Comfy Marketing Show
3 Times Soft Launching Is More Than Okay
I read an ad yesterday that said ‘soft launching is never the best option for anyone’ and I think that’s bollocks not true – so here are three circumstances when soft launching is a great idea.
Listen here, or scroll down for the text version.
What even is ‘Soft Launching’
‘Soft Launching’ is launching your offer to a limited/restricted audience.
It’s not crap launching.
It’s not a half-hearted launching.
It’s a legitimate strategic marketing tactic.
3 times soft launching could be right for you
1. You have buyers waiting
Ideally, when you create any offer, you already have at least one person in mind who you believe would be a good fit for it.
If the new thing you are launching is a 1-1 package or group program, you might only want to sell a few spots, and you might already have a shortlist of people who you would love to buy it, and you have reason to believe would be interested.
It makes sense to start with them.
This is how I launched my 12-week 1-1 mentoring program. For the first round, I only invited people I had already worked with.
2. You’re building something new
If you’re building a new course, program, or membership, soft launching to your existing audience can be a great way to get paid to build as you go, and be supported by your biggest cheerleaders – the people most engaged in your work.
Be upfront about this being a work-in-progress, and adjust the price to reflect that.
You’re still going to deliver something valuable, but there might be bumps along the way, which will be more comfortably riden if you’re working with people who have known (and trusted you) for a while, rather than strangers. And they can provide kind and constructive feedback to help you get this to the polished version.
3. It’s what’s right for you, your life, your body, your business, or your nervous system right now.
Everything about my life is incompatible with high-pressure, high hype launches.
As soon as I plan anything like that, I’ll trigger a 2-week migraine, some kind of family emergency and/or at least one essential domestic appliance will conk out.
Would I make more money if ran Facebook ads to a webinar, blah, blah – probably, maybe, I don’t really know. There are a lot of things I could be doing to make more money, but I choose not to.
Copywriting Insight
The sentence, ‘But soft launching is never the best option for anyone’ is an example of black-and-white framing – a cognitive distortion that gives the impression there is only one acceptable option.
Because it shows up in sales copy and marketing content a lot, we can unconsciously absorb that pattern and recreate it in our own writing.
I am not the copywriting ethics police, so I’m not here to judge or say what you can and cannot use in your marketing.
I am here to encourage you to notice whenever this kind of framing shows up in something you’re reading or writing, and to ask yourself,
– ‘Is this true’
– ‘Is this true for me (or my reader)?’
– ‘How does this make me (or the reader) feel?’
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Thank you. And thanks for giving me the chance to see what it looks like when I reply to a comment 🙂
Love this, Laura! Such an important message to share and I love the simple 3 points you share. Very helpful ♥️