How to Write the Perfect Product Launch Email (+8 Examples for Inspiration)

Google Glass. Premier smokeless cigarettes. New Coke. What do those expensively developed, highly anticipated products have in common?

They all flopped.

And they’re in good company. Of nearly 30,000 new products launched every year, an estimated 95 percent end in abject failure.

Product failures happen for any number of reasons, from the simple (like running out of cash) to the more complex (such as regulatory or legal challenges). But with many products, the issues stem from a badly executed launch.

Good product launches allow you to:

• Reach an already dialed in audience
• Let customers know when you’re launching a new product
• Generate buzz for the release
• Fill readers in on key details
• Show them the value

Email marketing plays a key role in pretty much all product launches—hardly surprising, given that email delivers an average return of $36 for every $1 spent. To help you nail your next product launch, we wrote this guide to explain:

And, because we like to keep things grounded in reality, we’ve rounded up XX of our favorite product launch email examples from brands like yours.

How to Write a Product Launch Email

Planning is essential for any successful marketing campaign, and product launch emails are no different. Before you start writing your email, you need to:

1. Identify Your Target Audience

Are you sending a generic product launch email to everyone on your marketing list? Or are you creating different emails for different customer segments? We’d always recommend option #2. For instance, you might share a discount code or pre-order email to your most valuable customers.

2. Define Their “Need” for Your Product

Obviously, any product launch email should communicate the key features and benefits of the product in question. But if you’re personalizing your launch emails for different customer segments, you can drill deeper to pull out more relevant benefits.

Say you’re launching a new pair of walking boots. Let’s consider how your messaging might vary for different audiences:

• Die-hard walkers might want to know about how durable they are (including any guarantees you offer).
• Early adopters may be interested in the space-age materials used to craft your new boots, and why you chose them.
• Older walkers might be keen to find out about how much support your boots provide and how comfortable they are to wear.

3. Come Up With a “Hook”

The fact your product is new isn’t always enough to get customers jazzed up for the launch date. So you need to define the hook for your product launch email—the message that compels people to take action. It could involve:

• Highlighting scarcity. You could say limited stocks are available—and they’re expected to sell out soon.
• Promoting an offer. Maybe existing customers get a 10 percent saving on your latest product, or perhaps it’s available as part of a discounted bundle for the next 48 hours.
• Emphasizing exclusivity. Encourage customers to be the first to get their hands on your latest creation.

If you're launching a new product, and that product is good, you have every reason to put everything you've got behind it. We recently spoke with Bryan Reisberg from Little Chonk, who highlighted his product launch strategy, and how effective it was.

Once again, different offers will resonate with different customers, so you’ll likely see better results from segmenting your audience.

Different Types of Product Launch Emails

There are several varieties of product launch email. All have broadly the same goal—promoting your new product—but they achieve it in different ways. Here are five popular new product launch email examples:

• Product release emails are for telling your customers about an all-new future product, or a new version of an existing product. 
• Pre-order emails go hand-in-hand with product release emails, giving customers an opportunity to secure their purchase ahead of the launch date.
• Pre-launch promotion emails involve telling your audience about any special prices or deals on your new product when it first hits the market.
• Event invitations are for inviting customers to special launch events, such as a webinar or physical launch party.
• Feature announcements are about teasing the features and benefits of soon-to-be-launched products.

6 Elements of a Great Product Launch Email

While there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to writing a high-performing product launch email, the best examples typically share at least some of the following elements. Factor them in when developing your next product launch email template.

1. A Smart Product Launch Email Sequence

First off, it’s important to shift your mindset away from writing a single product launch email. Instead, your goal is to build a sequence of 3 – 5 emails that use various tactics and “hooks” to promote your new product, drum up interest, and drive sales.

Here’s how that sequence might look:

We’d urge you to experiment with timings and messaging to find the approach that resonates best with your audience.

2. An Eye-Catching Subject Line

It’s impossible to overstate the importance of product launch email subject lines, with almost half of consumers choosing whether to open emails based on the subject line alone.

