Planning to launch a new product or update some features? New product announcement emails could hugely contribute to your launch’s success.
This is your opportunity to build anticipation and drive early engagement, which can boost conversions once launch day arrives. But bland, poorly designed or text-only emails won’t do.
In this guide, find out how to create highly engaging and beautiful emails quickly and easily. We’ve got 5 of the best product launch templates, ready for you to use, and best practice tips to knock your product launch out of the park.
A new product announcement email is a marketing tool you can use to attract attention and boost sales of a product.
It can announce the release or upcoming release of new features, a new version, or a whole new product.
You can use these emails to reach an engaged audience. Keep it short and sweet, covering the essentials, like when the new product will be available and what’s so great about it.
Emails are a great way to get the word out about your product launch.
Here’s why they’re so important:
It’s best to follow a process when you have a new product to announce.
Luckily, that process doesn’t have to be complicated.
Simply make sure you know what information to include in the email. At the most basic level, you should include the launch date and time, a summary of the product or features, and some clear benefits.
Send the email (or create an email sequence if you’re sending more than one) and always respond quickly to replies or enquiries.
You already know that HTML emails generally get better engagement, so choose a visually interesting design over plain text.
Top tip: If you’re looking for an easy way to design engaging emails and write irresistible copy, use an email builder. You can access hundreds of customizable templates, including product promotion templates, and can update those templates in minutes using a drag-and-drop editor.
Email builders let you design emails that follow all best practices, without the need to hire coders or designers. So, you can save money as well as time.
Alright, so now you have our general process recommendations, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of writing your new product announcement email.
nitty-gritty of writing your new product announcement email.
Make sure you don’t miss the important details by starting with an outline.
Jot down everything that should be included in note form, before writing out the email in full. Follow a clear, engaging format (this is where a new product announcement template helps—we’ll explain more soon!)
Your recipients probably get hundreds of emails a day.
Write a subject line they can’t ignore. Keep it short and snappy, avoid spammy words like “cheap” and “100% satisfaction”, show some personality, and use emojis if they’re relevant to your brand.
Your email should be more about how the product helps your audience than about your business.
As a general guide, use “you” more than “we”.
Give recipients somewhere to go next, such as a sales page or enquiry form. Your CTA depends on what you want them to do: Should they place a pre-order or get on the waiting list, for example?
Make it clear and bold, so the process is as smooth as possible.
Top tip: Free up more time to craft the right message by designing your emails with an email builder.
Email builders come packed with features that help you save time and create stunning, professional emails. For example, add your company branding (from your logo to color palette and fonts) using a Brand Kit. You’ll be instantly recognizable in the inbox - which is key for building trust - and your emails will stand out in the inbox for all the right reasons.
There’s more than just one type of new product announcement email. Depending on the product itself, and your email marketing strategy, you can choose from the following emails.
Build hype by sending this email in the lead-up to launch day. This “early access” builds interest, which you can leverage when the product goes on sale.
You can send one or multiple pre-launch emails. Just make sure every email fulfils a purpose. For example, one email could offer a “sneak peek” of what the product looks like to build curiosity, while another highlights the benefits, to convert more customers.
A pre-order email is action-based; the goal is to get recipients to part with their money before the item has hit the shelves (whether digital or physical).
By now, you should have covered the benefits in previous emails and should be talking with an engaged audience. Offer an incentive, such as an exclusive discount, for pre-orders.
You could use a similar email to encourage waiting list sign-ups, too.
Suitable for SaaS brands, a beta launch email gives users the chance to be the first to try a new feature or product (and report their findings back to you).
To make this more effective, get clear on the value your product offers. Use terms like “early access” and “exclusive access” to show recipients they’re getting something special. Drive action by offering a discount or another great perk to beta testers.
Spread the word when the launch day arrives with a concise, engaging email.
It helps to reiterate the benefits here and provide a clear CTA so readers can make a purchase.
Experiment with limited-time offers. For example, maybe you offer a 25% discount that’s valid for 24 hours only, or a premium subscription at a lower price for the first 100 sign-ups.
Boost your chances of success by using an email builder to build these emails. In-built performance analytics let you measure what works, so you can A/B test everything from subject lines to imagery, CTAs and offers.
Monitor open rates and click rates to see what gets the best response. Email builders work with over 50 ESPs, and analytics are available no matter where you send emails from. So, you can finally collect tangible performance data even if you use Gmail or Outlook!
