Quick Launch Marketing Blueprint

Unlike a Traditional Launch, when utilizing the Quick Launch Method, you don't have the benefit of using your pre-launch period to warm up your audience.

As such, your Quick Launch marketing has to do all of the heavy lifting when it comes to moving your audience through the different phases of awareness.

In this Blueprint, I'm going to walk you through the process of creating your marketing for your Quick Launch! We're specifically going to cover :

- Planning your marketing for your social IG page (feed + stories);
- How to announce your offer; and,
- Planning your open cart emails

I hope what you learn in this Blueprint challenges everything you thought you knew about marketing + selling!

Before we dive into planning your marketing, let's take a few moments to talk about how to prepare your Instagram page to make sales.

There are 3 areas that we're going to focus on : 

Your IG bio
The link in your bio
Your IG stories highlights

On the morning you announce your offer, you want to make sure that you've made the following adjustments so that your messaging is consistent and clear on your IG page :

Remove EVERYTHING from your bio except your booking or contact email address and a call to action (CTA) that describes your offer.

Here's my typical bio formula during open cart : 

Question regarding their desired result + CTA

Example 1:

Example 2 :

Next, add the link to your sales page to your IG bio. [if you're using Canva, make sure you add the link to the MOBILE sales page].

Example 1 :

Example 2 :

Note : While I'm in "launch mode", I prefer to have only ONE link in my bio. In other words, I don't recommend that you have a Linktr.ee in your bio with multiple links. 

This is because you want to focus on driving your customers towards taking ONE action during your open cart, which is to visit your sales page.

This is why I recommend that you add your contact info to your bio! If a customer wants to contact you regarding another service, she can email you or DM you.

Lastly, on the day you announce your offer, you'll want to remember to create an Instagram stories highlight that will serve as a "commercial" for your offer during your open cart. 

Then, everyday of your open cart, you'll add the most important stories about your offer to your dedicated stories highlight, so that if a customer is interested, they can watch the full story from start to finish.

For reference, click here to check out the MMU Stories Highlight that I created for my most recent launch!

WOO-HOO! Your page is PREPPED and ready to go! You are #TooLitToQuit!

Now, let's move on to Step 2 where you'll plan out your announcement post!

Whenever you announce your offer on social media, you want to debut with a BANG! Most importantly, you want your first post to move your customer through all 5 levels of awareness (from unaware, to problem aware, to solution aware, to ready to buy!)

To do this, I've created a 7-part formula for creating your Offer Announcement caption : 

1. BEGIN WITH A QUICK, CATCHY HOOK ANNOUNCING THE OFFER

   You only have 125 characters to "hook" your followers before they have to click "read more" to expand your caption. Don't let that space go to waste! Begin the caption with a phrase that gives them a hint at what your post is about, and intrigues them to continue reading.

2. LAY OUT YOUR CUSTOMER'S PROBLEMS WITH ULTRA SPECIFICITY
   
   Paint the picture of all of the problems that your customer is struggling with now, or may struggle with in the future, as it relates to what you're offering. Remember -- selling is all about solving problems, so in order for your customers to understand why they should buy your offer, you have to first bring their problems to the forefront, and be specific! 

3. EMPATHY STATEMENT

   Let your customer know that you totally understand what she's experiencing because either you or your customers have been through it, too! This continues to establish a relationship of trust.

4. ESTABLISH YOUR AUTHORITY / EXPERTISE OR PROVE THAT YOUR OFFER IS PERFECT FOR THEM

   Now that you've identified your customer's problems and let them know that you "get it", you want to set the stage for why you're qualified to be the expert that provides a solution for them through your offer. To do this, you can speak about an experience you've had, training that you've done, jobs or bookings you've done before, awards or certificates you've received, etc.

   Alternatively, this is a great place to mention a client who's previously gotten results.

5. INTRODUCE YOUR OFFER

   Next, introduce the name of your offer 

6. LIST THE FEATURES/ BENEFITS + BONUSES (OR WHAT THEY'RE GOING TO LEARN, IF YOUR OFFER IS A CLASS)

   Then pivot to listing the features + benefits of your offer. I typically like to simply copy the bulleted list directly from the sales page. If I have enough space in my caption, I'll end that section by mentioning the bonuses. If I run out of characters in the caption, I'll either only mention one bonus (i.e. the fast action bonus), or remove the bonuses from the caption altogether. This is because you can do an entire post dedicated to bonuses the next day.

7. CALL TO ACTION + SCARCITY

   End the caption by directing the reader to click the link in your bio to purchase the offer. I also like to bake in a bit of scarcity here. If you don't mention the fast action bonus in the paragraph before this one, you can mention it here. Or, if you have limited space or limited tickets available, mention it here. In short, you want to include some sort scarcity to motivate them to take action now and not wait until later. Figure out what makes sense for your particular offer!

