Market Launch

---
name: market-launch
description: Four-week product / feature / campaign launch plan covering pre-launch, launch week, post-launch, and retention. Invoke whenever the user says "launch", "going live", "product launch", "launch plan", "launch sequence", or runs `/market launch <product>`. Produces LAUNCH-PLAN.md with day-by-day tasks, asset checklist, and metrics to watch.
---

# Market Launch — 4-Week Launch Orchestration

A launch is a campaign, not an event. This skill produces a day-level plan that keeps marketing, product, and support coordinated.

## Pre-flight

Confirm:
1. **What's launching** — new product, new feature, new pricing, new brand
2. **Launch date** (target ship day)
3. **Audience** — existing users, new audience, both
4. **Goal metric** — trial signups, paid conversions, revenue, reach
5. **Distribution channels** available (website, email list size, social following, paid budget)
6. **Team capacity** — solo, small team, full org

## The 4 Phases

### Phase 1 — Pre-launch (Weeks -4 to -1)
Build anticipation, validate the offer, prep assets.

**Week -4 — Positioning**
- Finalize the one-liner and value prop
- Confirm target audience and pricing
- Build a waitlist landing page
- Draft the press release version (even if you won't send it — it clarifies thinking)

**Week -3 — Asset creation**
- Hero copy, launch email sequence (5–7 emails), social posts (20+), ad copy (3+ variants per platform)
- Product screenshots, demo video (under 90s), walkthrough
- Pricing page, FAQ page, comparison page if applicable
- Support docs and onboarding flow

**Week -2 — Build the audience**
- Tease on social (3–5 posts that hint without revealing)
- Waitlist campaign to current list
- Reach out to 10 key customers/partners for early access + quotes
- DM/email 5–10 journalists or creators who cover the space

**Week -1 — Dress rehearsal**
- Internal review: marketing, product, support, sales all aligned
- QA the signup flow, payment flow, emails trigger correctly
- Schedule all Day 0 posts, emails, ads
- Brief support on expected questions

### Phase 2 — Launch week (Days 0–7)

**Day 0 — Go live**
- Publish the landing page + unlock signups
- Send launch email to full list (morning in primary timezone)
- Post on every social channel — platform-native, not cross-posted
- Activate paid ads
- Personal DMs/emails to 20 key people
- Founder posts on LinkedIn and X with a personal story
- Live in the support channel — first 24h is loud

**Day 1 — Social proof push**
- Share the first 3 signups/reviews/reactions publicly
- Reply to every comment and DM
- Second email to non-openers of Day 0

**Day 2–3 — Evidence**
- Share metrics so far ("500 signups in 48 hours")
- User-generated content or early testimonials
- Founder Q&A in comments or live

**Day 4–5 — Story**
- "Behind the scenes" of the build
- Founder story or customer story
- Demo video or walkthrough

**Day 6–7 — Close the week**
- Recap post ("Week 1 results")
- Thank-you message
- Soft urgency if launch offer is time-limited
- Final reminder email

### Phase 3 — Post-launch (Weeks +2 to +3)

- Iterate based on user feedback
- Publish a launch retro (public is fine — vulnerability earns trust)
- Turn objections into content (FAQ, comparison posts)
- Case study with earliest successful user
- Pitch press / podcasts with real numbers

### Phase 4 — Retention (Week +4 and beyond)

- Activation campaign for signups who haven't reached first value
- Win-back for churned trial users
- Weekly product update cadence
- Ongoing content cadence — launches fail when the noise dies after week 2

## Asset Checklist

- [ ] One-liner (10 words)
- [ ] Tagline + subhead
- [ ] Hero copy (headline + subhead + primary CTA)
- [ ] Product description (100 words)
- [ ] Pricing page
- [ ] FAQ (10 Q&As minimum)
- [ ] Comparison page (if competing with known alternatives)
- [ ] Demo video (under 90s)
- [ ] Walkthrough video (2–5 minutes)
- [ ] 5+ product screenshots
- [ ] 7 launch emails (announce, benefit, story, proof, objection, urgency, final)
- [ ] 20+ social posts across platforms
- [ ] 3+ ad variants per paid platform
- [ ] Press release draft
- [ ] 3 pitch emails (journalist, creator, customer)
- [ ] Support doc + FAQ internal
- [ ] Onboarding flow
- [ ] Thank-you / confirmation page

## Metrics to Watch (daily during launch week)

| Metric | Target | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| Landing page visits | [client-specific] | <50% of expected |
| Visitor → signup | Baseline +X% | Below baseline |
| Launch email open rate | >40% | <25% |
| Launch email click rate | >8% | <3% |
| Social engagement rate | Platform benchmark | Dead silence |
| Support ticket volume | Expected spike | Overwhelm |
| Churn/refund rate | <5% first week | >10% |

## Output: LAUNCH-PLAN.md

```markdown
# Launch Plan — [Product]
**Launch date:** [YYYY-MM-DD]
**Goal:** [trial signups / revenue / reach]
**Target:** [specific number]

## Positioning
[One-liner, tagline, audience, price]

## Timeline
### Week -4: Positioning
- [specific tasks by day]

### Week -3: Assets
- [specific tasks by day]

### Week -2: Audience build
- [tasks]

### Week -1: Rehearsal
- [tasks]

### Launch Week (Days 0–7)
- Day 0: [detailed]
- Day 1: ...
...

### Post-launch (Weeks +2 to +3)
...

### Retention (Week +4+)
...

## Asset Status
[Full checklist with owner + due date]

## Metrics Dashboard
[Daily tracking table]

## Risk Register
[3–5 things that could go wrong and the mitigation for each]
```

## Quality Bar

- Day-level specificity. "Work on social" is useless; "Write 5 LinkedIn posts matching content pillar 2" is actionable.
- Own asset deadlines. Every asset has a person and a date.
- A launch without retention plan is a sugar high. Always include Phase 4.
- If the team is too small to execute the full plan, cut the plan — don't cut corners on critical items. Smaller launch that happens beats bigger launch that doesn't.