What smart brands do before a product drop

If you're planning any kind of product launch, drop, or restock this year - this one's for you.

Josh from Chronos just sent over a case study that completely reframes how to think about launch revenue.

His agency has driven $400M+ in email revenue across 500+ brands. Average 35x ROI.

And this breakdown shows exactly how they helped a tech brand fund 83% of their Indiegogo campaign entirely through email.

Let's dive in.

Hey there,

Here's what most brands do before a product drop: panic, crank up ad spend, and pray the algorithm cooperates.

Here's what a client of ours did: sent emails to people who already knew them.

And what happened was 83% of their product pre-orders and backers, over 1,500 people, came from their existing list.

Just a bit of context on the brand. They’re called Chargeasap. They make high-end charging gear, graphene power banks, GaN chargers, the kind of stuff that gets tech nerds excited.

And they'd built their business on Kickstarter and Indiegogo, launching new products through crowdfunding campaigns.

Crowdfunding behaves a lot like product launches in standard eCommerce.

A product drop or launch campaign has one shot to build momentum, and every hour counts.

If you've ever launched a new product, run a limited drop, or pushed a restock, you know this feeling. The window is short. The pressure is real. And if you don't hit momentum fast, the whole thing stalls.

The problem most brands run into

Chargeasap wasn't struggling with product demand. Their launches always had interest.

The real challenge was timing and knowing who to talk to, when.

Past backers, prospects, and everyday subscribers all behave differently.

Sending the wrong message to the wrong group could stall momentum or burn out the list.

So here’s what we built

The strategy started with understanding how their audiences actually behaved.

• Past backers didn't need persuasion → they needed clarity and timing.

• Prospects needed social proof.

• And store subscribers needed space, so they weren't getting pulled into campaigns that didn't apply to them.

From there, every campaign followed a rhythm:

Warm-up → Launch → Mid-campaign push → Final deadline drive

Only subscribers who showed intent, past campaign backers, high click-engagement, people browsing similar products received the deeper campaign messaging.

Everyone else stayed in their normal flows.

This prevented list fatigue while focusing effort on the people most likely to buy.

We also used urgency the right way. Countdown timers and deadline reminders that matched the natural pressure of the launch window.

Mid-campaign referral rewards (up to 10% incentives) added lift without diluting the timeline.

And the eCommerce side never went dark. Evergreen flows kept running, so the store continued generating revenue between launches.

The results

• 83% of total backers for the Connect Pro Indiegogo were driven entirely by email

• 22% of backers and revenue for the Zeus Indiegogo came directly from the list

• 27% YoY lift in baseline eCommerce email revenue (Oct 2023 – Sep 2024)

• Subscriber fatigue stayed low despite multiple campaign pushes per year

Why this matters for your brand

If you’re planning a drop or a preorder cycle for Q2, March is the month to fix the plumbing before you hit the "Launch" button.

Here’s your checklist:

• Treat your buyers like insiders. They already trust you. Focus on what's new and why they should be first in line.

• Segment by intent, not just activity. Past buyers, high-engagement subscribers, and product browsers should get the full campaign sequence. Everyone else stays in their normal flows.

• Protect your list. Don't burn out your entire database for one launch. Keep the store running alongside the campaign.

• Use real urgency. If the deadline is real, lean into it. If it's fake, your audience will smell it.

• Stop the "Post-Purchase Ghosting.” The 14 days after a product arrives are the highest-leverage moment in your business. If you aren't using that window to turn a "backer" into a "second-time buyer," you’re letting your LTV evaporate.

• Weaponize Real Urgency. In a launch, deadlines are real, not fake gimmicks. Use email to amplify that natural pressure rather than making up fake "limited time" hype.

• Audit Your "Insider" Tags. If your system can't tell the difference between a three-time backer and a first-time browser, you are currently shouting at the wrong people.

If you're planning a product launch, drop, or restock in the next few months and want to build a system like this for your brand, let's talk.

Book a call with us here.

Cheers,

Josh

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