Your objective here is to write something that stands out amid a busy inbox, without giving too much away—after all, you still want people to click. Here are seven examples to inspire you, taken from some of the thousands of product launch emails we’ve collected in our email marketing swipe file:

We’d advise you to experiment with your product launch email subject lines. Write multiple variants and see which deliver the highest open rates.

3. A (Brief) Product Launch Overview

On average, consumers spend just 10 seconds reading any given brand email, so it’s important you convey the purpose of your email as succinctly as possible. Give your audience a top-level overview that explains:

• What your product is
• Why you developed it
• What it does
• When it’ll be available

4. Key Product Benefits

This is your opportunity to expand on the overview and flesh out the most exciting elements of your shiny new product.

Note the word “benefits” rather than “features”. They’re sometimes used interchangeably, but they’re actually very different:

• Features are what your product does (e.g. “made from sustainable materials”).
• Benefits are why your features matter to your customers (e.g. “reduces your environmental impact”).

Or, to put it another way, benefits are why people should care about your new product.

5. Attractive Product Visuals

Images help to describe your product in a way that words simply can’t. Also, it’s highly likely customers are going to want to know what your product looks like — especially if you’re in a niche like fashion or beauty.

Remember: you don’t need to give the game away in your first product launch email. Try revealing more (and more detailed) visuals throughout your launch sequence to keep your audience engaged. You might also consider linking to a launch video that shows how your product looks “IRL”.

6. A Compelling CTA

Every email you create should include a clear and compelling call to action (CTA) that tells the customer what to do next. In the context of a product launch email, this might include:

• Placing a pre-order
• Joining a waitlist
• Registering for a pre-launch event
• Clicking through to a dedicated pre-launch landing page to learn more about the product
• Buying the product

Again, try testing multiple CTA examples for each email in your launch sequence to understand what resonates best with your customers.

8 Examples of Product Launch Emails to Copy

1. Willo

Electric toothbrushes have been around for a while. But Willo takes the concept to new heights. It’s “an automated oral care robot designed to replace the toothbrush and give everyone a dynamically consistent clean.”

Willo uses cutting-edge technology to not just simplify toothbrushing but ensure a much deeper clean than what traditional oral care products can offer. And this product launch email does an excellent job of succinctly getting this message across.

Here’s the first thing a reader sees when they open it.

There's a super simple yet eye-catching copy that says, “The countdown has started…” along with a picture of Willo. This instantly grabs a reader’s attention and gets them to take notice.

It piques their interest and creates a nice build up that makes many people want to scroll down to learn more. When they do, they see this.

Willo lets readers know the product will be live in 24 hours and they’ve been chosen to receive an exclusive update. And that’s good.

“People like things that are exclusive,” explains Zach Heller of Business 2 Community. “They want what others covet. They want things that signal to the world that they are one of a select few. It’s in our nature as consumers.”

Willo also lets readers know when their e-commerce site will officially be opening and that 1,000 units will be available to their “Pioneer members.” Below that, Willo offers an “Exclusive Pioneer Code,” which allows readers to make their purchase.

And at the bottom of the email, there’s a brief video that offers a nice intro to the product.

In just over two minutes, Willo provides a fairly detailed overview that helps readers understand the ins and outs and know exactly what separates this product from the competition.

You can check it out for yourself here.

So, in this product launch email example, Willo effectively gets the word out and provides readers with the critical information they need without rambling on about it. The email looks great visually, and with minimal cognitive exertion, it gets leads up-to-speed, prompting many people to buy.

If you're unsure what kind of email copy or subject line would convert the best for your next launch, try using a workflow that split-tests different versions.

2. Burberry

Burberry is a luxury British fashion brand with a reputation for sleek, chic style. One of the main reasons their customers love them is because they consistently put out new collections, which are always unique and ultra fashionable. Case in point, the TB Summer Monogram Collection.

