Every launch needs a glass of wine after the cart close. Trust me, you’ll need it.

But next on your list should be a debrief.

So many business owners skip this vital step of launching because they’re paralysed by the numbers.

How do you know what to look for? And then, once you unearth the data, what do you do with it?

How can you use it to perform even better during your next launch?

Numbers are not scary. Numbers are data. Numbers are evidence.

They will guide you into how you can optimise your funnel to get better results. Because after all, business is about getting results, creating an impact, and making money.

And successful launches will help you to do all three.

What’s a launch debrief?

A launch debrief is a sexy way of gathering the numbers from your launch to uncover what worked and what didn’t work.

It’s the easiest way to use evidence and data to optimise your launch, instead of making educated guesses.

Why should you care about debriefing your launch?

There’s no such thing as a failure in the launch world. Treat everything as a lesson.

I don’t care if you wanted to enrol 50 students and only enroled 10. It’s your mission to hunt down the reason why you didn’t hit your goal.

Maybe your goal was unrealistic. (For example, let’s say you had a goal of 500 signups but only 6000 people in your audience. Since launches tend to convert at 1-2% on average, then you’d need an audience of 25,000 to hit your goal).

Maybe your offer wasn’t right. Maybe you have the wrong audience.

So after every launch, treat it like an investigation. Hunt down the evidence, analyse and reach a conclusion.

You should care about launch debriefs because they’re going to tell you how you can improve your next launch and make more money.

What are the important numbers for a launch debrief?

Depending on your launch mechanism, there will be lots of data you want to look at.

Since there are a ton of different ways you can kick off your launch (ie webinar, Facebook ads), I won’t detail every single one.

Instead look at:

✔️ Click through rates

✔️ Number of visitors on page

✔️ Conversion of call-to-action buttons (ie number of people who opted in, number of people who bought)

✔️ Open rates

✔️ What felt good to you?

✔️ What didn’t feel good?

✔️ What felt like a win?

✔️ What felt like a struggle?

OK, I’ve found the data. Now what?

It’s analysis time, baby!

Grab all your numbers and compare them to your usual stats. Compare the numbers to industry averages. How do they compare?

If they’re lower than expected or what’s normal for you, then you have a starting point to tweak.

Behind the curtains of a real-life launch

I sell a $297 digital product called the Brand Voice Buddy. It teaches copywriters and business owners how to capture their client’s voice and sound like them.

Usually I sell it in my welcome sequence to new subscribers or in my Instagram link. Basically with very little effort.

But I decided to run a real-life launch and see what happens.

(To be honest I’d had this plan in my head for months but it conveniently got pushed back while I focused on client work).

The strategy behind the launch

As a launch copywriter, I wanted a solid strategy to sell the product and make it feel like a no-brainer for my audience. After all, this product is available to buy anytime so I needed to give my audience a reason to buy during the launch.

Brand voice is a minefield of a topic and students often ask questions digging deeper into the topic. So I landed on selling the Buddy as a live coaching experience. All students would get 4 weeks of coaching in a live Slack group where they could ask questions and get real-time feedback.

NOTE: I had zero clue if the live coaching experience would be a good selling point. Hence why every launch is a test.

Another idea I toyed with was giving the first 10 buyers a free session with me. But I felt like the scarcity around the first 10 could be perceived as fake or exaggerated by my audience.

Instead everybody who bought on the first day of the launch got a free 15-minute SOS call to use with me during the next 12 months. This added urgency for the first day of the launch. Everybody who enrolled joined the free Slack group.

I opened the waitlist 10 days before the launch start date. During the launch week, I segmented my emails to the waitlist, a relevant opt-in and the rest of my list.

I promoted via my email list and on my Instagram with posts and stories. I didn’t run a webinar - instead, just set people straight into the launch.

In total, I sent 5 emails promoting the waitlist before the launch. During the 5-day launch, I sent 15 emails.

I didn’t run an Instagram live or IGTV. No reason other than I didn’t have the energy or bandwidth.

In terms of goals, I had zero clue what to expect. Initially I wanted to enrol an extra 10 students.

