Sarah Lakhani Consulting

Helping entrepreneurs build businesses with clarity and ease through strategic business design

Marketing

Launching 101

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Launching 101

Launching… the absolute best way to connect with your audience and really showcase your best work and all the value you provide.  I absolutely love launching, and I want to share my Launching 101 tips with you so you can fall in love with launching too!

First, let’s get clear on what a launch is.  I think it’s a much more exciting term than “campaign”  but really, that’s what a launch is.  It’s a marketing campaign designed to create immediate sales.  I like to think of it more as a sales strategy than a marketing strategy, because the marketing that goes along with it is focused on an event that is a conversion event, but whether you agree or not, launching is still a great strategy.  And it’s something you should definitely be doing in your business.  

What is Launching?

So what does launching look like?  We said that a launch is a marketing campaign, but the special thing about a launch is that it leads to an event.  And this event is something I like to call a conversion event.  There are many terms used for this particular event, and conversion event is quite popular.  It also brings to light the reason for the event, which I like.  The event is there to convert people.  To showcase the value you and your business provide and to take your attendees through a journey and get them to purchase your product or service.  

Why is Launching Important?

And so before we move into how to create a launch, let’s first cover why a launch is a great strategy for your business.  To do this, I’m going to compare two scenarios.  In both of these scenarios, you’ve got a new product or service (or an existing one, it actually doesn’t have to be new) and you’re going to be releasing your product or service and hopefully generating lots of sales from it.  

Scenario A: Regular Marketing Campaign 

In this scenario, you’ll create lots of great content.  In fact, the content you create will create bridges that show your potential customers why they should purchase your product or service.  You cover all your content pillars and move people closer to wanting to purchase from you.  Great!  Eventually you open up your cart, ask for the sale and I’m certain you’ll get sales! 

Scenario B: Launch Campaign

In the launch campaign, you’ll do all the regular marketing campaign activities AND you’ll also plan an event – the conversion event.  In the conversion event, you move your potential customers through a journey that allows them to solve a challenge they’re facing and get a win! Yes, it might be a small or mini win (because you only have so much time to do it in), but that doesn’t matter… it’s a win nonetheless!  At the end of the event, you open up your cart, ask for the sale and the expectation now (especially since this entire article is about launches) is that you’ll make MORE sales than you could have in Scenario A. 

So, will you?  I would go with yes.  Because not only did you do all the regular marketing campaign activities and demonstrate to your audience why they should buy your product or service, but you also did this one additional thing: you gave them a taste of your product or service, live.  If you’re a service provider, then you likely showed them what working with you would be like, which is absolutely gold! And if you sell physical or digital products, then you likely demonstrated how your product would be beneficial to them, in a live environment, with lots of engagement.  So yes, I’d expect and can almost guarantee that you would sell more at the end of a conversion event than without it.  

Elements of a Launch Plan

If you’re with me, and can see how a conversion event within a full launch plan can help you sell more of your product or service, then let’s go ahead dive into how you can do this.  

I’ve broken the launch plan down into 5 steps:

Step #1: Schedule things out

So here’s what happened with me earlier in my business.  I would “go with the flow”, “be flexible” and “adjust as needed”.  And that resulted in delayed launches, not enough marketing power behind the actual conversion event and overall less-than-spectacular launches.  

But now I know better.  Launches need a schedule.  Without the schedule, you won’t go as hard.  And if you don’t go hard, you won’t win big.  

So here’s what you need to include in your launch schedule:

  • Marketing in the run-up to the event – for the event 
  • Marketing in the run-up to the event – for your product or service
  • The event
  • Post-event questions, sales calls, messages etc to respond to
  • Cart open
  • Cart close
  • Emails pre-event (to get people to your event)
  • Emails post-event (sales)

Step #2: Create your conversion event

The first thing to do here is to pick something that people will want to sign up for.  Again, we come back to offering something they WANT, not necessarily what you know they NEED.  It took me a little while to understand that, so let me explain it just a little.  To attract people, you have to provide the thing they are actually looking for, even if you know that it might not be the answer to their challenges.  And the reason for that is because the answer to their challenges is very likely 3, 4 maybe even 10 steps down the road, so they’re not there yet.  They’re at Step 1.  So give them Step 1.  And then you can walk them down Steps 2 to 10 after that – after they’ve passed Step 1.  

