Product Placement for New Launches

Most marketers ruin their product launches with one fatal mistake: They launch once. They spend weeks hyping up a new product… Email list. Check. Influencers. Check. One big push across all channels. And then? Nothing. The launch becomes a single moment. Here’s a better way to think about launches: Like Netflix releasing a season. Each piece builds on the last. Each drop is a new chapter. Instead of: • “Launch day email blast” • “One post on IG and TikTok” • “Hope for the best” Try this: The Layered Launch Sequence: 1. Tease it. • Show behind the scenes. • Let people feel like they’re part of the process. • Let them vote on options. Involve them emotionally. 2. Educate before you ask. • Highlight the problem this product solves. • Tell the story of the pain it removes. 3. Micro launch. • Give early access to VIPs, affiliates, or email subscribers. • Share their feedback/testimonials before the main push. 4. Main launch. • Go omnichannel. • Use scarcity (real, not fake). • Keep it tight: 72 hours or 7 days, max. 5. Post launch content series. • Customer stories. Unboxings. UGC. • “Things you didn’t know about X.” • “How to get the most from X.” You turn one spike into a rolling wave. Because a product launch isn’t a finish line. It’s day one of demand generation.

A lot of product marketers are told to “own the launch.” But what that really ends up looking like is a glorified checklist. This is a problem. A good product launch is a strategic GTM motion that builds internal alignment, drives external clarity, and supports real business goals. And recently, Natalie Marcotullio from Navattic shared a great launch, when they rolled out Launchpad, so I want to use it to walk you through what this looks like in practice. Here’s the 5-part launch framework I coach clients on, and how it played out for this example: 1️⃣ Strategic readiness This is the part most teams skip. Everyone’s eager to “go live,” but you’d be shocked at how many can’t answer basic questions like: --> Who is this product for? --> Why are we launching it now? --> What’s the pain point we’re solving, and how do we know? This can happen a lot when PMs are under pressure to launch sooner before the product is ready (and are sucked into the build trap). What Navattic did: In Q4 and Q1, a small group of co-founders and sales reps quietly built and validated Launchpad. While marketing was not involved here, the product side ensured that this step was done. 2️⃣ Positioning & messaging Great messaging starts from the synthesis of real insights… and then ties a human story to it. What Navattic did: Natali pulled real call recordings, identified patterns, and built messaging around them. She also interviewed Navattic’s CEO about his time as an SE, grounding the narrative in the emotional reality of the demo treadmill Launchpad is designed to solve. 3️⃣ External promotion strategy Promotion should be treated as a marketing campaign, not a to-do list. Start with a clear theme or big idea. Then choose your channels and sequence intentionally based on how your audience actually buys. What Navattic did: In Q2, they quietly added Launchpad to the pricing page and iterated the copy 3–4 times. They ran lead gen through high-intent channels like SE conferences, LinkedIn, Google, and even AEO (ChatGPT and Perplexity). When launch day came, they focused on channels that mattered, like their trusted advisors and loyal customers who love them. 4️⃣ Internal enablement This is the final (and often most overlooked) step: making sure everyone inside the company understands the story and can retell it, through both documentation and training. What Navattic did: Natalie enabled everyone early: field teams, partners, even advisors. I got a detailed launch brief two weeks in advance, so I had the full context to speak confidently to my network. 5️⃣ Communications  Of course, a good launch also requires great communication and coordination throughout the entire process. Check out the post on this in the comments. ---- Ultimately, the key takeaway is that a great launch is STRATEGY-focused, not just tactical. ❓ What's the most important thing for you when launching major products? #productmarketing #launch #gtm #advising #coaching

