The Complete Product Launch Checklist to Ensure a Flawless Launch

A bottleneck in just one area of your product launch can lead to costly delays that impact your goals. Product launch checklists help you pinpoint — and plan for — common barriers like content production, a process that often takes weeks of back-and-forth communication and approvals before launch assets are finally ready.

In this guide, we’ll give you a step-by-step checklist that you can follow through every phase of a product launch. Each phase includes detailed instructions to ensure your next launch (and the next, and the next) is a success, and that you never get hung up on content production again.

Key takeaways

• Content production is the biggest product launch bottleneck. Most teams get hung up on creating demos, product videos, and other content. This weeks-long process can delay launches as content passes through design, approvals, and editing. Platforms like Arcade can streamline the process and create interactive demos, launch videos, and more in minutes.
• A product launch checklist keeps launch timelines on track. Having a clear path to launch day keeps GTM teams focused on key steps. Instead of dealing with mounting stress, everyone knows exactly what to do to coordinate and execute each phase.

Why most product launches fail (or get delayed)

Go-to-market teams that fail to coordinate critical tasks like design, production, and testing can set your launch up to fail right from the start. And if everyone is using different tools to build and communicate, it doesn’t take long for the process to devolve into chaos.

The hidden launch killer? Content production bottlenecks. Creating launch assets like demos, videos, ads, and visuals can take weeks of planning, production, and revisions. Errors compound as the asset passes from one team to another, and conflicting design ideas lead to inconsistencies. It all adds up to huge delays as your team has to re-work — or completely re-make — each asset in order to get approval.

A product launch checklist solves both problems, coordinating the GTM team and executing the plan, including content production.

The complete product launch checklist

In this checklist, we’ve broken down the typical launch process into eight phases to help you develop a predictable process that gives your team a clear timeline for every product launch.

Phase 1: Product readiness (pre-launch: 8–12 weeks before)

Product readiness starts with a clear product-market fit. If you haven’t already conducted market research, use the initial stages of this phase to:

• Confirm a clear demand for your product
• Create audience personas
• Craft a unique value proposition (UVP) that appeals to your audience
• Analyze competitors to understand how to make your product stand out
• Conduct beta testing and gather feedback

Once you’ve validated your product, apply what you learn from your research to refine it for launch. Evaluate these key areas to ensure the product delivers on your UVP and aligns with the needs of your market:

• UX and UI. Is your product intuitive? Can users get started without a lot of complex training or setup? Does the quality of the product experience match audience expectations?
• Features. Does your product solve the main problem your audience is facing? Do the features work well? Can you add new features easily?
• Security. Does your product include the security features and controls your users need? Do your systems comply with current data privacy regulations and laws?
• Support and documentation. Are support documents like help files, FAQs, and knowledge base articles up to date? Is content easily accessible to sales teams, support reps, and users?
• Processes and maintenance. Do you have a clear plan for product maintenance and support? Can you roll out updates without interrupting the user experience? Does the underlying infrastructure support scaling without downtime?

Phase 2: Go-to-market planning (pre-launch: 6–8 weeks before)

Now that your product is ready for market, it’s time to assemble your GTM team. A cross-functional team may include:

• Product to conceptualize and create the new product and manage the launch
• Design to lay out and execute a design that ensures your product meets users’ needs 
• Engineering to oversee and manage the technical aspects of product design and deployment
• Content production to create marketing, PR, and demo content 
• Sales to conduct demos, answer questions, and promote conversions
• Marketing to generate demand before, during, and after launch
• RevOps to keep sales and marketing teams aligned and create a consistent customer experience
• Customer success to build strong customer relationships that promote long-term adoption and retention

Bring these teams together to determine your ideal launch timeline and prepare your GTM strategy. A successful strategy lays out a detailed, step-by-step plan for bringing your new product to your target audience, including where and how you’ll connect with prospects, how you’ll generate demand, what you’ll charge, and how you’ll measure the success of your launch.

Here are four steps you can follow to ensure your GTM planning is on track.

