Model this NFT Launch Plan

Hey friends! I was asked to write a launch plan for an NFT-based web3 game. This can be used for a game of course, but works for a basic NFT collection as well. Feel free to steal — er “model” this plan and use it as your own!

You can listen to this newsletter as a podcast here: https://youtu.be/SUpsqWgdwnk

• Circus Comes to Town
• Pepper Palooza
• Calm before the storm
• Winner winner, chicken dinner
• We have lift-off!

Last week we talked about how to use Instagram to market your NFT collection, read it by clicking here, or watch the video/podcast here!

Circus Time!

The launch plan below is for the launch of a second NFT within their collection… in other words, they already had a community and prior NFTs. It’s not “that” different than a first launch, but there are some things I’d have done differently if so.

Feel free to either use it as a guide or just to get some ideas on how to plan a successful NFT launch event. Don't only look at the content, but the framework and such as well.

It was fun, engaged the community, and was profitable. Our entire goal was to create a party atmosphere and give people loads of REASONS to visit, stick around, and join the community. If I had to pick one word that is critical in NFT marketing, it could easily be "reasons". (reasons to mint, to visit, to post, to, to, to!)

Of course, there are a lot of additional things that can be done, depending on the budget, the size of the team, the amount of time you have to prepare in advance, and whatever other variables are involved.

This is what they could afford and they had the manpower to pull off… season to taste, and enjoy! From this point on shows what was posted, sent to team members, gave to vendors, etc..

Neither the pictures nor the sub-headings were a part of the launch plan.

Pepper Palooza

Pepper Palooza will be the name of the event during this next sales phase. The goal is to create enough “buzz” both internally on our properties, as well as externally on other websites and social media outlets to generate enough excitement to sell out the remainder of the 10,000 available Mystic Peppers within 7 days of the launch date.

Outline — full details to be completed as we get closer. More strategies are to be added.

Dates: Team prep: TBD. Warmup: September 3–6. Pre-launch: September 7th -13th.

Team Preparation: A team meeting to be held in Discord, preferably by voice, prior to the launch. To be led by (project lead) and possibly (other team member). It is extremely important that all invited team members attend.

(NixNotes: team communication is vital so you know that all parties understand the process. Notice there are also clearly defined goals.)

Launch: September 14th.

The Calm Before the Storm (pre-launch)

-Team Preparation: Team members need to take preliminary steps to be ready to share tasks. These will be detailed below, as well as included in Discord, Google Calendar, and in a Trello plan. In some cases, some people will be required to do some things that are not ordinarily one of their tasks.

For the team to be 110% invested I suggest scaled rewards for hitting the goal of either cash, NFTs, or both.

-Influencer Relationships: Relationships need to be cultivated to have a minimum of 2 EACH of Twitter, Twitch, and YouTube interviews (or articles/mentions/shout-outs) per day for the duration of the 7-day pre-launch. These must be scheduled and confirmed in advance.

Influencer payment will be handled on a per-person basis, depending on their following size and extent of participation. The initial offer will be to include them in a contest where our community is to follow/like/etc. them.

Potential additional payment can be in the way of giving them a free 3–5 night stay in a vacation hotel. (they pay the room taxes and tips) Make this offer prior to offering cash.

(NixNotes: They were on a tight budget so we found creative ways to pay influencers. In this case, it was to offer them 5–7 day trips, which we paid a few dollars a month for: http://advertisingboost.xyz)

(More NixNotes: The interview I pictured below was not “about” Pepper Attack, but recorded during the pre-launch. I plugged it, shared info about the launch, and sent plenty of people to the event)

-Software: This launch will require several pieces of software/programs, some need to be connected by API to the website. These include the email API to let us email people who have visited the website (but not joined the newsletter), as well as contest software, affiliate tracking software, and possibly more.

https://givelab.com/ — Contest software to track our influencer followers and contests etc..

Affiliate tracking software — TBD — Deacon Z has some that may work.

https://getemails.com — software to send emails to website viewers who do not join our mailing list.

https://www.easypromosapp.com/ Contest app to use for daily contests. “Spin the wheel” and many more to engage our audience.

-Videos: One, possibly 2 videos will need to be created in addition to the influencer support. One is for Solo Ads, and the other is an insider AMA.

-Warmup: (9/3 to 9/6) During the warmup phase, teasers will be leaked about the upcoming festivities. Nothing specific will be revealed publicly to create curiosity, but we will use Discord, Twitter, Email, and other resources to let the community know “something big is happening Tuesday”.

