Which products/launches should you 'launch' and which should be left alone without a formal launch?

I think everything new in the product is launched to some degree, but we do use a launch tiering system— Tier 1 to Tier 3. I've seen this model at other organizations and it works well to align on a standard set of actions for each launch depending on the goal. Major product initaitives that will materially impact your brand, audience, or bottom line? Tier 1—press release, sales enablement, videos, one-pagers, website landing page, paid promotion, blogs, guides, social posts, etc. 

Adjustment to your product's UI that will change or open a new workflow? At the very least you need to ensure you 1) write up a messaging house everyone can align on when talking about it (from support to sales), 2) Ensure the support team knows it's coming and is equipped with the most common questions they'll likely get 3) Create a beacon in your product that alerts folks to the change.

You could also add it to a "Recently improved" category in your monthly product newsletter, or save several of these smaller launches for a larger "momentum" annoucnement that shows that you're really working hard to improve user experience. 

Not all products require a full formal launch. Small feature updates or enhancements can be released quietly or with just an internal announcement. Lighter product updates that help drive forward a strategy could leverage just a one off email or notification, and something more substantial but not a big rock launch could be launched through just your owned channels like lifecycle and social media. Huge product launches and times when you’re entering a new market could call for a launch formal lunch that also has paid spend behind it. 

You can use a system like “bronze, silver, gold” to define launch sizes for teams, which should be dependent on how much of your audience it impacts and the expected “ROI” of the effort which is tied to anticipated movement in KPIs/business goals. Include a definition and examples of when something would be bronze vs silver vs gold, and what channels you would likely use in each. This can help set expectations cross-functionally.

For formal launches, think about whether it will: 

• Have a Significant Market Impact: New products or features that differentiate the company from competitors or open new revenue streams.

• Require User Education: Products that need user onboarding, guidance, or explanation benefit from a formal launch to ensure users understand and engage with them correctly and thus keep coming back.

• Influence Branding: Launches that showcase innovation or solidify your market position.

• Meet Milestones: A feature that marks a major technical or customer experience milestone.

I recommend using a tiering system. 

An effective go-to-market (GTM) tiering system is a framework that organizes products, services, or features into different tiers based on factors such as their value, target market, or sales potential. This can help organizations prioritize their marketing and sales efforts, and allocate resources more efficiently.

A typical GTM tiering system might include three or four tiers, such as:

1. Tier 1: This tier includes the organization's most valuable or strategic products, services, or features, which are likely to have the greatest impact on the business. These products may have a broad, diverse target market, or may be focused on a specific niche or vertical.
2. Tier 2: This tier includes products, services, or features that have lower value or lower sales potential than Tier 1 offerings, but are still considered important to the organization. These products may have a more narrowly defined target market, or may be focused on a specific region or customer segment.
3. Tier 3: This tier includes products, services, or features that have lower value or lower sales potential than Tier 1 and Tier 2 offerings, but may still be important to the organization for other reasons, such as supporting existing customers or maintaining a competitive position in the market.
4. Tier 4: This might be the tier in which you categorize the features and changes that are only "advertised" through updates in product documentation and/or Release Notes but that aren't handled beyond that + updating internal stakeholders. 

By organizing products, services, or features into different tiers, organizations can more effectively prioritize their marketing and sales efforts, and allocate resources more efficiently. This can help ensure that the organization is focused on the right opportunities, and that the sales team has the tools and support they need to be successful.

Most clients I work with have a tiering system where they group launches into Tier 1/2/3, etc. Every tier gets some sort of “formal” launch, but they differ in the number of activities and number of people involved.

For example, Tier 1 launches have cross-functional marketing and sales enablement teams, analyst message testing and briefings, comprehensive PR and social media plans, and sales training. A Tier 3 launch may only include an email and/ or Pendo notification to existing customers, and a blog post that’s shared on social media and sent to the sales team, and a training session for customer success.

Criteria for putting a specific launch in a tier could include:

• The strategic importance of the product line
• Size of the customer base/ addressable market
• Number of new capabilities and their impact on existing customers as well as prospects
• Degree to which new capabilities are differentiated versus “me too”
• Competitive activity in the market