And the second thing you should do is make sure they leave with a win.  Do not worry about giving away too much.  When you provide value, people see your value.  If your event doesn’t wow them, they are not going to be swayed into buying your product or service.  

And lastly, a friendly reminder that even if they don’t purchase your product or service now, they are moving closer to it.  It takes some people multiple events before they’re ready to buy.  You might be one of them!   

Step #3: Market your event

Ok so now you have your schedule ready and there’s an allotted time for marketing in the launch plan before the launch event.  Don’t forget to market your event!  Depending on how long of a runway you have, schedule in different formats and copy to get people into your event.  Use all channels – email, different social media platforms, your email signature, talk about it in groups you’re in, really anywhere and everywhere you can think of.  

Step #4: Continue regular social media marketing 

And while you’re marketing your event, don’t forget to continue building your following and engagement on social media by creating a solid content strategy.  In the run-up to your launch, try to choose content pillars that are most relevant to the offer you’re going to sell.  You want to strategically be creating content across your social media channels that move your followers closer to purchasing your product or service.  

Step #5: Be very clear on your offer

Remember this: a confused mind never buys.  So make it super simple for the people who you’re selling to and don’t provide a whole range of options for them to choose from.  It’s hard to say how many things you can have in your offer.  If it’s a product, you might have several different items within a collection, and that’s totally fine.  But in that situation, what you don’t want is to be launching multiple collections at the same time.  

And if you’re a service-based business, then try not to offer more than 2 options – maybe a regular and a premium service, or a DIY version and a full-option version.  Another thing to bear in mind is to either offer the same service/course/program at two levels or two offer two completely different services/courses/programs.  You want to make it easy for your audience to pick one.  

Step #6: Provide post-event sales calls or Q&A opportunities

Lastly, offer a CTA (call-to-action) to schedule a call if anyone has questions or wants more information.  Provide an email address, or set up some Q&A sessions.  You can even tackle questions asked via email in your Q&A sessions.  Quite often, people need a little help in deciding whether a product or service is right for them, so you want to make sure you have that factored into your plan.  

And remember that sometimes, your job is to let someone know that your product or service is actually not right for them.  There is no shame in doing that.  In fact, if your product or service isn’t what they’re looking for, then you should absolutely make sure they don’t purchase it, because they’re only going to end up complaining, wanting a refund or posting a poor review. 

So you’ve got to think of your sales calls as two-way fit assessments.  Is your product/service right for them, and are they right for your product/service?

Incorporating Launches into your Business

That covers launching 101! I hope this has shed some light on your next launch, and more than that I hope this is the first step towards you enjoying launches and incorporating them into your business as regularly as needed.    

Remember that you can launch as often or as infrequently as you like and as your business requires.  Some business owners choose to do back-to-back launches every month, others once a year.  The most frequent, from what I’ve seen, is quarterly.  That gives you enough time to plan, build rapport with your audience, and then put your focus and energy on one launch.  However, this is your business, and ultimately, you are the decision maker.  Do what’s right for you and your business.  

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The Insider’s Guide to the Know, Like and Trust Factors

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The number one thing all people in business want is… more customers! And that makes sense, of course.  But we should also articulate that we all want to be attracting ideal customers, not just any customer, because your ideal customers are a lot more likely to convert.  So, how can you attract more of your ideal customers?  It comes down to three things: the Know, Like and Trust factors.

Building your business and brand to include these things will create relationships with your potential customers, and those relationships will eventually lead to sales and loyalty.  The time between building the relationship and making a sale will differ from business to business and depends on a number of factors.  For example, if your product or service is an essential item, a time-bound purchase (i.e. for customers at a specific phase or point in their lives) or a low-cost purchase, you’ll find the time between relationship-building and sales will be shorter.  

The Know Factor

The Know factor is developed through showing up genuinely and consistently.  Whatever platform you choose to focus on – whether it’s a social media platform, your website, speaking events, or anything else – the key is to be consistent and genuine.  

The “genuine-ness” comes from being clear on your brand personality, tonality, language and visuals and ensuring your unique advantage shines through.  (More on this in the Like Factor section).  The reason this is important in creating the Know Factor is because in order for someone to feel like they know you, they should be able to describe you, to recognize your content and to expect a certain type of engagement with you.  

And all that is rooted in your brand and your unique advantage.  When you have those identified and embedded within your content and engagement, your customers will inherently feel like they know you, which creates a bond and a feeling of security.  

