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Is there a template you follow for Product launch vs Feature launch? Also for existing and new markets.

3 Answers
Sarah Scharf
Sarah Scharf
Vanta VP of Product and Corporate MarketingOctober 27

Yes, it's important to run a different playbook for major launches versus minor ones. Rather than thinking just around "product" vs "feature", I'd recommend developing a common definition for different tiers of launches. These are roughly the tiers we use:

Tier 1: Expands capabilities with a distinct, new product offering. New product SKU. Significant competitive differentiation.

Tier 2: New, incremental functionality/capability that extends your offering its current target market. Competitive differentiation.

Tier 3: Updated functionality/capability for an existing product.

Tier 4: Release of bug fixes and minor updates to the UX.

Tier 5: Functionality that is necessary (and requires resourcing), but does not have customer/partner-facing visibility.

Once you've agreed upon these definitions, you can develop a bill of materials around each of them to make the launch process repeatable. 

2666 Views
Candice Sparks
Candice Sparks
Attentive Director of Product MarketingJuly 6

I use a tiered framework that defines the different tactics and strategies deployed for each type of launch. I first start off by defining the type of tier by whether its a:

  • new product/service (differentiator or evolving our narrative)

  • new feature (getting us to competitive parity)

  • updated feature

  • internal update

Then based on the above I will outline the timing required for this type of launch. It could be anywhere from 8+ weeks to 1 week. Here's where you will include all your launch tactics and who the driver is (PM, PMM, Tech Writing, Sales Ops, etc)

Next is to define who the intended target audience is. For a tier 1 product launch it may be new customers and existing customers vs. a tier 4 internal launch it'll be your internal teams (CSMs, solution engineers).

Lastly you'll outline your desired outcomes or the KPIs you'll track against. For a tier 1 launch it could be new revenue and for a tier 4 internal launch it could be improving process inefficiencies.

There are great examples of this and if you'd like my spreadsheet I use, please message me directly!

1921 Views
Ashley Faus
Ashley Faus
Atlassian Head of Lifecycle Marketing, PortfolioMay 24

I recommend a tiering system for product vs. feature launches. The tiers include criteria about the impact of the feature that's launching (or series of capabilities, in the case of a full product launch), and the activities associated with each tier.

For example:

Tier 1:

Impact: All customers, market-level, significant company revenue

Activities: Press, social media (product and brand handles, personal handles), newsletters, blog (executive byline), Community series, website update, event keynote, multiple demos, paid promotion (ads, boosting social media, sponsored content, etc.), in-product notifications and/or navigation updates


Tier 4:

Impact: small sub-set of users, minimal revenue, limited/no market

Activities: limited social media, single Community post, limited newsletter promotion

The key is how much awareness and attention you want to drive to the new feature or product. If this is creating a new category and/or a new capability, you want to use pull all the marketing levers.

You can also grab free templates:

https://www.atlassian.com/software/confluence/templates/product-launch

https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/templates/go-to-market

12510 Views
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