How to run a reservation campaign

A reservation campaign asks for more than an email. It also asks someone to put a small amount of money down before you've even launched. That's a bigger ask, but it gets you a much better signal: a list made up of people who are genuinely committed, not just curious.

This guide covers what's specific to running a reservation campaign well: when it's the right call, how the deposit and payment flow works, what the visitor actually experiences, and what to watch for once it's live.

Both types of campaigns build an email list. The difference is the kind of lead it captures. A lead gen campaign simply asks for an email. Since it's low friction, it's the right call for most campaigns. A reservation campaign asks for an email and a deposit—real friction, which is exactly what filters your list down from "people who might be interested" to "people who've already shown they'll pay something to be first." Run a reservation campaign when you already have some confidence there's demand and you want to walk into your launch already knowing roughly how many committed backers you're starting with.

If you're not sure yet whether people want your product at all, start with lead generation. If you already know they do and want to separate the committed fans from the curious ones, run a reservation campaign.

Reservation campaigns follow the same setup as any other campaign. You're just selecting Reservation as the type. There's nothing else campaign-specific to configure at this stage.

1. Start creating your campaign.

   • From your organization dashboard, click Create Campaign (quick-start wizard), or

   • Go to Campaigns under your property in the left-hand menu, then click Add Campaign in the top right.

2. Assign your campaign to a property. Select an existing property or click Create Property to set one up as part of this flow.

3. Choose a campaign type. Select Reservation.

   • Lead Generation: Capture contact information to build your pipeline ahead of a launch.

   • Form: Build custom forms to collect more than just contact info, such as file uploads, receipt photos, and other launch-specific details.

   • Poll: Gather direct audience feedback to inform your launch strategy.

   • Quiz: Shareable and engaging. Quizzes help organically expand your campaign's reach.

4. Enter your campaign basics:

   • Title: Should reflect what you're assessing or gathering info for; often mirrors the campaign type.

• SEO metadata: Controls how your page appears in search results and social media link previews.

• Campaign image: Helps identify the campaign in your list and appears in social embeds.

5. Select your campaign attributes: Categories, Tags, Unique Selling Points (USPs), Genres, and Utilities. These help segment your target audience data and organize the leads and contact info Launch Oracle collects, so you can filter and target accordingly later.

6. Invite your teammates and assign the right level of access. You can always invite teammates or update their access later from Team in the left-hand menu.

Unlike other third-party applications, connecting a payment processor isn't optional if you're running a reservation campaign. Stripe is currently the only supported payment processor for reservation campaigns. You won't be able to publish a reservation campaign until Stripe's connected, since it's what actually processes the deposit.

The deposit amount is entirely up to you to set.

Because the deposit goes directly into your own Stripe account rather than passing through Launch Oracle, refunds are handled on the client end, not ours. If a reservee cancels or you need to issue a refund, you'll do it directly from your Stripe account.

Connecting Stripe follows the same flow as connecting any other third-party application: locate your API key from your Stripe dashboard, paste it into Launch Oracle, and confirm the connection is live. You can also connect and check your Stripe connection status directly from the Reservation Settings panel in the page builder.

A reservation page has one job beyond what a lead gen page does: get a visitor to put a small deposit down to reserve their spot, not just sign up. Since you're asking for more than an email, give people a real reason to pay for that spot, like a locked-in price, a guaranteed perk, or an early-bird bonus that goes away once the campaign launches.

Before you begin, have your approved text, images, and branding assets ready so you're not switching contexts mid-build. Only one person can edit a page in the builder at a time, so if a teammate is already in there, you'll need to wait until they're done.

Every campaign has three page variants—pre-launch, launch, and post-launch—and each is a different face your campaign shows at a different point in its life. Pre-launch is what a visitor sees before you've launched; this is the variant you'll typically spend the most time on for a campaign, since it's the one doing the work of capturing emails. Launch is what visitors see once you've gone live, often redirecting to your crowdfunding campaign or product website. Post-launch is what's left standing for anyone who finds your campaign late. Know which variant you're editing. Building great content on the wrong one means it won't show up when it's supposed to. Reservation campaigns also have a fourth variant, the reservation page, which visitors see right after they enter their email and before they're sent to Stripe to place their deposit.

Set your fonts, colors, and button styles before you start adding sections and writing copy. That way every section you add afterward already matches your brand, instead of you going back to restyle ten sections one at a time because you changed your mind about a shade of blue. Five minutes here saves a much longer cleanup later.

Since a reservation asks for more than an email address, your offer needs to make that reservation deposit feel like a clear win. The best reservation offers are simple: reserve now and you get something people who wait won't.

