Webinar:

How To Launch New Products

This session is about patterns and best practices on how to launch new products, sequences that actually work. We looked at a bunch of real examples to keep it simple and to the point.

What you should 100% do

Before diving into specific tactics, it's important to understand the foundational principles that apply to any successful launch. 

First off, some general tips that pretty much everyone should follow:

• ‍Plan ahead: Don't just send one quick message. You need multiple communications, using different angles and across different channels.‍ A launch is not a single email. It's a sequence of communications. Plan your pre-launch and post-launch assets to build excitement and reinforce your message.‍
• Schedule things before and after the launch: You need to tease your audience, really launch it well, and then follow up. This makes sure people know about it, understand it, and see what's in it for them.‍
• Keep track of what works: If you're launching products often, you'll get better at it over time. Look at what worked well, then improve and do it again. Successful companies often do the same thing, just tweaking small details.‍
• Use different channels: Don't just rely on emails. Think about SMS, ads, landing pages, and social media to properly introduce your new stuff.‍
• Segment your communication: talk differently to different people - If you're launching something new, how you talk to existing customers should be different from how you talk to new potential clients. For existing folks, it's often an opportunity to upsell them on something new. For new people, it's a way to get them to try you out. These are very different goals, so your messages should be different too.

Now, we noticed two main patterns for launching products, depending on how often you launch.

High-frequency launches: launches are "rendezvous"

This is for businesses that drop new products or collections pretty much all the time – maybe every month or even a couple of weeks. The goal here is to create a "rendezvous" with your audience, so they know when something new is coming and actually look forward to it.

So for brands that launch new products, collections, or colors frequently, the key is to create a consistent and predictable pattern that your audience learns to anticipate.

• The Skims Blueprint: Skims has mastered this with a simple, yet highly effective, four-email sequence for every launch:
  1. "Coming Soon": To build initial awareness and anticipation.
  2. "Tomorrow": A reminder to create a sense of urgency.
  3. "Just Launched": The official announcement.
  4. "Don't Miss Out": A follow-up to capture anyone who may have missed the initial announcement.

We saw similar approaches with other companies:

• ‍Bushb does something similar, usually with three to five emails for their new scents every month.‍
• Vuori, an activewear brand, turns every new color drop into multiple email opportunities instead of just one big announcement. This way, they keep reminding their audience that something new is happening, which is great because people might miss a single big event.‍
• Parade also launches new colors or prints almost every month, following similar sequences.
• Even in software, like with ClickUp, they follow this "tease, launch, insist" idea for new features, often sending one email per new feature, clearly labeled. This shows their audience that new stuff is constantly being added. The key is to find a pattern that works and stick to it to create that "rendezvous" feeling.

High-Impact launch: build a major event

If your brand only launches a few new products per year, each launch needs to be treated as a major event. This approach is all about the slow-burn, building maximum anticipation before the final reveal.

• The Symbiotica Case Study: For a single product launch, supplement brand Symbiotica sent a remarkable 12-email sequence.
  • The first six emails didn't even mention the product. Instead, they focused on building interest around a related topic and even organized a live stream event.
  • The product details were only revealed in the later emails, creating a sustained build-up that made the final launch feel like a can't-miss event.

Even then, the product isn't immediately available. They focus on encouraging people to join a waitlist or pre-order. The product is finally available around the tenth email in the sequence. This shows that planning a big launch can take time and involves a significant build-up to get people excited before they can even buy it. This approach can help you reach a whole new audience.

Find the right inspiration

You don't have to reinvent the wheel.

Using Panoramata, you'll see what your competitors are doing in their digital marketing, like emails, SMS, ads, and landing pages. You can even:

• Get summaries of recent launches from competitors.
• Use a calendar to see daily marketing updates and specifically search for when and how companies launched new things.
• Search across thousands of emails for specific launch types, like "guess new launch" emails, and even filter by industry.

So, the big takeaways are: if you launch a lot, create a consistent pattern to make it a regular "rendezvous" with your audience. If you don't launch often, turn each launch into a major, drawn-out event to build maximum excitement. Hope this was helpful!