   As an example, here's a breakdown of the caption I used to announce my first live bridal event. Even though this was for a Bridal event, it follows the structure of the formula : 

Here's another example :

Notice, that although the 7 elements were switched around a bit, they're all still there!

Remember -- While I've provided examples for reference, please do not plagiarize. Make your caption your own by speaking in your own voice!

Now's your turn to draft the caption for your offer announcement post!

Because your caption will be long-form, I recommend that you type your caption in a Google Doc (or Word Doc), then transfer it to your phone.

Here are a few resources that help you craft your offer announcement post : 

RESOURCES :

• Emojipedia (To add emojis to my captions when I'm typing on my computer)
• Character counter (You're limited to 2200 characters for IG captions, so you can double check your captions with this tool to make sure that it doesn't get cut off by IG)
• IG Caption Line Breaks (Once I'm happy with my caption, I pop it into this tool to add line breaks between paragraphs so that your caption doesn't look like one HUGE paragraph)

In the Advertising world, the word "creative" refers to images, videos, and other formats that accompany your ads.

In our case, I'm using the word "creative" to refer to the photo /video/ boomerang/etc. that you post in your feed to promote your offer.

Now, that you've drafted the caption for your announcement post, it's time for you to choose the "creative" that will accompany it. To do this, you can either : 

1. Choose a photo of video that you already have (it's totally okay to repost something that you've posted in the past -- especially if you noticed that it got a lot of engagement!); or,

2. Create a new photo or video from scratch.

It's up to you! But the most important thing(s) to consider when choosing your launch creative is to make sure that it will make your followers STOP THEIR SCROLL when they see it in their feed. 

So, make sure that it's a photo or video that you're proud of and that shows :

- The transformation your offer creates; or,
- Your ideal client's current struggle; or,
-  A visual representation of the story that you're telling in the caption

Now that you've got your offer announcement post squared away, it's time to shift your focus towards mapping out your in-feed posts for the remainder of your "Open Cart". We will plan your IG stories posts separately in Step 4.

Remember : Your mission is to create premise-focused content that inspires the right customers to invest in your offer. When you do this, your marketing will never feel "pushy" or "salesy"! 

The first step is to create your launch Promo calendar. Watch this video to understand how to get it done : 

>>Download the PDF of the Quick Launch Promo Calendar Template Here<<

>>Access the CANVA version of this template<<

Throughout your launch, you are simply going to create posts that highlight all of the different elements of your offer through storytelling.

Stories are one of the most powerful selling tools that you can use because when people listen to or read a story, the same parts of their brain are activated as though they are personally experiencing what's being described. So, your readers literally create an emotional connection as they read your story!

It's not enough to just tell your customers the details of your offer. You must relate the details of your offer to them through a story. So, move on to the next step where you will create a "Story Bank" that you will pull from throughout your launch!

Your story bank is simply a collection of stories that you can tell to help inspire your customers to purchase your offer.

So, pull out your Promo Calendar and match the theme of each day to a story that will help your customer understand the value of your offer and why it relates to them.

The stories in your Story Bank can be from your own personal experiences, your client's experiences, a common industry experience, or pop culture references.

For example, if I was launching a Bridal Package as my offer, and the theme of the post is to Highlight Feature #1 from my package (the Bridal Preview session), I could tell the story about when I had my first disappointed Bride.

In an effort to cut corners, the Bride decided to skip the trial. But on the day of the wedding she was running late, not only did I have to rush through her makeup, but she was a picky Bride and couldn't decide what look she wanted. That moment taught me a lesson about the importance of always including the Trial in the Bridal experience. (I made this story up for the sake of the example)

Do you see how telling that story would not only help Brides understand the importance of having a Trial, but also why I've included that as a feature of my offer? Your stories create connection and context!

I would add this story to my Story Bank, and when I was ready to draft the full caption, I'd make sure that it fits the 7-part formula.

Now that you've matched each of the themes on your promo calendar to stories in your Story Bank, it's time to gather the creative for your posts!

To do this, start by looking through the photos + videos saved in your phone. "Favorite" any that you feel like you can use during your launch -- make sure they either:

• Shows the transformation that your offer creates;
• Shows your customer's current struggle (For example, if you're doing a skincare offer, perhaps you have a photo of yourself or a client that has problematic skin); or,
• Relates to the topic of the story that you're telling in the caption (For example, I chose this photo because not only is it a scroll-stopping photo, but it also was captured during the masterclass tour that I mentioned in the caption.)

If you do not have "creative" that works, you may want to specifically create new content by taking selfies or working with a model to create what you need. However, please note that I always recommend that you start with what you already have before creating new creative from scratch!

I L-O-V-E to leverage my IG stories during my launches. In fact, my stories are my absolute favorite part of my launches! I am constantly looking for new ways to engage and entertain via IG stories during my open cart!

