What Comes between the Waitlist and the Launch?

Wondering what comes between the waitlist and the launch? Discover crucial steps to maintain momentum and ensure a successful subscription box launch.

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You’ve identified the Ideal Customer for your subscription box. 

You’ve worked hard to build your audience, posting on social media consistently, going LIVE on your Facebook business page, doing reels, running KingSumo giveaways, and doing all the things. 

You’re driving traffic to your waitlist and it’s working. That waitlist is starting to grow. 

Now you’re ready to launch your subscription box. 

Or are you? 

Not yet. 

Rushing to launch is a mistake I see so many subscription box owners make. 

They get so excited to get their boxes out into the world. And I get it. It is exciting to share what you’ve dreamed of and carefully planned. 

Identifying your ideal customer, building your audience, and getting people on your waitlist are all super important. They are steps that cannot be skipped. 

But there’s more to do if you want a successful launch. Let’s talk about what needs to happen between the waitlist and your subscription box launch.

Your 5-step subscription box marketing plan.        

Marketing is a crucial part of your subscription box business’s success. You can have the perfect box, carefully curated for your ideal customer, but if you don’t market your box well, it won’t sell. 

Think of your subscription box marketing plan as having five steps. Each is important and each has a specific purpose.

1.  Audience Building

This step is all about getting in front of your ideal customer, attracting people who don’t yet know you or your business and bringing them into your world. 

I teach SO much about audience building inside Launch Your Box. Check out this blog post for 4 ways to identify your ideal customer and this podcast episode for 4 steps to gain your first 1,000 Facebook followers! 

2. Waitlist

Engage with your audience with a Call to Action (CTA) to join your waitlist. Once they do, you have their email addresses which allows you to interact with them directly and more personally.

3. Pre-launch/Nurture

During this step, you build your know/like/trust factor with those people who have said, “Yes, I want to know more about you and what you offer.”

4. Launch

You actively sell your subscription box to your audience using either a closed or open subscription model. 

Check out this blog post to help you decide if an open or closed model is right for your subscription box business.

5. Delight  

Your marketing plan doesn’t end when your launch does. In this step, continue to nurture your subscribers, providing them with a high-level experience that turns them into raving fans and sources of referrals.

So, what’s so important about pre-launch?  

The third step in your marketing plan is one that often gets rushed or skipped altogether. This is a HUGE mistake. 

If done right, all the work you do during this pre-launch/nurture step makes it a no-brainer for your audience to subscribe when it comes time to launch your box. 

Let’s talk about three things you need to accomplish during this all-important pre-launch period.

1.  Convince your audience YOU are the person who can help them. 

This is where you build your credibility as well as your know/like/trust factor. How you accomplish this depends on your box and your relationship to your ideal customer. 

Are you just like your ideal customer? Do you know what it feels like to be in their shoes? If you are your ideal customer, help them relate to you by sharing stories or telling them about your journey. Help them see the possibilities through your eyes. 

Are you an expert? Whether you’re selling a craft box, pet box, or even a motivational/self-care box, are you the expert? What makes you credible? Share your experience, your education, your successes with other people in this space. 

Our Launch Your Box members know how to do this well. 

• Anne with The Brighter Life for Dentists IS a dentist. She shares her story and the why behind starting a box for other women dentists. By sharing her story, Anne immediately builds a connection with her ideal customers. They feel seen, heard, and understood. 
  Listen to Anne’s interview on the Launch Your Box podcast here. 

• Amy of Amy Sews is an experienced sewist who teaches others how to sew and owns a retail sewing shop. She is also an expert at using a very specialized type of sewing tool called a serger. It’s this expertise Amy drew on when deciding to launch a subscription box. Her members LOVE Amy’s boxes and the projects she teaches them - many of them even join her on sewing cruises! 

How will you build credibility and know/like/trust with your audience?

2. Convince your audience your subscription box is the solution to their problem. 

What are the pain points your ideal customer faces? How does your box solve them? 

When you identified your ideal customer, you spent time getting to know that person. What they like, what they need, what problems they are trying to solve. 

Share information, share value, share your knowledge to convince your ideal customer you have the solution to their problem. 

What if your box is a luxury or a way for a subscriber to treat herself? 

Does that mean you’re not solving a problem? Not at all. You are making your ideal customer feel cared for, indulged, or part of something exclusive. Your box is filling a need!

Learn from our Launch Your Box members: 

• Nicole of the GPig Box couldn’t find a subscription box for guinea pigs. I mean, why should dogs have all the fun? Nicole knew guinea pig owners wanted to spoil their pets, too - after all, she is a guinea pig owner. And now they can with her subscription box. 
  Nicole shares her pain points of trying to find unique items for her own pets with her audience. She also shares fun stories about her guinea pigs and shows pictures of her pets enjoying the snacks and toys from her box.
  Listen to Nicole’s interview on the Launch Your Box podcast here. 

• Cheryl of the Yarnable Box knew there were other people out there who struggled to find unique, hand-dyed yarn. She knew they wanted good quality yarn on a regular basis. Cheryl’s box filled a need. 
  She teaches people how to identify great quality yarns, shares her color schemes for the yarn she hand-dyes, and shares projects she completes using the yarn.
  Listen to Cheryl’s interview on the Launch Your Box podcast here. 

How are you helping your audience understand WHY they need your subscription box? 

3. Convince your audience to believe in themselves. 

You need to do more than just build your know/like/trust factor and convince your audience your subscription box is the solution to their problem. Those things alone won’t turn a prospect into a subscriber. 

Your audience needs to believe they can transform. They need to believe in their ability to change or their worthiness of luxury or self-care. 

Remember, subscription boxes are about more than the stuff! 

Ask yourself the following questions and think carefully about the answers. They’ll guide you as you create content for your audience. 

• What experience are you providing with each box opening? 
• Are you cultivating a community of like-minded people? 
• Why should someone treat themselves to your subscription box each month? 
• What would it mean to them?

Learn from our Launch Your Box members: 

• Katie with The Literary Book Club curates an amazing experience for her quarterly subscribers. Katie’s subscription box is not your ordinary book box. First, her subscribers are fans of classic literature - the kind of books that are themselves works of art. Then Katie takes incredible care curating a box filled with special touches and individually wrapped gifts to guide them through reading the book. Amazing!
  Listen to Katie’s interview on the Launch Your Box podcast here.
• Julie of The Pilot Wives Club provides her subscribers with more than a box filled with items that speak to their unique life situation. She also provides a community of like-minded women who all “get it.” We all crave that feeling of belonging and Julie provides that to her subscribers.

We talk a lot inside Launch Your Box about serving before you sell. This is so important during this pre-launch or nurturing step in your marketing plan. Show your audience who you are. Convince them you are the right person to help them and your subscription box is the solution to their problem - even if that problem is simply to take a moment to relax and feel cared for. Help them see they are capable of transforming. 

Then… get ready to launch your box!