Understanding Launch Debriefs: Analyzing Numbers for Better Results
The Overlooked Step in Launching
You’ve brainstormed, planned, and executed countless launches. And, if you’re like many experienced business owners, you’ve nailed down the pre-launch and launch tactics. But there’s a crucial step many overlook.
Imagine running a marathon and forgetting about everything that went into your success the moment you crossed the finish line.
If you didn’t reflect on what got you there – the training schedule you kept, the foods you ate, the sleep you got, how you paced your rate, how well you recovered,, etc. – you’d be missing out on the insights that could make your next race even better.
Yet, in the business world, this happens more often than you’d think. You’ve just crossed the finish line with your launch. The adrenaline’s subsiding, and you’re feeling that mix of accomplishment and exhaustion.
But before you hang up those running shoes, let’s talk about the cool-down: the launch debrief.
What is a Launch Debrief?
So what exactly is a launch debrief? Simply put, it’s a post-launch analysis, a thorough review of what went down during your product launch or sale. It’s like checking your marathon stats, but for your business.
The Importance of a Debrief
Now, you might ask: ‘Why is this so crucial?’ Well, every launch, regardless of its success, is packed with lessons.
The debrief allows you to analyze the outcomes, pinpointing what worked and what didn’t.
Was your marketing strategy effective?
Did the product resonate with your target audience?
Should you spend more on ads next time?
These are questions the debrief will help answer.
And it’s not just about patting yourself on the back or pointing fingers.
A well-executed debrief guides you to make data-driven decisions. Instead of guessing or relying solely on gut feelings or assumptions, you’ll have concrete data telling you where to double down and where to pivot.
Key Metrics to Harness
What kind of metrics are we talking about?
Depending on your launch, these can range from sales and conversion rates to customer feedback and website traffic. Even social media engagement and email open rates can be filled with important data points.
By harnessing these numbers, you’re essentially mapping out your next steps. Implementing these insights can lead to better-targeted marketing campaigns, product tweaks, or even strategic shifts in your business approach.
In a nutshell, the launch debrief transforms hindsight into a powerful tool for future growth.
Conducting a successful debrief might feel a bit daunting, especially with all the data staring back at you.
But with a structured approach, it can be both insightful and transformative. Let’s break it down step by step.
How to Conduct a Successful Launch Debrief
1. Review Your Objectives
First off, start by reviewing your objectives.
Hopefully, these were made clear before your campaign even started so you knew what you were aiming at, but this is a great time for a quick assessment:
Were you aiming for brand awareness, higher sales, user engagement, or maybe all three?
By setting the stage with clear objectives, you create a reference point for your analysis.
2. Collect All Launch Data
Next, you want to collect all of your launch numbers.
Gather all relevant data and metrics from your launch, such as sales figures, website analytics, customer feedback, and social media engagement. This data will serve as the foundation for your debrief.
If you haven’t done this before, it might feel a bit daunting to know where to find these numbers – especially since they’re usually pulled in from across various platforms.
This is what my clients and I like to lean on a launch dashboard, which allows you to see all relevant data in one place.
I have a video that shows a full walkthrough of an example launch dashboard that I built, which might help to give you an idea of how you can visualize things.
If you don’t have this automated, that’s okay, too! While the exact metrics you track may vary a bit depending on the type of launch or sale that you’ve run, some of the top overall metrics you’ll want to make sure you know are:
- # of people to your webinar registration page
- # of registrations
- # of live webinar attendees
- # of users to the replay page
- # of users to the sales page and checkout page
- # of main product purchases
- # of bump and upsell purchases
- Total cash collected, total future payments accepted, total sale value.
But that’s not all! Also make sure you have data on things like:
- How did each email perform – as in led to webinar registrations and sales
- How many conversions came from each social media platform?
- Total ad spend (make sure to account for the cost for person running the ads)
- Customer feedback
3. Analyzing Collected Data
Bringing this data together isn’t the end, though!
