Here’s Why You Need a Launch Debrief
You just completed your launch and things either went: a) Amazing! b) Meh, or c) It’s time to go cry in the bathtub. No matter how successful the launch was, though, you need to review how things went — a.k.a. complete a launch debrief.
Why, you may ask? It’s simple.
A debrief is a treasure trove of insights, new ideas, and opportunities to improve your offer or your next launch. Looking through the facts and figures gathered from your latest launch will help you understand what worked and what… didn’t. It can also help you figure out what parts of your launch you enjoy supporting and where you might need support next time.
So, whether you’re popping the bubbly or crying in the bathtub (or both), let’s run down how a launch debrief works for your latest offer.
1. Crunch the numbers
The value you put into your launch should be reflected in your marketing efforts. So, did your investments pay off? List all the different expenses you made for your launch. Here are a few examples:
- Paid ads
- Affiliate marketing
- Contractors (freelancers & VAs)
- Software
- Product costs
Having a thorough breakdown of the expenses for your latest launch will help you understand your return on investment (ROI). Look through your expenses and analyze the outcome of each expense. Did you make any bad hires? Were your paid ads cost-effective? Did that funnel software really help convert more folks?
Not sure exactly which numbers to look at? Grab my free metrics tracking mini-course. It even comes with a walk-through video to explain how to pull your numbers and what they mean.
2. Look at your launch revenue
Similar to breaking down your expenses, your revenue also needs to be thoroughly analyzed. Jot down the number of sales you made per day and per channel (from social media, email, ads, etc). You need to understand which marketing channel pulled in the most sales.
Did you earn more from email marketing, organic social media content, or other promotional efforts? After this, you’ll have a good idea of which platforms really helped convert more folks — and which ones you might be able to just leave out next time. (Hello, time savings!)
3. Analyze your KPIs
Key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics reveal a lot about the success of your launch. Just like understanding which channel yields the most revenue, knowing the number of clicks and conversions can help you see opportunities to improve next time.
Look through your metrics on each channel you used for this launch, including your sales or product pages, social media, email, etc. Look at things like:
- Sales page clicks
- Sales page conversions
- Social media following
- Social media likes, engagement, clicks
- Email open rates
- Email link clicks
- Affiliate program clicks/conversions
- Podcast conversions
These will show you what was working and where things went off the rails. For example, you might have had 100 people click your sales page, but it only converted 1 person. That’s not a bad conversion rate, but you may want it to be higher. What can you improve on your sales page to drive more conversions next time?
4. Evaluate your online presence
During a launch, your online presence matters. Duh. But you should also be present before the launch.
Consider both your pre-launch and launch presence and ask yourself:
- How often do you post?
- Are you mixing it up and coming up with a variety of content?
- How many DMs do you receive and send a day to/from potential customers?
- What kind of reach are you getting on your posts, Reels, etc.?
- Which hashtags are getting you more traction?
- Are you showing up the way that gets the most engagement? (Or are you just posting to the feed when you know people want you to be on video?)
5. Gather customer service intel
Think about the customer service and delivery side of your launch. Did you send access to your offer immediately? If there were questions in your inbox, did you respond in a timely manner? Were you able to convert hot leads into happy customers? Were people asking a ton of questions that you could add to an FAQ section or email?
Customer service “roadbumps” during a launch can feel frustrating, but it gives you a good idea of how to streamline the sales process for them on the next go-round. You can uncover your audience’s biggest concerns and objections, take action on what needs to be changed, and see how well your 1:1 conversations or support convert people. That’s good information to have!
6. Consider your own impressions of the launch
We can talk about numbers and conversions all day, but there’s another important element of your launch debrief: How you feel it went.
On a scale of 1-10, how well did you think your launch went? What would you improve on your next launch? And what would you not do? Also look at your metrics to see which areas worked well, but that you hated doing.
For example, your customer service inbox may have helped convert more people but you may have hated doing it. Or you may have hated writing your sales page copy and it also didn’t convert that well. This is all valuable information as you hire people to help with your next launch.
7. Make a plan for your next launch
Any new offer you launch — and each time you launch it — is bound to come with its ups and downs. Sometimes, you learn that your offer needs to be a bit stronger before you sell it again. Sometimes, you learn that you desperately need design help because your sales page and graphics are not on par with the offer. And sometimes you learn that things worked really well, like that specific email sequence, that JV webinar, etc.
Whatever you uncover during a launch debrief, it’s not good or bad. You didn’t have the best launch you’ll ever have and you didn’t fail miserably. You gained new information and you got closer to what worked and what didn’t.
A launch debrief also helps you see exactly what you need to do on the next launch to find even more success — both in terms of numbers, but also how you and your customers feel.
So, go on! Make a plan for your next launch. Don't worry so much about everything being *perfect* the first time around. (Perfect is boring, darling.) Explore and experiment with what works — and always, always, always complete a launch debrief at the end of your launch.
Audrey out.
P.S. Want my own tracking spreadsheet I use for launch debriefs? Tap here to get it for free.