As explained earlier, I was fresh off the exhausted treadmill of wrapping up several client projects. So by the final day of my launch (Friday), I was tired. My original plan was to stay on my laptop during the Friday evening to make final promotions and answer any questions.

Instead, I headed to the pub with my boyfriend for a pint of beer (or two) to celebrate a successful launch.

Real life debrief of my launch

👉 Final sales: 25

👉 Subscribers on waitlist: 41

👉 People on my email list: 474

👉 Email conversion rate: 5%

👉 Waitlist (launch list) conversion: 34.9%

👉 Sales page conversion: 7.05%

👉 Waitlist email open rates: 55.6% - 85.4%

👉 Waitlist email click-through rates: 4.7%-46.3%

Cart open email to the waitlist

Cart open email to the whole list

Final launch emails

👉 Whole list open rates: 19.4% - 56.9%

👉 Whole list click-through rates: 0% - 3.9%

👉Sales on day 1 of launch: 10

👉Sales on day 2 of launch: 4

👉 Sales on day 3 of launch: 3

👉 Sales on day 4 of launch: 4

👉 Sales on day 5 of launch: 4

5 lessons I learned from my launch and what I’ll tweak for next time

I was mega impressed with this launch. The data highlights the importance of understanding your audience and having a solid launch strategy.

But is it even a launch if you don’t make a mistake?

That 0% click-through rates? I also thought it was interesting. So I headed into ConvertKit to see what happened.

Well, Miss In-A-Rush (aka me) forgot to add links to the final email. Hence why the CTR was a big fat zero.

Did this affect sales? Probably. The last day of the launch usually gets the most sales in my experience. So I almost definitely missed out on some sales but that’s launching!

So here are my lessons for my first ever launch!

Lesson number 1:

Start the waitlist even earlier

The waitlist converted at 34.9%. You can expect the average email list to convert at 1-2%. Waitlists should convert higher because this audience has already expressed an interest in your offer….you can see that 34.9% is pretty damn good.

So seeing how high the waitlist converted, I will definitely start pushing people to the waitlist even sooner.

Lesson number 2:

Have a pre-launch strategy

I was rammed with client copy projects until the wire of my launch so my pre-launch content game was ZERO. (Pre-launch is anything you’d share before a launch like social media content, emails, blogs. The pre-launch is pivotal to overcome objections around the topic of my digital product). I barely posted anything before the launch except a couple of posts building hype around the waitlist.

Did this affect sales? I can’t say for sure as I am known for brand voice so I do think my audience was primed.

But I would be keen to see how I can implement this next time to increase conversions.

Lesson number 3:

Write and create all Instagram content and graphics in advance

I created most of my posts during the launch which I highly regretted cos I was ti-r-r-r-r-r-e-d. This will also mean I’m less likely to make errors around lack of links in the final email.

Lesson number 4:

Utilise social proof even better

My students were so excited to join the Slack group and enroll in the Buddy. I wish I had leveraged this more on Instagram to encourage other people to join the party. But, again I was tired.

Lesson number 5:

Drive more traffic

My launch stats are all above average. So I wont tweak any of my copy - instead I’ll focus on getting more people into the funnel and into my audience. More people = more conversions.

Debrief key tips

Book your debrief within a week after your launch. You want everything to be fresh in your mind.

Send your post-launch survey within this time so you can read the answers during your launch debrief. This survey will show you how the launch felt for your audience, why they didn’t buy, and if they were even interested in your product.

Gather all your data and survey results, keep an eye on emails or any comments from your audience around the launch, and book a solid day to review evverrryyyything.

Before your next launch, make sure you review your previous launch data and lessons. And if you need help with this, let me debrief with you!

Remember you never need to start from scratch.

Analyse without an agenda - it’s your job to analyse the data and find the lessons in the numbers.

Your next step is grab your free launch debrief spreadsheet. All formulas are already plugged in for you…simply add in the numbers and it will work out the conversion rates for you. No Math degree needed.

How to Fireball your launches with a launch debrief