launch-planning

name	launch-planning
description	Plan a product or feature launch including audience, narrative, channels, and timing. Use whenever the user mentions launch, launch plan, product launch, feature launch, announcement, rollout plan, or needs to coordinate going public with a product or feature.

launch-planning

a launch is not the day you make it visible. it's the sequence that turns "shipped" into "adopted".

the inputs

before planning, name these:

1. who are we trying to reach? (specific audience, not "everyone who could use it")
2. what behavior do we want from them? (sign up, upgrade, try, share, talk about it)
3. what's the story? (the one-line and the longer version)
4. what does success look like? (specific metrics, specific timeframe)

if any of these are blurry, the launch will be too.

the launch shape

pre-launch (week -4 to week -1)

• close beta or early access. find the 10-50 users who'll tell you what's missing.
• prepare assets: landing page, demo, social posts, video if needed, email copy.
• brief internal teams (sales, support, success) so they can answer questions on day 1.
• line up day-one supporters (existing customers willing to vouch, partners willing to amplify).
• prepare for the things that will break (capacity, support volume, integration regressions).

launch day

• staged rollout if possible. existing customers first, then wider.
• a single moment of release (a blog post, a tweet, a launch on a platform like product hunt).
• the team in one channel ready to respond to questions and issues.

post-launch (week +1 to week +4)

• daily metric check for the first week
• triage feedback: bugs, confusion, feature requests
• follow-up content (deeper dives, customer stories, case studies)
• re-engage anyone who signed up but didn't activate

channels worth considering

• direct (existing email list)
• owned (your blog, your social)
• earned (press, podcasts, influential voices in your space)
• communities (where your audience already gathers)
• partner amplification
• paid (only if you know which channel works, otherwise it's expensive learning)

most launches over-index on press and under-index on direct and community.

the launch narrative

revisit the narrative-architect skill if you're writing the launch story. the short form: status quo → inciting shift → new way → what we built → invitation.

the day-one risk list

• traffic that breaks something
• a critical bug that surfaces only at scale
• competitor counter-launch
• a customer publicly unhappy with your timing
• a security or privacy issue raised in a comments thread

decide in advance who responds to each and how.

output

launch goal: [one sentence]

audience: [who, specifically]

success metrics:
  primary: [number, timeframe]
  secondary: [list]

narrative:
  short form (1 sentence)
  long form (2-3 paragraphs)

timeline:
  T-4w: [list]
  T-3w: [list]
  T-2w: [list]
  T-1w: [list]
  launch day: [list]
  T+1w: [list]
  T+2w: [list]
  T+4w: [list]

channels:
  owned: [list]
  earned: [list, with target contacts]
  partner: [list]
  paid: [list, with channel and budget]

day-one risks:
  [risk]: [response, owner]

post-launch follow-up plan:
  bug triage: [owner, cadence]
  feedback intake: [owner, mechanism]
  follow-up content: [list, scheduled]