What strategies have you seen work best for generating pre-launch buzz and sustaining momentum post-launch?

Getting buzz before launch is about building curiosity without over-promising. The most effective strategy I’ve seen is a phased approach:

1. Tease the Problem, Not the Solution: Early hints about the problem you’re solving can spark curiosity. Drop vague hints that hint at the pain point without giving away the entire solution.

2. Leverage Trusted Voices: Get your champions and advocates talking before you go public. User advisory boards and beta testers sharing positive feedback builds credibility.

3. Prepare the Ecosystem: Give your partners, sales, and support teams enough lead time to get behind the launch. A well-orchestrated launch requires the whole company rowing in the same direction.

Post-launch, it’s about maintaining relevance. Treat the launch as day one—keep the drumbeat going with customer stories, testimonials, and product spotlights. Keep connecting the new feature with the outcomes it drives.

Generating excitement before a big launch and then keeping that energy going after is both an art and a science. Here are some tactics that I’ve seen work:

1. Pre-Launch Sneak Peeks

   • Early Access or Beta Programs: Inviting a handful of existing customers or influential partners to test the product early is a great way to gather real feedback and build positive word-of-mouth. If you can, collect quotes and success stories from these early users. That’s real proof of value that resonates with prospects.

   • Teaser Content: You can build curiosity on social channels or newsletters with short videos, blog posts, or “coming soon” visuals showcasing a core feature—without giving away every detail.

2. Engage Analysts and Influencers: Collaborate with respected voices in your industry (analysts, bloggers, affiliate newsletters, influencers). If they feel invested in your new product, they’re more likely to share it. Offer exclusive briefings or previews to these influencers. They often appreciate having early insights they can share when the embargo lifts. This is especially helpful if you’re in a space where analyst reports strongly influence buyer decisions, which is true for most B2B spaces.

3. Activate Your Internal Team: Get your sales, customer success, and support teams fired up with early training, battlecards, and cheat sheets. Their confidence and excitement translate directly to customers, especially if you can encourage these teams to seed excitement via LinkedIn posts or personal outreach as you approach launch.

4. Post-Launch Engagement

   • User Webinars & Deep Dives: Soon after launch, host live or recorded walkthroughs of the new product to help customers rapidly ramp up.

   • Customer Success Stories: As soon as customers begin adopting and seeing results, capture their stories. You can share those in case studies, social media, and newsletters to keep momentum high.

   • Content Calendar: Keep up the momentum over time. Publish customer success stories, highlight interesting data or user-generated content, and remain proactive about your roadmap. It helps to have at least a small content calendar that keeps the excitement going for 30, 60, or even 90 days afterward.

5. Keep Collecting Feedback throughout: Keep a pulse on usage data, support tickets, and direct customer feedback post-launch. This helps you quickly address issues, highlight positive results, and continuously refine the product. When customers see you incorporating their feedback, it fuels loyalty and word-of-mouth, ensuring your launch buzz continues over time.

Leverage early access programs to generate customer stories that fuel both pre-launch and post-launch momentum.

Customer involvement is key to building and sustaining momentum. With our early access or beta programs, we try to secure customer stories early. This drives internal buzz because people know something exciting is coming that customers can test. Then, when you launch, having customer quotes ready for your press release gives it more impact. As these stories continue to develop post-launch, they provide a steady drumbeat of content that brings your product to life through the customer lens. You can share these across your channels - social, email, etc. - to maintain momentum. Always ensure you have an arsenal of customer stories ready to keep telling your product's story long after the initial launch.

Focus on internal excitement and target influential early adopters to create a ripple effect.

It's crucial to generate internal buzz so your team feels the excitement about a major launch. Paint the vision of not just a single moment but a series of drumbeats. Sell it internally so people understand the importance. Externally, recognize that all customers aren't created equal - a small set of people drive a disproportionate amount of conversation, activity, purchases, or usage. Find those influential customers and get them excited early. This classic influencer strategy works because when the most vocal customers and influencers in your space are excited at the beginning of the adoption curve, you'll see significant trickle-down effects as they drive a disproportionate amount of the conversation.