1. Plan your marketing content

Use your market research to refine your product positioning. Make sure your messaging clearly conveys why your product is the best solution to your prospects’ main problem. Visualize the buyer’s journey so you can deliver the most effective messaging at each stage. 

To decide what types of content to create in Phase 3, identify the channels your audience frequents and the content they interact with most. For example, if your ideal customer tends to use YouTube to research products, you’ll want to focus your efforts on video content rather than blog posts.

2. Set your pricing model

Price your product at a level that makes it easy for your audience to try — and buy. Consider options like:

• A freemium demo or free trial of the full version
• Paid tiers tailored to different user needs
• Pay-as-you-go for occasional or light users

Use market and competitor research to align prices to the needs and expectations of your audience.

3. Create a clear communication strategy

Clarify how you’ll announce your launch to the media, and put together PR assets like a media kit and a list of key outlets, bloggers, or influencers who can help you generate buzz around your product.

You’ll also need to keep stakeholders informed during and after the launch process. Determine how and when you’ll send messages so all key players receive progress updates and get notified of problems or delays.

For internal communications, decide which internal tools you’ll use to keep the GTM team connected throughout the launch process. These may include a messaging tool like Slack or a project management platform like Asana.

4. Visualize product launch success

Finally, determine what GTM success looks like for your product, and set goals that direct you toward that outcome. Use the SMART model — specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound — to clarify what you want to achieve, and set deadlines for reaching key milestones.

To ensure you stay on track during launch and post-launch, decide what KPIs are most important to monitor. Some common metrics include:

• Trials and signups
• Conversion rate
• Engagement
• Retention
• Adoption rate

Completing these four steps defines exactly what your team needs to do during the next phases of the launch so they can stay focused on execution even when things get hectic.

Phase 3: Content creation (pre-launch: 4–6 weeks before)

Here’s where a lot of product launches get bogged down. Creating compelling content like demos, videos, and other visual assets requires coordination and cooperation between multiple teams, from design to marketing. And if those teams aren’t aligned on your target, market, UVP, and launch goals, communication can break down, leading to delayed handoffs and approvals. But if you create a solid plan and timeline, you can avoid a launch-killing bottleneck.

Start by putting your content plan from Phase 2 into a calendar that covers pre-launch, launch, and post-launch. Define a content creation workflow that includes clear assignments and approvals. 

Make sure the entire GTM team can access the calendar so they know what they should be doing and when. Then you can begin creating marketing and sales materials like:

• Website content and landing pages
• FAQs and knowledge base articles
• Blog posts that cover prospects’ pain points, the pros and cons of different solutions, and your product’s features and benefits
• Social media graphics, posts, and videos
• Product videos
• Case studies
• Webinar content
• Ad creative
• Email sequences for prospects who signed up for your waitlist or newsletter

And, of course, you can’t neglect the product demo. Demos are a core asset that showcases how your product helps your audience — and a major factor in their decision to buy.

An effective demo gives prospects an interactive, engaging experience. Plan and script the content so it focuses on their main problem and walks them through the features that solve it. Record the demo, and test it to make sure the steps flow smoothly and the product story is cohesive.

Review and edit all content for consistency to ensure it passes the last round of approvals and is ready for sales and marketing to use during the final stages of launch.

Phase 4: Sales and support enablement (pre-launch: 3–4 weeks before)

Your sales and support teams need to be ready to handle an intense launch day and keep the momentum going during the post-launch period. Here’s how to equip them to handle an influx of inquiries and successfully pitch your product.

• Sales: Use resources like live team trainings or video content to familiarize your sales team with product messaging, including value and key features. Make sure they can run a compelling demo and answer product-specific questions at every step. To help reps direct prospects to relevant information, provide them with resources like audience personas, product videos, and sales scripts.
• Support: Set up a live session or share videos to walk your support team through every feature of your product so they can anticipate questions and problems. Set them up with scripts and product documentation so they can quickly pull up more information. If a team member runs into a complex problem, make sure it’s easy for them to escalate the issue to a senior rep.

Phase 5: Systems and infrastructure testing (pre-launch: 2–3 weeks before)

Launch day can spike traffic and strain your infrastructure. Before you go live, have engineering or your QA team test your website, integrations, and billing platform to ensure they can scale to meet demand. And don’t forget about support: Self-service tools like chatbots need to be ready to address increased inquiries and hand off complex issues to live reps.