The security element gives your ideal customer a sense of stability, of knowing what to expect.  This is core to developing a deep connection with them – a pre-requisite for a loyal following and long-term sales.

The Like Factor

The Like factor is rooted in connecting with your ideal customer.  This factor is based on similarities between you and the person you want to attract.  So the key here is to identify your differentiating factors – the things that make your brand and your business unique – and highlighting those regularly in your content.  

People tend to like people who are either like them or aspirational to them.  And if you can get a bit of both in your brand and business, you’ll be golden!  

So in order to develop the Like Factor with your audience so that you can extract your ideal customers from them, you need to showcase your (or your brand’s) personality traits.  If you are a service provider, your individual personality will be your brand’s personality.  But if you have a partner, then you should develop a brand personality that feels true to the both of you.  Similarly, if you have a product business, you can either leverage your personality and inject that into your brand, or you can create a slightly different personality for your brand.

The key here is to know exactly what your brand’s personality is, and to know what makes it stand out.  A brand that is just like other brands in the industry won’t stand out.  And ultimately if you don’t stand out, you’ll find it very difficult to attract customers that are right for you and your business.  

The Trust Factor

The Trust factor arises from your knowledge and your experience.  It is built through your audience seeing you as a figure of authority in your area or as an expert in your field.  If you are a product-based business, your ability to showcase the quality, history and depth of your brand will play a big part in the Trust factor.  

To increase your Trust factor, use testimonials, cast studies and customer feedback.  It is recommended that you share these once a week, to keep a steady flow and reminder of your Trust factor.  

Pre-planning will make a big difference here.  Actively ask customers for their feedback and testimonials.  Incorporate this into your customer journey, asking for a testimonial shortly after receiving the product or completing the service you offered.  That way, you’ll create a steady stream of testimonials and feedback, and you can develop case studies on a select few customers if that makes sense for your business.  

All three factors have one thing in common…

You’ll probably have noticed that all three factors – the Know, Like and Trust factors – have a a common thread running through them.  

Your uniqueness.  Your competitive advantage.  Your unique proposition.  

When done right, these will shine through each one of the factors and create a brand and business that stands out. This will then attract the right customers – your ideal customers – to it.

Customers who do not resonate with your unique advantage will not stick around, and that’s a good thing.  It means lower costs for you because you won’t be trying to convert customers who likely will never buy from you. 

And it means the people who stick around will do so because they resonate with you, your brand and your business.  And those are the people you want.  They are your ideal customers.  

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Using Social Media to Generate Leads

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Most entrepreneurs, if asked what they would like in order to achieve the success they desire in their businesses, would say “leads”.  And in that space, we usually think of using social media to generate leads.  It turns out that the majority of us believe that if we had more eyeballs on our content, we’d be able to convert them, making more sales, more revenue and ultimately achieving our financial goals.

The first thing you’ll want to check, however, is whether you’re already converting your existing leads at a decent rate (3-10%).  If you are, then congratulations!  You are in the coveted position of going down one of two paths now: Push your conversion rate higher, or look at generating more leads.  

If you’re not already converting at a minimum of 3% (leads to purchase), then it’s time to build a lead generation system that works for you.  There are 4 main things to focus on, and although you might have heard of some of them, I will be sprinkling my tried and tested methods in there, so these are all based on experience.

Tip #1: Choose 2 platforms

If you absolutely must use more, you can go up to 3, but definitely stop there.  The reason you don’t want to be everywhere at once is because growing an audience of your ideal customers requires time and energy.  So the more you spread it out, the less you’ll be able to offer each platform.  And when that happens, your audience will feel it.  You won’t be fully present and you won’t be fully engaging with them.  It’s just not possible. 

If every social platform requires about 4-6 hours of content creation per week (I, personally, need longer than this), and a minimum of 1 hour of engagement per day, then for 1 platform alone, you’re looking at 11-13 hours of your time per week.  2 platforms is 22-26 hours per week and 3 platforms requires 33-39 hours per week.  

I know what you’re thinking.  You’re thinking that you can scale and repurpose your content, right?  And yes, of course you should.  But only if it makes sense for the platform.  Instagram content and LinkedIn content will likely not be the same at all.  But Instagram and Facebook content could be repurposed for each other.  And if you were to use Pinterest, you’d likely have to create pins that are a lot more aesthetically powerful than your Instagram posts.  

