Launching is a bit of a blast from the past. Back in the early days of SEO and Internet Marketing life was good. A solid launch jacking strategy involved keyword stuffing, exact match domains, Web 2.0 links, Amazon stores,  launch jacking these were quick ways to earn some bank.

All it took for a successful launch jack was…

  • Finding product launches
  • Become an affiliate
  • Buy an exact match domain with the product brand in it
  • Write a blog post product review (or even clone the vendor site)
  • Point your affiliate link at the new exact match domain
  • Send all of the free traffic to the launch landing page

Like many things though, Google caught up with this scheme. But does this work in today’s SEO world? Is there a  launch jacking strategy that can work today?

Let’s take a look …

Launch Jacking in 2020

The old ways just won’t work.

First you can’t setup a new domain and have it rank during a short time period like pre-launch to launch of a new product. Some SEOs don’t like the term Google Sandbox but whatever you want to call it you must gain some trust from Google before you will rank for any terms.

Google needs time to figure out what your site is about, are you a legitimate resource, will the site have any longevity etc.

Purchased spammy links or Web 2.0 links likewise won’t work in the short window of a launch.

Exact match domains (EMD) don’t work well anymore either. In fact Google has a penalty box for thin EMD sites.

So is the idea of Launch Jacking a waste of time? Does jacking still work?

No.

When you reduce the Launch jacking to the core principal it is still an effective strategy. The basic idea is to ride the coattails of a product launches buzz.

When successful vendors launch a new product they spend a lot on marketing, advertising, and other promotional activities. They have potentially warmed up an audience for you that you can get into YOUR sales funnel.

They also often have contests and other promotions to reward you, the top affiliate for the launch.

It is still a a good strategy to be involved in new product launches. Particularly if you have a Make Money Online, Internet Marketing, or similar audience.

Launch Jacking Strategies that Work Today

Here are some ideas for a successful launch jacking process today.

Get in early — Even though Google will not rank new domains quickly, if you have a domain with some authority in the online marketing niche, you can still get great search engine results for these launches. There will be little competition for these keywords so get busy right away with a great sales page, product reviews, review video, postings on Facebook groups and other social media platforms etc. Cover as many channels as you can.

Joint Venture — Consider teaming up with other affiliate marketers. This will give you more reach, keep you motivated and give you a better chance at getting the marketer’s bonus for being at the top of the leader board.

Review Copy — Be sure to get a review copy of the actual product from the product creator. It is easy to spot affiliate marketers that are just recreating copy with no knowledge of the product. It is easy to get review access with a digital product a bit trickier with physical products.

 

How to Find Product Launches

First you will want to join the marketplaces where Internet marketers launch their products. Even vendors with their own affiliate platforms will usually want their products to be in at least one of the big marketplaces for digital products. These are …

  • ClickBank
  • JV Zoo
  • WarriorPlus

In the case of JV Zoo and Warrior plus you still need to get approval from the product company. With ClickBank once you are approved for the platform you can represent all of the products on the platform.

Once you are a part of the marketplaces you need to find new product launches. There are a few places where vendors go to announce there launches. These include …

Muncheye is the go to place for most big launches but the other sites will also have good information about upcoming launches.

Since all but the ClickBank offers will require vendor approval these are also good places to go to network and get involved in the launch promotions.

We have reviews on all of the major affiliate marketing networks where you will find affiliate marketers promoting their new affiliate products:

muncheye launch jacking

Benefits to Launch Jacking

I wouldn’t really call it launch jacking these days. I am sure there are people still doing lots of what are now dodgy things like frame vendor sites, pointing PBNs at new EMD domains, etc.

But for most this is really about getting in early with successful products. If you have a site with some authority and you write a great early review it is like a beachhead. Google ranks you on page 1 and it is easy to defend your position.

This means that even after the launch people will be finding your reviews and you will hopefully convert many of them to sales and customers.

