Your “coming soon” page may be the most important landing page you launch. A successful product launch starts after an extensive pre-selling campaign of your store. And the key to a pre-order campaign for your business is your “coming soon” page.
Why launch pre-orders
At the final stage of website development, it is crucial to incorporate the pre-order feature to allow customers to purchase products before the official store launch. This not only helps to generate early sales but also provides valuable insights into customer demand, which can inform inventory and marketing decisions.
The best thing about pre-orders is that they guarantee a certain amount of pre-order sales and revenue, as you’d have already sold the goods before they’re even made available. A “Coming Soon” (or pre-order) page allows you to collect valuable email addresses so you can send those email updates that make your prospects’ mouths drip with anticipation.
Mitchell Harper, a Co-founder BigCommerce & Insane Growth, says in his article on Medium that blogging about the process of BigCommerce development resulted in almost $250,000 in pre-orders before the product was even finished. And it cost him $0.
“Today it’s easier than ever to launch a new product.”
Mitchell Harper
When to start a pre-order selling campaign
Start early. Jeff Raider, Co-Founder, and Co-CEO of Harry’s (a men’s grooming brand) shares his experience for Tim Ferris.
“Ahead of our launch, Andy and I spent a couple of months meeting friends, entrepreneurs and virtually anyone else who would listen to us talk about Harry’s. Whether or not they were interested in razors, we tried to interest them in our story. That list of people was probably a couple hundred long by our launch, and we created the campaign to help that group of people publicly share in the excitement of our launch.”
Jeff Raider
And in this article on Hubspot, Noah Kagan talks about his experience with Mint.com and how he started building his pre-launch list 9 months before launch.
“Marketing to me starts the same day you start building your business. At Mint, I was brought on 9 months before the product was live. Can you imagine that?”
Noah Kagan
How to launch a successful pre-order campaign: a checklist
Step 1
Decide how you want to accept payments. This will probably require to create a new Stripe or PayPal account to make sure that the transactions flow won’t influence your day-to-day financial operations.
Step 2
Create a pre-order (“coming soon”) page. Keep the pre-order page very simple and minimalistic. Explain what’s included, add a few images, a short explainer video, and don’t forget the payment. Read further for some advice on this one.
Step 3
Create a customer onboarding process. This can include early product access, communication with the manufacturer and the community, or some sneak pics and production (educational) videos. Everything that makes the customer closer to the product must go.
Step 4
Test your pre-order purchasing sequence. Doublecheck the process runs smoothly on any device, in different browsers, that onboarding automation works well, the order can be complete and fulfilled and the customer will get the printable order details, as it will be the only proof that they purchased something from you and waiting for delivery.
Step 5
Let people know pre-orders are open. Create several sales email templates for different segments of the your shops’ audience. Though they have increased loyalty to your product, they still may appear in different conditions and still need to be converted. Some of them may even forget that they’ve wanted to buy something from you.
Step 6
Keep track of customers and follow-up with pre-order buyers. Get personal. Reach out frequently and ask for the feedback. Run a survey, share the results. Announce your plans. And, of course, ask for advocacy.
How to turn your pre-order page into a sales tool
Your goal is to drive anticipation so high that when you finally launch your product you’ve sold out before the day is over.
Thanks to Juan Pablo Castro from Lander for the help with the following tip-list of the great pre-order page.
It must be attractive
Your coming soon page has got to be attractive, with beautiful live shots of your product, nice styling, typography, and simplicity.
Keep it simple
Your “coming soon” page should be minimalistic. Collecting emails is the main purpose of that page. The more you can get – the more buyers you will have standing in a queue on the launch day.
Don’t be mysterious
Don’t get over creative. You should be very clear about what you’re offering. Describe your product or service with a simple value proposition or showcase it with the images.
Use Video
A preview video at the top of your landing page may be the only element you need to convince visitors to leave their email address.
Offer value
Offer visitors something they can download or read right now for leaving an email. eBooks, MP3s, or access to an email series that promises to educate – everything may work as an extra reason to give you an email.
Be mysterious if you can’t show the product
Sometimes you just can’t show the product or have to keep it secret. Or probably you just don’t have the product at all but want to test the demand for it. It this case design and creativity are your allies. Your task will be making it viral and interactive.
Provide contact information
If you’re a service provider or have a retail outlet, you can use a landing page to let your customers know how to contact you while you’re working on your product.
Launch several pages and compare the effectiveness
Creating different pre-order pages for different audiences (like men and women) will be wise. Sign up form may be the same, but the message, design, CTA and even the product may differ.
Closing
You don’t have to wait to start selling your product. Moreover, you don’t even have to have a product to sell it. Pre-order eCommerce pages (“coming soon”) are widely and successfully used in every possible niche. Probably, you’ve seen hundreds of them already. To start one, you need only your imagination, reliable technologies, an audience and some time and effort to spread the first word.
If you need help with setting up your pre-order pages, we’re here to help.