But there’s more to it than that.  There’s also the strategy behind the use of the platform, and understanding how to use each one to draw your ideal customers into your world.  In the world of Facebook, you might consider a strategy of engaging in Facebook Groups, more than posting on your page.  That’s not to say that you shouldn’t be posting on your page, but drawing people in will likely require you to go out and engage with people in places such as Facebook Groups.  Instagram, on the other hand, is set up in such a way that allows you to draw people in with a strong hashtag strategy.  And that leads me to my second point…

Tip #2: Leverage the power behind each platform

Posting is not enough.  Every platform has its own special features.  Learn what they are, and leverage them.  Incorporate them into your content plan.  Let’s look at a couple of examples.  

Instagram: By now, you’ll have heard of reels, and hopefully even posted a reel or two.  If not, that’s something that absolutely needs to be a part of your Instagram strategy.  Why?  Because Instagram is currently pushing reels.  That means that Instagram is placing reels in front of its audience (whether they currently follow you or not) a lot more than it is other types of content (e.g. Instagram stories).  IGTV is also still going strong, and is possibly second place in the hierarchy of content types on Instagram.  What does this mean?  If you want to be seen, heard and found, these are the types of content you should be pushing.

Facebook: The most powerful element of Facebook is its Facebook Groups – by far.  This community-building feature within Facebook offers its audience a huge selection of like-minded groups where one can surround oneself with people they deeply connect with.  What does this mean for you?  Find your groups, or create one!  I recommend finding a few groups that fall into two distinct categories: Groups that you can learn from (i.e. your peers) and Groups that have your ideal customers in them.  For the latter, you’ve got to be considerate of the Group’s rules.  You should be able to find some where your services and your ideal customers are both available, but note that some Groups only allow one and not the other.  Once you’ve found Groups that contain your ideal customers, engage with them!  Help them out as much as you can.  Build relationships and trust with them.  Don’t try to push your products and services onto them at every chance, but if it’s appropriate, and in a private forum such as DMs or via email, by all means, ask for the sale!  

These are just two examples, but LinkedIn also has its features.  People connect on LinkedIn a lot more fluidly than on Facebook, for instance.  So if you’re building your ideal customer network, and if your ideal customer is present on LinkedIn, it’s a great way to find and connect with them.  And then you can begin to build and nurture the relationship with your new network of ideal customers by providing as much value as humanly possible.  

Tip #3: Provide value

You’ve heard this one before, I know.  But it’s so important to stick to it.  Oftentimes, we see people with huge followings and we get discouraged because our numbers are much smaller (I’ve been there too!).  But the truth is, everyone starts off the same.  We all start with zero followers.  We all need to get to 50, then 100, then 200, then 500, 1000, 2000, 5000 and so on.  No one gets to 20,000 overnight.  So what makes one person get to their first 10,000 while another person struggles to get to 500?  Consistency and value.  

Let’s talk about value first, and we’ll tackle consistency in the next tip.

What does valuable content mean?  Well, this depends on who you’re trying to attract.  And this is all part of your content strategy.  The more you know your ideal customer, the more easily you’ll be able to identify the content that they will need to see to be attracted to you.  And beware of the language you use.  If you want to help people, but you’re hoping they will be self-motivated action takers, don’t create content using words such as “unmotivated” or “helpless”. 

Think of it this way every time you create a post.  Will your ideal customer look at that post and think “that’s me!” or “wow, I was looking for that information”?  Or will they move quickly past the post because it didn’t call our to them?  You want to make sure you’re speaking to them directly, touching upon the conversations they’re having in their heads.  Where are they at?  What are they thinking?  What do they need help with?  What are their frustrations and concerns?  Speak to those things, and use the right language to draw them in.  

Tip #4: Be consistent

Now that we’ve covered the ins and outs of using social media to generate leads, let’s talk about the last, very important point: being consistent.  If there’s one thing social media platforms love, it’s consistency.  So once you’ve worked through tips 1, 2 and 3, it’s time to commit.  Daily is great, and highly recommended if you can commit to it.  But if you can’t, then choose a schedule you can commit to.  And don’t make it too easy.  Push yourself.  You’re here to make a difference, to grow a business, to create the life you dream of.  So push yourself to commit to your maximum.  And then stick to it.  It’s a promise you’re making to yourself and to your ideal customers, so don’t bail.  

And once you have your leads?  

