hypotheses and make sure that what you’re thinking really makes sense for the audience you intend to reach. Interesting, isn’t it?

So, learn more about seed launching and find out how to make yours!

What is a seed launch?

A seed launch is a marketing strategy used to test how a product or service will be well-received by the audience. It’s a way to “test the waters”, making sure you have the best possible product to offer.

Since it’s ideal for testing, this type of launch is commonly used before the product has even been completed or before production has started!

You might only have an idea and use the seed launch to understand the best format and if anything needs to be adapted in your plan to meet market demands.

With the feedback received during this step, you can optimize your product and create something profitable that really solves your audience’s pain.

What are the advantages of this type of launch?

Generation of leads

A seed launch helps prepare the market for the promotion and sale of your digital product.

And audience engagement is one of this strategy’s key points!

You will help people identify pain points and understand that your product can be the solution they need. To do so, you’ll have to build and nurture a relationship with them.

It doesn’t get better than this when it comes to generating leads!

More audience engagement

The launch of a product often generates a lot of fear for Producers. 

After all, you wonder if someone will really be interested enough to buy what you have launched, right?

But if you invest in nurturing leads, your audience will engage with you or your brand. So those chances are greatly increased!

People will already have identified with the content you share and will know that you’re an expert on the subject. 

Therefore, they’ll be much more likely to pay for your material, provide feedback, and spread the word, especially if they have a positive experience with what you’re offering.

Educate the market

There’s no use in having a fantastic product if the market isn’t ready for it yet.

But this lack of preparation doesn’t mean that you need to give up on your idea! That’s what the process of educating your audience is for. 

You can use the seed launch to inform people and point out pains that they probably didn’t even know they had or didn’t know what to call it. 

This is good both for those who consume your content and for you! 

By the time you actually launch your product and start selling, your audience will be better prepared and more aware of the advantages they can obtain from consuming what you’ve created.

Increase your online authority

Seed launching is often used by entrepreneurs who are starting out and don’t have much online authority yet.

Since it’s a learning process for both the audience and Producers, one of the advantages of this promotion is to start showing the market that you know what you’re talking about!

Why is this important?

Let’s suppose you have to buy a book on healthy eating. You’ll probably prioritize people who are already recognized for their cooking knowledge and skills, right?

Seed launching will help build your authority so that people will remember you and seek your opinion whenever they think about the subject you cover.

How to do a seed launch

Prepare the audience

Start by producing content to prepare the audience for your launch.

You can create a blog, use social media, and/or use an e-mail marketing strategy. All three are valuable strategies and can be used together to boost your results!

The goal here is to communicate with the audience, promote your idea, and build a relationship with people who might become customers later.

Take advantage of these interactions to answer any questions that arise about what you intend to create. 

You can do this by sharing forms or even through the Q&A boxes on social media, such as Instagram. 

The important thing is to interact a lot with the audience and understand exactly what they need.

Create a pre-launch checklist

To reach the right people during the pre-launch, you should have a list of your potential customers, i.e., those who have already demonstrated interest in your product.

A very common question early on in this process is, “but how will I get these people’s contact information?”

The answer is: creating a very attractive landing page showcasing your offer and promoting it to get as many subscribers as possible! 

With access to their contact information, you’ll have an excellent opportunity to nurture the relationship with your potential customers until launch day.

To make the landing page even more interesting, say that you’ll send tips and content on the topic or offer rich material after they sign up, such as an ebook, infographic, or spreadsheet.

Improve your product or service for the launch

After following these initial tips, you’ll have a lot of insight into improving your product or service or even starting creating one!

Define the best format, the platform on which your product or service will be made available, the topics that will be covered, the price to be charged, payment methods, etc.

At this point, people will already be interested in what you’re going to launch since they’ll have received your content, tips, and materials through social media. 

So, make sure you create something that will really win the audience over!

Invite the audience to the launch

The time has come to finally invite people to the long-awaited product launch!

You have to work hard on the previous steps to make sure that the launch will achieve the desired goals. 

After everything has been done, and the product is ready, it’s time to schedule the day and time for the launch.

One of the most common formats for seed launching are webinars because they allow a closer contact with the audience. 

In your webinar, you can present more details about the offer, answer questions, and even invite partners, if this makes sense for your business. 

You can also make the launch on a shopping page and advertise it on the channels your audience uses most.

During the launch, it’s also important to offer something exclusive to participants, such as a discount on the purchase, special payment terms, or a gift. 

This strategy helps create a sense of urgency and further pique the audience’s interest!

Analyze the results

Whew, your product has been created and launched! But that doesn’t mean that the work is over.

The analysis of the results is very important to help you identify what worked well and what needs to be improved.

Define the relevant metrics for your business, so you know what you’ll need to analyze during this final step. 

You can measure CAC, ROI, average bank-slip payments, or any other metric that makes sense for your business.

Remember to also ask for feedback from customers and people who attended the launch but didn’t buy.

All feedback received at this point is valuable. 

Use these opinions to fine-tune your next products and launches, or to find out what needs to change in your current promotion strategy to improve sales results.

Join the digital product market!

Creating and launching a product takes a lot of work and dedication. But by using the right strategies, the process can bring positive results!

Now that you know how to make a seed launch and understand its importance for the presentation of your product or service, what are you waiting for to get started?

Check out how to create a digital product from scratch and learn exactly what you need to do to start a business online!

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