Which product launch emails should you send, and when?
Pick the ones that fit your launch. A new product usually needs the teaser, one or both launch-day emails, and the follow-up. A new feature needs the feature announcement and little else.
| Send to | When | |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-launch teaser | Your list and waitlist | 3 to 7 days before launch |
| Launch day: existing users | Active users and customers | Launch morning, once the product is live and every link works |
| Launch day: waitlist and subscribers who haven't tried it | Waitlist sign-ups and subscribers who haven't used the product | Launch morning, after the users email |
| Product Hunt launch day | Users, subscribers and anyone who asked to hear about it | Launch day, after the launch goes live at 12:01 AM Pacific |
| Feature announcement | The users the feature is for | When the feature is live for everyone who gets the email |
| Follow-up and last chance | People who didn't open or click the launch email | 3 to 7 days after launch, before any offer ends |
| Launch recap and thank-you | Everyone who heard about the launch | 1 to 2 weeks after launch |
Timings are our recommendation, not a benchmark. We found no well-sourced "best time to send" a launch email; test on your own list. The full launch plan around these emails is in the product launch checklist.
What should a product launch email include?
HubSpot's structure for a launch email is a short, clear subject that describes the news, then the product name, availability and cost, then the benefits, a visual of the product in use, and one call to action (HubSpot). In practice that means:
- A subject that says what's new. "[Product] is live" beats a clever line nobody can decode in a crowded inbox.
- Preview text that adds one thing. The subject says what; the preview says why it matters to this reader. Don't repeat the subject.
- What it is in one sentence, before any story about how you built it.
- Price and availability. Who has it, from when, and what it costs. Don't make readers click to find out.
- One call to action. One button, repeated as a text link if the email is long.
- Images as a bonus, not the message. HubSpot notes that more email clients make readers opt in to see images, so the email has to make sense without them (HubSpot).
- A real person's name and a reply address that works. Launch replies are the best early feedback you'll get.
What should each launch email say?
Seven templates. Replace everything in [brackets], keep it short, and send each one from a person, not "The [Company] Team". Each copy button copies the first subject line, the alternatives, the preview text and the body as plain text.
2. Launch day: existing users
Subject lines
- [Product] is live
- New from [Company]: [Product]
- You asked for [thing]. It's here.
Preview text [What it does], built for how you already use [Company].
When and why: Send it after the launch is live, not on a timer set the night before: a broken link in a launch email cannot be unsent. Say the price and who has access in the email itself, so nobody has to click to find out.
3. Launch day: waitlist and subscribers who haven't tried it
Subject lines
- You're in: [Product] is open
- [Product] is ready for you
- The thing you signed up for is live
Preview text You joined the waitlist in [month]. Here's your link.
When and why: These people signed up a while ago and may have forgotten why, so re-explain the product in one line before asking for anything. Only send to people who opted in: Product Hunt names scraped email lists among the tactics that backfire (Product Hunt), and the same is true for any launch.
4. Product Hunt launch day
Subject lines
- We're on Product Hunt today
- [Product] launched on Product Hunt this morning
- Would you tell us what you think?
Preview text We'd love your honest feedback in the comments.
When and why: Never write "upvote", "vote for us" or "help us get to #1". Product Hunt's rules say never to ask for upvotes, and that asking, or running anything that requires or rewards them, can get your launch removed. What it suggests instead: when you ask people to check out your launch, ask them to try it, comment and share feedback (Product Hunt).
5. Feature announcement
Subject lines
- New in [Product]: [feature]
- [Feature] is here
- Now you can [do the thing]
Preview text [The job it does, in one sentence your users would say].
When and why: One feature per email. If you shipped five things, send a changelog and give the biggest one its own email. Send it only to the people who will use it, and wait until they actually have it: an announcement for a feature that is "rolling out" and not in their account yet reads as broken.
6. Follow-up and last chance
Subject lines
- Last day for [offer]
- [Offer] ends [Friday]
- In case you missed it: [Product]
Preview text After [date], [Product] goes back to [regular price].
When and why: HubSpot's launch sequence ends with a follow-up to contacts who didn't respond to the announcement (HubSpot). Only say "last chance" if there is a real deadline, and keep it. With no offer, use the "In case you missed it" subject and drop the deadline line.
