Your product team ships a major new feature. Engineering is proud. Product is excited. Leadership expects adoption and revenue impact.
You send an email announcement. You add a banner in-product. You write a blog post. You update documentation.
Two weeks later: 5% of users have even tried the new feature.
This is the PLG launch challenge: in sales-led companies, sales teams drive feature adoption through demos and conversations. In product-led companies, you must drive adoption through product experience, targeted messaging, and self-serve discovery—without human intervention.
After launching dozens of features in PLG products, I've learned: successful PLG launches aren't about announcement volume. They're about making new features discoverable, valuable, and easy to adopt for users who are already in your product.
Here's how to launch features in self-serve products.
Why Traditional Launch Tactics Fail in PLG
The traditional enterprise launch playbook:
- Sales team training and enablement
- Customer webinar series
- Email announcements to customer base
- Sales team demos new features on calls
This doesn't work for PLG because:
Problem 1: No sales team to drive adoption You can't rely on reps to show users new features. Users must discover and adopt on their own.
Problem 2: Email open rates are 20-30% Most users won't see your announcement email. They're in your product daily but not checking marketing emails.
Problem 3: Users don't attend webinars Webinar registration rates for feature launches: 2-5%. Most users won't stop work to learn about features.
Problem 4: Users ignore announcement banners Banner blindness is real. Generic "New feature available!" banners get dismissed without reading.
The PLG launch insight: Most users will never see your announcement. They'll discover new features through natural product usage or not at all.
The PLG Launch Framework
Phase 1: Pre-Launch (2-3 weeks before)
Goal: Build awareness and anticipation with engaged users
Tactics:
Beta program with power users:
- Invite top 50-100 power users to test feature
- Gather feedback and testimonials
- Create advocates who will share at launch
- Generate usage examples and templates
Seed content and resources:
- Write help docs before launch
- Create video walkthroughs
- Build templates users can copy
- Prepare FAQs based on beta feedback
Tease the feature:
- Social media hints
- "Coming soon" messaging in product
- Email to highly-engaged segment
- Community forum discussions
Phase 2: Launch Day (Day 0)
Goal: Make feature visible and accessible to current users
Tactics:
In-product discovery mechanisms:
- Modal announcement for active users (dismissible, one-time)
- New feature badge in navigation
- Empty state prompts suggesting new feature
- Contextual tooltips where feature applies
Announcement channels:
- Email to entire user base
- Blog post with implementation guide
- Social media announcement
- Product Hunt launch (if major)
- Community forum post
Activation assistance:
- Quick start guide
- Video tutorial (under 3 minutes)
- Templates pre-built
- Example use cases
Phase 3: Adoption Push (Weeks 1-4)
Goal: Drive trial and usage of new feature
Tactics:
Segmented in-product prompts:
- Show feature suggestion to users whose workflow would benefit
- Contextual triggers: "This task could be automated with [Feature]"
- Usage milestone prompts: "You've done X manually 10 times. Try [Feature]?"
Email nurture sequences:
- Day 3: How to get started
- Day 7: Use case examples
- Day 14: Power tips and advanced usage
- Day 21: Success stories from early adopters
Sales-assist for enterprise:
- Identify accounts that would benefit
- Sales team demos feature to high-value accounts
- Offer implementation help for complex setups
Phase 4: Sustained Adoption (Month 2+)
Goal: Make feature part of standard product experience
Tactics:
Permanent discovery:
- Integrate into onboarding for new users
- Include in empty states and workflows
- Add to product tours
- Feature in success templates
Usage tracking:
- Monitor adoption rate by user segment
- Identify drop-off points
- Iterate on feature based on actual usage
- Improve documentation based on support tickets
Success amplification:
- Share customer success stories
- Highlight power users using feature
- Create case studies
- Showcase in demos and marketing
The Launch Channel Strategy
Different features need different launch intensity:
Tier 1: Major Feature Launch
Characteristics: New product capability, broad audience, monetization impact
Launch channels:
- Full email to all users
- In-product modal announcement
- Blog post and social media
- Press release (if appropriate)
- Sales team briefing
- Customer webinar (optional)
- Community event
Examples: New product tier, major platform capability, enterprise features
Tier 2: Minor Feature Launch
Characteristics: Enhancement to existing workflow, targeted audience, incremental value
Launch channels:
- Email to relevant user segment
- In-product tooltip/badge
- Blog post
- Social media mention
- Help docs update
Examples: Workflow improvements, new integrations, UI enhancements
Tier 3: Continuous Improvements
Characteristics: Bug fixes, small enhancements, quality improvements
Launch channels:
- Changelog update
- In-product "What's new" feed
- Occasional roundup email
Examples: Performance improvements, minor bug fixes, small UI tweaks
The In-Product Announcement Best Practices
Modal announcements (use sparingly):
Good use cases:
- Major features affecting all users
- Breaking changes requiring action
- Important security or billing updates
Design principles:
- Clear value proposition in headline
- Screenshot or video showing feature
- Single CTA: "Try it now" or "Learn more"
- Dismissible (never block product usage)
- Show once per user
Bad patterns:
- Multiple modals in one session
- Vague announcements ("New features available!")
