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Below is a list of typical announcement activities, along with the goals they typically support as well as the tiers of announcement they're usually associated with.
This list is a guide from which to start building your launch plan, not a rule. It is neither prescriptive nor comprehensive.
You should use this list as a starting point, based on the goals of your launch.
Core messaging needs to be signed off first before localization starts.
| Marketing Content & Materials | Promotion & Distribution | Marketing & Sales Operations |
|---|---|---|
| Website update & landing page | PR & influencer outreach | Web and form tracking |
| Messaging and positioning (internal use) | Sponsored media partnerships | Results dashboard |
| Customer testimonials (social proof) | Ad buys | Salesforce Campaign setup |
| Customer email announcement | Media & analyst relations | Hubspot post0lead acquisition flow, including autoresponders, Sales involvement |
| Social media posts | Channel promotion strategy (social media, search ads) | Email nurture campaign |
| Mention in product newsletter | ||
| Sales Enablement | Customer Success/ Support | Internal announcement |
| Training (Objection handling) | Notify and inform CS team/ Support | Email announcement |
| Assets (Sales deck, one-pager, battle cards) | Internal FAQ | Dedicated (Slack) channel for questions |
This isn't comprehensive - you should always think creatively about new announcement activities and not just follow a 'standard' formula.
| Activity Type | Tactic | Details | T1 Dedicated campaign | T2 Integrated campaign | T3 Integrated campaign | T4 No campaign |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Planning | Define announcement tier, goals and budget [worksheet] | Use the tier and goals worksheet in the ‘Product Launch Brief’. Must be approved before continuing. | X | X | ||
| Define success metrics | Fill in the 'Success metrics' section in your ‘Product Launch Brief’. | X | X | |||
| Define announcement date | Fill in the 'What we're announcing' section in your ‘Product Launch Brief’. | X | X | |||
| Solution story [Template] | Write the 'Solution story' for your feature. Review with Product Manager | X | X | |||
| Kickoff with marketing leads | Kickoff with marketing leads to get early input on announcement activities | X | X | |||
| Define pricing & packaging | Use the pricing and packaging framework to define the pricing | X | X | |||
| Kickoff with wider [product] marketing group | Kickoff with wider marketing group with announcement details + messaging | X | X | |||
| Creative brief [Template] | Write a 'Creative brief' for the Marketing Design team | X | X | |||
| Review announcement plan with PMM (and wider marketing team if needed) | Review announcement plan key activities with PMM for feedback and input | X | X | |||
| Post-launch | Share announcement results | Share the results with PMM/ Marketing/ Product | X | X | ||
| Retro | Retro to gather feedback on the announcement + process. Can be a meeting or a survey depending on tier of launch. | X | X | |||
| Positioning & packaging | Competitor analysis | See template and general competitive framework | X | X | ||
| Customer research | To understand target segments and inform messaging | X | X | |||
| Internal messaging guide [Template] | X | |||||
| Website | Homepage banner | X | ||||
| New landing page | X | |||||
| Updates to existing landing page(s) | X | X | ||||
| Customers/ prospect communication + targeting | Announcement email to all customers | X | ||||
| In-app message to all customers | X | |||||
| In-app message to a specific group of customers | X | X | ||||
| Prospect email campaigns | X | |||||
| Comms | Analyst outreach | X | ||||
| Collaborate on Press Release | X | |||||
| Product education | Updates to existing help center docs | X | X | |||
| New help center doc | X | X | ||||
| New suite of help center docs | X | |||||
| Updates to existing product videos | X | X | ||||
| New video(s) | X | |||||
| Updates to onboarding messages | X | |||||
| Cross-sell campaigns | X | |||||
| Demand gen | New display ads | SEA | X | |||
| Paid social ads | X | X | ||||
| Standalone prospect webinar | Product webinar | X | ||||
| Social and content | Influencer outreach | X | ||||
| Social posts | X | X | ||||
| Announcement blog post | X | X | ||||
| Competitive Enablement | Online sales training | Online training for Support Leads, Sales and Customer Success | X | X | ||
| Tutorial video | 2-min screen recording of the change and how to use it by PM | X | X | |||
| Sales update | Quick demo during bi-weekly Sales Update | X | ||||
| Sales talk track | Examples of key objections to handle | X | X | |||
| Sales battle cards | ‘Why we win examples’ per top 3 competitors | X | X | |||
| Additional announcement channels | Changelog [TBD] | Adding an update to our changelog | X | X | X | X |
| Communities - LinkedIn groups, FB, Reddit, etc. | X | |||||
| In-app banners or pointers | X | X | ||||
| Include in product release notes | X | X | ||||
| Other | Partner newsletter | [Monthly] Email partner newsletter | X | X | ||
| Include in product newsletter | Product newsletter covering the latest features, and updates. | X | X | |||
| Product Hunt submission | On Product Hunt | X |
Internal deliverables are how you educate, and enable, your Go-To-Market team.
| Property | T3 | T2 | T1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enablement session | ✅ | ✅ | |
| Usage tracking | Optional | ✅ | ✅ |
| Internal FAQ | Optional | ✅ | ✅ |
| Competitive positioning | Optional | ✅ | ✅ |
| Test messaging per segment & persona | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Slack announcement or other internal tool | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Internal 30-sec demo video | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
