The Pre-Promotion Engagement System
Warm your audience with four connection plays before you ever ask for the sale
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 7
- Confidence
- 90%
Jasmine Star's system replaces the usual wall of direct promotions with four sequenced engagement plays that warm an audience before a launch. First, a short-lived pop-up private community built around the offer's value goes deep and fast on one topic, primed with scheduled engagement posts, live pre-promotion events, accountability partners, and a gamified challenge that rewards small actions. Second, a short-term referral program leverages existing customers' trust to expand reach, incentivizing both sides. Third, a waitlist captures warm, self-identified leads you can segment, personally follow, and pitch, using exclusivity, a countdown timer, and social proof to build urgency. Fourth, conversations are deliberately prioritized: time is blocked daily to respond and initiate, turning DMs into both trust-building and market research. The mechanism is that each play generates warm leads and data before the ask, so the promotion converts warmed relationships instead of cold followers. Content is planned a month or two ahead so launch attention can go to engagement.
Origin
Extracted from The Jasmine Star Show
Core principles
- 01Show up differently than the crowd of direct promotions during big sale periods by building a long-tail relationship strategy first
- 02A short-term value community goes deep and fast on one topic, priming members for the eventual offer
- 03Warm leads who self-identify (waitlist, referrals, community) let you personalize the offer and build trust before you ask
- 04Conversations are data: talking to your audience reveals needs, preferences and challenges that sharpen your marketing
- 05Plan and schedule all content in advance so launch-week attention can go to engagement, not production
How to run it
- 1
Create a pop-up private community around the offer
Build a short-term free community centered on the value of what you are promoting (a fitness bootcamp for a fitness program, a savings group for a financial planner). Use a private Facebook group or Instagram account members already have on their phones.
Pro tip Keep it on a free platform so you don't incur cost for people who haven't invested yet; only pay for a premium community platform once it is part of a paid offer.
- 2
Host smaller pre-promotion events inside the community
Run live trainings, product demos, or Q&A sessions that add value and build anticipation. Share reminders, links, and workbooks in advance so members arrive prepared.
Pro tip Go live at least twice a week before the main masterclass to build momentum and give participants small wins.
- 3
Assign accountability partners or peer groups
Pair members up (or spin up book clubs / reading groups) so they stay motivated and build relationships. When members connect with each other because of you, they feel a deeper connection to your business.
Watch out Accountability partners fit business and fitness challenges; for other contexts (like a book launch) use a lighter format such as reader book clubs instead.
- 4
Gamify participation with challenges and rewards
Run contests, giveaways, or a bingo-style card that rewards members for taking the actions you want (attending classes, sharing on social, finding a partner). Prizes can be small: merch, discounts, gift cards, or early access.
Pro tip A shared digital gift card (e.g. a loaded Starbucks card for the first live class) sparks social sharing and morale far beyond its cost.
- 5
Run a short-term referral program
Let existing customers invite friends to join your list, a free class, the community, or to buy. Incentivize both the referrer and the referral so everyone feels good.
Pro tip If you already have a referral program, run a limited-time campaign with new or double rewards to re-energize participation.
- 6
Open a waitlist to capture warm leads
Set up a waitlist so slightly-interested people can raise their hand to be first to know. Use exclusivity language, a countdown timer, and social proof, then watch who opens emails.
Pro tip Segment and personally follow qualified leads on social, engage their posts, and email a personal invite so the eventual offer is tailored to them.
- 7
Block daily time to prioritize conversations
Before and during the launch, deliberately block 20-30 minutes a day to respond to and initiate DMs and comments. Treat conversations as both trust-building and market research.
Pro tip Write and schedule 90% of your content a month or two ahead so launch-week attention is free for engagement; amplify what resonates and pivot what doesn't.
Watch out Conversations get overlooked in the launch rush; make them the first priority, not the backburner.
In the wild
In February 2024 Jasmine hosted a free pop-up community for three and a half weeks called Your Revenue Boot Camp. She taught live classes at least twice a week before a masterclass, scheduled short engagement-driven posts in advance, and gamified the group with a loaded digital Starbucks card and a 'Boot Camp Bingo' card rewarding actions like attending classes and sharing on social. Members posted photos of their coffee, tagged her in Instagram stories, and invited business-owner friends in a domino effect.
→ High engagement and morale, organic social sharing, and members primed for the paid offer that followed.
Consulting with an author, Jasmine helped build a free community as part of the book launch, running Q&A sessions and teaching small frameworks from the book. Instead of accountability partners, members were encouraged to start book clubs. Excitement built so that when presale opened, the whole group bought during the presale moment and carried on with their reading clubs.
→ Group members converted en masse at presale and organized book clubs around the launch.
For her mastermind aimed at seven-figure entrepreneurs, Jasmine's team went through every waitlist signup and segmented them by business size into qualified leads. She followed each on social, engaged their posts to assess fit, then emailed a personal invite to schedule a 20-minute call before applications opened to the public. The waitlist data let her personalize the offer and build trust in advance.
→ Personalized outreach to qualified leads produced an incredibly effective response before public launch.
Common mistakes
Paying for a community platform too early
Standing up a paid, premium community for people who haven't invested yet wastes money. Start on a free platform members already use and only pay once a community is bundled into a paid offer funded by its revenue.
Letting conversations slip during the launch
In the rush of a launch, initiating and responding to DMs gets pushed to the backburner. That is backwards: conversations qualify leads and give you the data that shapes your offers, so they should be a scheduled daily priority.
Treating the community as permanent
A pop-up community is meant to run for a short window to add value and then prime members for an offer. Keeping it open indefinitely loses the urgency and focus that make it convert.
Is it for you?
Best for
Coaches, creators and small businesses running a product launch, course, or holiday promotion who have an existing audience to activate.
Not ideal for
Businesses with no audience yet, or those needing instant same-day sales with no lead-up runway.
From the transcript
“Strategy number one is to create a pop up private community. This community should be centered around the value of the offer you're promoting.”
“I block out time before and during a promotional period just for engaging, responding, and initiating conversations. And you want to know what else? Conversations…”
“A public community is intended to be for a short period of time, to first add a ton of value for the people in the…”
From the episode
Four Strategies to Engage Your Audience Before a Promotional Period