Most successful reservation campaigns lead with one strong incentive and add one or two smaller perks. Options worth considering:

• Reserved pricing: Your lowest price, guaranteed only to reservation holders. This is the most common and effective reservation incentive. Make the savings obvious and specific, like "Reserve for $1, save $60 at launch."

• First-batch priority: Reservation holders get their order filled first, from the first production run or the first shipping wave.

• Reservation-exclusive extras: A colorway, edition, add-on, or bonus item only available to people who reserve. Exclusives work best when they can't be bought later.

• Deposit credit: Apply the deposit toward the final purchase so reserving costs nothing extra. Say this clearly on your page, since it removes a common hesitation. (This is handled on the client's end, since no funds pass through Launch Oracle.)

• Insider access: Updates, prototype photos, or a first look at launch details. This works well as a bonus on top of pricing or priority, but rarely as the main reason to reserve.

Here are some tips for a strong offer:

• Make the value outweigh the deposit. People should be able to see at a glance that what they get is worth far more than what they put down.

• Be clear about refunds. State whether the deposit is refundable and how. Clear terms build trust and make reserving feel low-risk.

• Set a deadline. Reserved pricing and exclusives are more compelling when they end. Pair your offer with a countdown so visitors can see how much time is left. (See Setting up a countdown.)

• Show momentum. An audience counter showing how many people have already reserved gives new visitors confidence to join them.

Offer whichever incentive or set of incentives make the most sense for your campaign.

The page builder comes with engagement features built directly into it—purpose-suited tools designed with pre-launches in mind. They let you build a page around tested, proven tactics for driving engagement, rather than having to figure out what works from scratch.

• Countdown timer: Turn this on. For reservation specifically, it's highly recommended. It builds urgency toward your launch date. But it also gives people an actual reason to bookmark your page and come back to watch the number tick down, rather than signing up once and forgetting you exist. (See Setting up a countdown.)

• Audience counter: Recommended. Seeing that hundreds of people already signed up makes a new visitor more likely to as well. Worth waiting until your count looks respectable before switching it on. (See Setting up an audience counter.)

• Timed reveals: Recommended, if applicable. Use these if you actually have staged content to drip out (art, characters, lore). (See Setting up a timed reveal.)

Whatever you choose, the goal is the same: make reserving feel like the obvious choice for anyone who already wants what you're making.

In a reservation campaign, signing up is only the first step. Visitors enter their email, then head to a reservation page where they place their deposit. Your post-reservation actions kick in once that deposit goes through.

Here's how the flow works:

1. The visitor signs up. They enter their email on your campaign page.

2. They're sent to your reservation page. This is a separate page you build in the page builder, where you explain your offer and what the deposit gets them.

3. They reserve. When they click the reservation button, they're taken to Stripe to enter their payment details and place their deposit.

4. Your post-reservation actions run. After the payment is complete, any actions you've set up take place. (See below for further information.)

Your reservation page is the moment a lead decides whether to become a reservation. Visitors land here right after entering their email, so they're already interested. The page's job isn't to pitch your product from scratch. It's to make one offer clearly and make reserving an easy yes.

Here are some best practices:

• Confirm the signup first. Open with a quick confirmation, like "You're on the list," so visitors know their email went through before you ask for anything else. This is especially important, since not all email signups will become reservations.

• Lead with one offer. Present a single, simple reason to reserve, like "Reserve for $1 and get 40% off at launch." Multiple tiers or packages at this stage slow people down.

• Show the trade. Make it obvious that what they get is worth far more than the deposit. Put the deposit and the value side by side, like "$1 today, $60 off at launch."

• Be upfront about the price. Let visitors know what the product will cost at launch, so they know exactly what they're reserving and there are no surprises later.

• Explain the deposit. Say whether it's refundable, how to get it back, and whether it's credited toward their purchase. Clear terms make reserving feel low-risk.

A smaller deposit gets more reservations. A larger one filters for people who are more likely to buy. Most campaigns start at $1 and it's a good idea to keep the deposit well below your product's price.

Launch Oracle's page builder lets you set up post-reservation actions: what happens the moment someone completes their reservation. In a reservation campaign, these actions run after the visitor's deposit goes through on Stripe, so they're your first chance to thank people who've just committed. You can choose any combination of the three.

• Custom thank-you message: Confirms the reservation went through. A good place to recap what their deposit gets them and when you're launching.

• Redirect: Sends reservation holders to your Discord, your crowdfunding page, or wherever you want them to go next.

• Asset download: Delivers a file immediately, like a wallpaper or a printable, as a small thank-you for reserving.

