Consider preparing a 15-person Christmas party for your extended family on the back of a napkin. Yes, you must invite Aunt Cindy. Organizing your product launch using merely a spreadsheet is similar, but with fewer unpleasant cousins. To execute a flawless product launch strategy, you need a powerful tool capable of handling the specifics of your product launch plan—a single location that has everything you need to do, who will do it, and when it needs to be done.
You may keep organized by using a product launch calendar. Managers can identify when certain activities are at risk of falling behind, and employees understand their position in the larger scheme. If your calendar tool is disorganized, difficult to update, or lacks the functionality you want, it may generate turmoil and jeopardize the entire launch.
Today’s market is flooded with project management tools, each claiming to be the only thing you need for your next product launch. In this article, we’ll examine some of the best tools for creating product launch calendars so you can choose the one that’s best for you and your team.
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Airtable: for those who enjoy customizing their product launch
The adaptability of various viewpoints is frequently needed while juggling features, assignees, and launch plans to keep everything in line and on schedule. You can create tables (such as those for individuals or projects) and cross-reference them because Airtable was designed as a database (x people are tied to x projects, x projects have x delivery dates).
That can sound difficult, but sometimes getting nerdy is important to begin a multifaceted project. After creating your database, you can use Airtable to visualize the launch of your product in a calendar format. In this manner, your roadmap to launch success will be laid out in front of you.
One of the most significant advantages of Airtable is that it is completely configurable. Want to add external data, such as images, to your calendar? You are capable of doing so. Do you want to set a countdown timer for the next product release? You can do it as well.
Airtable’s major strength and shortcoming is its amount of customization. For advanced users looking to learn how to get the most out of Airtable, this platform will reward you with even more opportunities to customize your calendar to meet your specific needs. However, there is a severe learning curve, and novice users may struggle at first.
However, there is some promise for new users. Airtable provides a free product launch template as well as advice on developing a product launch calendar to assist you in taking your initial steps. However, if you’re searching for something simpler, you might be better off looking at other tools on our list.
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Trello: for those who like the simplicity
Trello may be the appropriate answer for your product launch schedule if you value simplicity and ease of use. Trello, which is based on a Kanban table system, allows you to construct a board with many columns (such as ideas, in process, and completed) and then move tasks across the board as they progress from one phase to the next.
Trello’s main benefit over other applications is its ease of use. Drag and drop a card from one phase to the next to navigate the board easily. The cards themselves may be customized with spaces for descriptions, subtasks, due dates, images, and a task owner to keep everyone on the same page.
If you manage a small business with few users and tasks to schedule, Trello makes a great product launch calendar. Its simplicity, however, could be restrictive for bigger, more complex launches. You face the risk of losing some tasks if your Trello board has 50 or more jobs. Trello attempts to address this by sending email reminders of future due dates, however, if the due date has already passed, it may be too late to complete your tasks.
If you’re on the fence about Trello, give it a go and see what you think. Trello is free with a basic account, and you can get started using their product launch calendar template.
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Asana: for those who enjoy creating custom views and reports on product launch
Trello’s major project management competition is Asana, which offers a comparable but more complicated tool. As with Trello, Asana allows you to create tasks with subtasks, descriptions, and owners. However, Asana provides additional alternatives for staying organized, making it great for firms where Trello is a bit too limited. These features include a calendar or task displays, as well as customized time frames rather than fixed due dates.
Asana’s plethora of perspectives and reports also aid everyone in staying on target. For example, macro views allow you to see what phases all of your tasks are presently in. It also allow you to gauge how prepared you are for launch.
Individual users may also see what they need to accomplish to contribute to the larger project through personalized views.
Asana is perfect for individuals looking for a careful mix between the complexity of Airtable and the simplicity of Trello since all of these features help you stay on top of a sophisticated product launch strategy. When it comes to difficult abilities like automation or managing your many views, there’ll be a learning experience for new users. But the fundamental cards and actions should be simple enough for anybody to start using right away.
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Pipefy: for automation enthusiasts
Pipefy is for you if you enjoy automation and custom fields. While many products include custom fields, Pipefy’s custom fields may be tailored to the precise phases of a process. For example, if you’re planning blog posts for your product launch, you can move a task into the “Blog Post” stage. Pipefy will add custom fields on the card for you. In this manner, every time you create a blog post for a launch, your procedures will be consistent, eliminating the need for you to manually set up each card.
Customized flows are another advantage Pipefy offers over competitors like Trello or Asana. Pipefy allows you to define the path a job will follow from conception to completion. For example, a custom flow may route a blog post to an editor once it has completed the writing process, or it could route it to a manager for review before it goes live.
All of this automation keeps product releases structured and saves you time from creating and updating Kanban boards. As a result, Pipefy is suitable for larger businesses or those who often introduce new products.
It will take some time to perfect and implement your procedures. But once they are, you may utilize them for every future launch. With their product launch calendar template, you can get a feel for Pipefy for free.
Choose the product launch calendar that works best for your team
A product launch planner’s main objective is to keep track of who, why, and when. Every tool has a unique collection of characteristics; the objective is to select one that benefits your team the most. How do you prefer to visualize the process? How do you two typically collaborate? In comparison to existing tools, how much detail do you wish to include in the launch planning tool? It’s easy to test out a product for free and evaluate how it performs for you and your team, which is wonderful news. Who knows, perhaps that napkin will work (but probably not). Enjoy your planning!