Internally, you’ll want to test:

• Content distribution tools for smooth deployment across channels
• Tracking and analytics to capture the right details and deliver data to the right platforms to support real-time reporting
• Security settings and features to prevent problems with data privacy

Phase 5 is also the time for the entire GTM team to re-test your product and all its features. Don’t be tempted to skip this. You don’t want any unexpected surprises on launch day!

Phase 6: Marketing execution (pre-launch: 1–2 weeks before)

In Phase 6, you’re ready to introduce your product to your audience. Use your content calendar as a guide to start executing your marketing plan, including:

• Scheduling social media content
• Releasing blog posts and related social assets
• Deploying ads across platforms

As you release content, be ready to respond in real time. Reply to comments, answer questions, and address feedback to keep your audience engaged.

Keep an eye on analytics to monitor how your marketing is performing once it’s in motion. The numbers will reveal which types of content get the most attention and how many people click through to read blog posts, get more product information, or interact with demos. The results tell you where to hone your marketing efforts, so your team can keep the buzz going on launch day and beyond.

Phase 7: Launch day

You’ve planned well for this day. Your team is equipped. Now it’s time to go! 🚀

Get the GTM team together and review your launch plan one more time. Make sure everyone is equipped with the tools and content they need to execute a successful launch.

Once the plan is in motion, keep the lines of communication open. If a team member has a problem or asks for help, respond as quickly as possible so the launch can move forward as planned.

Be ready to adjust your strategy based on how your audience responds. Metrics like engagement, click-throughs, site traffic, sales inquiries, and conversions can help you direct your efforts toward the goals you set in Phase 2. Real-time responses can help improve outcomes by concentrating your efforts on the channels generating the most engagement in the moment.

Despite planning, you’ll likely encounter a few issues. To spot potential problems, monitor chatbot conversations and support tickets, and check for traffic spikes to particular FAQs or knowledge base pages. Alert your team to any bugs you find so they can implement fixes right away.

Phase 8: Post-launch optimization (ongoing)

Now that your product is live, your team probably wants nothing more than to escape to a tropical resort for a month. But your job isn’t over. Post-launch is the time to evaluate launch day performance and determine how you’ll continue to drive conversions and adoption over time.

Here’s how to determine if your launch was a success:

• Hold a team retrospective. Gather the GTM team together as soon as you can after launch day and review your goals and KPIs. Analyze user activity like engagement with content and demos, in-app activity, and conversions. Determine what you need to adjust to improve future performance across product, sales, and marketing.
• Get team feedback. During the retrospective, give your team space to share. Ask them what went well, and what didn’t. What major challenges did they face? What unexpected wins did they experience? Did any part of the process fail completely, and if so, why? Take time to evaluate the feedback and determine how you can improve your launch process in the future.
• Monitor long-term KPIs. For 30 to 90 days after launch, track metrics like retention, adoption, daily and monthly active users (DAU/MAU), monthly recurring revenue (MRR), and customer lifetime value (CLV). The results will tell you how often customers are interacting with your product and whether they feel you’re delivering on your UVP.
• Maintain consistent sales and marketing. Use your metrics to focus your ongoing sales and marketing efforts and support growth. For example, if you discover a subset of highly active users who are quick to adopt new features, you could try upselling them to a higher tier where they can access more functionality. Or, if you’re not hitting your MRR goals, consider developing additional content to attract and convert new customers.
• Provide high-quality support. As new customers learn to navigate your product, they’re likely to have questions or encounter issues. Make sure they have an amazing experience when they contact customer service for answers and help. Great service is one of the best ways to retain customers.
• Collect and respond to user feedback. Monitor social media mentions, send out surveys, and conduct user interviews to identify common questions and feature requests. Use what you learn to improve your product and inform future development.
• Keep up with maintenance. Don’t just fix problems with your new product as they come up; get your team in the mindset of always improving. As you conduct regular maintenance, refer to user feedback to find areas where you can make the post-launch experience better.

