2 builders who never spoke to each other · contested
Recruit friends and peers to push on the day
Line up a handful of people to post about it on launch day, ask a collaborator to send review copies personally to influential names in their network, and time a coordinated push to land with the open. Warm traffic from someone who genuinely used the thing behaves nothing like traffic from a stranger's broadcast.
Where this splits
Personal review copies sent by a collaborator drove very warm launch traffic, while borrowing a large following outright converted far worse than expected and is treated as a bonus rather than a plan.
4 claims against 1
Harry Dry · Nathan Barry
Line up friends and peers to push on launch
- 01Ask a handful of friends to tweet the product on launch day and let it spread from there; buyers then tweet on their own after purchasing.
- 02Ask the collaborator to personally email a couple dozen influential people in their network with review copies: most will tweet or retweet, sending very warm traffic on launch day
A borrowed following converts badly, treat it as bonus
A large social following belonging to someone else converts far worse than you expect: treat it as a bonus, not a plan
- 03Ask your existing followers directly to push a hashtag, and time that push to land with the launch.
- 04Email the hosts of the niche's podcast and DM the fan accounts on Instagram; in a small scene these people are identifiable and reachable.
What it returned
- 200
Over 200 new followers picked up in the week or two before launch
Contacted names included Geoff Teehan (Teehan+Lax), Evan Doll (Flipboard) and Loren Brichter (Atebits); nearly all tweeted or retweeted, producing thousands of hot visits
Mark coordinated followers to get the LadBaby hashtag trending on Twitter as the song went live
Two hosts of a Kanye fan podcast discussed the dating site on their show and fan Instagram accounts shared it to their stories
Sources
- How LadBaby started a movementHarry Dry · Marketing Examples · 4/ Galvanize followers · undated
- Serve a niche market. Get more attentionHarry Dry · Marketing Examples · Influencers · undated
- $36,297 in 24 hours: behind the scenes of The App Design Handbook launchNathan Barry · nathanbarry.com · Social Media · 2013-11-11 · dissenting
- How my behavior changing iPhone app made $1,673 in the first 3 weeks.Nathan Barry · nathanbarry.com · So, what did I learn? · 2012-01-11 · dissenting
- What I learned selling $6,000+ of my ebook today.Nathan Barry · nathanbarry.com · The Launch Strategy · 2012-09-04 · dissenting
the second source
Three plays a week, for the phase you are in
No roundup of links, no news. Three tactics more than one builder arrived at separately, with the numbers each one returned and the disagreements left in.
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