7 Types of Launch Bonuses to Boost Your Sales

May 15

Want to get more sales on your next launch? Adding launch bonuses can help you skyrocket your sales and hit your launch goals. In this post, we’ll share 7 proven launch bonuses to help you boost your launch revenue.

If you’ve been through someone’s funnel or live launch before, chances are you’ve seen a few different types of bonuses. Maybe you’ve even purchased a course or offer just to get the bonuses!

The idea of using bonuses in promotions isn’t new. Banks offer sign-on bonuses when you open a new checking account. Car dealers offer a free tank of gas or a free year of oil changes when you buy a car. Infomercials give you a free gift with purchase. You get the idea.

Launch bonuses boost sales because they:

Increase the perceived value of your offer
Make it easy for the buyer to justify their investment
Create FOMO to get those “maybe” buyers off the fence

That said, the purpose of a bonus is not to overload your buyer with a bunch of free stuff. People don’t want more free stuff. They want resources that will help them achieve a goal or solve a problem in the easiest or fastest way possible.

You also don’t want to use ALL of these bonuses in your launch or else it might have the opposite effect because having too many bonuses could feel overwhelming.

The best types of launch bonuses…

Are exclusive (you don’t offer them anywhere else)
Enhance your paid offer (don’t just throw in the kitchen sink)
Help the buyer take action
Offer either the first step (preps them for your paid offer) or the next step (once they’ve completed your training/course/workshop)

Here are our 6 favorite types of bonuses to drop during a launch and how to use them.

Launch Bonus 1: Waitlist Bonus

What it is: This is a bonus for everyone on the waitlist for your product who purchases (hint: these are your hottest leads!)
When it drops: When you open the cart for the waitlist (I recommend opening cart for your waitlist a day or two before your full list)
When it expires: When your public cart opens (or the night before your public cart open)
Tip: Your waitlist could be fairly large, so stick with a digital offer or something that’s scalable. It could even be a discount of sorts. Be sure to mention this bonus is exclusive for the waitlist only to create scarcity.

Launch Bonus 2: Webinar Bonus

What it is: This bonus is for anyone who purchases on your webinar or live session
When it drops: Announce it during the pitch and make it available until the end of your Q&A
When it expires: At the end of your webinar Q&A
Tip: Announce the webinar-only bonus during your pitch and tell everyone that it’s only good until the Q&A is over. Try to make your Q&A at least 15-20 minutes to give people time to decide to buy. The longer your Q&A goes, the higher your conversions will likely be, so stay on and answer Qs as long as people are engaged and asking!

Launch Bonus 3: Fast-Action Bonus

What it is: This is a super-juicy bonus that rewards your fastest action-takers or the first set number of people who purchase (i.e. first 5 to buy get a 1:1 coaching call!)
When it drops: As soon as your cart opens
When it expires: After the set number of people purchase
Tip: This should be a really attractive bonus that rewards those who take quick action. If you plan to offer any sort of 1:1 time as a bonus, this is the time to do it since you can limit it to a specific number of buyers. When offering this bonus, it’s always a good idea to announce regularly on social how many spots are left. This creates FOMO. It also helps people know if it’s getting close to ending so there are no surprises if someone joins right after the last spot is taken.

Launch Bonus 4: Early Bird Bonus

What it is: This bonus is for people who join within a designated time frame, set by you (i.e. those who join within the first 48 hours)
When it drops: As soon as your cart opens
When it expires: Whenever you set it to expire
Tip: This should be a really attractive launch bonus that encourages people to take action early, but you want to make sure it’s scalable in case a lot of people purchase during this period. You’ll often see online business owners offering discounted pricing during the Early Bird enrollment period.

Launch Bonus 5: Mid-Cart Bonus

What it is: Cart sales are usually slow mid-way through, so this can get people excited and engaged
When it drops: Midway through your cart open, on days when historically your sales are slow (i.e. after early bird enrollment expires)
When it expires: Whenever you set it to expire
Tip: I recommend offering this if you have a longer enrollment window (a week or more). I rarely use a mid-cart bonus but like to keep it in my back pocket in case sales are REALLLLLLLYYYYY slow. Then it’s a nice surprise I can throw in as needed. And be sure to offer this bonus retroactively to everyone who purchased before.

Launch Bonus 6: Mic Drop Bonus

What it is: This is a bonus you offer on the last day to help get your late decision-makers off the fence!
When it drops: On your cart close day. You can also offer it on the day before cart close but no sooner.
When it expires: When your cart closes
Tip: This should be a digital product or something super scalable since you’ll likely see the most sales on cart close day. You’ll also be offering this bonus retroactively to everyone who purchased before the bonus drop, so be sure it’s scalable!

Launch Bonus 7: Pay in Full Bonus

What it is: If you have a payment plan, this is a bonus you can offer as a reward to those who pay in full (since you won’t have to worry about failed or canceled payments)
When it drops: When your cart opens
When it expires: When your cart closes
Tip: You’ll have fewer people pay in full during a typical launch, so offering a small, intimate group call where people can ask you questions, or a bonus training of some sort can make great pay in full bonuses.

How to keep track of buyers and their launch bonuses

When you have several bonuses during your launch, it can quickly get overwhelming to know who gets what bonuses. One way to track is to create a spreadsheet of buyers and mark which bonuses they qualify for manually. This works fine if you have fewer enrollments.

You can also create a tag for each bonus inside your CRM and set up automations to tag them based on their purchase. You’ll just have to be sure to turn the time-sensitive automations off at the appropriate time so it doesn’t continue tagging people with a bonus that already expired.

When to deliver your launch bonuses

That’s up to you! If you have a refund or guarantee, you’ll likely want to wait to deliver the bonuses until the refund period is over, especially high-value bonuses.

REMEMBER: you don’t have to use ALL of these in your launch, nor should you. The goal is to reward them but not overwhelm them, so choose wisely. Offer bonuses that truly make sense for your product and your audience.

And don’t forget to use these when doing an affiliate promotion as well! Affiliates LOVE bonus shopping, so make your launch bonuses awesome!

Which launch bonuses will you offer on your next launch?