Your product team just decided to sunset the legacy API that 200 customers still use. Or kill the feature that 5% of customers rely on daily. Or discontinue the product tier that's no longer profitable.
Someone has to tell customers. That someone is usually product marketing.
Tell them wrong and you'll trigger panic, churn, social media backlash, and sales deals falling apart. Tell them right and you'll maintain trust, provide clear migration paths, and possibly even strengthen relationships through how you handle difficulty.
Most companies treat deprecation communication as an afterthought: a generic email two weeks before shutdown. Then they're shocked when customers are furious.
Here's how to communicate product sunsets and deprecations in a way that preserves customer relationships.
Why Deprecation Communication Matters More Than Launch Communication
Launches are exciting. Customers want to hear about new capabilities. Even mediocre launch communication rarely damages relationships.
Deprecation communication is the opposite. You're taking something away. Customers are inconvenienced at best, forced to find alternatives at worst. Bad deprecation communication creates lasting damage that good products can't overcome.
The companies that handle this well recognize deprecation as a trust-building opportunity. How you treat customers when you're taking things away reveals your values more than how you treat them when you're giving things.
The Deprecation Communication Framework
Effective deprecation communication follows a structured timeline with specific communication requirements at each stage.
Initial announcement (6-12 months before sunset for major features, 3-6 months for minor):
- Clearly state what's being deprecated and when
- Explain why the decision was made (honestly)
- Outline migration paths or alternatives
- Provide timeline with specific milestones
- Offer support resources and contact points
Regular updates (monthly leading up to sunset):
- Progress updates on migration path development
- Customer success stories from early migrators
- Reminders of timeline and deadlines
- Answers to common questions
- Available support resources
Final notice (30 days, then 7 days before sunset):
- Urgent reminders of impending shutdown
- Last-chance migration support offers
- Clear statement of what happens on sunset date
- Emergency contact procedures if needed
Post-sunset follow-up:
- Confirm sunset completion
- Thank migrated customers
- Provide support for any issues
- Gather feedback on the process
The longer the notice period, the less disruption and churn. But notice period must align with business reality—you can't support deprecated features indefinitely.
Crafting the Deprecation Message
Your initial announcement sets the tone for the entire deprecation process. Get it right or expect months of customer support nightmares.
Start with empathy and acknowledgment: "We know many of you rely on Feature X in your daily workflows. We don't make deprecation decisions lightly."
Explain the 'why' transparently: Don't say "strategic reasons" or "business decision." Explain the real reason: security vulnerabilities, maintenance burden preventing new innovation, low usage justifying resource reallocation, technology shift enabling better alternatives.
Customers may not like the decision, but they'll respect honesty. Vague corporate-speak destroys trust.
Provide clear migration paths: "If you currently use Feature X for [use case], here's how to achieve the same outcome with Feature Y." Don't just say "migrate to new version"—show them how.
Offer support and resources: Migration guides, dedicated support hours, one-on-one migration assistance for enterprise customers, extended timelines for customers with complex implementations.
Set clear timeline with milestones: "April 1: Migration tools available. June 1: Feature in read-only mode. August 1: Feature fully sunset." Customers need to plan.
Segmenting Deprecation Communication
Not all customers should receive identical deprecation communication. Segment your approach:
High-impact customers (heavy users of deprecated feature or paid enterprise accounts) deserve personal outreach. Don't let them find out via mass email. Account teams should notify them directly, offer dedicated migration support, and potentially negotiate extended timelines or custom solutions.
Medium-impact customers get standard email communication but with offers for migration webinars, office hours, or dedicated support channels.
Low-impact or inactive users of deprecated features get standard announcements but don't need intensive support.
Non-users of the deprecated feature shouldn't be alarmed unnecessarily. Either exclude them from communications or clearly state in subject line "Only affects users of Feature X."
This segmentation prevents low-priority deprecations from triggering enterprise customer panic.
Managing Common Deprecation Scenarios
Sunsetting entire products requires the most careful communication. Customers built businesses on your product. They need:
- 12+ months notice when possible
- Export tools to get their data
- Recommendations for alternative solutions (even competitors)
- Refunds or credits for unused subscription time
- Case-by-case extension negotiations for customers who can't migrate quickly
Deprecating features within products: Less disruptive but still requires clear communication about why, when, and how to achieve the same outcomes without that feature.
Ending support for old versions or APIs: Emphasize security and reliability benefits of upgrading, provide upgrade tools, offer extended support for customers who can't upgrade immediately.
Discontinuing pricing tiers: Grandfather existing customers when possible. If you must migrate them, give long notice and clearly show new pricing and value.
Shutting down integrations or partnerships: Explain why partnership ended (if appropriate), provide alternative integrations, export data before shutdown.
Handling Negative Customer Reactions
Even perfect communication will generate some negative reactions. Prepare for:
"Why are you taking away something I paid for?": Explain what they paid for was access during the subscription period, not permanent access to specific features. Offer alternatives that provide similar value.
"This is going to break our workflows!": Acknowledge the disruption, provide detailed migration plans, offer hands-on support to minimize downtime.
"You're forcing us to switch to competitors": If migration paths exist in your product, show them clearly. If not, be honest that this might not be the right product fit anymore and offer to help with data export.
"We need more time": Have a process for evaluating extension requests. Enterprise customers with complex implementations may legitimately need more time.
Social media backlash: Respond publicly with same empathy and transparency as private communications. Don't get defensive. Acknowledge concerns and point to support resources.
Empower customer success and support teams to escalate cases that need special handling. Some customers may deserve custom solutions.
What Not to Do
Hiding deprecation in release notes or ToS updates instead of proactive communication: Customers will find out eventually and trust will be destroyed.
Giving inadequate notice relative to impact: Sunsetting a critical feature with 30 days notice for enterprise customers is relationship-ending.
Providing no migration path or alternatives: "We're killing Feature X. Figure it out yourself" guarantees churn.
Making promises you can't keep: Don't offer extended timelines or support you can't deliver. Under-promise and over-deliver.
Being vague about timeline or impact: "Sometime next year we'll probably sunset this" creates uncertainty and anxiety without helping customers plan.
Ignoring feedback: If multiple customers highlight the same migration challenge, address it in updated communications or by providing additional support.
Building Your Deprecation Communication Plan
Start planning communication simultaneously with the deprecation decision, not after engineering has already started the shutdown process.
Identify all affected customers and segment by impact level. High-impact customers may need 6-12 months notice; low-impact might need 60 days.
Create comprehensive migration documentation before announcing. Customers need to know how to migrate the day you announce, not weeks later.
Develop the communication timeline: initial announcement date, update cadence, final warnings, sunset date.
Draft all communication materials: emails, blog posts, in-app notifications, support center articles, FAQs.
Brief all customer-facing teams: sales, CS, support. They'll field questions and need consistent answers.
Set up tracking for migration progress. Monitor how many customers have migrated so you can provide targeted support to stragglers.
Plan post-sunset follow-up to thank customers who migrated successfully and gather feedback on the process.
Product deprecation is inevitable. How you communicate it is a choice. The companies that do it well treat deprecation communication as seriously as launch communication, recognize it as a trust-building opportunity, and provide customers with clarity, support, and respect. That's how you kill products without killing relationships.