There are few times more exciting in a company than during a product launch. Anticipation brews and a sense of optimism emerges around the prospect of a growth in market share.

Still, a question always arises when a new product launches: do enough people know about this launch for it to be successful?

There are multiple avenues to communicate through during a product launch — ads, social media, PR, and blog promotion, to name a few. Yet, one of the most underrated and effective communication methods to alert internal and external stakeholders is a product launch email.

Not only do product launch emails make your customers aware of the product launch, but they also communicate vital information about the launch to those inside of your company.

In this post, we’ll walk you through the steps for writing three different types of product launch emails, including offering suggestions for your product launch email subject lines and outlining the ideal product launch email sequence.

Featured Resource: Product Marketing Email Templates [Download Now]

HubSpot’s Free Product Marketing Kit is full of the organizational templates you’ll need to spread the word about your product, including email templates. Why waste time starting from scratch? Click here to download the templates.

How to Write a Product Launch Email

You’ll want to share an internal product launch email with your entire company on either the day of or prior to your product launch. With this email, you’ll want to turn all of the employees at your company into an enthusiastic, well-informed, word-of-mouth marketing team by providing them with:

• An overview of the product
• Why employees should be excited about it
• “Lazy copy” for email and social media that employees can copy and paste

Here’s an outline of an internal product launch email. You can also download it as a template with more details.

1. Write a short but explanatory subject line.

The first step is getting folks to open your email. Do this by providing a clear and short subject line describing the news. Keep the subject line at or under 12 words.

Try one of these:

• It’s Time! [Product] is now live. Click to learn more!
• We just launched [Product] – And we need your help
• [NOW LIVE]: [Product] is available to the public
• [Product] launches today. Here’s what you need to know.
• The moment you’ve all been waiting for: [Product] is here.
• [PLEASE READ]: Everything you need to know about [Product].

Providing a subject line that gets straight to the point will make your email less likely to get lost among the other messages in their inbox.

2. Give a brief overview.

Just like you, the employees at your company are busy, so capture their attention with a quick hello and a 1-2 sentence overview of the product launch.

3. Explain what the product is.

Give your readers the very basic info on your product, like what it’s called, what it does, when it’s available to the public, and how much it costs. You should also include an image so readers have a visual reference.

4. Share why the launch matters.

Why should your employees be excited about this launch? You can go a little more in-depth here, so explain what void this product fills in the market and what opportunity you’re seizing on to expand your market share, delight more users, and expand your customer base.

Some questions you can answer in this section are:

• Does this update address a common customer complaint?
• Are you bringing your product up to par for the market you’re in?
• Do you have statistics or revenue projections to prove the importance?

5. Explain how the product works.

In this section, give a brief overview of the steps required to get or use this product/feature. How do your customers sign up? Are there any usage limitations? Anticipate frequently asked questions — particularly from salespeople, marketers, account managers, and support reps — and try to reduce confusion upfront.

6. Describe who the product is for.

If you haven’t already covered it, say who the intended audience for this product is, or if any users will automatically see this new feature. This section is particularly important for regional or language-specific products.

7. Provide a contact for questions.

Provide the contact info and name of the person or people who are best equipped to answer any questions about the product, its launch, or its promotion.

8. Include lazy or sample copy for sharing.

You’ll want to make it as simple as possible for employees to share the product launch over email or social media. Provide sample text and URLs that can be copied and pasted — or better yet, pre-made social links from a site like Share Link Generator.

Here’s an example of lazy copy for every situation.

• Twitter: We’ve just launched [Product Name] here @[Company Name]! This new feature will let you [List Main Benefit]. Click here to learn more about it [Insert URL].
• LinkedIn: It’s an exciting day here at [Company Name]! Today, we’re announcing our launch of [Product Name] – a new product that [List One or Two Major Benefits or Features].
• Email: We’re thrilled to finally share this with our customers. Learn more at our website, and reach out to me if you have any questions about the new product! [Insert Product Page URL]

Product Launch Email Templates

Remember, you can save time by using product launch planning and email templates. You can download free product marketing email templates here in our Product Marketing Go-To-Market Kit. You and your team can work together to make an exciting product launch campaign if you take advantage of these tools.

