Launch Checklist for Pop-Up AI Viral Labs
Pop-up labs burn bright for 72 hours and then vanish. This checklist keeps every drop coherent: prompts, credits, support, and screenshots all line up so the chaos feels intentional.
1. Nail the narrative before you write prompts
Every strong drop starts with a single question the audience instantly understands. At AI Viral Test Lab we use a one-pager that covers: cultural hook, screenshot headline, share incentive, and burn expectation. Once this story is locked, prompts follow naturally because they have boundaries. Without a narrative, prompts sprawl, screenshots lose cohesion, and ShareCopy feels random.
Gut-check the narrative with three people: someone on the team, a creator who loves screenshots, and a casual fan. If they cannot explain the premise in one sentence, restart before you waste GPU on drafts.
2. Prototype prompts inside the live 1080x1350 card
We prototype directly in the result card so typography, QR placement, and attribution lines stay consistent. Instead of iterating inside a notebook, paste outputs into the Villain Story or Clairvoyant Roast template and see if the layout still breathes. Half of the rompt tweaking ?work actually comes from layout issues: too many tokens produce wall-of-text cards, while sparse prompts make the canvas feel empty.
3. Stress-test the credit economy
A pop-up lab usually spikes traffic; the credit system must absorb that shock. We simulate three demand tiers: baseline (newsletter click), surge (influencer mention), and viral (TikTok or Discord raid). For each tier we project credits issued (daily free + share bonuses) versus credits burned (runs, reruns, screenshot retries). If the math shows we will hit zero inventory before the drop ends, we either lower the cost per run or schedule timed refills.
During the dry run, make sure client IDs persist between tabs and devices. The worst time to debug storage is when 5,000 players are refreshing the lab waiting for new credits.
4. Assemble the share stack
ShareCopy is not a nice-to-have; it is how your lab gets free marketing. Each drop should launch with at least five pre-written share snippets: TikTok caption, Threads update, Discord blurb, newsletter CTA, and a lex ?caption that players can paste under their screenshot. We embed these lines directly into sharecopy.js so they randomize on every success modal, and we keep a mirrored doc so support can send them manually.
Remember to localize hashtags or slang if you are targeting multiple markets. One mislabeled region can trigger auto-moderation and cut reach in half.
5. Wire telemetry before you go live
Instrumentation always slips unless it is on the checklist. At minimum, track: runs, reruns, share clicks, QR scans, checkout attempts, and screenshot exports. For short-lived drops we log these metrics to a single dashboard view so the on-call producer can see if anything is drifting. We also keep a console toggle to enable verbose logging if we need to debug prompts mid-launch.
Do not forget qualitative telemetry. Set up a Google Form or Typeform linked from the support page asking two questions: hat made you run the lab? ?and hat stopped you from running another? ?Those responses become the backbone of the wrap-up postmortem.
6. Run the support table-top exercise
Before launch, simulate three support tickets: credits missing, prompt output offensive, and payment stuck. Assign owners, macros, and escalation criteria. Pop-up labs compress time, so the difference between a five-minute reply and a two-hour reply can be hundreds of angry mentions. We preload support instructions with the launch name, credit policy, and refund path so the team never answers from memory.
7. Prep failover creative
If LLM providers rate-limit you mid-launch, the fallback state still needs to feel branded. We pre-render two alternate result cards: one referencing ab fog ?(temporary outage) and one referencing aintenance crew. ?When errors spike, the API switches the template so players see a playful message instead of a stack trace. Advertising slots also get a fallback creative ( iral orb ? so we do not serve blank rectangles when ad calls fail.
8. Schedule the cool-down rituals
Pop-up labs end fast, but the aftercare keeps your audience close. Schedule a recap email, a blog post, and a highlight reel before you launch so nobody forgets. We also track which high-score cards deserve a Hall of Fame slot in the homepage carousel. Finally, archive the prompts with notes; next quarter you will want to remix them and you will be grateful for the context.