MIA #13: How to Plan Smarter Product Launches That Win (+Template)
Not every product update is a launch. Here’s the framework + template to plan what matters.
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I’ve launched over 15 products (and a lot more features) in my career, and here’s the truth: the hardest part isn’t execution—it’s deciding how big the launch should be. Go too big and you waste resources. Go too small and you waste opportunities.
What you need is a launch compass: something that helps you right-size your GTM effort and keep teams aligned. That’s why I created this Product Launch Plan + GTM Template. It gives you a simple matrix and checklist to size your launch, choose the right channels, and execute with clarity.
This template is part of the Premium MIA Resource & Template Library, available via annual subscription—50+ templates and frameworks designed to take the guesswork out of growth.
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Not every product update is a launch
Most startups launch products the same way they cook noodles: fast, hot, and chaotic. Some launches get hyped up with PR, ads, and webinars—only to reveal a minor UI tweak. Other times, game-changing features slip quietly into release notes, completely ignored by customers and sales.
Both extremes are costly. Over-investing burns precious time and budget. Under-investing wastes opportunities to win new customers or deepen adoption.
The truth is: not every launch deserves the same effort. Without a system, teams either waste resources or miss impact. What you need is a framework that sizes launches by strategic importance—not by excitement levels.
The product launch matrix: how big should this launch be?
The template uses a 2x2 matrix to size launches across two axes:
Customer Impact (Retention vs Acquisition)
Market/Product Innovation (Market-matching vs Differentiated/Innovative)
From this, every launch falls into one of three priority tiers:
Priority #1 (High Innovation + Wins New Customers)
These are disruptive launches—entirely new products, category-defining features, or innovations no one else offers. They deserve full-funnel campaigns with sales, marketing, PR, and CS involved.
Priority #2 (Mixed Impact)
Either innovative features that help existing customers (deepening adoption) or market-matching features that close competitive gaps (helping win deals). These need focused, channel-specific launches—emails, blog posts, enablement, and targeted campaigns.
Priority #3 (Low Innovation + Retains Existing Customers)
Maintenance-level updates. Small UX fixes, backend improvements, parity features. Communicate lightly—help docs, in-app banners, maybe an email. Don’t overhype.
This simple classification helps you avoid the two big traps: making a small feature look like a revolution, or burying your breakthrough update as a footnote.
GTM channel plan: what to activate for each launch tier
Once you know your launch priority, the framework maps out which channels to activate:
Priority #1 Launches:
Press release + launch event/webinar
New landing pages, case studies, sales battlecards
Paid campaigns (PPC, social, retargeting)
Big customer campaigns and internal training
Content blitz: blog posts, videos, social, POV vault
Priority #2 Launches:
Blog post (use case-focused)
Email campaigns (segmented lists)
Sales enablement (battlecards, competitor comparisons)
Partner campaigns & positioning refresh
Webinars, demo videos, customer campaigns
Priority #3 Launches:
Help docs, in-app message, or tooltip
Small announcement email
Update existing docs or webpages
Internal note for sales & CS teams
Think of it as a menu—choose the right mix based on priority.
The full resources & template library is subscription-only, but I pulled this template out so you don’t have to miss out. Consider it my way of saying thanks for reading—you can download it here for free.
The launch task library
The template also comes with a full checklist of launch tasks across content, enablement, PR, and demand gen.
Examples:
Docs & Content: Help docs, blog post, demo video, POV vault updates
Campaigns: Email, YouTube walkthrough, PPC ads, social teasers, partner campaign
Enablement: Sales battlecards, internal training, competitor comparisons
PR & Customer: Press release, case studies, launch event, webinar, whitepaper
Post-Launch: Analyze performance, optimize campaigns, document learnings
What’s the biggest launch mistake you’ve seen (or made)?
Instead of “reinventing the launch wheel” every time, teams can run through this library and pick what’s relevant.
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TL: DR
Get a PDF summary of this article here.
Not every product update is a launch. Decide effort by impact, not excitement.
Use the Launch Matrix (impact vs innovation) to size launches into Priority 1–3.
Priority #1 = big, disruptive launches → full-funnel GTM push.
Priority #2 = targeted but important updates → enablement + focused campaigns.
Priority #3 = hygiene-level updates → docs, in-app comms, simple notes.
Align your launch size to business goals (acquisition vs retention).
Choose GTM channels like a menu—activate only what matches the launch tier.
Use the task library so you never miss critical steps (PR, enablement, follow-up).
Over-investing = wasted resources. Under-investing = wasted opportunities.
This template ensures consistency, alignment, and clarity across teams.
Was this helpful? Hit that ❤️ and let me know your thoughts in the comments! Want to see more of this content? Restack this post (if you’re on Substack) and share it with your friends!
You might find these interesting:
MIA #06: How to Choose Customer Acquisition Channels – build a channel matrix so your growth isn’t left to chance.
MIA #12: How to Prioritize and Run Growth Experiments – the framework for systematic testing and learning.
April Dunford’s Positioning Guide – why positioning underpins every launch.
Product & Partner Recommendations:
Titaja – TITAJA is an on-demand subscription-based product marketing service (PMaaS) helping product-led, SaaS, and B2B companies unlock growth at every stage of the customer lifecycle, with GTM strategy, positioning, messaging, and demand generation.
James Praise – I help founders of B2B SaaS startups drive product marketing strategy and execution across every stage—positioning, messaging, landing pages, GTM, product launches, lifecycle programs, and growth experiments.
Clay – Clay combines 50+ data providers, real-time scraping, AI, and outbound workflows, so you can send automated, 1-1 personalized campaigns (and book more meetings than your sales team).
Testimonial – Testimonial makes it easy to collect text and video testimonials from your customers in minutes, with no need for a developer or website hosting.
Riverside – Riverside makes it easy to record remote podcasts and video interviews that look and sound like they were recorded in a million-dollar studio.
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