For most reservation campaigns, running a custom thank-you message and redirect or all three works well. You confirm the deposit, give something back right away, and point reservation holders toward where you want them to go next, all in one motion.

Tracking leads and reservations

Launch Oracle tracks leads and reservations separately. Anyone who enters their email counts as a lead, even if they leave before placing a deposit, so you can still follow up with them before launch. Visitors who complete the deposit are counted as reservations.

Desktop edits cascade down to tablet and mobile automatically, until you edit tablet or mobile directly, at which point that view stops inheriting changes from above it. Don't stop at desktop: a layout that looks great on a laptop screen often collapses into something cramped on a phone. Since a large share of traffic to a pre-launch page comes from social links people tap on their phones, treat the mobile preview as required, not optional, before you publish.

Save Draft never puts anything in front of a real visitor. It's a private checkpoint, and you can save as many times as you want with zero risk. Publish is the only action that makes your page live, which means you can build, walk away, come back days later, and keep refining without any pressure. Nothing goes public until you decide it does. Use Preview Draft along the way to see exactly what a visitor would see, without ever exposing the page itself.

The standard builder covers the vast majority of what a campaign page needs—fonts, colors, buttons, layout, spacing. Custom CSS exists for the remaining edge cases the builder doesn't have a toggle for. It's powerful, but it's also the one place a mistake can actually break your page's layout or functionality instead of just looking slightly off. Reach for it last, and only if you're comfortable enough with CSS to know what you're changing.

1. Open the page builder. Click the page builder icon from your campaign's overview.

2. Get familiar with the toolbar before you start building.

   • Variant Selector (top of the builder): Shows the page variants tied to your campaign. Every campaign has three: pre-launch, launch, and post-launch. Reservation campaigns include an additional reservation variant. A green light means that variant is published and live — it's what visitors currently see. Decide which variant you want to build or edit first.

   • Page Status: Shows whether you're viewing a draft, a page in progress, or a published page.

   • Sidebar: Holds your editing tools—Page Layout, Global Styles, Media Library, Templates, CRM Sync, Schedule Settings, Signup Settings, and Custom CSS.

5. Add engagement features.

   • Countdown: Build urgency toward your launch date and give visitors a reason to return to your page. (Setting up a countdown)

   • Audience Counter: Show your live signup count, with the option to set a threshold before it appears. (Setting up an audience counter)

   • Timed Reveals: Gradually reveal content (art, characters, etc.) over time to keep visitors checking back. (Setting up a timed reveal)

6. Build your reservation page.

   • In the page builder, select the reservation page variant to open your reservation page.

   • Navigate to Reservation Settings to set your deposit amount.

• Confirm the email signup. Open with a quick confirmation, like "You're on the list," so visitors know their email went through before you ask for anything else. This is especially important, since not all email signups will become reservations.

• Write your offer. Give one simple reason to reserve, like "Reserve for $1, save $60 at launch."

• Add your terms. Include the launch price, whether the deposit is refundable, and your deadline, if you have one.

• Add an audience counter. Recommended. Show how many people have already reserved. You can also set a threshold so the audience counter remains hidden until your campaign hits a specific threshold. (See Setting up an audience counter.)

6. Configure what happens after someone makes a reservation in Post-reservation actions. Choose from:

   • Custom Thank-You Message: Build a personalized thank-you page, complete with your own image, message, and formatting.

   • Redirect Link: Send visitors to another page or link, such as your crowdfunding platform or Discord server.

   • Asset Download: Give them immediate access to a digital file, such as an STL file.

6. Schedule when your pre-launch page transitions to launch by clicking Schedule Settings. (This can also be adjusted from your campaign overview.)

7. (Optional) Fine-tune your page with Custom CSS if you want more control than the standard settings allow.

9. Click Save Draft. Saving doesn't publish your page. Use the dropdown next to Save Draft to select Preview Draft and see what a visitor would see before you publish.

10. Check the builder's Checklist to confirm your page is ready. It tracks:

    • Lead capture (whether a sign-up flow is set up)

    • CRM sync

    • Post-reservation redirect

    • Page content

9. When you're ready, click Publish. Nothing goes live until you do.

A campaign page with no visitors captures zero leads. Traffic is the other half of the equation. Building the page is only step one. The second, equally important step is actually getting people to it.

A channel is just marketing shorthand for any place or method you use to get someone to click through to your page. Different channels reach different people in different ways, so most successful campaigns don't rely on just one. They actually combine a few. Here's where to start:

• Social posts: Post about your campaign—and your signup incentive—on whatever platforms you or your organization already use: Instagram, X, TikTok, Facebook, wherever your following actually is. This costs nothing but your time, and it's usually the first channel to try, since you already have an audience there, even if it's small.

