Viral Marketing Techniques for Launch Events

🚀 8 Proven Strategies to Double Your Virtual Event ROI (Steal These for Your Next Founder & Funder Event!) Let’s Talk Strategy! These strategies helped us double our ROI, generate 50+ high-quality leads, and secure over $500K in business opportunities—and they can do the same for you. 1. We Announced Our Attendance & Reached 10K+ Views • Strategic Social Media – We crafted engaging LinkedIn posts using event-specific hashtags, boosting pre-event visibility by 10,000+ views. • Tagging Event Organizers – Mentioning speakers and event hosts increased engagement by 45%. • Pre-Event Email Campaign – Sending teasers to our network resulted in a 20% meeting booking rate before the event. 2. LinkedIn Sales Navigator Gave Us a 50% Higher Response Rate • Sent Personalized Connection Requests – Achieved a 50% acceptance rate, leading to more meaningful conversations. • Followed Up Post-Conference – Keeping the conversation going increased conversion rates by 35%. 3. Upgraded Our Tech Saved Us Time & Captured More Leads • Engaging in comments—Instant contact sharing saved time and increased retention by 70%. • Optimized CRM for Mobile – HubSpot’s mobile entry feature helped us log leads on the spot, reducing data loss by 90%. 4. We Designed a Background and Used Networking During Event • Interactive Experience Over Static Banners – Attendees spent 3x longer engaging with us. • Exclusive Giveaways – Branded items led to 200+ daily booth visitors. 5. Interactive Content Drove More Engagement • Gated Landing Pages for Lead Capture – Increased post-event conversions by 50%. • Digital Brochures — Make content easily available throughout event improving accessibility. 6. We Stood Out with Memorable Attire • Branded Apparel with Bold Colors – Recognition increased by 50%. • Team Uniformity – Boosted credibility and led to 20% more inquiries. 7. We Created a Must-Meet List & Secured Key Connections • Pre-Event Research on 20 VIP Attendees – Led to strategic meetings with decision-makers. • Sent Personal Invites to Connect – 60% confirmed meetups before the event. • Tracked High-Value Attendees in CRM – Ensured no missed opportunities. 8. Followup Engagements for Networking Built Deeper Relationships (You know I love to throw the After Party) • Organized Small Gatherings with Key Prospects – Strengthened relationships beyond the event floor. • Extended Conversations Over Dinner & Drinks – Led to higher conversion rates. 🚀 The Results: • ROI Doubled from Last Year’s Events! • 50+ High-Quality Leads Generated! • $500,000+ in New Business Opportunities! Which of these tactics are you already using? Or is there one you’d love to try but need help executing? Drop a comment or send me a DM—I’d love to swap notes and hear what’s worked for you!

Most people think direct mail is dead. But Alex Hormozi just sent me a fridge magnet that’s pure marketing genius: Last night I went to check my mail after being away from home for a few days when I saw a piece of mail from Alex Hormozi. I was confused. So I immediately opened it. Inside the envelope, I found a sales letter and a fridge magnet inviting me AND reminding me of his book launch live event. Now the sales letter deserves its own deep dive breakdown… (Let me know in the comments if you'd like me to write a post on that, by the way!) But I wanted to share a few things that I thought were absolutely genius in the way they designed the magnet. Because it clearly wasn’t an afterthought. 1/ Genius “placement” If you think about it, they could have made any kind of physical product or merch. So why did they make it a fridge magnet? My theory: Everyone checks their fridge every day, *multiple* times per day. 2/ Curiosity-driven headline They used the headline to just share the date when the event is happening, which is a little bit counterintuitive. But it works great because it immediately makes you wonder: "Okay, so what’s happening on that date?" 3/ Frictionless CTAs (in different formats) They added both a QR code *and* a super short URL. Then, they send you to a page where you can easily add the event to your preferred calendar app. Seamless. 4/ Perfect balance of text and visuals Lastly, they used just enough copy for you to know everything you need to know and take action. But also included a nice, compelling image of Alex on stage, which is what you can expect to get (at least from a visual perspective) if you attend the event. Very nice. Now, the smartest part is... This magnet is going to sit on people’s fridges for weeks leading up to the event. Which means constant exposure and reminders without feeling you're getting spammed. Absolutely genius. And that’s it! Hope you found at least 1 nugget you can implement to your own marketing. And if you did, let me know in the comments - I’d love to hear your takeaways.

