Sequencing a launch so nothing waits on anything
Most launch delays are sequencing problems, not capacity problems.
The short answer
A twelve-week launch runs positioning first, then design, build and creative production in parallel, with tracking built during the site build rather than after it. Campaigns are planned during the build and launched at controlled budget in the final fortnight.
Key takeaways
- Positioning first — everything downstream depends on it and it takes a week.
- Build tracking during the site build, never afterwards.
- Produce creative while the site is being built, not once it is live.
- Launch at controlled budget and scale on evidence rather than on the launch date.
The launch that slips is rarely short of people. It is usually a chain where each stage waited for the previous one to finish when it did not have to.
The twelve weeks
| Weeks | Sequential | In parallel |
|---|---|---|
| 1–2 | Positioning and offer | Account and tracking audit |
| 3–4 | Design | Creative concepting, keyword research |
| 5–8 | Build | Creative production, campaign structure, CRM setup |
| 9–10 | Tracking verification, QA | Landing page variants, ad build |
| 11 | Soft launch, controlled budget | Monitoring and fixes |
| 12 | Scale on what works | First optimisation cycle |
What must not be left to the end
- Tracking. Designed during the build. Retrofitted tracking is inaccurate tracking, permanently.
- Creative. Produced during the build, so launch day has eight concepts rather than one.
- Lead handling. Routing, qualification and follow-up ready before the first lead arrives, not after the first complaint.
- The offer. Decided in week one. Changing it in week nine invalidates the page, the creative and the campaign structure.
The mistake that costs most
Scaling budget on the launch date rather than on evidence. The plan says week twelve is when spend goes up; the data says the cost per qualified lead is not yet stable. Follow the data. A launch date is a project artefact, not a market signal.