- No visual representation
- Forced action before dismissing
Feature badges (subtle discovery):
Good use cases:
- Drawing attention to new menu items
- Highlighting updated sections
- Indicating "New" or "Beta" status
Design principles:
- Small, non-intrusive badge
- Disappears after user views
- Clear what's new
- Doesn't block interaction
Contextual prompts (highest conversion):
Good use cases:
- Suggesting automation when user does manual task
- Offering advanced features when user hits limits
- Recommending integrations for detected workflows
Design principles:
- Relevant to current task
- Easy to dismiss or postpone
- Explains specific benefit
- One-click access to try feature
The Launch Messaging Framework
The announcement structure that works:
Headline: What the feature does (outcome-focused) "Automate Your Weekly Reporting in 5 Minutes" NOT "Introducing Auto-Reporting Feature"
Subhead: Who it's for and why it matters "Marketing teams use this to save 3 hours every week" NOT "We've added new capabilities to our reporting module"
Visual: Screenshot or video showing feature in action Show the feature working, not just UI elements
Body: How to use it (brief, 3-5 bullets max)
- Step 1: Click new "Automate" button
- Step 2: Choose your template
- Step 3: Schedule your reports
CTA: Single clear action "Try it now" → Direct link to feature NOT "Learn more" → Link to docs
Social proof (if available): Early user testimonials "This saves me hours every week" - Sarah, Marketing Director
The Adoption Measurement Framework
Launch success metrics:
Awareness metrics:
- % of active users who saw announcement
- Announcement engagement rate
- Help doc views
Trial metrics:
- % of users who tried feature (within 7/14/30 days)
- Time from announcement to first usage
- Trial by user segment
Adoption metrics:
- % of users who became regular feature users
- Feature usage frequency
- Feature usage by account tier
Business impact metrics:
- Revenue influenced by feature
- Churn reduction from feature
- Expansion revenue from feature
Target benchmarks (by launch tier):
Major features:
- 30-50% awareness within 30 days
- 10-20% trial within 30 days
- 5-10% regular usage within 90 days
Minor features:
- 15-30% awareness within 30 days
- 5-10% trial within 30 days
- 2-5% regular usage within 90 days
Common PLG Launch Mistakes
Mistake 1: Announcing before feature is ready
Wait until feature is stable and properly documented. Beta bugs in production kills trust.
Mistake 2: No segmentation
All users aren't equally likely to care about every feature. Target announcements to relevant segments.
Mistake 3: Assuming one announcement is enough
Users need multiple touchpoints over weeks to notice and adopt. Plan sustained campaign, not one email.
Mistake 4: Complex activation
If trying the feature requires 10 steps of setup, adoption will be low. Make first experience simple.
Mistake 5: No success examples
Users need to see how others use features successfully. Show real examples and templates.
The Launch Post-Mortem
After every launch, review what worked:
Metrics review:
- Did adoption meet goals?
- Which channels drove trial?
- Where did users drop off?
- What's the retention rate?
Qualitative feedback:
- What did support hear?
- What did users say in community?
- What feedback came through product?
Iteration plan:
- What messaging to adjust?
- What in-product prompts to add/remove?
- What documentation to improve?
- What product changes to make?
The Reality
Feature launches in PLG products require different skills than traditional product marketing. You're not enabling sales teams—you're designing discovery and adoption into product experience itself.
The best PLG launches:
- Make features discoverable in natural product workflows
- Explain value in context of user's current task
- Provide effortless activation (templates, examples, quick wins)
- Measure adoption, not just awareness
- Iterate based on actual usage data
Ship the feature. Make it discoverable. Make it easy to try. Measure what happens. Improve until adoption meets goals.
That's the PLG launch playbook. And it's never one-and-done.