Example Product Launch: TextExpander for Chrome
An example of a large-scale launch of a new product in the suite of offerings.
Collaborators: Marketing, Customer Success, Product Management, Sales, Support
Areas of Focus: Product Launch, GTM Enablement
The Plan
I spearheaded the launch of the TextExpander Chrome extension, a new Chrome extension designed to enhance the web experience for TextExpander users.
To launch the product, I developed a strategy with 3 parts:
To understand and target the right audience by identifying who is going to benefit most
To create a strong product-market fit through messaging that solves a problem for users
Optimize the discoverability of the extension by making it easier for users to find it
The Goal
The goal was to raise awareness to current users of the Chrome extension of the improved app, and also to re-launch the extension across our marketing footprint to present the new extension to non-users and prospects.
Metrics: 60% adoption rate of the new app by current users, and a 20% increase in new users using the extension within 6 months.
Objective: Increase user adoption and brand awareness through targeted marketing and outreach efforts.
Step 1:
Understand and target the right audience
To understand the audience, I conducted market research including surveys of current users and potential users to identify the segments that would ideally benefit from the new extension. A few audiences were developed, including:
Potential users in highly secure industries, including banking, healthcare providers, energy, and telecommunications who handle sensitive information so their IT departments keep systems very secure
Potential users who needed quick access and cross-platform capabilities
Current users who want seamless interaction and an enhanced browsing experience
Step 2:
Strong product-market fit through message & position
The next steps was to position the product as a strong product-market fit for the users and create a messaging doc for our teams to be able to use for all our external marketing efforts.
Some of the key messaging focused on the Chrome extension having the power to eliminate repetition right from your browser and sharing that the extension was a fast and easy way to get started without having to get IT involved.
This step also included creating the launch plan strategy and building internal assets like audience, positioning, messaging, scripts for customer facing teams, and also worked on sales enablement and training our sales team on the new release functions.
Step 3:
Strong product-market fit through message & position
From there, I looped in the bigger team to tackle the third part - to optimize the discoverability of the extension by making it easier for users to find it.
This required creation of extensive external assets and used the power of our bigger marketing team including blog, video, email content. I coordinate the team and made sure we were able to launch all the external assets to get the word out about the new extension.
Once we completed the main launch efforts, we gathered feedback and iterated on our messaging, and of course providing feedback back to the product team.
Tactics
Launch Plan: Develop a comprehensive tactical plan to execute the promotion of the new extension, including:
Audience Development: Identify key user personas to target for the launch
Positioning and Messaging: Create a messaging house that is a one-stop shop for any team member who needs to understand how to present the new product.
Assets:
Internal Assets: Tools for customer-facing teams to use when speaking to customers including talk tracks, FAQs, templates, and discovery questions.
External Assets: Create all external-facing content that will be used in the launch, including Chrome store content, videos, 1-pagers, email content, blog posts, webinars, and more.
Enablement:
Alignment: Present the launch plan to the product and marketing teams who will be working on creating the assets.
Training: Plan sessions for customer-facing teams to train them on the positioning and messaging and role play potential situations.
Messaging House
The foundation of a cohesive and compelling marketing launch, a messaging house is the strategic framework that organizes key messages, ensuring consistency and clarity across all communication channels.
This messaging house included:
Product overview
Features and functionality
Audience & target customer information
Elevator pitch
Positioning statement
Key benefits
Tactical instructions
Screenshots
Boilerplate
Sales Tracks
FAQs
Ownership
End-to-end planning and project managing the marketing launch.
Collaborated with marketing, product, sales, customer support, and customer success teams to align on participation of the launch.
Messaging, positioning, and competitive analysis.
Results
Existing Users:
54% open rate on the launch email to existing users
42% conversion of existing users to download the new app
19% increase in new user acquisition in 3 months
27% increase in new user acquisition in 6 months
Got feedback from customers on ideal improvements which led to roadmap changes and improvements to extension over time
Tested using the Chrome extension as the new “door” to acquisition on the TextExpander homepage
Takeaways
This launch especially resonates as a great learning experience because we didn’t quite hit the goals that we set out to hit initially, however, we were successful in different ways and learned a lot about our users. This became a turning point in how we as an organization started thinking about launching and testing new (or refreshed) products and features for our org.