“A journey from reality to fantasy, the campaign blends real-life capture with a dreamlike digital world inspired by geometric skateparks and swimming pools.”

If you check out the collection on their website, you’ll quickly see how innovative it is. And Burberry does a fantastic job of conveying the vibe on this product launch email example.

It starts off with this beautiful image of a model wearing one of the swimsuits from the collection perched on top of geometric cubes.

It’s a definite attention-grabber and does a great job of  showcasing Burberry’s newest products. Just below that, the brand gives readers a quick rundown on the launch, featuring concise copy to fill them in on the details.

Burberry also uses two dead simple CTAs to instantly move readers from the email to their website.

Below that, readers can take a close look at one of the most popular items from the new product line—the TB Monogram print handbag, while selecting the exact style they prefer.

And at the bottom, readers can discover more where Burberry directs them to men’s bags, sunglasses, and women’s bags.

This email is very straightforward, and with little effort readers can figure out what’s going on and why they should be interested. I love the clean, elegant design, which meshes perfectly with Burberry’s sophisticated branding.

I also love how they condense all of the essential information down into an easily digestible format. So, there’s much to be learned from this product launch email example.

3. Dims.

Dims. is an e-commerce brand that sells “contemporary furnishings from the world’s top emergent designers.” Their products have a natural, modern, minimalist aesthetic that I personally love.

Besides their killer product line, a big part of Dims. success has been their marketing. And this email featuring the launch of a new product, the “Word Table Light” is a great example of that.

It’s heavy on the imagery and light on the copy — a formula that tends to work well. Here’s the first thing readers see after opening it.

There’s an uber simple header saying, “Introducing Word Table Light from Dims,” followed by a clear-cut CTA of “Shop Now.”  That’s about as straightforward as it gets, and it conveys the absolute essentials to readers with just a glance.

Scroll down just a bit, and readers then see the full size of the product.

Then, Dims. features another great looking image of the Word Table Light in a dark room, giving readers a feel for the atmospheric vibe it creates.

This is followed by some more concise copy, which elaborates on the product and an additional CTA that leads to the same page. Dims. throws in a couple of more images in rooms with different levels of lighting…

…and the email wraps up with some brief information about the company and what their UVP is, along with a link where readers can learn more.

Like I mentioned before, an integral part of crafting a solid product launch email is helping customers understand your product. In some cases like Willo where there’s a lot to unpack, that means including an explainer video.

Other times, when a product is fairly self-explanatory, like this table light is from Dims., the best way to do that is to simply feature a handful of pictures like they did here.

At the end of the day, the objective is to help readers connect the dots and compel them to want to learn more. So, figure out the best way to go about that, and structure your product launch email accordingly.  

4. Burrow

Here’s a brand that makes “clever, uncompromising furniture and other nice things fit for modern life at home.” In this email, Burrow gives readers the skinny on the unveiling of their newest product, the “Nomad Sectional.”

It starts off with a bang with this header and a stunning image of the Nomad.

So, with a quick glance, readers know what’s up and can tell what the product looks like and how big it is. Directly below that, Burrow whips up some sharp copy and highlights their new product’s UVP.

The Nomad Sectional has an award-winning design and is big enough to fit the whole family. But it’s “not your grandmother’s bulky sectional sofa,” — a line I thought was extremely witty.

The CTA is well-placed.

And Burrow lets readers know that the Nomad Sectional is totally customizable.

In fact, customers can design their own cozy corner and ensure their couch has ample seating.

Below that, Burrow dives even deeper into their UVP, explaining that they offer free, one-week shipping on every order so customers don’t have to deal with the hassle of borrowing a truck.

I know that’s a huge selling point for me. And to cap it off, Burrow also mentions that their sectionals can easily be disassembled for customers who plan on moving.

Here Burrow is stacking up value upon value and shows why the Nomad Sectional is more than “just another couch.”

5. GoPro

I think most people are familiar with GoPro by now. They’re one of the leaders in action cameras and are used by countless vloggers to capture epic video footage.

