What Comes between the Waitlist and the Launch?

You’ve identified your 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, hosting giveaways, and all the things. 

You’re pushing people to your waitlist and it’s working. That waitlist is growing. 

Now you’re ready to launch. 

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 so important. But there’s more to do if you want a successful launch. 

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Your 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.  

2. Waitlist

This is where you engage with your audience with the goal of getting them 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. 

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 step #3?  

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. 

• Sarah with the Red Headed Camel LOVES colorful products and how they make her feel. She shares this love with her audience, showing and telling them how these joy-filled items make her happy and how she decorates with them in her own home. Sarah establishes herself as an expert while sharing her bubbly, engaging personality with her audience. 
  
  Listen to Sarah’s interview on the Launch Your Box podcast here. 

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: 

• Cassandra with ThreadCrate helps sewists complete projects and learn new skills. She encourages people to gain sewing skills and try new projects. Cassandra makes it easy for anyone to feel good about the sewing projects she provides in her boxes. Her subscribers feel accomplished and proud. 
  
  Listen to Cassandra’s interview on the Launch Your Box podcast here.
  

• Kesia with the Spotlight Box helps her audience support Black Owned Businesses. Kesia’s box allows the subscriber to feel good about supporting these amazing businesses and business owners while learning about new products and services. She gives them a way to be part of a solution to a problem that is too big for one person to solve on their own.  

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!