How to avoid the content production bottleneck

A combination of detailed planning, cohesive communication, and the right tools is critical if you want to prevent the holdups that usually happen during Phase 3, content creation. As we mentioned earlier, this is where most GTM teams get stuck.

Why? Think about all the moving parts in traditional content production: internal teams, external agencies, weeks of back-and-forth on testing and approvals. Failing to lay out a production timeline that takes every step into account can result in compounding delays that set your launch back.

Arcade gives your team the tools you need to streamline content production and get to launch faster. With Arcade’s AI-powered tools, you can easily:

• Record your product once to capture key features and steps
• Transform that recording into multiple formats: interactive demos, videos, campaign visuals, GIFs, and social content
• Automatically generate step-by-step demos with hotspots, callouts, and branching paths
• Keep everything on brand with an auto-generated Brand Kit that learns your typography, colors, and visual style
• Add professional AI voiceovers in 30+ languages for global launches
• Edit and customize content with Page Morph, pan & zoom, and blur tools
• Export as video, GIF, or images for use across every channel
• Track engagement and identify high-intent viewers with built-in analytics

After you create your initial demo, Arcade Agent keeps it current with periodic scans of your original demo path. That means you’ll never have to redo an entire demo just to reflect a tiny tweak or brand update. Content production stays moving so you can avoid pre-launch delays and maintain a consistent customer experience through post-launch and beyond.

Tips for using your product launch checklist effectively

Follow these tips to get the most from your product launch checklist so you can avoid setbacks and enjoy a smooth launch:

• Share the checklist with the entire GTM team before you get started.
• Use your project management software to assign roles and duties.
• Set dates and deadlines for each step across phases.
• Plan for potential delays like holidays or team member absences.
• Clarify your communication plan, including handoffs and approvals.
• Document your entire process to ensure consistency across strategy, messaging, and user experience.
• Review your process and update your checklist over time to improve future launches.

Make your next launch your smoothest yet

The content production bottleneck doesn’t have to kill your next launch. With a product launch checklist in hand, you and your team can lay out a clear plan for staying on target, bypassing delays, and getting your product to market on time.

And if you need a tool to rescue you from the slog of a seemingly endless content creation process, Arcade has you covered with an AI-powered solution that generates interactive on-brand assets in minutes. Sign up for a free trial to start creating beautiful interactive demos, videos, visuals, and more in minutes.

FAQs

Why do I need a product launch checklist?

A product launch checklist keeps your launch on track and makes sure your team doesn’t miss critical steps. When you follow a checklist, it’s easier to coordinate communication, handoffs, and approvals so you can execute your strategy effectively — instead of scrambling to finalize details right before launch day.

What critical bottlenecks can delay a product launch?

Content production is often the biggest bottleneck in a product launch. Demos, video assets, and other content can take weeks to create. If you don’t have a clear plan and a timeline, the process can get hung up at critical points like editing or approvals.

What are the key steps in launching a SaaS product?

SaaS product launches have eight phases:

• Phase 1: Product readiness – Research your market and align your product with prospects’ needs.
• Phase 2: Go-to-market planning – Assemble your teams and plan your GTM strategy, including setting goals and KPIs.
• Phase 3: Content creation – Create sales, marketing, and product content (including demos).
• Phase 4: Sales and support enablement – Equip your sales and support team with resources for a successful launch day.
• Phase 5: Systems and infrastructure testing – Test internal and customer-facing systems (and your product!) to make sure they can handle high-volume traffic and sales.
• Phase 6: Marketing execution – Put your marketing plan in motion to generate interest around your product.
• Phase 7: Launch day – Introduce your product to the world.
• Phase 8: Post-launch optimization – Continue sales, marketing, and support efforts to maintain momentum and encourage growth.

How do I know if my product launch was successful?

Measure the success of your launch against the goals and KPIs you set during your GTM planning. These can include:

• Trials and signups
• Conversion rate
• Engagement
• Retention
• Adoption rate

Note where you met or exceeded expectations. Analyze user feedback to determine if the overall response was positive. If you hit your goals and your audience is happy, you nailed it!