What do you recommend for the length of a first launch? 5 days or 7 days? My niche is social media and this product is on Linkedin. I will be doing an affiliate contest for overall leaderboard, some prizes for first to 100, 50, 25 sales, etc. If the launch goes well, I will also be adding some 2 day total contests in the middle of the launch to keep momentum going. What is everyone's experience with the length of launches and how does it affect whether affiliates would like to participate and promote for you? I appreciate any help! Thank you!
Hi, Tammy ... much success with your first launch.
As this is your 'maiden voyage', I'd spend as much time as possible connecting with your contacts and doing what you can to get a launch support commitment from them, perhaps even ask a few of them to help out with test traffic so you can tweak the offer, while introducing yourself one at a time to other proven potential JV partners, well in advance of your launch.
Unless you have a significant self brand in your industry, going into the affiliate recruitment phase of launch preparation with no previous product launch track record and without ample time to develop rapport with new JV prospects, is a recipe for disaster. Do please take the time to make sure your conversion and retention is there before inviting those outside your circle in, and have enough core support to get the ball rolling on launch day without relying on the unknown (AKA random affiliates you have no rapport with).
Once you have at least a small number of core JV partners confirmed, start qualifying the rest of the JV leads and do your best to stay in touch with those that have shown promise. 10 proven JV partners that you know will promote for you is worth 100+ random JV/affiliate leads that you have no history with.
On launch day, I'd send out a JV notification just prior to launch to get the ball rolling, then send one every 24 hours at approximately the same time of day, with positive numbers (units & sales totals, conversion %, EPCs, etc), social proof (partner/customer testimonials, named sales leaders, spotlight on strong performing partners, etc.), launch phase details (ad copy, links, etc), affiliate area log in details (if necessary) and a teaser mention of what's to come in the next mailing.
As far as the length of the launch, will there be a pre-launch phase?
If you decide to go the 7 day route, make sure that you have a strong launch phase planned for Friday to spike and carry the interest and motivation through the weekend and have something big planned for Monday to close things out (assuming you're running Monday to Monday or Tuesday to Tuesday). Otherwise, you might start losing affiliates to the new launches starting on Monday/Tuesday before you get the last spike in.
Or you could go with a Monday to Friday 5 day ... both work. Your strategy, JV/Affiliate management and other factors and variables like competition, timing, etc. will decide how well.
Hope that helps ..
Looking forward to seeing the additional responses.
Thanks so much for the valuable insight, Mike. It is appreciated. I am in VIP coaching with Alex Jeffries and have also studied a lot of Henry Gold's training. I have confidence in my products, it is the JV side of things that I am struggling with. Do you recommend a JV manager for a first launch?
I'm sure that your self and product brands are highly reputable, based on your training and associations alone, but unless you and your products are well know by the masses, the likelihood that proven affiliates that you have no rapport with are going to jump on board via launch announcements, solely, is slim ... IMHO.
So ... yes, unless you're going to personally have the time to contact potential proven JV/affiliate partners, directly or by individual introduction, and build a rapport with them in the weeks leading up to pre-launch/launch, I'd consider hiring a launch time JV/Affiliate Manager.
I'm not saying that you can't find some success simply advertising a new product launch JV offer on the various launch calendars and JV/affiliate recruitment groups, but considering that most vendors that have had successful launches on multiple occasions will almost always find that the Top 10 or 20 affiliates wind up being the same from launch to launch, those they consider to be within their core circle of JV partners, I think the most productive thing you can do is try your best to keep those existing reliable JV/affiliate partners happy, and work toward adding qualified candidates to that core inner circle, through individual contact and follow up, as part of your day to day business.
That's why I recommend both announcing the JV offer through the popular channels, and qualifying the JV leads individually, and pursuing proven JV partner candidates, one at a time, directly.
To be honest, as a long time JV Broker, if I can add 2 or 3 new names to a client's Top 10 sales leader board, I've done my job, as I consider bringing new JV/affiliate partners into an existing affiliate program ... up against established inner circle partners, and seeing them work their way into the Top 10 as quite an accomplishment. Not to mention that those 2 or 3 high level proven JV/affiliates will likely (hopefully) remain JV partners within the vendor's inner circle for the long term ... which is an ultimate goal.
Mike: Thank you for all your great advice, you helped a ton! I am a little confused about announcing the launch on this platform. I will be upgrading to VIP, but is there also a paid version of launch announcement beyond that? After talking with Henry extensively, I am going to do my best to go ahead and launch this at the end of January since it is ready. I will also be continuing my coaching with him and Alex Jeffries and will be working on list building and becoming a super affiliate to others so that I can reciprocate and get in the game. I completely understand what you are saying and the fact that the experienced gurus don't really want to help newbies. But it becomes a catch twenty-two when you are a newbie, as you have to start somewhere. I am in this for the long haul and will be happy to help others out, I just hope that someone will give me that first chance! Thanks again!
Tammy
That's some great advice above... I'm looking to implement a relaunch and hopefully this time round it will be big improvement from my first effort...
I'm finding that its a totally different ball game when you're a vendor versus affiliate marketing which I have been doing for sometime... Just to add:
1) Make sure to set-up an affiliate resource area on your website e.g. provide email swipes, banners, videos (such as a mini-course) etc.. The easier it is for someone to promote - the more likely they will...
2) I would also setup lead capture campaigns e.g. setup a simple landing page and offer free bonuses for email signup - with it being highly targeted/relevant to your audience... Run ads to it... That way you can use your email list as a means to promote your main product.
3) I would also run ads about your product as part of a pre-launch - again capture leads this time offering a discount on a hidden page if they signup... Post launch obviously change that to the actual launch.
4) ... and of course to announce your offer on JV sites such as here and also with making contacts etc as Mike explained really well...
Hope that helps & that your launch has gone super awesome! Also note you can always implement a relaunch when traffic/interest drops ;-)
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