Launch Strategy

Template skill. Fill in the [BRACKETED] placeholders with your organization's details — or paste your org context and ask Claude to populate them for you.

Launch Strategy — [YOUR ORGANIZATION] Standards

Launch Framework

[YOUR ORGANIZATION] follows a four-phase launch process for programs, research, products, and initiatives. This skill guides you through each phase with templates, stakeholder mapping, and deliverables.

Phase 1: Scoping

Define the initiative before any work begins.

Key questions to answer:

• What is this? (program, research report, product, event, tool, partnership, announcement)
• Who is the owner? Who is the project manager?
• What team or department does this sit under?
• What's the target launch date?
• Who are the external parties involved? (research partners, sponsors, vendors, clients)
• Who is the target audience? (all customers/members, specific segment, regional, etc.)
• Are there revenue or partnership opportunities?
• Does this require board or executive approval?

Deliverable: Completed Project Brief (see template below)

Phase 2: Kick Off

Set up the formal project infrastructure.

Checklist:

• Complete Project Brief and upload to [YOUR DOCUMENT STORAGE]
• Create project in [YOUR PROJECT MANAGEMENT TOOL] with standard sections:
  • Sections: Scoping, Prep, In Progress, Launch, Wrap-up
• Schedule kickoff meeting with core internal stakeholders
• Identify all stakeholders and their roles:

Phase 3: Planning

Workstream-specific planning to align on execution.

Workstreams to activate (as applicable):

1. Content & Communications

   • Editorial calendar for launch sequence (use content-strategy skill)
   • Email drafts for each audience segment
   • Social media plan
   • Blog/web content
   • Press release (if external-facing)

2. [Member/Client/Community] Engagement

   • Which [members/clients/users] are involved or targeted?
   • [Board/leadership] involvement and briefing needs
   • [Member/client] communications timeline
   • Resource library or portal updates

3. Events & Webinars

   • Launch event or webinar details
   • Speaker/panelist coordination
   • Registration and promotion plan

4. Sales & Partnerships

   • Sponsorship or partnership opportunities
   • Partner deliverables and timelines
   • Sales enablement materials

5. Technical & Operations

   • Website updates (landing pages, downloads, gating)
   • Tool/platform setup (if applicable)
   • Data collection and reporting setup

Phase 4: Execution

Track progress in [YOUR PROJECT MANAGEMENT TOOL], surface blockers regularly.

Weekly tracking:

• Move tasks across sections in [YOUR PROJECT MANAGEMENT TOOL] as work progresses
• Surface blockers in the weekly team call
• Report progress in the relevant [Slack/Teams] channel

Launch Sequence Template:

Project Brief Template

A ready-to-fill brief also ships with this skill at templates/project-brief.md — copy it and fill the bracketed fields.

# Project Brief: [Project Title]

## Overview
- **Parent Program/Department:** [which team or initiative this falls under]
- **Project Tracker:** [link to project management tool]
- **Document Folder:** [link to storage location]
- **Project Owner:** [Name, title]
- **Project Manager:** [Name]
- **External Parties:** [partners, vendors, sponsors]

## Project Summary
[2-3 paragraph description of the initiative, its goals, and expected impact]

## Project Inputs
[What existing research, data, content, or assets feed into this project]

## Deliverables & Supporting Activities

| # | Deliverable | Target Date | Owner |
|---|-------------|-------------|-------|
| 1 | [First deliverable] | [Date] | [Name] |
| 2 | [Second deliverable] | [Date] | [Name] |

## [Member/Client/Audience] Engagement
- **Target segments:** [who benefits or is involved]
- **Engagement activities:** [webinars, workshops, downloads, etc.]
- **[Board/leadership] involvement:** [which groups need briefing or input]

## Revenue & Partner Opportunities
[Sponsorship, co-marketing, paid tiers, or partner deliverables]

## Promotional Activities
[How this will be promoted — channels, timeline, assets needed]

Integration with Your Tools

• Project management: create the project in [YOUR PROJECT MANAGEMENT TOOL] using your standard launch sections (see Phase 2 above)
• Document storage: upload the Project Brief to [YOUR DOCUMENT STORAGE]
• Team chat: post updates in the relevant [Slack/Teams] channels; use a general/org-wide channel for major launches
• CRM: track engagement and revenue attribution in [YOUR CRM], if this launch has a revenue or membership angle
• Email platform: set up launch communication sequences in [YOUR EMAIL MARKETING TOOL]

Launch Scale Guide

Adjust the framework depth to match the launch scale. Not every launch needs all four phases fully built out — but every launch needs the scoping questions answered.