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I Need To Do A Soft Launch Via Email...can Help
Posted By: winnie* on 6/26/2005 10:58 AM (CST) 25 Points
i need to do a soft launch for my software via email..but dunno how shld i start...anyone got any sample to guide me thru

Posted by: mgoodman Accepted Answer
6/26/2005 9:36 PM (CST)
Why a soft launch? Is that a code for "it's not important enough to do a 'real' launch?" If so, why not skip it, save your time, money, and energy, and wait until you have something worth launching?

If you really have something meaningful, why wouldn't you give it a full-blown launch? I'm sure there must be a reason, but I can't imagine what it might be.
 
Posted by: Papadoc (Steve)* Accepted Answer
6/28/2005 11:29 AM (CST)
Don't do a soft launch and don't do it through via email unless of course you are considering sponsoring someone else's email through advertising.

Yes, you could buy one of those junk lists that promises you the world. But in the end, this broadcast mechanism will have about a .01% hit to your target market and most of those will judge you to be scum for spamming them. Keep it legit!
 
Posted by: Jaded* Accepted Answer
7/6/2005 1:14 AM (CST)
What would you consider to be a successful launch. If your product is more successful than you imagine how many customers do you expect to convert. Do you have a real launch planned. If your company is anything like my componay, current revenue is better that waiting for future revenue. Do you have a large install base already. If you are new in the market, the soft launch will give you a few potential reference customers you can go to market with and show you have industry traction. I would recommend it if you are an unknown
 
Posted by: E-Marketing* Accepted Answer
7/7/2005 1:12 AM (CST)
Why would you consider using email as a "soft launch"? What do you consider a soft launch to be? If you are spreading the word to your prospects - then you are doing a launch. It may just be a cheaper launch. My thought on a soft launch is that you don't do any direct communication. You put information about the product up on a web-site and let the prospects come to you. Once you are comfortable that the product is working, then you do a hard launch with direct communication.

Best of luck with it.
 
Posted by: skoobie99 Accepted Answer
7/11/2005 10:23 AM (CST)
Winnie,

The odds of getting serious traction with a soft launch comprised of an e-mail blast are stacked against you. I like the comment from Jaded, if you're just starting out, but an e-mail blast to sell software just doesn't sound like the way to go.

I would think that you need pictures, graphics, screenshots to get people animated about software and I seriously doubt you can convey these with e-mail. Then there's the HTLM vs. text issue and all the spam-blockers out there ... if you can swing it, I would recommend looking for alternatives and (as mentioned above), skip the soft launch altogether and focus your efforts.

Hope this helps,
John
 
Posted by: alexis hamilton* Accepted Answer
7/13/2005 4:41 PM (CST)
Hi Winnie -- It would help to understand more about your launch objectives before commenting on the "soft launch" approach. The word launch can be used in a number of different ways and a launch can be conducted using a number of different communication vehicles depending on the objective. Who are you launching to and why is email the only option? CAn you get your sales force involved? Is your goal press coverage? Are you time constrained? What's driving the launch? Is the product ready? Have any customers used it? In the days when dinosaurs ruled the earth and before www.anything.com (this link goes no where fast) PR pros used to use a "Rolling Launch" strategy as one way to deal with announcing a product that wasn't exactly ready for prime time but in a situation where competitive pressures were driving launch strategy. The idea behind a Rolling Launch is to deliver messages over time to different types of audiences taking sometimes up to 18 months to build momentum. So for example, we would start with the existing customer base with the hope of getting some useful quotes about why such a new product might be useful to them when it becomes available; then we would turn around and use the customer quotes to help explain the utility for the new product concept to industry analysts and so on until the beta was complete. This way you kept the launch soft until the proof was available and then the press was called in. It's a matter of getting the ducks into the right kind of row. Alexis
 
Posted by: carrie77 Moderator Response
7/19/2005 7:15 AM (CST)
Hello all. I am closing this question since it's more than 2 weeks old. We do this to reward the contributions of participants in a timely manner + to give increased visibility to the newer questions.

Thanks for participating!
Carrie (Production Editor)
 
Posted by: carrie77 Moderator Response
7/19/2005 7:15 AM (CST)
Hello all. I am closing this question since it's more than 2 weeks old. We do this to reward the contributions of participants in a timely manner + to give increased visibility to the newer questions.

Thanks for participating!
Carrie (Production Editor)
 


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