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Writer's pictureClaire Shelley

What to do when your launch doesn’t go to plan

Updated: Jun 11, 2023



I was an Event Manager for 15 years and I know a thing or two about planning and running successful events.


Planning a webinar, masterclass or training event, whether it’s online or in the classroom takes a lot of time and effort.


Agenda, facilitator notes, slide deck, handouts, venue (or online tech), launch plan, marketing, follow up.. the list can be endless!


So when you launch your event and no one signs up, it's a big disappointment.


But you're not alone, I’m sure that at some point even Amy Porterfield has had launches that were a flop and in this blog I'm going to help you unpick what might be going on.


Here are my suggestions to help you to crush it next time.


Understanding your audience


You’ll hear marketers talking about your Ideal Client all of the time. I recommend that you start with getting to know and understand who your audience is because it will help you to align your offers and services with their needs.


  • Who do you want to help and what transformation do you offer them?


  • What are they’re struggling with?


  • How does your offer help them?


Go deep with this work. Talk to current and past clients, note the questions that always come up on discovery calls, they will give you valuable insights into common issues and knowledge gaps within your audience.



Validate your offer


My most valuable tip is to always research the subject with your audience first.


You don't want to put in all the hard work of setting up an even without validating the idea first.


Are people interested in learning more about this subject? Is it something they want or something that you’re interested in?


To test the water you could ask your email list or ask questions on your social media platforms. People love polls, so why not put a few ideas together and see which topic is most popular.


Once you’ve settled on a subject, you can further test your idea with lead magnets. A free PDF or cheat sheet can be easier to create than arranging and setting up an online training.


And if you’ve not had any opt-ins for your lead magnet or masterclass, definitely don’t spend hours creating a whole online course.


Marketing is all about experimenting and testing, so if you’re practical and start with the shortest viable route, it will save you a lot of time.


Marketing message


Your marketing message can take time to perfect and it helps if you speak in your ideal client’s language, you want your message to resonate with your ideal client.


Often you may know what your prospects want, but you might not always get the message right the first time, and that’s okay.


For example, you can say the same sentence in many different ways:


  • Improve your mindset in just 8 weeks

  • Why you might be in a ‘lack’ mindset, and how to change

  • Want to know the secret to growing a positive mindset?


Marketing is all about testing and finding the sweet spot. Until you test, you can never be sure what will work.


There are many different variables, and different things will appeal to different people. This applies to all of your marketing; images, copy, blog posts, lead magnets, Facebook ads..


The key is to keep trying and testing.


If what you’re doing isn’t working, don’t get stuck, keep trying!



If you've used Facebook and Instagram ads for your launch


It may feel like it, but you haven't wasted your budget!


Even when you've spent money on ads and not got the results you wanted, it's still a good investment. You will have gained plenty of valuable data, the algorithm will have started to learn where to find 'your people' and you can take the data, learn from it and improve your results next time.

A few final pointers


Do you have a big enough audience? If your social media following and email list are small, it will make it harder for you to fill your masterclasses and trainings.


If you’d like to fast track your audience building, click here to see how Facebook and Instagram ads can help grow your email list on auto-pilot and scale your business.


As a recovering perfectionist, I understand the need to succeed first time! But in business, this can hold you back and stop you from making progress. So ditch the perfectionism and just have a go.


It’s unlikely that you’ll get it right the first time, it can take a while to get your message right and to figure out what your audience wants.


Don’t compare yourself to more established businesses. They’ve been doing it for years and have already figured out what works. It’s also likely that they have huge audiences which helps greatly with conversion rates.


Instead, use your experience and make changes for your next launch. Landing pages, emails, images and copy all get better with practice.


If you're planning an event and you want my help to make it a success and give you an ROI, drop me a line hello@claireshelley.co.uk



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