Some website owners decide that their under-construction page is nothing more than a parking screen. More creative ones understand that there are opportunities for growth and expansion from the outset, even with just a single page.
We’ve shared email marketing tips in the past, and one thing that everyone needs before deploying those techniques is a list to send their emails to. There’s no time like the present to start collecting those email addresses.
1. Build Hype and Excitement for Launch
The chances are that if you’ve gone through the trouble of setting up a custom under-construction page, you have big plans for the future on whichever site you’re working on. You probably don’t confine that excitement to the website alone.
There are all sorts of ways people might find out about your brand, even before your website is ready. You might have a retail store to promote. You could be writing a book. It really could be anything.
You’ve almost certainly got social media channels. They can build suspense even without a website, and you might even struggle to keep what you’re working on a secret!
Once the signups start trickling in, no matter how you get them, there’s nothing to say; you have to wait until the website is live to start reaching out. There could be significant developments in the project, or you might want to share behind-the-scenes information with those that have shown an interest.
You can also offer early subscribers a lead magnet as a reward for signing up. In the early phase of your project, this doesn’t have to be anything too complex, like an ebook or whitepaper. Even sharing some of your early insights in the form of cheat sheets, checklists, or resource lists is a great incentive for many people to sign up.
Naturally, once launch day comes around, you’ll have an audience on hand, ready and waiting to see it for themselves. Just remember to test your emails before you send them out to avoid any email marketing disasters!
2. Stay in Touch With Potential Leads
Even if you don’t have much to say, it’s worth keeping in touch with those that have joined your mailing list. Even small snippets of information can build familiarity.
Wait too long to engage with your subscribers, and they might even forget who you are! That could be horrible news on launch day, as people are increasingly turning to ignoring emails from senders they don’t know or trust.
At the bare minimum, send out something along the lines of a countdown to launch. When you’ve got a date and know you can stick to it, ramp up the excitement.
3. Build Relationships Before You’ve Even Launched
This is one recommendation that will split opinion. Some email marketers love hearing from recipients. Views and suggestions can help guide the narrative and influence a marketing strategy with consumers in mind.
Others see outreach marketing as a one-way street. Once the email is sent, the job’s done.
If you fall into the latter category, then building relationships via email may not be for you. However, if you’re eager to open up two-way communication with your subscribers, it’s never too soon to get started.
Even if you don’t feel like you have a ‘brand’ until the website launches, there’s never any harm in making a positive impression under your trading name. Reputations for being friendly and open can take time to build, so there’s no such thing as starting too soon.
4. Control the Narrative of What to Expect
If you get into the habit of sending out regular updates to potential visitors before your site launches, you stand a great chance of making the story fit.
Eventually, you might want to find your site across social media and being talked about all over the world. Trending on Twitter isn’t a bad thing as long as the reasons are good!
You probably won’t capture much attention until the site goes live, leaving you free to communicate with your email subscribers in a way that builds not just the business but the motivation behind it.
5. Gauge Interest in the Quality of Your Plans
Some of the best-known entrepreneurs in the world and throughout history failed before they succeeded. As a result, what sounds like a great idea to you, and potentially your team may not resonate with the people you consider your target audience.
One of the best things about email as a communication tool is you can share anything you like. This extends to subtly telling people about what you have in store on your new site and inviting them to share their thoughts.
Most won’t respond. Some will tell you that your ideas sound great even if they don’t really know what’s happening. However, a few people – the important ones in this context – will tell you what they really think about your ideas, both good and bad.
This kind of market research can be extremely valuable – and costly if you decide to go down the traditional route. However, if you have a captive, responsive audience that has already shown an interest in your success, you’re well-positioned to make a few last-minute tweaks before the site goes live.
6. Start Driving Traffic From the Outset
Your aim should be to build an active, engaging website, and that doesn’t need to wait until launch. If you manage to pull off a masterstroke of an under-construction page, you might even be able to go viral before your site goes properly live! So naturally, it’s imperative to have an email signup form on the page if that happens!
If your holding page changes or features roll out gradually, you can build some buzz by letting your list know.
You can automate the email marketing process to a certain extent, ensuring that you don’t need to devote too much time to keep people up to date. If well thought out in advance, even automatic emails can have the same impact on your target audience as manual ones.
When launch time comes around, you can expect an influx of traffic. However, you’re already seen as having an active site by search engines and social media platforms, making them more likely to display your content prominently.
We have one final bonus reason to put an email signup form on your under-construction page, and that’s nothing more complex than you might think as well!
Even if you send nothing at all until well after launch, a great email list takes time to build.
At some point in your marketing strategy, you’ll appreciate having an active subscriber list. You’ll think back to when you launched that holding page that’s now long gone and be delighted to have easy access to an audience that is already interested enough in what you’re doing to accept direct communications from your brand.