-All Pepper Team members will have specific roles and participate in making this a success.

-Some of these strategies will be less effective than others in the number of leads generated, but any can find the one whale that makes a large difference, so even small efforts can be important and should be carried out. Don't prejudge.

The warmup is not to give details, simply to plant the seeds and let people know there is something special approaching, starting on September 7th. Our goal is to have a packed Discord when Pepper Palooza begins.

-Warmup Strategies: (in no particular order)

-Leaked Info: Discord mods will split the community alphabetically and each be responsible to DM a section based on the first digit of their handle. When appropriate (to be explained in the meeting) they will send private messages to their sections, “secretly” revealing details.

As an example: Someone asks “what is the mint date?”, the mod messages them “I can’t say now, but make SURE you are here Tuesday, there’s something big happening!”, or “It’s a secret still, but… real soon wink-wink — be here Tuesday.”

This will not only make the community member feel special for being let “in the loop”, but personal attention like this is a motivator. It will help instill confidence in the program and increase the relationship of the team with the community. This will continue through the launch.

-Email: Email the 22k gamer list 3 times before pre-launch with a teaser email, letting them know something special is coming up in 3 days, 2 days, and tomorrow, reminding them to check Discord daily, and more.

-Email Retargeting: We will email those who have been to our website and have NOT joined the mailing list with a “thanks for visiting… and by the way” message. This will be done the day of the visit, and again when the NFT sale begins.

-Facebook Page Awareness: Team members with access will log into our Facebook Page and search and find relevant public groups. They will join and post in these groups as our page to drive people back to our page to learn about upcoming events. This should be done daily.

-Discord Shills: The team will go through other Discords daily and post in shill forums, as well as other threads when possible. This should not be discounted. Targeted lobbies should be NFT games, NFT collections, game websites, Crypto gaming “guilds” and communities.

I will ask (team member name) and team members to search, find, and integrate themselves into these communities ASAP, with the goal being to be able to conversationally mention the launch in the main/general channels. I have already joined and become “known” in 25–30 different communities. I am certain we will have some large buys from these if done properly.

This should be ongoing through the entire 10 days and through launch.

-Social Media: Posts will be put on all social media outlets, including Twitter, Medium, Reddit, Instagram, and Facebook, letting the community know there will be a big announcement in 3 days, 2 days, and then tomorrow. (specific posts will be discussed as the date approaches)

This should be ongoing through the entire 10 days and through launch.

-Solo Ads: Solo ad campaigns will be started to an MMO audience, driving them to a video or ebook (hopefully a video) showing them the benefits of NFTs. This is a cold audience, but can be reached very inexpensively and I feel worth the effort. Nick will create the video and a customized email series.

-AMA Video: Release a post telling the community there will be an AMA “next week” and take questions. We will compile the questions, and create an AMA video. Since we’re not doing this live, it can be a talking head answering the questions (Deacon Z?) or a text-based video, or something else.

Make a big deal out of this, keyword optimizing, and drawing traffic from YouTube. We will use the disclaimer “the game is in pre-release and subject to change” for clarity and legalities.

Another important reason to do this now, is YouTubers use these to create their own videos the following week. They just go through them one question at a time. It’s EASY content for them. We will also convert it to text and add it to Medium, etc..

-Pre-Launch: This is the week where we work together to create an atmosphere of fun and friendship, culminating in the launch on Sept. 14. Every team member is important as are the smallest details.

Some days we will introduce new information and details, other days we will have news releases and Influencer broadcasts, as well as games, events and contests. Every day we provide fun and friendship, and give our community a REASON to show up the next day.

-Email: Continue to email the 22k list daily with information about that day’s activities and upcoming news.

-Email Retargeting: We will continue to email those who have been to our website and have NOT joined the mailing list with a “thanks for visiting… and by the way” message. This will be done until the day of release to stay within the budget.

-NFT Mint Calendars: There are a lot of websites that list upcoming NFT mint dates,

-Social Media: Posts will be put in all social media outlets a minimum of once daily, including Twitter, Medium, Reddit, Instagram and Facebook. These posts will share the results of the daily events (ex: contests, etc) as well as share information about the next day’s events. (specific details will be discussed as the date approaches)

-Discord Shills: The team will go through other Discords daily and post in shill forums, as well as other threads when possible. This should not be discounted. Targeted lobbies should be NFT games, but as, or more importantly, Crypto gaming “guilds” and communities. Team members should start creating relationships immediately to shill during release.