Unlike the main feed, I look at my IG stories as "micro-commercials" for my offer, and I try to make it a point to always have stories available to watch during my open cart so no matter what day or time someone visits my profile, they can pop in and dive into the "commercial".

What makes a GREAT IG Story?

There's actually a formula to a great IG story, and it's what makes a "story" a story - There's a clear beginning, middle, and end!

The BEGINNING phase sets up the story. It provides the context for what you're going to share.

The MIDDLE phase either educates, inspires, or entertains in a way that moves your customer through the phases of awareness.

The END phase creates resolution for your story. In our case, the resolution will typically be a call to action to click the link in your bio or swipe up to purchase your offer.

In order to be effective, you story must have all of the ingredients, otherwise your recipe will be incomplete!

If there's not Beginning to the story, what you're sharing will lack context, so your customer will likely be confused about what you're talking about.

If there's no MIDDLE, your IG story will lack substance.

And if there's no end, there's no resolution. People hate "open loops". Human beings are wired to want resolution! (That's why the show "Unsolved Mysteries" drives me absolutely BATTY! 

Truly, my reaction is more like :

I need resolution, Friend! And so do your followers when they watch your IG stories!

Another little trick that I like to do is string different "mini-stories" together on the same day. Each set of stories has its own music soundtrack and visual aesthetic in order to keep the viewer engaged for as long as possible.

Here's an example of the stories that I posted on the first day of my launch :

Notice that there are mini-stories within my stories! Here's how the mini-stories broke down :

Mini Story 1 -  Introduce the offer
Mini Story 2 - Testimonial
Mini Story 3 - Introduce the problem / premise
Mini Story 4 - Testimonial proving the premise
Mini Story 5 - Brief description of offer's features
Mini Story 6 - Fast Action Bonus

Note : You DO NOT have to create this many stories for Day 1 of your offer! I choose to do so because it's fun for me, but also because I have a $1K+ offer. So, my audience needs a bit context in order to say yes to me offer!

Want to learn how I create and design my IG stories? Move forward to Step 4.1!

One of my absolute favorite strategies is to turn each section of my enrollment page into beautifully designed Instagram stories on the day I launch my offer. By doing this, I'm able to take my customer through all 5 levels of awareness, from un-aware to ready to buy.

Here's another example from a previous MMU launch : 

Watch this tutorial to learn how to create your launch announcement stories from your Canva sales page :

You'll need : 

- Canva
- Instagram (to add gif stickers)
- InShot App 

Here's how to import your own music into Inshot App :

Another thing that you can do to encourage your customers to share that they signed up for your offer is to design share-able IG stories graphics! Here are examples of graphics I created :

Now that you've planned out your enrollment day IG stories, it's time to map out your "stories plan" for the remainder of your open cart!

The simplest, most straight-forward strategy is to simply mirror the themes from your main feed, but turn them into an engaging story that has a beginning (set up -- usually in the form of a question), middle (where you educate or share your premise), and end (where you include a CTA to buy your offer). Here's an example :

And don't forget! If you don't have a knack for Canva, you can always simply open up your phone and talk straight-to-camera in your stories like this : 

The final step in planning your open cart marketing is to create your emails! 

True to form, to create your emails, I recommend that you simply re-purpose your Instagram captions to create emails! (This is exactly what I do for my launches!)

For example, here's the IG post where I announced that doors were open to MMU. And here's the email that I sent.

Here's an IG post during open cart and here's the corresponding email.

On the final day of your launch, you'll want to send THREE emails throughout the date :

LAST DAY EMAIL SERIES

[MORNING] Announce new bonus (Example)

[AFTERNOON] For this email, I recommend that you share a case study or testimonial. Alternatively, you can simply re-send the email to everyone who did not open the morning's email.

[EVENING] Last chance (send a 1 - 2 hours before cart closes)

Notes : 

• Only send these emails to people on your email list who have not purchased your offer. To do this, you're going to have to track each person who purchases if you're manually tracking purchases, or filter customers who have purchased your product in Convertkit
• Send emails at a time that you think you'll have the best chances for email opens. I typically like to send emails first thing in the morning (i.e. between 6:30 - 8:00am) so that my messages are near the top of the inbox when people open their emails for the first time in the morning.
• If you're using an email marketing platform (i.e. Convertkit), you can use "Merge tags" to automatically add the recipient's first name wherever you place the tag. This includes the body of the message as well as the subject line!
• Keep your emails simple. Too many graphics and picture may cause your message to land in your recipient's spam folder.

If you've made it this far, you're either ready to launch or you've already launched your offer! 

CONGRATULATIONS! 

Seriously, celebrate yourself! Creating an offer is a HUGE accomplishment.

You should be proud.

(Because I'm proud of YOU!)