How do I know if my launch worked?

What to measure, in order

1. Visits, by source. Did the launch reach people, and from where? A spike from one post and silence from another is already an answer.
2. Signups, by source. Which channels sent people who wanted it? The ranking often differs from the visits ranking.
3. Paying customers, by source, after 30 days. Which channels found people who value it? This is the number that says whether the launch worked.
4. What the new users asked for. Feedback in the first weeks tells you whether the product delivered what the launch promised.

Set it up before you post

Launch day can’t be measured afterwards. Before the first post:

• Add analytics that record where each visit came from.
• Tag every link you’ll share with its own UTM campaign.
• Make sure signups keep their source, and that payments can be matched to signups (by email or user id).
• If you have a waitlist, tag the link in the launch email too.

Read it after 30 days, not after 24 hours

The day after a launch shows attention. Most of what matters shows later: people who signed up and came back, trials that turned into payments, cancellations after the first month. Look at signups and payments per source a month later, and compare with what each channel cost you in time or money.

What “worked” can mean

• It found customers: a few channels brought paying customers. Go deeper there.
• It found interest, not customers: many signups, few payments. The offer or the product needs work before more promotion.
• It found nobody: a reach problem. Try different places before you judge the idea.

Write down what you’ll call success before you post: a number of signups from the right people, or a first paying customer. Deciding afterwards makes every launch look fine.

With Nordva Launch

The analytics script records every visit with its source (with a live view for launch day), the waitlist keeps each signup’s source, and Stripe (read-only, every plan) shows which sources paying customers came from. On Indie, the launch report shows how many of the people you emailed paid within 30 days.