Post-Launch: A Comprehensive Marketing Guide for WP Developers, Part 3

In the previous two articles, we discussed pre-launch strategy and launch strategy respectively. But keep in mind that there is a maximum of 3 months before launch and only about 1 to 2 weeks after launch, but it can last a long time after launch. Hypothetically, if your theme/plugin is successful, it can last forever. That’s why I wanted to dedicate this entire article to discussing 10 killer strategies you can take action immediately to make your theme/plugin a success.

Before we start the last day of this conference, let’s review the series outline:

1. Part 1: Before Launch
2. Part 2: Startup
3. Part 3: Post-launch

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Find people who need your solution

Visit social networks, forums, discussion boards, communities and use their search tools to find people who are looking for solutions provided by your theme/plugin. Post a reply with a link to your marketing website and tell them how it will solve their problem and make their life easier.

Remember, don’t be spam. For example, if you’re looking for opportunities on Twitter, don’t use the same tweet template every time. Because once they notice that your timeline looks exactly the same, they know you're spamming. Not only will this not help you get sales, it will also lose people’s trust.

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Provide excellent customer service

Support is what separates a top-notch theme/plugin from a crappy theme/plugin. If you provide quality support, your customers will be satisfied and more than happy to spread the word about your theme/plugin. Conversely, if you provide low-quality support, your customers may go out and talk about the terrible experience they just had. You could end up in a worse situation than this.

You can enhance customer service in 6 different ways:

1. Reply immediately after seeing a support request. A prompt response within 5 minutes will almost always prove you are a trustworthy and helpful company.
2. It is better not to give an answer than to give the wrong answer. Make sure your responses to requests are accurate, as mistakes are sometimes irreversible!
3. Has a self-service FAQ area. Not only will this reduce the number of email queries, it will also make customers more satisfied as they can get answers immediately instead of having to wait for a reply, especially if it's an urgent matter.
4. Do extra work for customers. If you or your customers need to complete certain steps, please do it yourself, which can save your customers some time.
5. Be as personal as possible. This is your opportunity to build strong relationships with your customers. So please try to be honest, polite and personal. Don’t use corporate language and write as if you were having an everyday, casual conversation with a customer.
6. Don't hesitate to learn more about your customers. Once all issues have been resolved, don't be afraid to learn more about the customer because the trust is already in place. You can ask them where they first heard about you or how they feel about the theme/plugin so far. Response rates tend to be very high.

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Promoting through education

If you know a lot about your field, don't hesitate to post content that you think will be useful to others. Through consistent, high-quality content publishing, you can build a reputation as an expert in your field. Therefore, potential customers won’t have too many concerns while purchasing the products you offer.

How-to articles are great ways to get started (like the one you're currently reading). They are easy to remember, actionable, and have an impact on readers because they feel like they learned something immediately.

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Ask for feedback regularly

Conduct thorough customer surveys once or twice a year so you can understand how your theme/plugin is performing from your customers’ perspective. To maximize the chance of a complete response, you should send an email to your entire customer base.

Here are some sample questions you can ask your customers:

• Has our theme/plugin solved a problem you have encountered?
• How often/how many times do you use our themes/plugins?
• How would you feel if you could no longer use our theme/plugin?
• Who would you recommend our themes/plugins to?
• How can we make the theme/plugin work better for you?
• You can also add specific questions about your theme/plugin.

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Connect with people in person

If you meet someone you think your product would be a good fit for, don’t hesitate to email them personally. But remember, it will be annoying if you just ask them to buy your theme/plugin in the first email conversation. Instead, offer it as a solution and clearly tell them how it will save them time and money.

This is my email template:

Hey $name,

Just saw your portfolio via $referrer. Do you have clients asking for a better WordPress editor? Our tool Artsy Editor may be able to save you and your clients a lot of trouble. http://artsyeditor.com

Stephen

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Enter the Top 10 List

Once you get into the top 10 lists of major blogs, people will think of you as one of the leaders in your field. It adds a lot of credibility and trust to your theme/plugin that cannot be achieved otherwise.

A great way to attract the attention of bloggers for writing a top 10 list post is to design a well-designed comparison page between your product and your competitor’s product. Focus on those you are good at. But don’t completely ignore people who are not you. One-sided comparisons can turn people off due to a lack of honesty.

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Track all the metrics you can track

The sooner you start tracking metrics, the less money you will lose. For each metric you test, you can learn what works and what doesn't. So you can keep doing the things that are going well and start fixing the things that are not going well.

You can track any of the following:

• Conversion Rate of Email Marketing Campaigns
• Conversion rate of demo page
• Exit rate on checkout page
• Average time spent on demo page
• Call-to-action click-through rate
• Original referrer of marketing website
• Number of pages visited before purchase
• Average support queries per purchase

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Nurturing all possible cooperation opportunities

If you are alone without anyone's help, it will be difficult for you to succeed in business. If you are developing a WordPress theme/plugin, there are many great opportunities for collaboration. You can cross-promote sales with people who have products that complement yours. You can partner with someone who is doing something similar outside of WordPress and offer both products together as a complete package. You can go to one-a-day deal promotion sites like AppSumo, Startups.com and negotiate a deal that will not only bring you revenue but also increase brand awareness.

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Engage people with contests and giveaways

Occasionally design and run a fun contest. It has many benefits:

• Get people involved in something fun.
• Create additional buzz around the contest and your theme/plugin.
• Give your potential customers a chance to get to know you.
• After all, they have the chance to get a free copy and at least one discount code.

Contest examples can be found on WooThemes, Dropbox.

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Conduct customer interviews and case studies

Customer interviews and case studies are both beneficial. It helps your potential users understand real use cases about your theme/plugin. It will also bring some extra exposure to the clients you interview.

When conducting customer interviews, the most important thing is to be honest. Don’t put limits on what you talk about. Let your customers (ideally, they should fall in love with your theme/plugin) tell others how great it is and how others have used it to help improve their lives.

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in conclusion

Now, after taking the time to read 3 long educational articles on marketing, it is worthless if you don’t take action. So I encourage everyone to take one piece of advice from this series and implement it immediately. If you have an idea, remember to go through a complete idea validation process with potential customers before writing code. If you’re about to launch a product, remember the importance of storytelling when pitching to media and influencers. If you have already started and insist on developing themes/plugins, please use one of the ten methods I teach you, I believe it will bring you some new hope and guide you on the road to success.

What are you waiting for?

If you have any questions, I'll follow the comments as well as my email: stephen@artsyeditor.com. (Note: I’ve also written about 60 post-launch strategies for startups on the Artsy Editorial Blog.)

Miss the first few days of this series?

1. Part 1: Before Launch
2. Part 2: Startup
3. Part 3: Post-launch

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