launch

When the user wants to plan a product launch, feature announcement, or release strategy. Also use when the user mentions 'launch,' 'Product Hunt,' 'feature release,' 'announcement,' 'go-to-market,' 'beta launch,' 'early access,' 'waitlist,' 'product update,' 'how do I launch this,' 'site launch,' 'go live,' 'pre-launch QA,' 'launch checklist,' 'GTM plan,' 'we're about to ship,' 'changelog,' 'release notes,' or 'what did we ship this week.' Use this whenever someone is preparing to release something publicly. For ongoing marketing after launch, see marketing-ideas. For the offer being launched (bonuses, guarantees, scarcity, naming), see offers.

Launch Strategy

You are an expert in SaaS product launches and feature announcements. Your goal is to help users plan launches that build momentum, capture attention, and convert interest into users.

Before Starting

Check for product marketing context first: If .agents/product-marketing.md exists (or .claude/product-marketing.md, or the legacy product-marketing-context.md filename, in older setups), read it before asking questions. Use that context and only ask for information not already covered or specific to this task.

Core Philosophy

The best companies don't just launch once—they launch again and again. Every new feature, improvement, and update is an opportunity to capture attention and engage your audience.

A strong launch isn't about a single moment. It's about:

The ORB Framework

Structure your launch marketing across three channel types. Everything should ultimately lead back to owned channels.

Owned Channels

You own the channel (though not the audience). Direct access without algorithms or platform rules.

Examples:

Why they matter:

Start with 1-2 based on audience:

Example - Superhuman: Built demand through an invite-only waitlist and one-on-one onboarding sessions. Every new user got a 30-minute live demo. This created exclusivity, FOMO, and word-of-mouth—all through owned relationships. Years later, their original onboarding materials still drive engagement.

Rented Channels

Platforms that provide visibility but you don't control. Algorithms shift, rules change, pay-to-play increases.

Examples:

How to use correctly:

Example - Notion: Hacked virality through Twitter, YouTube, and Reddit where productivity enthusiasts were active. Encouraged community to share templates and workflows. But they funneled all visibility into owned assets—every viral post led to signups, then targeted email onboarding.

Platform-specific tactics:

Rented channels give speed, not stability. Capture momentum by bringing users into your owned ecosystem.

Borrowed Channels

Tap into someone else's audience to shortcut the hardest part—getting noticed.

Examples:

Be proactive, not passive:

  1. List industry leaders your audience follows
  2. Pitch win-win collaborations
  3. Use tools like SparkToro or Listen Notes to find audience overlap
  4. Set up affiliate/referral incentives (for channel partner launches, use Introw to manage deal registration and commissions)

Example - TRMNL: Sent a free e-ink display to YouTuber Snazzy Labs—not a paid sponsorship, just hoping he'd like it. He created an in-depth review that racked up 500K+ views and drove $500K+ in sales. They also set up an affiliate program for ongoing promotion.

Borrowed channels give instant credibility, but only work if you convert borrowed attention into owned relationships.

Readiness Gate: Are You Ready to Launch?

Run this before the phased mechanics. Products don't market themselves—but a product that isn't ready won't market either. The launch mechanics only pay off if what you're launching is worth launching.

Two failure modes kill launches from opposite ends:

The middle path is SLC — Simple, Lovable, Complete (Jason Cohen), the antidote to shipping a bare MVP that's minimal but unlovable. Don't launch a stub nobody wants; don't wait for a bloated everything-app. A launchable v1 is:

The gate: If it's not yet Simple, Lovable, and Complete, you're in "Just One More Feature" territory only when adding scope is what's missing—otherwise you're in Stealth Mode and should ship. Cut scope until one thing is lovable and complete, then launch that. SLC gives you a real launch now instead of a perfect launch never.

Quick check before running the phases:

Pass the gate, then run the phases below.

Five-Phase Launch Approach

Launching isn't a one-day event. It's a phased process that builds momentum.

Phase 1: Internal Launch

Gather initial feedback and iron out major issues before going public.

Actions:

Goal: Validate core functionality with friendly users.

Phase 2: Alpha Launch

Put the product in front of external users in a controlled way.

Actions:

Goal: First external validation and initial waitlist building.

Phase 3: Beta Launch

Scale up early access while generating external buzz.

Actions:

Consider adding:

Goal: Build buzz and refine product with broader feedback.

Phase 4: Early Access Launch

Shift from small-scale testing to controlled expansion.

Actions:

Expansion options:

Goal: Validate at scale and prepare for full launch.

Phase 5: Full Launch

Open the floodgates.

Actions:

Launch touchpoints:

Goal: Maximum visibility and conversion to paying users.

Product Hunt Launch Strategy

Product Hunt can be powerful for reaching early adopters, but it's not magic—it requires preparation.

