Product launch, a checklist

Launching is becoming my mantra nowadays :) However, I'm not going to talk of my little (awesome) pet-project (that you absolutely have to try), but of the things I've learnt so far about doing a marketing launch of your product.

At Mindquilt we have done three launches so far: the initial beta at the Enterprise 2.0 Launchpad in June, the Google App launch in September and today the integration with Eventbrite. For a startup without a dedicated budget for a PR firm, it's vital to be able to make more noise possible in every opportunity. That's why I've drafted and refined my product launch checklist.

Preparation for a market launch starts at least 3 weeks before the launch date. That's our checklist:

• Screencast: creating a screencast of a new product/functionality is the most effective and cheap way to promote it. We use Screenflow and Audacity for that. If you are a Windows user, I heard good things about Camtasia. We upload our screencast on Youtube (that's the latest on Mindquilt Eventbrite integration screencast)
• create the PR: the old dry and boring PR (that's our latest). If you launch in conjunction with a big company, you'll need to send them the PR in advance to get their approval. It can take one week, so plan in advance.
• create the blog post: a more informal, personal blog post to present the new product/feature to your readers
• create the landing page: that's a 1-page explanation of the product or feature. PR, blog post and (optionally) advertisement will point to this page
• create a help/tutorial site (if applicable): a more detailed explanation of the new product or feature
• prepare the list of bloggers/industry analysts/influential people to notify... you'll use the list later

Now everything is ready (PR, blog post, pages... and the product!).

• Prepare the blog and website, saving the pages as draft
• Setup analytics (Google Analytics and Kissmetrics are my favorite right now)
• Reach the list of bloggers/influential people and inform them of the launch, specifying the release date

• Publish all the web pages (PR, blog, landing pages, tutorials, screencast)
• Post links to Twitter, facebook, Linkedin (and ask people to retweet!)
• Notify your customers via email of the new product/functionality (you can wait a few days for that, no hurry)
• Relax...

In summary, there's some work to do. But after a few attempts, I think we're getting better at it, and more organized. Practice makes perfect!

What about you? What are your tips and tricks for a perfect marketing launch?