Launch tiers
lawnch teerz
A framework for categorizing product launches by impact level. Different tiers get different marketing investment and attention.
Launch tiers categorize releases by their significance and the marketing effort they warrant. Not every feature deserves a press release. Not every bug fix deserves a blog post. Tiering forces the product and marketing teams to agree on what matters and invest accordingly.
A typical three-tier system. Tier 1: major launches that change the company's positioning or enter a new market. Full press cycle, keynote, dedicated landing page, sales enablement. Maybe one or two per year. Tier 2: significant features that existing customers care about. Blog post, email to customers, social media, webinar. Maybe four to six per year. Tier 3: incremental improvements. Changelog entry, in-app notification. Ongoing.
The most common mistake is treating everything as a Tier 1 launch. When every release is 'major,' nothing is. The market tunes out. Save Tier 1 treatment for launches that genuinely change the narrative.
Examples
A Tier 1 product launch.
The company launches an AI-powered code review feature. It is the first product in the category to offer this. Tier 1 treatment: press embargo with 5 publications, keynote announcement at the user conference, dedicated landing page, sales battlecard, 6 customer case studies, and $100k in paid promotion.
A Tier 2 feature launch.
A new integration with a popular CI/CD tool. Important for users of that tool but not a company-defining moment. Tier 2: blog post, email to relevant customer segment, social media announcement, updated documentation, and a webinar showing the integration in action.
A company over-tiers everything.
The product team wants Tier 1 treatment for every release. In Q1, there were four 'major' launches. The press stopped responding. Customers got email fatigue. The marketing team implements a strict tiering framework with product and executive sign-off required for Tier 1 designation.
In practice
Read more on the blog
Frequently asked questions
How many launch tiers should you have?
Three is the sweet spot. Tier 1: transformative (1-2 per year). Tier 2: significant (4-8 per year). Tier 3: incremental (ongoing). Some companies add a Tier 0 for company-defining moments like IPO announcements or major acquisitions.
Who decides the tier for a launch?
Product marketing, in collaboration with product management and executive leadership. Product proposes the tier based on impact. Product marketing validates based on market context and messaging opportunity. Executives approve Tier 1 designations because they require significant resource investment.
Related terms
How you define what your product is, who it is for, and why it is different from alternatives. The foundation of every marketing decision.
The specific words you use to communicate your positioning to different audiences. Positioning is singular. Messaging multiplies.
A coordinated go-to-market effort to announce and drive adoption of a new product or feature.
Providing the sales team with the content, training, and tools they need to sell effectively. Bridging the gap between marketing and revenue.
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