Let’s look at some templates to help you get started.

Template 1: Pre-Launch

Template 2: General Product Update

Template 3: New Feature Update

When you create or find the template that’s right for you, add in your product’s information and get your network buzzing about it.

Product Update Email Template

The internal product launch update email is best shared with direct stakeholders in the product launch. For example, product marketers, product managers, designers, social, and PR.

These emails should be sent routinely leading up to the official product launch (every week, every other week, etc.) and provide readers with actionable steps on what has happened since your last email, what needs to be done, and whether or not you’re on track for launch.

Here’s an outline of what your internal product launch update email should look like. You can also download it as a template with more details.

1. Subject Line and Preview Text

Keep the subject line at or under 12 words. Choose a subject line for your internal product launch update emails and make it the standard for whenever you send out your updates. Stuck? Try one of these:

• [Date] Bi-weekly [Product Name] Update
• [#] Days Until [Product]: This Week’s Update
• [Product] Launch Status: Today’s Action Items
• New from [Company]: A Solution for [Main Problem]
• [Product]: A Solution to Your [Problem]
• Available Now: [Product], the Solution to [Problem]
• [Product] is Now Available. Here’s How You Can Get it.
• Problems With [Problem]? Try [Product] – New from [Company]
• At Last – A Solution to Your [Problem]
• Meet [Product]: A New Product to Help You [Benefit]

2. Days Until Product Launch

Reiterate the scheduled date of the product launch in addition to how many days remain.

3. Major Updates

List out any major updates that have occurred between the previous email and this one. For example: a bug was fixed, final designs were approved, or you secured placement in a leading circuit on announcement day.

4. Resources

Link out to shared documents, the campaign planning spreadsheets, or any other resources that your team may need to reference this week.

5. Progress Against Goals

Remind your team of the overarching campaign goals in this section and provide a status update (complete, meeting, exceeding, or lagging).

6. Updates By The Team

Run through brief status updates and developments from each team. This is also a great place to share each team’s focus for the upcoming week.

7. Questions or Comments

Encourage recipients to reach out to you directly with any questions.

Check out our template below for a better idea of what to include in your email. 

External Product Launch Email

The time has come to share your exciting new product with the world.

If you have an established list of loyal contacts in your CRM, create a list of recipients you think would benefit from the product launch email.

While you can send out a mass email to all of your contacts, it makes sense to group your contacts together by their lifecycle stage or their interests so that you’re prioritizing customers who would be most interested or ready for your new product.

The same general rules mentioned previously apply for sending external emails, except you’ll need to adjust them to suit what is most pertinent to your customers.

Here’s how you might want to format an email to your contacts to encourage them to buy or learn more about your new product.

1. Include subject line and preview text.

As mentioned before, keep the subject line at or under 12 words. Here are some of our top picks.

• New from [Company]: A Solution for [Main Problem]
• [Product]: A Solution to Your [Problem]
• Available Now: [Product], the Solution to [Problem]
• [Product] is Now Available. Here’s How You Can Get it.
• Problems With [Problem]? Try [Product] – New from [Company]
• At Last – A Solution to Your [Problem]
• Meet [Product]: A New Product to Help You [Benefit]

2. Add a short greeting.

Like your fellow employees, your customers are also very busy. Don’t bury the lede — start the email off with the big news! Buzzwords like “new,” “big news,” or “now available” would be good to implement here, alongside a quick overview of what the product is called, what it does, and an image of the product.

3. Give an overview of the product.

Provide a high-level summary of what the product is, why it was made, and what it does.

4. Highlight key features.

List the key features or benefits of this offer. If you have a product demo video, you may want to link to it here. Additionally you can add info graphics or another visual aid to help get your message across.

5. Include a call-to-action.

Leave your contacts with an actionable next step. Do you want them to reply to you with questions? Sign up for a demo? Check out the new product page on your website? Whatever your desired next step is, make it abundantly clear with a link or by bolding the action.