Pros

Cons

How to Launch Successfully

Before launch day:

  1. Build relationships with influential supporters, content hubs, and communities
  2. Optimize your listing: compelling tagline, polished visuals, short demo video
  3. Study successful launches to identify what worked
  4. Engage in relevant communities—provide value before pitching
  5. Prepare your team for all-day engagement

On launch day:

  1. Treat it as an all-day event
  2. Respond to every comment in real-time
  3. Answer questions and spark discussions
  4. Encourage your existing audience to engage
  5. Direct traffic back to your site to capture signups

After launch day:

  1. Follow up with everyone who engaged
  2. Convert Product Hunt traffic into owned relationships (email signups)
  3. Continue momentum with post-launch content

Case Studies

SavvyCal (Scheduling tool):

Reform (Form builder):

Post-Launch Product Marketing

Your launch isn't over when the announcement goes live. Now comes adoption and retention work.

Immediate Post-Launch Actions

Educate new users: Set up automated onboarding email sequence introducing key features and use cases.

Reinforce the launch: Include announcement in your weekly/biweekly/monthly roundup email to catch people who missed it.

Differentiate against competitors: Publish comparison pages highlighting why you're the obvious choice.

Update web pages: Add dedicated sections about the new feature/product across your site.

Offer hands-on preview: Create no-code interactive demo (using tools like Navattic) so visitors can explore before signing up.

Keep Momentum Going

It's easier to build on existing momentum than start from scratch. Every touchpoint reinforces the launch.

Ongoing Launch Strategy

Don't rely on a single launch event. Regular updates and feature rollouts sustain engagement.

How to Prioritize What to Announce

Use this matrix to decide how much marketing each update deserves:

Major updates (new features, product overhauls):

Medium updates (new integrations, UI enhancements):

Minor updates (bug fixes, small tweaks):

Announcement Tactics

Space out releases: Instead of shipping everything at once, stagger announcements to maintain momentum.

Reuse high-performing tactics: If a previous announcement resonated, apply those insights to future updates.

Keep engaging: Continue using email, social, and in-app messaging to highlight improvements.

Signal active development: Even small changelog updates remind customers your product is evolving. This builds retention and word-of-mouth—customers feel confident you'll be around.

Turn shipped code into announcements: If you can read the product repo, generate the week's changelog, announcement drafts, and pages-to-update list straight from merged PRs. See references/shipped-changes.md.

Launch Checklist

Pre-Launch

Launch Day

Post-Launch

Task-Specific Questions

  1. What are you launching? (New product, major feature, minor update)
  2. What's your current audience size and engagement?
  3. What owned channels do you have? (Email list size, blog traffic, community)
  4. What's your timeline for launch?
  5. Have you launched before? What worked/didn't work?
  6. Are you considering Product Hunt? What's your preparation status?

References

Shipped Changes

shipped-changes.md

From Shipped Code to Marketing

Most product updates never get marketed because nobody translates them. The engineers wrote the PR description for each other, and by the time marketing hears about it, the moment has passed. An agent with access to the repo can close that gap every week: read what shipped, decide what's worth telling, and draft it in customer language.

Inputs

For the chosen window (usually the last week, or since the last release tag):

Only market what customers can use today. Anything behind a flag, in internal beta, or not yet deployed waits.

Translate before you write

Engineering changes are described by what changed in the code. Customers care about what changed for them. For each change, write one line: "You can now ___" or "___ no longer ___." If you can't fill that in, the change is invisible to customers. Refactors, dependency bumps, CI, and test changes go in no marketing output at all.

Then group the visible changes with the tiers in the Ongoing Launch Strategy section of SKILL.md:

TierTypical changesOutput
MajorNew capability, new plan, big workflow changeChangelog + blog post + email + social + in-app
MediumNew integration, notable UX improvement, performance gain customers can feelChangelog + targeted email or in-app + one social post
MinorFixes, polish, small additionsChangelog only, batched

Several medium changes that share a theme ("five improvements to reporting") can be bundled into one major-tier story.

Ground every claim in the change

Watch for marketing that just became wrong

Every shipped change can also make an existing claim false: a new limit, a renamed plan, a removed integration, a price change. Check the site, docs, comparison pages, and ads for statements the change contradicts. On a schedule, this is the claim-drift loop in marketing-loops.

New capabilities also open new search demand. A new integration can deserve its own page ("[Product] + [Tool] integration"), and a new feature can answer queries or comparisons the product couldn't win before. Add those to the content backlog (see content-strategy and competitors).

Weekly digest format

B0

Use Keep a Changelog headings (Added, Changed, Deprecated, Removed, Fixed, Security) so the changelog stays scannable over time.

Writing the drafts

Drafts are staged for a human to review and send. Nothing in this workflow publishes on its own.

Site Launch Qa

site-launch-qa.md

Site Launch QA

The checks to run before and right after a website goes live: a new site, a redesign, a platform migration, or a big new section. Product launches fail quietly when the site underneath them breaks, and most of these failures are invisible from the homepage.

Run it in three passes: before the switch, at the switch, and in the first two weeks after.

Before the switch

Content and links

Forms and conversions

SEO

Performance and access

Rollback

◆ marks a Verified Partner of this repository: disclosure, not endorsement.

At the switch

The first two weeks

Exported from Marketing Skills on 2026-10-12