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Build-Up

Marketing does not start on launch day
The most common mistake I see new makers make when trying to get customers is waiting until launch to start marketing. There are definitely launch day strategies that don’t require build-up but the strongest marketing strategies often act like a crescendo - building momentum all the way up to the launch. This especially applies if you don’t already have an audience or following.
Progress:
Completed
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Incomplete
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(
0
⁠
% of
10
⁠
tasks in this section completed).

Step 1: create your build-up plan

You only have so much time, so you should pick 2-3 tactics that play to your strengths, and make sense for your product’s audience. Use the following table to pick your strategy.
Build-up tactics
2
Remove from plan
Build an email list to ensure your fans can buy and amplify come launch day
Good if:
✅ You want any of the other stuff to make a significant impact on launch day
✅ Please just do this
Remove from plan
Build buzz about your product on platforms like Twitter and TikTok.
Good if:
✅ You already have 1000+ social media followers
✅ Or you have 6+ months to build such an audience
✅ Or you have a knack for creating viral videos on TikTok
✅ The market you are going after is active on the social media platform you are targeting
Remove from plan
Tell your story to build up a group of followers who want to see you succeed.
Good if:
✅ You have a proclivity toward transparency and don’t mind sharing raw, unfinished work
✅ The people who would be interested in reading about your process are the same people who would be interested in buying your product
✅ Accountability to the public motivates you
✅ Not essential but helpful: have an existing audience who can amplify the story you are telling
Add to plan
Foster relationships with the folks your audience respects, who can help you amplify your launch.
Good if:
✅ You have existing connections who can make intros
✅ You are willing to get out of your comfort zone and reach out to people online or in person
Add to plan
Become a valued member of target communities.
Good if:
✅ Your target market has one or more clearly favored places to hang out that you can get access to
✅ Nice to have: You’ve already naturally been participating in these communities because the topics interest you
Add to plan
Publish content that will establish yourself as an authority in the space.
Good if:
✅ You enjoy producing longer form content
✅ You have helpful insights or deep context in areas the target market is interested in
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Step 2: execute the build-up plan (
3
⁠
tactics selected)

Your customized build-up checklist
3
🚧 Build in public
3
Determine where you will build in public
Twitter is the most common but it may make sense to do it in a community that is more specific to your audience.
Document every significant step or learning as you go
On Twitter, it is common to create one thread that you continue to reply to over time to document the whole story. It is super helpful to use visuals to help draw people into the story.
Promote your story
You can share the fact that you are building in public on other social media sites (LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.) or communities and encourage folks to follow along and give you feedback.
📲 Build social media buzz / following
4
Pick a social media platform
While you can definitely cross-post between platforms, you will likely want to choose a platform as the primary one that you will optimize your content for. A few of the options:
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Twitter
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: takes several months or a year to build a following but once you have a base following, the likelihood of tweeting something that gets retweeted and spreads beyond your network increases.
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LinkedIn:
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you likely have been building your network on LinkedIn in the background. Their post system is newer, which means less noise than something like Twitter so your content is more likely to be seen by your network. I’ve also found that posts can pretty easily spread outside your immediate network, especially when you use relevant hashtags.
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Facebook
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: you can create a page for your product on Facebook but unless you can quickly build out a following for your page, the posts on that page are unlikely to travel far. But Facebook is a great place to get your friends and family to amplify what you are doing on other platforms.
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TikTok
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: this one is unique both because it is video-based and very algorithm-based. While the other platforms are more dependent on building a following, TikTok’s algorithm will give any video a shot at going viral. But learning how to create videos that do well on TikTok is an art in and of itself — and one that I have to admit I haven’t figured out yet. Another note is that TikTok videos can rack up a crazy amount of views without converting many people into customers right away. It’s very tough to get folks to go signup for something when they just move on to the next video a second later (and TikTok really just isn’t designed for conversion). That said, it can be great for brand building.
Post 3 to 21 casual posts a week that could be valuable to your target market
Be authentic. Be vulnerable. Share insights, learnings, and links that are relevant to your target audience.
Follow, reply to, and share content from people in your target market
While people may follow you if a post of yours goes viral, a more reliable way to gain followers is to show interest in other people and their content.
Create 1-3 extra special posts per week
These could be thoughtful Twitter threads or videos with a little higher production quality that you will spend extra time promoting, including asking friends to promote them or cross-promoting across several platforms
✉️ Build a blast list
3
Decide on a blast list platform
➡️ Website builders like
Webflow
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allow you to create an attractive website to host your signup form, which is great if you have some nice visuals that you want to use to attractive people to sign up. However, you may need to eventually use a platform like MailChimp to actually reach your audience.
➡️ Form builders like
Typeform
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are simple and especially good if you want to create a nice experience around collecting several different pieces of information beyond name and email. However, most of these don’t handle sending emails so you’ll have to likely integrate with a mailing list platform.
➡️ Mailing list platforms like
MailChimp
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usually both offer a way to collect email addresses and a way to actually send emails. Because they do both, they are often the best option if you don’t want to integrate multiple platforms together.\\
Design and publish your form
Ideally have a nice visual, engaging website, free resource, or discount for subscribers to entice users to sign up to be notified when your product launches.
Make the link to the form the punch line of most of your other promotional materials and posts that you create throughout this checklist.
Most other marketing activities should have one goal: get people to sign up to your email list. This way you will bottle up the interest and have a way to re-ignite it come launch day, instead of it dissipating into thin air.
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