-Interstitial Ads: We will run some interstitial ads to be shown on competitor NFT and gaming websites, if possible.

-Daily Events: This is what will either make or break this launch. Events will include contests, games, news releases, giveaways, surprises, and more. (can discuss this in depth later)

NO prize details will be shared with the team until the event starts!

(NixNotes: notice there is a LOT more to the planning and pre-launch planning and implementation than during the launch itself)

Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner

-Influencer Contest: We will offer some good prizes to the winners of a drawing for following the influencers who participate. This should be one of our best rewards, to generate traffic for the influencers. In addition, we can get follows to our own properties.

Prizes: Daily giveaways and prizes can include gift cards, Pepper NFTs, beta-testing spots, other NFTs including low-cost avatar NFTs from other collections, as well as special event non-game pepper NFTs (beautifully created, dated, and numbered specifically for Pepper Palooza) hotel vacations to exotic locations, ETH, Mystic Peppers NFTs, Pepper Palooza NFT Tee Shirts, and more.

Prize budget will be planned and controlled in advance. Most of the suggested prizes above are low or no-cost. Any can be removed and others added.

-Gift Cards. Based on the value of the card. $20 to $100.

-Mystic Pepper NFTs. The opportunity cost of a lost sale.

-Avatar NFTs from other collections. We can buy or be given NFTs from other collections in exchange for some exposure. .005 to .05 ETH max

-Beta tester spots. No cost.

-Non-game Pepper NFTs. Low to No cost.

I feel a special series of Pepper Palooza NFTs that will not be used in the game can be a very attractive prize. I know some great artists who would do these very inexpensively, probably free. I suggest we hold them in a WAX wallet and send them as needed to save on fees.

-Hotel Vacations, to 7 nights. Unlimited give-aways, under $100. https://advertisingboost.xyz

-Mystic and/or Pepper Palooza Tees. TBD.

-More?

Referral Contest: Offer a program where the community can earn rewards by referring buyers. As an example, 1 Pepper NFT for referring 20 converted sales, 2 for driving 30 sales, and 4 for driving 40. (or 10, 20, and 30?) This will be automated by giving a unique affiliate link to participants.

The sales we get from those who do NOT earn an NFT will dramatically lower this %. We would only be giving away a few NFTs, and if someone does refer 20 or 30 sales, it is money well spent. The purchases need to be made by 7 days after the launch date.

We will offer one non-gameplay “Pepper Palooza” NFT to anyone who refers a sale. This will be a related and collectible-only NFT based around the Pepper theme, but they will be one of a kind.

I feel the community members will work hard to earn at least one free collectible NFT each, if promoted properly. This may end up being the most successful marketing endeavor.

Our goal is to blow people away with things they have never seen in the NFT world. If we invest in them now, they will reciprocate.

We Have Lift Off

The following will be completed during the second team planning meeting:
-Day 1 — TBA
-Day 2 — TBA
-Day 3 — TBA
-Day 4 — TBA
-Day 5 — TBA
-Day 6 — TBA
-Day 7 — TBA

-Launch Date and Beyond:

NFTs will go on sale at Noon EST US (?) on September 14. Daily games with rewards will continue, run by our moderators. We will offer the best rewards at this time for referrals as well as Mystic Pepper NFT purchases.

Launch Purchase Contest: We will offer sliding scale rewards to all purchasers within the first seven days. Prizes do not need to be expensive to hold perceived value. This will be decided later.

A sliding scale of purchase rewards can include a hotel vacation, NFT Tee shirts, beta tester spots, collectible non-game NFTs, and more. These are all very inexpensive but hold high perceived value.

We will take a snapshot 7 days after launch. Prior NFT holders should be included.
All of this can be modified as we move closer.

(NixNotes: Once they knew “what” needed to be done, the “who does what” and specific timing of it all was done internally during team meetings leading up to the event.)

The End. (actually, it was just the beginning!)

As I said above, there are countless other things that can be done and changes made. I’d suggest not as much using this as a guide/template as just using this to see the format and get some ideas.

The entire goal was to try to create a party/circus type of atmosphere with prizes, games, fun and friendship, and more. The tech, NFT pricing decisions, and such were handled separately, this was the community-facing plan.

We’ll talk again next week!

If you need help ask for it… if you don’t, prove it!

Deacon Z

PS- I LOVE brainstorming and helping come up with event ideas. If you have something coming up, jump into the Discord and let us know what you’re doing. Maybe you can get some new ideas there as well!

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