Over here, launches are the name of the game. From memberships to courses to digital products, our clients are always launching the latest and greatest to their audiences — and there’s nothing we love more than to see it (and to support them through it, too).

And, over a long period of time doing this kind of work, our team has compiled a ton of best practices, tips, and tricks for helping our clients and our audience have kick-butt-level launches every single time.

As a thank you to you for being here and showing up with me, I wanted to share my top 8 tips as an agency owner: course launch edition!

1. Set goals based on real data.

Course launches involve real numbers — and running ads costs real money, so why not set goals based on real data? Dive deep into your audience, set measurable goals, and make sure that you’re considering data from past launches, past offerings, and past goings-on in your business so that you’re able to help those goals come true.

And, at the same time, make sure that any goals you have — whether they’re for your own launch or that of your client — are realistic, too. While dreaming big is always, always recommended (duh!), you want to make sure that you don’t end up disappointed because you didn’t create the right goals. Data plays into this!

2. Plan FARRRR in advance.

Building an effective course strategy takes time, and sometimes it takes quite a lot of it. Make sure you give yourself a runway (we typically recommend up to 6 weeks), and utilize tools like Asana to build out a timeline that makes sense for your launch.

When planning, remember the different stages of a launch — from warming up the audience allllll the way to cart close — and take the time to intentionally plan out the copy, creative, and strategy for each of these steps. It truly makes all the difference.

3. Repurpose, repurpose, repurpose.

You do not have to reinvent the wheel every time you launch a course or an ads strategy — and, in fact, you shouldn’t. Work to always repurpose templates and resources you’ve built in the past (we consistently reuse launch trackers, budget layouts, ad grids, URL worksheets, and more), and remember to repurpose content, too.

You can usually create killer copy from an existing sales page, you can utilize existing brand imagery for ad creative, and you can take everything from Story posts to Reels for engagement content. Make it easier on yourself, friend!

4. Communication is key.

When you’re bringing a launch to life, there’s almost nothing more important than communicating often, early, and well. Get ahead of any questions in advance by planning and organizing well, and then continually have conversations to get up to date on details, approvals, and everything in between.

5. Triple-check (and set up in advance).

Running effective ad campaigns usually means that you’re dealing with a lot of moving parts, so focus heavily on quality assurance. Over at System Envy, we’re big on checklists to QA every ad that’s prepping to launch — and we also, yet again, give ourselves a big runway to try and manage kinks in advance.

6. Wait for the learning period.

When you push ads live, it’s super important to resist making any edits unless there’s something majorly business-critical that needs to be changed. When you do this, you risk resetting the learning phase of the ad, which can seriously impact the performance — and it’s hard to tell what’s working, what’s not, and why.

7. Test during the pre-launch period for the best results.

While testing can be done during a launch (with limitations), focus more on doing so before, during the pre-launch period. By testing graphics, copy, creative, strategy, targeting, and more, you can start to know what phrases, lingo, headlines, and graphics spark action in your prospects.

8: Deep dive.

After your launch has concluded, deep dive into your data (it pays off)! Compare your current launch performance with past launches and the current ad landscape, and then compile all of your learnings (from audience to engagement to the creative that worked the best), and track it for next time. By doing this deep dive, you can make your next course launch run even better — and, ideally, you can save yourself some time.
(Psst… if you’re running launches for your clients, make sure you communicate results and communicate your deep dive. We usually use a post-launch report for this, and also love using Looms to make it even easier.)
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While these 8 tips certainly don’t encompass every single learning we have, I can promise you that these tips are a LOT of it — and if you can implement these steps into your next launch, you’re in a great spot. I’m so proud of you already!