So, you’ve launched your course or group program, only to be greeted by crickets chirping instead of the influx of Stripe notifications you expected. It’s enough to make you want to tear down your offer and start from scratch. But don’t pull out the sledgehammer just yet…
In this blog post, I’ll dive into the gritty truth behind your lacklustre sales and give you straightforward solutions to turn things around so you can increase your sales during your next launch. Let’s dive into it!
- No Warmup
Let’s face it, if you didn’t warm up your audience before introducing your offer, you can’t expect them to jump on it like hotcakes. You need to nurture and prep them to get them in the right mindset.
But not all warming up is effective warming up. Simply sharing any old educational message may not be effective. You need to be strategic with your prelaunch period by sharing content centred on the objections your ideal student has for an offer like yours.
Here’s an example of what this could look like for an Instagram coach who has a program about how to make high-ticket sales via Instagram Stories. An objection to making sales via Stories could be that you have to be able to create pretty graphics. The objection-killing messaging could be that no, you don’t! In fact, these days the highest-converting Stories are ones that look the most natural, so no graphic design skills are required!
Objection-busting messaging should do two really important things: 1) Give your audience a reason to care about your offer. And 2) Explain the importance of why they should take you up on your offer now rather than 6 months, 1 year or 3 years down the track.
Knowing what objections to address all comes down to intimately knowing what your audience is thinking (their pain points, desires, and big questions). Hint: You can dig up this stuff by doing customer research through surveys, onboarding and offboarding forms, didn’t buy surveys, and more.
- Lack of Trust-Building
If your offer and messaging are appealing, often one of the last things your ideal student will be looking for is proof that you can get them the result you say you can. After all, people don’t just hand over their hard-earned money to any Joe Schmoe claiming to be an expert. They need results and a reason to believe in you. Are you showcasing your expertise and accomplishments effectively? Have you shared testimonials or case studies to show that you’re not just blowing smoke? Earn their trust, or kiss those sales goodbye.
- Zero Relevance and Urgency
If your audience doesn’t care about your offer or doesn’t feel the burning need to grab it right now, you’ve got a serious problem. Show them the consequences of not investing to create a sense of urgency.
You can do this without going all doom and gloom on them! In fact, often the best way to show people the importance of investing now is to anchor what they want to a particular time frame.
For example, if your program is about helping them make high-ticket sales on Instagram, they want sales! You could ask them something like this “How would it feel like to make your first sale via Stories next week?”
- Messaging Mishaps
I’m going to give you a bit of tough love: Right now, your messaging might be as appealing as week-old leftovers.
How do you know if this is the case? If your messaging speaks to vague, generic feelings like “overwhelm” or “stress” without tapping into the real-life picture of what this actually looks like, then it’s not as effective as it should be.
How do you turn it around? Base your messaging on cold, hard data. Scour through application forms, onboarding forms, questionnaires, offboarding forms, surveys, and more to see how your audience is expressing their frustrations and desires.
Hot tip: The juicy stuff is in tangible stories and analogies. You’ll want to lift this stuff and pop it straight onto your sales page because it’ll have them thinking “it’s like she’s in my head!”
- Missing Conversion Triggers
Does your sales page and email sequence include all-important conversion elements to get them off the fence? If not, they need to! Tell compelling stories, drop testimonials that show clear before and after states, and address objections.
- No Consideration of the Buyer’s Journey
Do you know where your ideal student is in the buyer’s journey? If not, you could be introducing them to messaging that they’re simply not ready for, or messaging that they’re already aware of (and therefore isn’t worth spending your time creating!).
The buyer’s journey starts with your ideal student first becoming aware of their problem and ends with them making a purchase. Here are a few questions to ask at each stage:
- The awareness stage: are they aware they have a problem?
- The consideration stage: are they aware of the solution to the problem?
- The decision stage: are they aware who has the solution to their problem?
Understand the answers to the above questions by conducting research or reviewing existing voice of customer data (surveys, forms, etc!). This information should inform the way you craft your launch messaging.
For example, if your ideal student is already aware of the solution to their problem but not aware of who the best person to buy from is, you might need to educate them around why you and your offer are the best solution.
But if your ideal student knew they had a problem but weren’t aware of the solutions out there, you may need to first educate them on why your offer (and offers like yours) is the solution to their problem.
Skip taking this information into consideration for your launch and you might miss out on sharing the right kinds of messages your audience needs to here to hit your checkout button.
7. A Confusing Offer
Here’s a reality check: If your offer doesn’t scream “I need this now!” then it’s time to rethink the messaging around it.
The biggest mistake I see course creators and coaches make when it comes to their offer is they talk about the facts and features and neglect to spell out the benefits. Now, this is different to the overall transformation or “big promise” your offer makes. I’m talking about breaking down the transformation that each part (module, section, step) of your offer creates.
For example, if you’re a copywriter and you have a module on client research, you might explain that this allows them to “instantly connect with their ideal client”. Or if you’re a brand photographer and educator and have a module on how to set up a brand photoshoot, you might explain that “this will help you create hundreds of photos you can use across social media and your website”.
Communicating not just the big outcome but micro benefits will position your offer as an absolute no-brainer. Along with doing that, make sure you include irresistible (and relevant) bonuses, and make your pricing crystal clear. Don’t leave them wondering whether your offer is the best option for them – make it so compelling that, for the right student, they simply can’t resist!
8. Traffic Troubles
If you’ve covered all the bases above (and I mean all) and you’re still staring at disappointing sales figures, it’s time to assess your traffic game.
Are you driving enough qualified leads to your offer?
How many eyeballs are landing on your sales page?
If your numbers are low, it’s time to rethink your traffic strategy.
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Cheers to your launch success!
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