Two months ago, we were knee-deep in construction, racing to launch Onera Wimberley. Two weeks ago, we launched after millions of Instagram views and 26k+ link taps. Here's how we pulled it off… While I can’t claim to know the PERFECT pre-launch strategy. I can show you what worked for us. This is our pre-launch playbook. Starting with why you should care. The pre-launch campaign on our new IG page delivered: over 2.8M views, 27k+ new followers, 26k link taps. All within 1.5 months before welcoming our first guests. How? Step 1: “Pre-Pre-Launch” Months before launch, I took my own advice and led w/ the property journey on our @stayonera IG, newsletter & my personal accounts. Behind-the-scenes, updates, founder stories - we shared it all. But things got interesting… Two months before launch, we realized our booking funnel was a mess. We went back to the drawing board. Fewer clicks, more engagement, better conversion - that was the goal. And it worked, until it didn’t. Our first viral collab crashed our booking site before we could work through the issues. Step 2: Launch the IG Account The easy play would have been to launch on the @stayonera account. But this would have killed conversion rates. Forcing guests to choose a location rather than being brought to the appropriate booking page for the property they saw in an Instagram reel. So, we started fresh and our first post had to get people to care. A giveaway did just that– debuting the property while encouraging engagement. We collabed w/ the @stayonera page, posting two giveaways and generating 120k+ views on the new account. Step 3: Influencers The first few influencers would set the tone for our account. If they crushed, it would act as social proof to future guests that this was something to pay attention to. If not, we’d be fighting for traction. We landed on @texas.explorer & @texaseatsfirst to be our first collabs, running giveaways to incentivize engagement and boost traction. The posts crushed– getting 1.2M+ and 650k+ views respectively. And got us over the 10k follower hurdle, days after launching. Funny side story– @texas.explorer almost didn’t collab w/ us as we had many loose ends to tie up on the construction side. But once she saw the sunsets, she knew she could get viral content. Plus, she wanted to be the first to collab with Wimberley, just like she did for Onera Fredericksburg. Step 4: Organic Content We had a following taking shape thanks to the influencers and didn't want to lose momentum. We created numerous organic reels, utilizing our proven content structure, to be posted between influencer collabs. This kept the audience engaged and talking about Onera Wimberley. And most importantly- booking! All in all, we ended up posting 13 influencer collabs & 10 organic reels before launch. A true team effort! Each property launch brings new lessons & a refined launch guide. We can’t wait to share v3 after the Fredericksburg expansion 🤫

Some brands make a huge splash with every new product launch, while others barely make a peep! I wanted to break down HOW to launch with a bang. A brand that has been crushing product launches is Lemme, a vitamin brand by Kourtney Kardashian and Simon Huck. When I worked with Simon on launching JUDY, I saw firsthand how he could get everyone talking. Influencers, press outlets, CNN, VOGUE, etc., would all rave about anything JUDY launched. At Sharma Brands, we aim for the same impact with our clients. When The Skinny Confidential mouth tape sold out in 2 hours (twice!), it wasn’t by accident. We strategically build product launches to be big brand moments. It’s an omnichannel play and a non-invasive way to make noise, get attention, and let more people know who you are. Here’s how to make your product launch a big deal: 1️⃣ On Your Website: • Update Banners: Feature the new product prominently above the fold. • Collections Page: Make it the first product that shows up with a NEW badge. Slide-Out Cart: Prioritize the new product as the first upsell. • On-Site Pop-Up: Highlight the new product in pop-ups. • Enhanced PDP Modules: Explain what the product does, how it works, what's in the box, usage instructions, setup, and FAQs. • Pre-Launch Sale: Direct your best customers to a dedicated landing page for early access. 2️⃣In Your Ad Campaigns: • Ad Creative: Create ads that specifically call out the new product, show it in use, and highlight its benefits. • Video Reviews: Compile video reviews from VIP customers or content creators in advance. 3️⃣With Email and SMS: • Pre-Launch Teasers: Send teasers to your best customers to generate excitement and early purchases. • Launch Emails: Send 1 email per day for the first 3 days of the launch, excluding previous purchasers. Offer a VIP discount or early-bird special to your top customers. • Launch SMS: Notify your list on launch day and send follow-up texts based on engagement. • Sold Out Strategy: Prepare a SOLD OUT! email and SMS to capture interest for restock notifications. 4️⃣On Organic Social: • Pinned Posts: Take over the top 3 posts with new pinned posts highlighting the product launch. • Profile Highlights: Add a highlight that showcases the product, unboxing, features, and benefits. • High-Intent Funnels: Treat Instagram and TikTok profiles as high-intent funnels. 5️⃣Product Tease and Sell-Out: • Teaser Content: Generate excitement leading up to the launch with engaging teaser content. • Sell-Out Plan: Prepare for high demand. Have a version of the PDP ready to collect emails and numbers for restock notifications. 6️⃣Keep Your Tech Top-Tier: Ensure all tech elements, including subscriptions, reviews, back-in-stock notifiers, email pop-ups, slide-out carts, upsells, and tracking pixels, are functioning smoothly. What else would you add to this? Lmk in the comments! 👇

Most book launches follow the same old playbook: A few press releases. Some social media posts. Maybe a webinar or two. But what if that’s exactly why most books never take off? 👀 We took a different route—turning a book launch into a live event that attracted 65K+ leads, $500K+ in revenue, and a NYT Best Seller badge. Here’s how we did it: Instead of a traditional launch, we built a summit-driven funnel—a high-impact strategy that didn’t just promote the book but created an event people felt compelled to be part of. - We got 65,300 leads from a free event that built massive anticipation - Almost 5k of them paid for premium access (including the book) - We achieved $223,900 in revenue from VIP sales alone - Our  total funnel revenue was $512,000 - But most importantly for the client— he got a New York Times Best Seller Why did this work? 1️⃣ We built a movement, not just a book launch. The summit made people want to be part of something bigger. 2️⃣ We turned speakers into affiliates. Leveraging their audiences created organic momentum. 3️⃣ We optimized every touchpoint. From landing pages to emails, every step was designed for action. Still one of my favourite case studies, I absolutely loved this one! Any book authors here? Say hi below 😉