In the startup stages of B2B tech companies, it is common to announce every new feature and functionality publicly. And that makes sense, because the early stage audience is typically formed of innovators. Innovators tend to be tech savvy and love to hear about every new button and API change that a vendor releases. But with modern SaaS companies releasing weekly, if not daily, talking about every release to every audience quickly becomes as overwhelming for customers and buyers, as for internal teams.
When B2B tech companies mature from the startup phase into scale-up, it is time to approach the release experience in a more nuanced way. This starts with consciously decoupling the product releases from product launches.
Let’s summarize - and oversimplify - the differences between product releases and product launches in the table below:
Release and launch may coincide but they don't have to, depending on the nature of the release and the goals attached. For example,
- A silent product launch is when a company releases new features or updates, but does not do any marketing or sales activities to announce them. This is often done with regular updates and bug fixes that don't require a lot of extra attention or functionality that serves to catch-up with the competition.
- In contrast, a company may decide to launch an alpha version of a product - or even vision - with a broad launch program to raise awareness or gain a competitive head-start for a new idea and trend.
Mature product organizations apply tiering to both releases and launches depending on their complexity, opportunity and investment. A joint stakeholder group consisting of cross-functional leaders then decides the appropriate tier for any given release and launch as well as the related timing. This also changes the way Product Management and Product Marketing collaborate and manage work streams both in the engineering and go-to-market organizations of the house. The right balance between regular updates, bug fixes, new features, and launch activities can help B2B tech companies reach their goals with more precision and impact.
Unravelling the differences between a product release and a product launch will help B2B tech vendors better understand how to effectively scale their operations. The end result? A product launch experience that resonates with customers and buyers alike - now that’s a well-oiled machine!
