Product Launches SKILL.md

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---
name: product-launch
description: "Plan product and feature launches that drive adoption: tiering by revenue, audience, competitive impact and change required, goals and metrics, launch messaging for customers, prospects and sales, readiness checklists, internal launch first, targeted external channels, launch-day runbooks, sustained follow-up and retrospectives. Use whenever someone asks to plan a product launch, feature launch, launch checklist, launch tiers, release announcement, beta launch, pricing change communication or why a launch got no adoption."
license: CC-BY-4.0
metadata:
  author: Afeez Adebayo
  author_url: https://afeezadebayo.com
  author_linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/afeez-adebayo/
  author_x: https://x.com/za_icon
  source: https://afeezadebayo.com/skills-md/marketing/product-marketing/product-launch/
  category: marketing
  subcategory: product-marketing
  version: "1.0.0"
  created: "2026-10-10"
  updated: "2026-10-10"
---

# Product Launches

Most product launches are announcements: a blog post, an email, a few social posts, then silence. Customers who would benefit never hear about it, sales doesn't know how to position it, support learns about it from confused tickets, and nobody measures whether it changed anything. A launch is a cross-team project to get the right customers to adopt something new, and its size should match its importance.

This skill plans launches with tiering, readiness checklists, audience-specific messaging, channel plans, enablement, launch-day runbooks and post-launch measurement.

## Operating principles
1. **Tier every launch.** Not every release deserves a big launch; effort should match impact.
2. **Launch to people, not to the void.** Target the customers and prospects who benefit most.
3. **Internal launch first.** Sales, support and success must be ready before customers hear.
4. **Adoption is the goal.** Measure usage and revenue impact, not just announcement reach.
5. **Review every launch.** Learn what worked for the next one.

## Launch tiers
| Tier | Examples | Typical activities |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | New product, major platform change, new pricing, entry to a new market | Full GTM: positioning, press, event or webinar, campaign, website, sales training, customer outreach |
| Tier 2 | Significant feature for a key segment, major integration | Blog, email to relevant segments, in-app announcement, sales brief, help docs, webinar optional |
| Tier 3 | Smaller improvements | Changelog, in-app note, help docs, social post |

## Tiering criteria
| Criterion | Question |
|---|---|
| Revenue impact | Will it win new deals, raise prices or reduce churn noticeably? |
| Audience size | How many customers or prospects does it affect? |
| Competitive impact | Does it close a gap or create a differentiator? |
| Change required | Do users or sales need to change how they work? |
| Market interest | Will press, analysts or communities care? |

## When to use, and when not to
Use it for any release that customers, prospects or sales need to know about, from new products to meaningful features and pricing changes.

Don't use it for full go-to-market strategy for a new product or segment (`go-to-market-plan`) or routine changelog entries.

## Inputs to ask for, in one message
1. What is launching, for whom, and the release date.
2. Business goals for the launch.
3. Target segments and personas.
4. Positioning and messaging, if they exist.
5. Channels available and team capacity.
6. Dependencies: product readiness, pricing, legal, partners.

## Workflow

### Step 1. Tier the launch
Score against the criteria; agree the tier with product and leadership.

### Step 2. Define goals and metrics
Adoption, pipeline, upgrades, churn reduction, awareness; with targets and time frames.

### Step 3. Write launch messaging
What it is, who it's for, the problem it solves, proof and how to get started; adapted for customers, prospects and sales.

### Step 4. Build the readiness checklist
Product, documentation, support, sales, legal, pricing, website and analytics.

### Step 5. Plan the internal launch
Sales and support training, FAQ, demo, objection handling, release notes, one week or more before external launch.

### Step 6. Plan external channels
Email to relevant segments, in-app messages, blog, website updates, social, webinar, press, partners, community.

### Step 7. Run launch day
A runbook with owners and times; monitor issues and feedback.

### Step 8. Sustain and measure
Follow-up campaigns, sales plays and adoption nudges; measure at two weeks, 30 days and 90 days.

### Step 9. Retrospective
What worked, what didn't, what to repeat.

## Readiness checklist
- Feature complete, tested and available to the right plans.
- Help docs, videos and release notes published.
- Support trained with FAQ and escalation paths.
- Sales briefed with talk track, demo and objection handling.
- Pricing, packaging and billing updated if affected.
- Website, product pages and screenshots updated.
- Analytics events tracking adoption.
- Legal and compliance review done where needed.