7. Launch recap and thank-you
Subject lines
- What happened when we launched [Product]
- Thank you, and what's next for [Product]
- [Product], two weeks in
Preview text What we learned in launch week, and what we're building next.
When and why: Optional, but worth it. It turns a one-day spike into a conversation, and the replies tell you what to build next.
How do you email your list about a Product Hunt launch without breaking the rules?
Product Hunt wants you to email people. Its own launch help says to tell your team, users and newsletter subscribers when you're launching, and to prepare your email, social posts and any in-app banner before the day (Product Hunt). The line you can't cross is the ask:
- Don't ask for upvotes. Product Hunt says never to, and asking, or running anything that requires or rewards an upvote, can get the launch removed (Product Hunt).
- Do ask people to try it, comment and share feedback. That's the wording Product Hunt suggests when you ask people to check out a launch (Product Hunt). Template 4 above is written that way.
- Giveaways are fine if they aren't tied to upvotes. A launch-day discount for everyone is allowed; "upvote to enter" is not (Product Hunt).
- Only email people who know you. Mass DMs, scraped lists and copy-paste messages to strangers are on Product Hunt's list of what to avoid (Product Hunt).
Your launch goes live at 12:01 AM Pacific, so the email can go out as soon as the page is up. The rest of the day's plan, from the first comment to the gallery and video, is in how to launch on Product Hunt.
How do you write a feature announcement email?
A feature announcement is smaller than a launch and should read like it. The product launch checklist treats a meaningful feature as a lighter launch tier: a short video or GIF, a changelog entry and an email to the users who'll care. A few rules that keep it useful:
- Lead with what they can now do, not the feature's name. "You can now export to CSV" is clearer than "Introducing Data Studio".
- Show the before and after in two sentences. The workaround they've been using, then the new way.
- One GIF of it working is worth more than three paragraphs.
- Say who has it. Plan, region, rollout date. Nothing reads worse than an announcement for a button the reader can't find.
- Segment. Send it to the users it's for. Everyone else can read the changelog.
Can you embed a launch video in an email?
Mostly no, so don't try to. Use an image that looks like a video and links to one.
- Most inboxes won't play video. In Can I email's tests of the HTML video element, it played in Apple Mail on macOS, played in iOS Mail only with player controls on and without autoplay, was replaced by empty tags in Gmail, was stripped by Yahoo Mail, and was blocked from playing in newer Outlook.com versions by a security policy. Can I email estimates support at about 24% (Can I email, tested 2019 to 2021).
- Email specialists recommend a fallback. Email on Acid says embedded video may play in Apple Mail and some Outlook for Mac inboxes, and that Gmail and many other clients need a fallback in place of the player: an image with a play button on it, or a GIF (Email on Acid, updated 2021). Campaign Monitor's advice is the same idea: a clickable screenshot with a play icon that opens the video in the browser (Campaign Monitor, updated 2019).
- GIFs work in most clients, with one catch. Can I email lists animated GIFs as supported in Apple Mail, Gmail and Yahoo Mail, and only partly supported in Outlook for Windows (Can I email). Microsoft's own help page says that when animations are turned off, Outlook shows only a static image (Microsoft). So design the first frame to stand on its own: the product clearly visible and the play button already there.
How to add a launch video to an email
- Pick the frame. Choose one frame of the launch video that shows the product clearly, or cut a short loop as a GIF. Make the first frame work on its own, since some Outlook setups show only that.
- Put the play button in the image. Add the play button to the image file itself, so it shows wherever the image does.
- Link it to a page where the video plays. Link the image to your landing page, YouTube or a video page, not to a file download.
- Write the alt text. Use alt text that works on its own, such as "Play the [Product] launch video (1:10)", for readers with images off.
- Add a text link too. Put a plain "Watch the launch video" link under the image, because some email clients make readers opt in to see images.
- Test before you send. Send a test to Gmail, Outlook and Apple Mail and click the image in each.
Link to a page that plays the video straight away, ideally your landing page with the video at the top, so the click lands somewhere the reader can also sign up. If you don't have the video yet, how to make a launch video covers length and structure, and the launch video script generator drafts the script.