When you launch your show, it's super important to craft a strong strategy to support it. From marketing like a media company to getting your planning down pat, learn how you can get the most out of your content when it's time for your big launch.

Jenny Coppola

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Director of Content and Creative

Kibi Anderson

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Digital Content & Strategy Executive

Brendan Schwartz

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Co-Founder

David Cancel

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CEO & Founder

Mykim Dang

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Executive Video Producer

Phil Nottingham

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Brand Marketing Strategist

Rand Fishkin

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CEO & Co-Founder

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Show Promotion Checklist

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Wistia's Guide to Show Promotion

Launch Phase


ADAM DAY: Here we go, you made it.

MYKIM DANG: This is the moment you've been working towards. Launching your show is more than just hitting the Upload button.

KIBI ANDERSON: The last thing you want to do is to throw your content on your platform without giving thought to your launch.

DAN MILLS: The word launch feels like it's about one big moment. But launch is really about the ongoing promotion of this awesome evergreen content.

SYDNEY RUTMAN: Oh, there's lots of jitters and butterflies in your stomach. And when you press that Publish button, feels like the whole world's going to explode.

SAMIR CHAUDRY: You totally got this. We know what we're talking about. At least I do. I don't know about him.

COLIN ROSENBLUM: I definitely know what we're talking about.

SAMIR CHAUDRY: You have no idea what we're talking about.

COLIN ROSENBLUM: Yeah, what is this?

NARRATOR: That's right. This is the launch phase.

JENNY COPPOLA: You might think of the launch as something that happens at the end of making a show. But it's actually something you need to plan for right from the beginning.

NARRATOR: Welcome back, Jenny Coppola, director of content and creative here at Wistia.

JENNY COPPOLA: How's your mother? Having a solid launch plan up front will help you attract the most engaged audience for your show. So start by creating a list of all the assets you need. Then use the show you created and pull out those assets, and plan it all out over a content calendar that takes you up to the launch of the show and that goes beyond the launch of the show.

KIBI ANDERSON: Hopefully you've been thinking about launch in your pre-production, during the actual shooting you can get ideas. But the whole point is, you want to put together a really good launch strategy. So you're not just winging it, you know? You want to make sure that you're doing as much as you can to get as many eyeballs as possible there. And a strategy is the best way to do that.

NARRATOR: Yep, whether you release your episodes week over week, or drop all of your episodes at once, there are a number of ways to share your binge-worthy content. But however you decide to release your show, it's more than just clicking Upload and hoping for the best.

In the next few videos, we'll cover the different phases of launching your series. That's prelaunch, where you build the hype for your show. Then the actual launch, when you put your show out into the world. And then there's post-launch, where you can engage with your audience and get them ready for what's next.

BRENDAN SCHWARTZ: When it comes to shows, you need to start marketing like a media company.

NARRATOR: Yeah, but what does that mean?

BRENDAN SCHWARTZ: Ever seen a celebrity on a late night show promoting their new movie? That's marketing like a media company. Have you heard an ad on a podcast for another podcast on the same network? That's cross promotion, and that is a huge secret of marketing like a media company.

And you know at the end of a TV show when they show you the best scenes for the upcoming episode? That is marketing like a media company. For media companies, their content is their product. So they market their content like it's a product.

DAVID CANCEL: So one of the most important things when you create something, and you actually are ready to put it out there in the world, is to figure out this plan of, how do you promote it?

NARRATOR: Here's Drift CEO David Cancel to share how he thinks about the launch phase.

DAVID CANCEL: For us, it's 80-20. It's 80% promotion, 20% creation. And so 80% of it is really, how do you launch it? Then how do you get your internal audience to care about it, which are the people that you work with? Then how do you get the external audience to care about it? And it could be your fans, your community, your customer base.

Then once you've done that once, how do you get them to re-care about it? People have to hear something over, and over, and over again before they actually pay attention to it. So don't be afraid to cross promote things.

NARRATOR: We'll cover how to create a sustainable, repeatable launch schedule for your brand affinity marketing content. Learn about making promotional assets, creating a premium experience on your website, the best way to launch your show, and what to do after your launch.

MYKIM DANG: Leading up to the launch of a new show is about communicating with our audience. Building that hype, programming behavior.

PHIL NOTTINGHAM: It's like, first your teasers go out. Then maybe you release a trailer. Then you release your guest list. And finally you drop an episode. At every stage, you're building momentum and creating noise around your series by giving people things to talk about and engage with.

RAND FISHKIN: Launching your show, it's a lot like launching a product. You have an audience you want to reach. You have metrics you're trying to hit. You have outlets and ways of distributing the news.

NARRATOR: Planning your launch phase is key for turning your awesome show into an actively working marketing channel for your business. You'll have clear benchmarks for success. And you'll learn a ton of lessons to apply to your next series. In the next video, we'll talk about building supporting assets to promote your show. Stay tuned and we'll see you there.