## Launch-day runbook (example)
| Time | Action | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| 08:00 | Feature enabled for all eligible accounts | Product |
| 09:00 | Website and docs live | Marketing |
| 09:30 | Customer email and in-app announcement | Lifecycle |
| 10:00 | Blog, social and partner notes | Marketing |
| 11:00 | Sales and success channels share talk track and asset links | Product marketing |
| All day | Monitor support tickets, social, errors | Support, product |

## Launch metrics by tier
| Tier | 2 weeks | 30 days | 90 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reach, demo requests, press coverage | Pipeline, trials, early adoption | Revenue, win rate, retention effect |
| 2 | Segment email engagement, feature trials | Adoption among target accounts | Upgrades or churn change in that segment |
| 3 | Help doc views | Feature usage | Support ticket trends |

## Internal launch kit
- One-page brief: what, who, why, when, how to talk about it.
- Two-minute demo video and live demo steps.
- FAQ and objection handling.
- Pricing and packaging notes.
- Links to docs, release notes and customer-facing assets.
- A named contact for questions.

## Retrospective questions
- Did we hit adoption and business goals? Why or why not?
- Which channels drove the most adoption from the right segments?
- Were sales and support ready? What was missing?
- What will we change for the next launch of this tier?

## Tiering scorecard
Score each criterion from 1 to 3 (revenue impact, audience size, competitive impact, change required, market interest). A total of 13 to 15 suggests Tier 1, 9 to 12 Tier 2, and below 9 Tier 3. Adjust thresholds to your company, but apply them consistently.

## Edge cases and judgement calls
| Situation | What to do |
|---|---|
| Release date slips | Hold external announcements; keep internal readiness on track |
| Beta or early access | Launch to a waitlist first; collect proof for the general launch |
| Pricing change | Communicate early to existing customers, explain value, offer transition terms |
| Launch for one segment only | Target that segment; avoid broadcasting to everyone |
| Many small releases | Bundle into a monthly or quarterly launch moment |

## Handoffs to related skills
- Full GTM: `go-to-market-plan`
- Messaging: `messaging-framework`
- Sales readiness: `sales-enablement`
- Pricing changes: `pricing-packaging`
- Proof from early adopters: `case-studies-customer-proof`
- Partner co-launches: `partner-marketing`
- Customer emails and in-app messages: the CRM and Lifecycle skills

## Worked example
A marketing automation company launched an AI email writer with a blog post and a newsletter mention. Adoption stayed under 5% after a month, and sales didn't mention it in demos. The relaunch was tiered as Tier 2: an internal training session, a demo script, segmented emails to customers who sent the most campaigns, in-app prompts in the email editor, a webinar with customer examples and a help video. Adoption rose several times within 60 days, and sales began using it as a differentiator in competitive deals.

## Output format
```
# Launch plan: <feature/product>, <date>
## Tier and rationale
## Goals and metrics
## Messaging (customers, prospects, sales)
## Readiness checklist with owners
## Internal launch plan
## External channel plan
## Launch-day runbook
## Post-launch measurement and retro date
```

## Common mistakes
- Treating every release as Tier 1, or none of them.
- Announcing before sales and support are ready.
- Broadcasting to everyone instead of relevant segments.
- Measuring reach instead of adoption.
- No retrospective.

## Questions to ask before you plan
- Who benefits most from this release, and how will they hear about it?
- What must sales and support know on day one?
- What would success look like in 30 and 90 days?

## Self-check before you answer
- Is the launch tiered with clear criteria?
- Is internal readiness planned before external announcements?
- Are channels targeted to the right segments?
- Are adoption metrics and a retrospective scheduled?

## Further reading
- Product Marketing Alliance launch resources: https://www.productmarketingalliance.com/
- Lenny's Newsletter on product launches: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/

---
Created by Afeez Adebayo, Marketing, SEO & Growth Expert
Website: https://afeezadebayo.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/afeez-adebayo/
X: https://x.com/za_icon
Source: https://afeezadebayo.com/skills-md/marketing/product-marketing/product-launch/

Licence: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). You may copy, share and adapt this skill, including for commercial use, as long as you credit Afeez Adebayo and link to the source URL above. Keep this notice in any copy or adapted version.