In this article:
What soft-launching is
Soft-launching means putting your program live on your store without announcing it. Customers earn points, claim rewards, and get told when they have enough for something, but they only find the program by noticing it on your site rather than by hearing from you.
The difference from launching properly is the announcement, not the program. You hold back the emails, the social posts and the campaigns until you are ready, and let customers discover it in their own time meanwhile.
Soft-launching is not the same as testing. A soft-launched program is real, and your customers keep whatever they earn. If you want to try the program with nobody able to reach it, you want testing it privately instead.
When to soft-launch
Soft-launching is worth it once your core program is built, which usually means you have:
Your main earning rules, such as creating an account, placing an order, following you on social media, signing up to your newsletter, birthdays, and referring a friend.
At least your money off or percentage off rewards.
Somewhere for existing customers to start from, so import your existing customers first if you are bringing points across.
It makes most sense when the only things left are the ones that take time and do not stop customers earning: extra emails in your own email platform, deeper customization, or custom rules and rewards being built for you.
Why it helps
Waiting for every last piece before going live is what delays most programs. While you wait, you collect no data, no feedback and no revenue from the program.
Soft-launching splits those apart. The program starts earning its keep while you carry on building, and by the time you announce it you have real customer behavior to base the announcement on rather than a guess.
How to soft-launch
Build your main rules and rewards.
Turn on your on-site notifications, so customers browsing your store notice the program.
Turn on the Reward available reminder email, so customers who earn enough are told.
Import your existing customers, if you are carrying points over from somewhere else.
Launch your program.
Add a link to your loyalty page in your header, so customers can find it when they look.
Then leave the announcement until you are ready. Nothing about soft-launching stops you launching loudly later.