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independenceone source · 2 more authors in those circles
standing

contested · 5 claims against 2

applies to

b2b and consumer, needs an existing audience

mixed results

confidence

medium

evidence

8 claims · 7 articles · 4 receipts

window

2010-10-25 → 2018-12-03 · nothing since 2018

a single source, nothing corroborates it · contested

Weigh a dedicated launch list against a big general one

A list assembled for one specific release converts at rates a general subscriber base never reaches, which is the case for keeping the two separate and mailing the narrow one first. The counter-evidence is in the same set of members: a large blog list carried a launch where the dedicated list was small, and one founder announced to eighteen thousand readers and got two signups.

What both sides agree on

  • Run the curated list and your own list side by side, then use both for a launch: dedicated emails to your list plus a mention in the curated one

Where this splits

Some launches were carried by a small product-specific list and others by a large general one, and one founder found a big loyal readership converted almost nobody.

  1. side 01 · 5 claims

    Build a dedicated list for that one release

    Justin Jackson · Nathan Barry

    1. 1Run a separate launch-notification list rather than selling to your whole mailing list, because people who opted in for that specific release convert an order of magnitude better.
    2. 2The pre-launch list is the fastest-converting thing you own at launch, so build it even if you doubt email
    3. 3A small, well-matched list is enough to make a serious launch.
    4. 4A link from a tightly targeted newsletter converts at a far higher rate than aggregator traffic, even when the raw visits are fewer.
    5. 5Launching with almost no outbound promotion still works if the email list is right.

  2. side 02 · 2 claims

    The dedicated list is not what decides launches

    Jason Cohen · Nathan Barry

    1. 1A large general blog list can carry a launch even when the product-specific waiting list is small.
    2. 2Do not plan your launch around an existing audience: announcing to a large, loyal readership converts far worse than you expect.

What it returned

  • 663

    663 of the 1,359 people on Justin's launch list bought - a 49% conversion - while the same release converted 674 of 12,703 general subscribers, about 5%.

  • 800

    One announcement email to 800 pre-launch subscribers produced $1,000 of sales within ten minutes

  • 1,800

    An announcement email to 1,800 subscribers on a Thursday produced $10K in the first two days: the figure she had hoped to reach across the whole 7-day launch

  • 700

    Authority launched off a 700-person dedicated list plus 7,000 blog subscribers and one guest post for $26,586 in 24 hours, versus Designing Web Applications' 10 guest posts, ~1,800 dedicated and ~3,000 total subscribers for $26,679

Sources

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.

One email a week. Unsubscribe in one click, and the address is used for this and nothing else.

More in email

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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.

963 corroborated plays to draw from · 3 a week

One email a week. Unsubscribe in one click, and the address is used for this and nothing else.