I've been emphasising on long-form content, and the single most important metric for success is "watch time." While short-form content has its place, YouTube's watch-time-driven algorithm presents the best opportunity for meaningful product integration and sustained brand visibility. My analysis of successful campaigns has shown that viewers are most engaged during specific windows of video content, and strategic product placement within these windows significantly impacts both brand recall and conversion rates. The data consistently demonstrates that the traditional approach of relegating sponsorships to the beginning or end of videos limits exposure and effectiveness. From my experience testing various placement timings, I've found the best approach for maximising exposure and retention is typically integrating the product within the first 40 seconds, with a secondary reinforcement at the 5-7 minute mark to maintain engagement and recall. This timing strategy helps ensure your brand message reaches the widest audience before potential drop-offs occur. Core Strategy Platform-Specific Approach YouTube Long-Form Focus: Prioritize 8-15 minute videos, as watch time is the key driver of algorithm performance. Strategic Short-Form: Use YouTube Shorts to tease or reinforce long-form content, serving as awareness drivers that maximize cross-channel engagement. Integration Timeline Early Mention (0-40 seconds): Introduce or tease the product naturally to ensure high visibility. Primary Integration (1:30-2:30): Provide a full product introduction, aligning it with the main content. Reinforcement (5:00-7:00): Include a secondary demonstration or mention to strengthen recall. Call-to-Action (Final 30 seconds): Deliver a clear CTA with an exclusive offer or unique code. Audience Retention Optimization Seamless Integration: Ensure the product naturally fits the creator’s style and content format. Content-Product Alignment: Align product features with the video’s theme for smooth, organic transitions. Performance Tracking: Use unique affiliate codes and tracked links to measure each creator’s impact. Why This Model Works? * Algorithm Alignment: YouTube prioritizes videos with higher watch times, increasing their chances of being recommended. Placing product mentions at key engagement points maximizes visibility. * Better ROI Tracking: Tracked links and codes provide precise attribution, making it easier to measure creator impact, optimize spending, and identify the most effective content formats. * Scalability: Continuous analysis of watch time and conversions enables a data-driven approach—scaling high-performing influencers while phasing out lower-performing ones for maximum efficiency. This approach not only aligns with YouTube's algorithm but also builds a scalable, high-impact strategy that maximises brand awareness, sustains audience engagement, and delivers measurable business results. Would love to know what strategies have worked for you!

Something that drives me insane in SaaS marketing: How many companies fumble a massive opportunity to generate hype and distribution for product or feature launches. This stops now. Here’s a 5-point checklist of everything you need to have dialed to get the most out of your launches on social: (1) Pre-launch content You should be hyping up the launch for ~1-2 weeks prior. The bigger the launch (i.e. an entire new product versus a feature update) the longer the pre-launch content should be in rotation. Tease the new launch. Create educational content around it. Find ways to engage your ICP. (2) Launch content This is the core. Have some sort of launch post(s) go out on the day of. This should come from both the founder and the company accounts. As we’ve seen with Airbnb’s Brian Chesky and OpenAI’s Sam Altman—founder-led content during launches is the way to go. But, you should also have something go out from your company account. Both matter. (3) Post-launch content This is where most companies fumble. The launch content should not end after the ‘launch post’ hits the timeline. Extend the hype for 1-2wks beyond launch date. Highlight use cases. Showcase customer stories. Make sure the people who may have missed the original post can’t possibly miss the launch. (4) Launch-adjacent content ‘Launch content’ isn’t just feature highlight GIFs and hard CTAs. Create content that is around a topic related to the product, but not always hard selling the product. For example: if you're an email marketing SaaS getting into SMS marketing, you’ll want to post more stuff around SMS (that isn’t only the product launch announcement). (5) Influencer amplification A) Have influencers & investors engage with the key launch posts when they go live B) Have your team engage with the key launch posts when they go live You want to give the launch content the absolute best chance at high performance that you can. Getting the post initial momentum using your connections tends to help with that. Oh. One more thing. Shoot to have a timeline that allows you to prep this stuff. It’s not always going to be feasible, I get it. But if you can give your content team a 1-2 week heads up versus a 1-2 hour heads up … I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the outcome. PS: If this was helpful, hit repost so more B2B marketers can see this.