• Paid ads: Running ads on Meta (Facebook/Instagram) or Google means paying to put your page in front of people who don't already follow you. This is how you reach beyond your existing audience, but it does cost money. (Launch Oracle's advanced reporting lets you track what each lead costs you. See Advanced reporting.)

• Community and forums: Go where your specific audience already hangs out and talk about your campaign there: Discord servers, subreddits, tabletop-specific forums, and Facebook groups. This works especially well for niche products, since these are people already interested in the category, just not yet aware of you.

• Your existing email list: If you've run a campaign before and already have a list from it, email them directly. This is usually your highest-converting channel by far. These are people who've already shown interest and trust you, unlike a stranger seeing a cold ad for the first time.

You don't need to use every channel above. Pick the ones that make sense for your audience and budget. It's fine to start small (a couple of social posts and a community post) rather than trying to do everything on day one.

Whichever channels you use, give each one its own ref link before you start sending traffic through it. A ref link is just a version of your page URL with a small tag added to it, so Launch Oracle knows which link someone came in through. Set one up for your Instagram post, a different one for your Discord post, another for a paid ad—same page, different links. That's what lets your report break leads out by source later (see How to read and analyze your report), instead of giving you one blended number that hides which channels are actually working and which aren't worth your time and money.

1. Navigate to the campaign you're creating ref links for. From your dashboard, go to Properties, then select Campaigns.

1. Go to the campaign summary and click Links.

2. Name your ref links using a consistent format. You can edit a ref link's title anytime by clicking .

• [Audience or geography]: Who this traffic is aimed at or where it's coming from—a country or region (US, ROW for "Rest of World"), a platform (Instagram, Discord), or a specific audience type (Lookalike, Retargeting).

• [Campaign type]: Which campaign this link supports, especially once you're running more than one at a time (Leads, Reservation, Quiz).

• [Specific detail]: Enough detail to tell two similar links apart—usually the actual targeting you used (an interest category, an ad's creative name, a specific post or email).

• Helpful abbreviations for the [Audience or geography] segment:

  Abbreviation	Stands for
  US	United States
  ROW	Rest of world

3. Add your ref links to groups. Launch Oracle provides default groups and you can also create your own custom groups.

4. Leave Include campaign attributes in links toggled off, unless you have a specific reason to need them. Turning it on produces extremely long links.

5. Your ref links are listed out according to their groups. You'll also see a Default group, which gives you the full and short ref link to your campaign page, along with a QR code to it.

Launch Oracle works even better connected to the rest of your tools. Third-party applications connect at the property level, not per campaign. That means once you link a platform once, every campaign under that property syncs to it automatically. If you're not ready to connect everything right away, that's fine too: your campaign data is still captured within Launch Oracle, and you can connect additional platforms whenever you're ready.

For a reservation campaign, you need to connect Stripe, since it processes the reservation fee.

You don't need to connect everything else on day one, but two are worth doing before you ever publish a page. Your CRM or email platform (Klaviyo, Mailchimp, or similar) matters most: every hour it's disconnected is an hour of leads sitting in Launch Oracle instead of entering your actual email sequence, and the whole point of a pre-launch campaign is staying in touch with that audience until launch day.

If you're running paid traffic, connect Meta or Google next. It's what lets your reporting tell you not just how many leads you got, but what each one actually cost you. Without it, you're flying blind on ad spend the moment your campaign goes live.

1. From the left-hand menu, navigate to your property and click Applications.

2. Choose the platform you'd like to connect and click Connect Property. Launch Oracle currently supports:

3. Locate your API key from the third-party platform. Each platform generates and manages its own API keys, so you'll need to retrieve yours from their dashboard. If you're not sure where to find it, click Where to find your API key for platform-specific instructions.

4. Copy and paste your API key into Launch Oracle and click Connect. Launch Oracle will authenticate the connection and confirm once it's active.

5. Confirm the connection is live. A connected platform shows a green status indicator next to its name under Applications.

A reservation campaign does more than build an email list. It shows you who's ready to buy. Visitors sign up with their email, then place a small deposit to reserve your best launch offer. That deposit separates the curious from the committed, so by the time you go live, you know how many people are ready to buy on day one.

Once your reservation campaign is live and bringing in leads and reservations, a few places to go from here:

• Learn How to read and analyze your report to dig deeper into your campaign's performance analytics.

• If you're running Meta or Google ads, use Advanced reporting to see what each lead actually cost you.

• Create a launch page, so you're ready for a seamless transition from pre-launch to launch when the time comes.