Product Launch Checklist (Pre / Launch / Post)
A go-to-market product launch checklist across three phases — pre-launch (weeks before), launch day, and post-launch (follow-up weeks) — covering product, marketing, sales, support, and metrics.
Live preview
PRODUCT LAUNCH CHECKLIST Product: Acme Insights 2.0 Launch: _______________ Owner/DRI: Sample PMM LAUNCH GOAL / SUCCESS METRIC Drive 500 activations and 50 paid upgrades in the first 30 days; land 3 customer quotes and 2 press mentions. ======================================================================= PHASE 1 — PRE-LAUNCH (the weeks before) ======================================================================= [ ] Finalize positioning and messaging [ ] QA the feature end-to-end; sign-off from eng [ ] Write launch blog post and landing page [ ] Prepare email + in-app announcements [ ] Brief sales and support; write FAQ / talk track [ ] Line up beta customer quotes and case study [ ] Draft press release / outreach list [ ] Schedule social posts and assets [ ] Set up tracking / dashboards for launch metrics ======================================================================= PHASE 2 — LAUNCH DAY ======================================================================= [ ] Ship / flip the feature flag and verify in prod [ ] Publish blog post and landing page [ ] Send announcement email + in-app message [ ] Post on social channels [ ] Notify sales + support that it is live [ ] Monitor errors, performance, and support volume [ ] Respond to comments and press ======================================================================= PHASE 3 — POST-LAUNCH (follow-up weeks) ======================================================================= [ ] Review launch metrics vs. goal [ ] Follow up with press and partners [ ] Collect and publish customer feedback / quotes [ ] Fix top issues surfaced during launch [ ] Nurture campaign to non-activated users [ ] Run a launch retrospective and document learnings Assign each item an owner and a due date. The most-missed phase is POST-LAUNCH: the launch is not done when you ship — measure, follow up, and run a retro.
About this template
A product launch is a cross-functional project, and the launches that land are the ones that treat it as three phases, not a single day. **Pre-launch** is where most of the work lives: positioning and messaging, QA and engineering sign-off, the blog post and landing page, sales and support enablement (a FAQ and talk track so the front line can answer questions), customer proof (quotes, a case study), press outreach, and — critically — tracking set up *before* launch so you can actually measure it. **Launch day** is execution and monitoring: ship the change and verify it in production, publish and announce across channels (blog, email, in-app, social), tell sales and support it is live, and watch errors, performance, and support volume so you can react fast. **Post-launch** is the most-skipped and highest-regret phase: review metrics against the goal, follow up with press and partners, gather and publish customer feedback, fix the top issues that surfaced, nurture users who did not activate, and run a launch retrospective so the next launch is better. Two practices separate smooth launches from chaotic ones: name a single **DRI** (directly responsible individual) who owns the launch end-to-end, and define **what success means** up front (activations, upgrades, pipeline, press) so the team is aiming at the same target. Give every checklist item an owner and a due date — an unowned launch task is the one that gets missed at 9pm the night before. Use this checklist as the backbone of a launch plan and adapt the items to your product's size; a minor feature needs a lighter version of the same three phases.
When to use it
- Planning and coordinating a product or major-feature launch.
- Aligning product, marketing, sales, and support on one launch plan.
- Making sure pre-launch enablement and post-launch follow-up actually happen.
- Running consistent launches with a repeatable checklist.
What to include
- Product, launch date, owner/DRI, and the launch goal.
- Pre-launch: messaging, QA, content, enablement, proof, tracking.
- Launch day: ship/verify, publish, announce, monitor.
- Post-launch: measure, follow up, fix, nurture, retrospective.
- An owner and due date on every item.