If you are offering group coaching programs, challenges or other digital products then you’ll want to decide how you offer the programs. Will you offer an evergreen (always available) program or so a live launch?
What is an evergreen product?
An evergreen product is one that is always available. This can be a course, a workshop or a challenge. These are usually more of a DIY type of product. An evergreen product won’t have an aspect of seasonality to it.
For an evergreen product to be successful, you’ll likely need to spend some time setting up automations and funnels.
What is a live launch?
A live launch is when the program is launched in real time. Your launch strategy might include lots of live videos on social media or a live workshop. Your program has a set open and close date and is only open at certain times.
For a live launch to be successful, you’ll need lots of lead time to make sure everything is in place. And to make sure you are not scrambling to get everything done at the end.
How does each serve the customer?
When experts argue about evergreen vs live launch strategies they often forget about how the customer is served. But serving the customer is what’s important, right?
Evergreen
An evergreen product serves the customer because it’s available when the customer needs it. I once heard of someone having an open/ closed cart system for a membership for pregnant women. If you were newly pregnant would you wait 6 months until the cart opened the next time to start the membership or would you look for a different option?
You might be able to solve this problem by having more frequent cart open periods.
Live launch
On the other hand a live launch is great for engagement and community. If you get a group of people who all start the program at the same time, then you’ll likely have more excitement, more engagement and better participation. And participants are more likely to get results in this situation.
You can still have a community aspect with an evergreen program. You just need to manage things a little differently.
How does each serve you, the coach?
With a live launch because of anticipation, the buildup and the limited availability you will likely get more people to sign up. But there are some drawbacks.
The live launch process can be very draining, which can lead you with few reserves to actually bring the same excitement into the program. Have you ever joined a program because the pre program challenge had a very active leader, but after you had registered for the program they were nowhere to be found?
And depending on your niche, you could be missing out on people signing up because the program wasn’t available when they needed it. On the other hand you might end up getting people to sign up because they don’t want to miss out.
You’ll also want to consider the program delivery methods. An evergreen program will need to be hosted on some type of course platform.
Can you do a combination?
There are a few different ways to combine live launches with evergreen programs.
You could offer low cost products as evergreen products and have a signature program that is only offered a few times a year. This would allow your customers to get some help when they need it, but be more ready to purchase your program when it becomes available.
You can have a program that is has a live launch, but also include a way to join at different times. This may not work if you really want everyone working on the same thing at the same time.
Some coaches will offer a program as a live launch for a few rounds, then move it to an evergreen program after that. You can set it up with recordings of videos that were included in the live version.
Summary
So what should you consider when deciding if you should run your program as a live launch or evergreen? Consider your audience and if they will be best served by a program that is available when they want or best served by a program with more participants going through at the same time. Think about how you feel you work best. If you are an introvert then you may find a live launch to be incredibly draining.
If you are looking for help with the tech required to set up your digital products, book a call to see how I can help.