One of their main strengths is their branding. They’ve managed to create massive brand equity and become the gold standard in their industry. They even have a staggering 17.7 million Instagram followers, and counting.

This product launch email featuring what (at the time) was their latest product, the GoPro 8, contains all of the vital elements readers are looking for but boils it down into content that’s insanely easy to absorb.

Readers can literally see everything without having to scroll whatsoever. It starts off with the GoPro logo at the top, along with a sleek looking image of the product and the number 8 so readers can instantly put it all together.

This is followed by hyper-concise copy that doesn’t mince words.

It gets straight to the point, while giving readers a brief overview of the UVP, which is “Built in mounting. Unshakably smooth video. And so much more.” Then, there’s a crystal clear CTA of “Get Yours.”

There’s no beating around the bush or long-winded spiels here. GoPro simply dives right in and gets the word out about their most recent product, providing readers with the essential information they need to know. And to find out the full enchilada, all they have to do is click-through.

So, if you’re looking to achieve simplicity, this is one of the best product launch email examples to base your formula off of.

6. Apple AirPods Pro

I generally try to find examples from smaller brands because they tend to be more relatable. But this one from Apple was so good that I couldn’t resist.

It was for the initial launch of their wireless Bluetooth earbuds, which were released back in October of 2019. As you would expect, the aesthetics are face-meltingly gorgeous. It starts off with a closeup of the AirPods Pro.

Then it quickly launches into what makes them different from other products on the market. Apple starts off with silky smooth copywriting in the headline saying, “Magic like you’ve never heard.”

And then touches on the key selling points like “Active Noise cancellation for immersive sound”…

…customizable fit, a 24 hour+ listening time, sweat and water resistance,  and transparency mode. And at the bottom, Apple points out that AirPods Pro are effortless to set up and come with a wireless charging case.

In terms of CTAs, they’re strategically peppered throughout here…

…here…

…and here, seamlessly directing readers to their offers.

When it comes to crafting a rock solid product launch email that fires on all cylinders and compels readers to take action, it doesn’t get much better than this example. I especially love how they broke down the main selling points into a bulleted format alongside crisp images.

7. Three Ships

One of the best ways to get customers excited about your product launch is to make them feel involved in the launch. That way, they’re not just a bunch of faceless consumers being sold a new product—they’re part of a community.

Natural skincare brand Three Ships understands this. In my next product launch email example, they go out of their way to make people feel involved in the launch.

It all starts with a short-but-sweet overview of the new product, including one of the key features and the launch date:

Things get even better from there.

Next up, Three Ships invite customers to get pre-access to the new product by attending their virtual launch party, two days ahead of the full launch. Then they give even more reasons to sign up for the event, including free shipping and giveaways:

Last but not least, Three Ships add a persuasive CTA to the end of their launch email, prompting customers to “get early access”:

This adds some subtle urgency to the messaging. Offering early access suggests the product is in high demand — and that you might miss out if you don’t sign up.

8. Warby Parker

Sometimes, product launches speak for themselves; your only job is to get the message out.

That’s certainly the case with our next example, from online glasses brand Warby Parker — who were in the fortunate position of having a big name onboard to drum up excitement for their latest launch:

With Chloë Sevigny in their corner, Warby Parker’s goal was to build anticipation over an extended period, culminating on the launch date.

To do that, they fed customers a slow drip of product teasers, including this first look at the collection:

This encouraged Warby Parker’s audience to keep checking their inboxes for further updates, ensuring they remained engaged with the whole product launch email sequence.

Conclusion

As with so much in the world of ecommerce marketing, the key to creating high-performing product launch emails lies in effective segmentation.

With segmentation, you can target different customer groups with different hooks and product messaging, share emails that feel truly personalized, and send post-launch follow-up emails with people who are yet to buy.

Drip gives you the tools to do all that and more by combining ​​store, visitor, and marketing data so you can create segments based on customer behavior and engagement.

Find out what Drip can do for you by signing up for your 14-day free trial today!