The Launch Post-Mortem Template That Saved My October Strategy
Jul 21, 2025
When a launch underperforms, the worst move is pretending it didn’t happen. After our May–June 2025 launch for LiveLifeBuild fell short of expectations, I knew we couldn’t just roll into the next campaign and hope for the best.
So I built a post-mortem process—not a ritual, but a system. One that let my team diagnose performance with precision and make bold, evidence-backed decisions for October.
If your team’s ever faced a launch that didn’t land, steal this structure. It turned frustration into clarity for us, and it might do the same for you.
✅ Paid Media Audit
Objective: Did our media buying bring the right traffic?
What we reviewed:
CPM and CTR trends by audience type
Performance by optimization event
Budget pacing relative to cart open/close windows
What we learned:
Cold traffic came in efficiently—but we didn’t warm them up enough. The jump from awareness to high-ticket offer was too steep.
✅ Landing Page Behavior
Objective: Did users find what they needed to convert?
What we used:
Microsoft Clarity
GA4 insights on bounce rate and scroll depth
What we learned:
Scroll depth was strong. People were interested. But the page failed to build trust or eliminate hesitation. Conversions stalled not for lack of attention, but lack of conviction.
✅ Conversion Tracking
Objective: Was Meta reporting in sync with the backend?
What we validated:
Alignment of custom conversions (Meta) with actual purchases (in the backend)
Attribution errors due to rebills counted as new
What we learned:
Tracking was technically sound—but the pixel inflated results by counting rebills as fresh conversions. Real sales were lower than they appeared in-platform.
✅ Email Engagement
Objective: Did our nurture build trust and move people closer to the offer?
What we tracked:
Open rate, click rate
Revenue contribution from email flows
What we saw:
Open and click rates held steady, but conversion lagged. Our timing and copy lacked urgency. Nurture did its job, but sales emails didn’t do theirs.
✅ Audience Segments
Objective: Who showed up—and who actually converted?
What we mapped:
Performance by age, gender, behavior
Comparison with previous launch data
What we found:
Age 25–44 remained the sweet spot. <25 and >55 underperformed both in CTR and conversion. Our best buyers didn’t change—we just didn’t double down on them hard enough.
Why This Matters
The audit didn’t just explain what went wrong—it became the blueprint for how to do it better.
We’re now reusing this structure as a real-time tracker, not just a post-mortem. Because growth isn’t about launching again—it’s about launching smarter.
If you’re scaling launches and can’t afford to guess, build this system into your next cycle. It won’t fix your offer. But it’ll show you exactly where it breaks.