Usually a big launch has cash prizes to incentivize affiliates to get the word out. Many affiliates will team up and split the prizes should they get on the leaderboard.

Launches are also full of energy. They motivate you to get things done on time because the launch date acts as a deadline.

One of the great benefits of getting involved with these large launches is that you can analyze how the super affiliates work. When you see the leaderboards track down who these top affiliates are. Get on their mailing lists and you can easily reverse engineer how they sell.

Downsides

The only downsides are

  1. There are a limited number of launches going on at one time. I really couldn’t see making this your sole strategy for a business. It is a good way to diversify though and get in the game.
  2. All products aren’t appropriate for your audience. Most of the products that you see on Muncheye will be targeting Internet Marketing and Make Money Online customers. If your audience is tennis players you don’t want to be send them the latest spinning software offer.

Go to our affiliate marketing guide for more tips.

Capitalizing on New Launches

There are two characteristics of launches that you want to leverage …

  • Vendors create buzz about their products
  • New products have less competitive keywords — easier to rank

This will all work best if you have a website that has some authority in the area that the launch is targeting.

SEO for Launch Jacking

The first jacking step is good SEO and search traffic. This is usually the major component of the affiliate marketing strategy for a new product launch. Maybe they saw the JV page or other page and want to further explore the product; there will be people searching for these products and you want to be on organic traffic from page 1 of the SERP results.

You will be writing reviews and Youtube videos for the product. This can be a bit tricky. Usually you will buy the product or be otherwise familiar with it. Do research based on other articles, etc. This is not possible with pre-launch products.

The best solution is to request a pre-release version of the product. In many cases the vendor will want you to have a track record of success before they do this.

Generally the product creator is  are helpful and if you are a legitimate affiliate marketer with a website and mailing list they will provide it to you.

Submit a marketing plan to the product creator and let them know about your audience, email list etc. If you get an initial rejection hustle a bit, convince them.

Remember they were all smaller affiliates themselves and are generally a helpful group of professionals — they want you to succeed.

You aren’t going to be able to do any keyword research on a new product .. it’s new! So you are trailblazing and will want to target the head keywords like …

  • Product name
  • Product name review
  • Best software for [insert product category]
  • [Vendor name] review
  • etc.

Marketing Ideas for Launch Jacking

After you have some killer reviews and/or videos you want to drive some traffic to them. There are a number of strategies for this …

  • Facebook — Of course you will want to get the word out to your FaceBook audience.
  • YouTube Videos — A great way to get the word out and build SEO credibility for your website review.
  • Twitter — this is what Twitter is good for … breaking news.
  • Email list — Send to both your existing list and consider having an opt-in list just for the release. Usually the vendor will have an email sequence and timing for you to follow for the launch.
  • Solo Ads — One of the few places I would consider Solo Ads which are essentially a rented email list. Try to get them to opt-in to your launch email responder list.
  • Google and Bing ads — This is a good time to use paid ads. The cost should be very low as it is a new product with little exposure
  • Bonuses and giveaways — have free training, ebook etc. as a reward for people who purchase via your link.

 

 

Final Words

Is it worth launch jacking in today’s marketing landscape?

Sure it is, but …

Today’s Launch Jacking is more about the Launch than the Jacking. The idea that you will fool Google with new EMD domains, copied websites, keyword stuffing etc. is unlikely at best.

But you still can make good money by being involved in large product launches. You can capitalize on the buzz that the vendor creates, ride the coattails of their big marketing budgets, and learn from experts at affiliate marketing.

FAQ

What is Launch Jacking?

Launch Jacking is a way of capitalizing on a new product launch. Ranking the new low volume keywords of products that aren't yet in the market ... or Google Search.

Is Launch Jacking legit?

It depends how you do it. There are people using black hat SEO to churn and burn sites just for the launches and others simply getting on board early to a hot new product.

Can this be an exclusive strategy for an affiliate marketer?

Not likely. It is a great way to diversify your revenue and also network and learn from leading marketers.