A strong email means nothing unless it gets opened.
Do your open rates a favor with eye-catching subject lines. Be witty, raise curiosity or ask a question—whatever you need to encourage opens! (Without resorting to shady tactics, of course.)
Use these 10 subject lines for inspiration:
The best product release emails don’t stand alone. They’re part of a carefully thought-out sequence of emails. Launches are more effective this way, as you can use emails to build anticipation, and avoid cramming every detail into one email.
Here’s a quick guide to the best time to send emails:
We’ve rounded up five of the best new product launch examples for all stages of the process. These templates are ready to use and customize, for the simplest way yet to send effective emails that help to boost uptake of your new product.
The sneak peek pre-launch email should be one of the first (if not the first) in the sequence.
Give little away, but provide a glimpse. For example, show a close-up of one part of the product or blur the product.
Remind readers to save the date and give them an option to add a reminder to their calendars.
Your product has landed. It’s time to tell the world.
Your launch day email should provide more clarity about the product and its benefits. If you’ve added new features, outline them here.
Provide a clear CTA for users to buy the product, and consider offering a discount.
Get on-the-ground testers for your product.
Clarity is key in this email. Ask your audience to become a beta tester and explain what they get in return. For example, will they get a discount when the product launches, or will they get access before anyone else? (Sometimes, exclusive access is enough to sway a beta tester!)
Don’t forget to cover what the latest product or update can offer.
Build buzz in the lead-up to your product release with a pre-order email that’s exciting, engaging and big on benefits.
Be sure your CTA uses clear language, such as ‘Pre-Order Now’ and is styled in a bold color that stands out against the background.
Highlight benefits with clever formatting, so they don’t get lost in big chunks of text, like in this promotional email example.
Ask users to tell you what they really think.
It’s nice to assume our products are working perfectly and being well-received, but only genuine feedback from customers can confirm that. Find out what your users like and what areas could be improved with a simple feedback request email.
There are a lot of moving parts to create a successful product launch email campaign.
Keep things simple - and spot on - by following these best practices.
Group your user base into segments, or “lists” based on previous purchasing behavior and/or interactions with your brand.
Essentially, you want to target the groups most likely to be interested in your new product or feature and send the emails to them only. Otherwise, you risk bombarding other users with emails they don’t care about.
If this is new to you, read up on email segmentation and consider finding a tool, like Hubspot or OptinMonster, to help. Keep in mind that these email marketing tools have limited design capabilities, so best to combine their CRM with an email builder to design the emails, before exporting them to send to your list! The export process is a breeze, thanks to direct integrations with major email services such as Mailchimp.
Using new product announcement templates in an email builder streamlines the design process, potentially saving hours and making great email design accessible to everyone.
That’s because the templates are optimized for email with drag and drop functionality so you don’t require coders or designers, plus there is even a brand kit to keep all your emails on brand every time..
The templates are highly engaging as they follow best practices for elements like format, messaging and multi-media, so you can focus on writing great content instead of trying to create emails from scratch.
Email builders also make collaboration a breeze. With real-time editing features, anyone on your team can review, edit and approve emails together—even if you work remotely.
Your emails should grab attention, which is no easy feat when you’re competing with hundreds of other emails and marketing messages daily.
Follow best design practices and go for a clean, digestible layout that doesn’t overwhelm readers. Break sections up with headings, bullet points and icons, and include high-quality imagery of your product to show off its best side.
With an email builder, you get access to a full multi-media content library, which includes images, GIFs, videos and even files like Word and PDF, so you can showcase your product effortlessly.
Your library also integrates with the likes of Feedly and Slack, letting you collect content as you go, and save it in your email builder library. You can then drag and drop content into emails, to save lots of time during the design process.
With functionality built inside the tool like in-line image editing, you can crop, resize and move images to make sure they look perfect, all without leaving the editor. Remember the days of switching to third-party editing tools and repeatedly uploading images to check if your changes work in your emails? Yeah, they’re over!
Give your new product or feature the best chance of success with great new product announcement email marketing. Get this right to build interest, drive engagement and ultimately maximize sales, for a product that’s a hit from the get-go.
Avoid the risk of a poorly formatted email, and don’t waste time trying to design emails from scratch. Instead, use an email builder that’s loaded with highly engaging and impactful templates. Designed by professionals, for professionals, these templates could be your secret tool to product launch success.