Product Launch Email Sequence

To spread the word about your product launch more efficiently, consider enrolling your contacts into an email sequence in your email marketing software. Here are the steps you might want to follow:

Internal Product Launch Email Sequence

1. Introductory Email

Alert the employees that the product development is in progress and why.

2. Pre-Launch Email

Let employees know when the product is set to be launched and what is expected of them on launch day.

3. Launch Day Email

On the day of the product launch, alert all employees that the product is available to the public and provide share links.

4. Follow-Up Email

After some time has passed, send employees an update of your performance against goals, and a reminder of how employees can help the product launch be more successful.

External Product Launch Email Sequence

When you want to build anticipation among your contacts, consider an external product launch email sequence. This can be used to gradually increase your prospects’ interests before and after the product comes out.

Remember: you may only want to enroll people in this sequence that meet certain qualification criteria.

1. Pre-Announcement Email

This email comes once you feel the product is in a good place and you’re comfortable announcing its release date to the public. It should include a basic description of the product in addition to an expected time frame. We suggest not identifying an official launch date unless you are absolutely confident the date you have chosen is accurate — you never know what could go wrong between now and then, so it’s best to play it safe.

2. Announcement Email

This email should be the official email announcement of your product. We’ve outlined what should be included in this email in the section above, but remember to keep the content in this email short, informative, and actionable.

3. Follow-Up Email

This email should be sent to the contacts you feel would be a good fit for your new product but didn’t follow up with your original email. Kindly remind them that you think they would benefit from this new product and you’re excited to hear if they’re interested.

When building excitement for your new product, having this sequence can keep your customers waiting in anticipation of your next best thing. Take a look below at an example of a real, recent product launch.

Product Launch Email Examples

Ready to get started writing your own product launch emails? We’ve compiled a list of real life examples to inspire your next launch correspondence.

1. Samsung

Samsung has been exceptionally successful in advertising its Galaxy Fold cell phones, and its emails have been building suspense for them for over a year.

This email example serves as one of its pre-announcements, allowing excited customers to pre-order the device. Previous emails they’ve sent have included the specifications and features of the Fold, and this email gives a time frame of when customers should expect its arrival.

Why This Works:

This note from Samsung keeps it brief while including all the pertinent information customers need. It gives them their pre-order number and tells them what to expect next, but most importantly it keeps the anticipation going.

You can keep it simple as shown above, or get creative in your new product emails — just make sure it’s conveying the information your customers want to know.

2. Descript

Audio and video editing platform Descript rolled out a new version of their product and sent the email below to inform their current customers. The email details what the new features are and how they will improve the customer experience using the product.

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Why This Works

This email is incredibly thorough. It walks the reader through each of the improvements, how they work, and the benefits — complete with video and other helpful visuals.

It’a great example of how to design a launch email that has lots of new features and information to explain. 

3. Asana

When Asana launched their dashboards feature, they sent the below email to customers to help them get familiar with the change in reporting. It was sent the following week after the new feature was rolled out, providing users with tutorials and other resources showing how to get the most out of dashboards.

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Why This Works

This email keeps it short, but informative and clearly explains where users can go if they need more support in addition to a brief demo of how the dashboards feature works. The design is also clean thanks to plenty of white space and small, well-placed pops of color.

4. Solstice

With remote work more popular than ever, video conferencing software has become a must. In response, Solstice improved their platform to accommodate users and provide both onsite and remote workers a better user experience. The email below outlines the new product and features they added.

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Why This Works

This email clearly outlines what the new product does and the benefits it provides. Plus, Solstice offers multiple ways for customers to learn more — either by attending the launch event or webinar. The offer of a free trial also allows customers to test the product risk-free before making a commitment.

Ready, Set, Launch! (Your Next Product)

Build your email marketing campaigns in a way that appeals to your own internal team, and your customers in search of the next best thing. We hope you can implement some tips from this guide into your marketing, and wish you the best of luck in your next product launch.

This article was originally published in December 2021 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.