Next, we want to analyze the numbers that we’ve collected. This is where we dig deep into the data to identify trends, patterns, and areas for improvement.
Look for key performance indicators (KPIs) that indicate how well things went with specific aspects of your launch.
Some things to look at are:
- What were the conversion rates at each step of the funnel? Based on these metrics, where were the biggest bottlenecks that could be addressed?
- Which emails converted the best, and which could be tweaked for the next launch?
- Were your paid traffic results what you expected?
- What was your average order value?
Remember – collecting all the numbers in the world does you no good until you take this next step of analysis!
If you’re preparing your numbers to present to your team, I’d encourage you to look at different ways to visualize them.
Instead of endless spreadsheets, a visual representation can quickly highlight strengths, weaknesses, and potential opportunities.
Be creative, and look for ways to make the information you’re sharing as digestible as possible.
4. Turning Data Into Action
Now that we’ve collected the data and analyzed it, it’s time to turn that data into action by creating action points around the areas of improvement.
No launch is perfect. There will always be areas where things didn’t go as planned or where performance lagged.
Identify specific recommendations for improvement and develop strategies to implement these changes in future launches.
An example of this from a client I worked with was when we implemented tracking of the number of users on the replay page.
We had discussed removing the replay option, but upon closer investigation, we learned that hundreds of people were visiting the replay page after the webinar. Since the webinar was a key tool in selling the end product, we decided to make the replay available for the duration of the open cart period.
For another client, we could clearly see that of the 10 emails in their launch sales sequence, 5 of the emails drove almost all of the sales conversions.
This meant that we knew those emails were doing their job – and not to change them for the next launch – but the others could be reviewed to see how we could better answer questions, overcome objections, or talk about benefits.
Based on your analysis, determine what worked well and what needs improvement.
Celebrate your successes and acknowledge areas where you fell short. This honest assessment will guide your future strategies.
The goal here is to make small, iterative changes based on your debrief findings. This method allows you to test and optimize your strategies over time, leading to continuous optimization.
Fostering a Culture of Learning
In order to do this, it’s really important to foster a Culture of Learning and encouraging open communication within your team.
Review the launch metrics with all of the key players on your team and discuss what worked, what didn’t, and what could be changed next time.
This collaborative approach fosters innovation and growth, and allowing each member of the team time to share their perspective allows your collective experience to come together to make your next launch even more successful.
Documentation is Key
Once your analysis is complete and you have a plan for implementing changes (including specific action items for each member on the team), please don’t forget to document your findings.
Not only will sharing them with your team ensure everyone is on the same page and can contribute to the improvement process, but something I see over and over again is not keeping track of what was done in the past.
From experience, it is very unlikely that you’re going to remember all of your current launch details by the time you launch again.
It’s good practice to have a place where you can record the details of each launch/sale, including:
- Key dates: Date marketing began, date of webinar invitations, date of webinar, close cart date
- Exact offer – main product, bump, upsell and pricing. This includes bonuses, values assigned to the bonuses – everything having to do with the offer.
- Key metrics and analysis – as we discussed above
- Action items to implement for the next launch
The Power of the Debrief Feedback Loop
Remember, the debrief isn’t just an administrative task; it’s a strategic tool.
When done right, it paves the way for smarter decisions, fine-tuned strategies, and, ultimately, more successful launches in the future.
It also creates a lovely feedback loop – where you take the data at hand, make educated decisions, implement the changes, and check your data the next time through.
This reduces guessing and making decisions based on gut-feelings alone, allowing you to move through your launches with more confidence and data-driven strategy.
Conclusion
By embracing the power of a launch debrief, you can unlock valuable insights that will propel your business forward.
Remember to collect your data, analyse the story your numbers are telling, meet with your team to share experiences, wins, identify strengths and weaknesses, and then translate your findings into actionable improvements.
With each debrief, you’ll become more adept at launching products that resonate with your target audience and convert well.