It doesn’t end there.  Think through your customer journey.  What happens after they begin to follow you on social media?  Is there a next step you’re trying to get them to take?  Don’t leave your potential customers hanging.  Make sure there is a journey planned that you’ll guide them through.  This is a relationship, after all, isn’t it?

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Why You Should Create a Customer Avatar

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If you’re not clear about who your customer is, you’ll find yourself wasting time and money on marketing, advertising, product development, and more.  

Before you continue, if you haven’t read Can You Say Who Your Customer Is?, then I recommend going to that article first, and then coming back to this one. It will open in a new tab, so you can easily come back here.

Without a clear idea of who you are serving, you’ll struggle to be effective and efficient across many aspects of your business, including:

  • targeting customers in an attempt to generate sales or achieve another objective, 
  • creating content to attract and retain customers or potential customers, 
  • designing product changes/upgrades to keep customers and potential customers interested and delighted with your products/services, and 
  • developing new products/services to take advantage of new expectations and opportunities across your customer and potential customer base.

You might be thinking that many people have the same target audience, or that your product/service is so diverse that your target audience is “everyone”.  Worse still, you might be worried that by narrowing down your audience, you’ll be limiting yourself and affecting your potential revenue or growth.  I’m here to tell you none of that is true.  Allow me to explain:

Everyone needs furniture.  But Ikea and Natuzzi have very different customer profiles.  Does that affect either one of them?  Not at all! In fact, it makes it much easier for them to create products, sell, serve and connect with their respective customers.  Each brand creates products suited to its target audience.  Each brand also creates marketing that speaks to its target audience in the most effective manner.  Prices, store design and experience, website design and functionality, services, partnerships and parallel product lines are all not just influenced, but also decided upon with the ideal customer in mind.  Would a $1 hot dog appeal to Natuzzi’s customers as well as it does to Ikea’s customers?  Probably not.  

Next let’s look at cleaning products.  Today, there are a growing number of eco-friendly cleaning products in the market.  They do not target “everyone”, even though everyone uses cleaning products.  These eco-friendly cleaning product companies target people who are environmentally conscious, do not like to use toxic chemicals, and are willing to pay a slightly higher price (if needed) for safer cleaning products.  If you have an eco-friendly cleaning product business, targeting “everyone” would be a waste of your time, energy, and very importantly, money.  

Another seemingly universal product, Dove, did a great job of carving out a distinct customer base for itself.  Dove started off as a brand selling bars of soap.  You wouldn’t be wrong to think that everyone could be a potential customer for Dove.  But if you go down that path, you’ll end up competing with every other soap company out there.  Instead, Dove created a customer following through focusing on women, and positioning Dove as a luxurious brand of soap that really moisturized the skin, not just cleaned it.  Dove then added to this by creating campaigns tackling women’s perceptions of themselves.  Through these activities and more, Dove managed to carve out a segment of soap users that wouldn’t dream of using any other product anymore.  

So now that we’ve gone through the examples above, I want to come back to the all important question –  why does having an ideal customer avatar in mind matter when running a business?  I’d say there are at least five reasons.  I’ve picked out the five that I believe are most important reasons to truly know your ideal customer and be able to design your customer avatar.

5 Reasons Why You Should Create a Customer Avatar

  1. To be able to create content that speaks to your ideal customer, using the language and preferences that will resonate with them.  
  2. To ensure better targeting for paid marketing such as Facebook Ads and even TV Commercials.  
  3. To create products and services that address your customer’s needs (and more!).
  4. To be able to provide the best customer experience  with your intended audience in mind.  
  5. To have consistency with your language, tone, types of products/services, marketing, and overall brand. 

By having your ideal customer in mind at all times, you’ll be able to create products and services that you know your ideal customer wants, needs and will love.  You’ll also be able to create the most impactful content, marketing and advertising because you’ll be able to address your ideal customer’s desires, aspirations, fears and concerns.  All of this will be cohesively wrapped up in the right branding because you’ll know what type of branding resonates with your customer.  And of course, you’ll have the perfect customer experience designed with your ideal customer in mind, so they will absolutely love engaging with your brand and business.  

If you could have all that for the small (in comparison) effort of truly learning all you can about your customer, why would you say no?

What are your biggest challenges with developing a customer avatar? Do you have any current or planned projects to develop one? Post your comments and any questions below, and if you can help anyone else out with an answer, don’t hesitate to do so!
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