Product launch creative checklist for SaaS and AI startups

A product launch needs a small set of creative assets ready before the day: a launch film with cutdowns for each channel, a landing page that states the value in the first screen, share images and social posts at each platform’s size, a press kit, and material for sales, investors and existing users. Start six to eight weeks out, lock the message before anything is designed, and plan every asset backwards from the date. The checklist below lists each asset, the spec that matters and when it should be done.

Why do launches run out of time?

Launch creative usually starts late because the product is still moving. Engineering ships the feature the week before, design starts on the film when the UI is final, and the landing page gets written the night before. The launch goes out with one video in one shape, a page that wasn’t tested and share images that crop the headline.

Most of that is avoidable. The product can keep changing while the message, structure and asset list are locked early. Recreated UI in motion can be updated late in a way a screen recording can’t.

Timeline: what to finish and when

When	Finish
8 weeks out	Launch goal, audience and the one message agreed. Asset list and owners set
6 weeks out	Script and storyboard approved. Landing page structure and copy drafted
4 weeks out	Design frames approved for film and page. Press kit contents gathered
3 weeks out	Animation and sound in progress. Landing page built on staging
2 weeks out	Film locked. Cutdowns, teasers and share images exported. Page tested on mobile
1 week out	Posts written for every account. Emails scheduled. Partners briefed
Launch day	Publish in order, monitor, reply
1–2 weeks after	Review results, publish follow-up content

The one message comes first

Every asset on the list repeats one message in a different shape. If it isn’t agreed, the film says one thing, the page another and the founder’s post a third.

• One sentence: what’s new, for whom and why it matters.
• Three supporting points, each with proof (a number, a customer quote or a demo moment).
• The call to action: sign up, book a demo, join a waitlist, upgrade.
• Words to avoid, so nobody writes “revolutionary” in the press release.

Launch film and cutdowns

• Hero film, 16:9, for the website, YouTube and the launch post.
• Vertical cut, 9:16, for Reels, Shorts and TikTok.
• Feed cut, 4:5 or 1:1, for LinkedIn and X.
• Two or three teasers, 6 to 15 seconds, for the week before.
• A short loop or GIF of the product in action for the homepage and posts.
• Captions for every cut, as burned-in text or caption files.
• Stills from the film for posts, press and thumbnails.

Plan the cutdowns before animation starts. Framing and text placement need to survive the crop. Exact sizes and length limits per platform are in our launch video specs reference, and what makes a launch video work covers the creative side.

Landing page

Visitors decide fast. Nielsen Norman Group’s analysis of page dwell times found that users often leave within 10 to 20 seconds, and that a page has to communicate its value proposition within 10 seconds to earn more time.

• Headline that states the one message in plain words.
• The product visible in the first screen: the film, a loop or a real screenshot.
• One primary call to action, repeated at the end.
• Proof near the claim: a customer quote, a metric, a logo.
• FAQ that answers the objections sales hears most.
• Largest Contentful Paint at 2.5 seconds or less, the threshold web.dev calls good. Heavy hero video is the usual cause of a slow launch page.
• Tested on a phone, since that’s where most launch traffic from social arrives.
• Analytics and conversion events firing before the day.
• If URLs change as part of the launch, redirects in place. See how to redesign without losing SEO.

Share images and metadata

When someone pastes your link, the preview is the first thing people see. Get it right per page:

• Open Graph tags on the launch page. The Open Graph protocol lists og:title, og:type, og:image and og:url as required.
• Share image of at least 1200 × 627 pixels at 1.91:1, LinkedIn’s stated minimum and recommended ratio.
• Headline text inside the image kept away from the edges, so it survives cropping.
• Title and description written for the preview, not copied from the page.
• Preview checked by pasting the link into each platform before launch day.

Social posts

• A post for each account: company, founders, team, investors, partners. Different wording for each, same message.
• Native video uploaded on each platform rather than links to YouTube.
• X posts can carry up to four photos, one GIF or one video. Pick the video for the main post.
• Images under 5 MB for X.
• A thread or carousel that walks through the product for people who want more.
• Replies drafted for the obvious questions: pricing, availability, comparisons.

Press kit

• Logo files in color, black and white, with a short usage note.
• Product screenshots and film stills at high resolution.
• Founder photos and short bios.
• A 50-word and a 150-word company description.
• The announcement itself, with date and contact.
• Everything on one page or one shared folder with a stable link.

Sales, investors and existing users

• Email to existing users and customers, timed with the public announcement.
• In-app announcement or changelog entry.
• A slide for the sales deck and a short note for the sales team on how to talk about it.
• Investor update with the launch and the first numbers a week later.
• Customer success briefed on likely support questions.

Launch day

• Publish in a set order: site live, company post, founder posts, partner posts, email.
• Someone watching comments and replies all day.
• Someone watching the site, sign-ups and errors.
• A short list of people to thank afterwards.

After launch

• Record views, clicks, sign-ups, demo requests and conversion rate per channel.
• Note which cut and which post did best, and why.
• Publish follow-up content: a deeper walkthrough, a customer story, a behind-the-scenes post.
• Write down what you’d change for the next launch while it’s fresh.

How does Alterra Studio help with launches?

Launches are what our Launch Sprint is built for: one focused deliverable, planned back from your date, in two to four weeks. Launch-critical work is planned backwards from the date you give us, and the plan is agreed in writing at kickoff. For OMNI Agency’s rewards program launch, we delivered the film before the deadline, and it helped drive over 260,000 wallet connections. The OMNI case study has the details.

Because one team handles motion and 3D and websites, the film, the landing page and the share images come from the same system. The Launch Sprint’s starting price is on our pricing page. If you’re launching an AI product, see how we work with AI companies, and our glossary defines terms like cutdown and landing page.

The short version

• Start six to eight weeks out and lock the message before anything is designed.
• Plan the film and every cutdown together, with captions for each.
• Make the landing page state its value in the first screen and load fast on a phone.
• Set Open Graph tags and a 1200 × 627 share image, and check the preview on every platform.
• Prepare posts for every account, a press kit, and material for users, sales and investors.

Launch coming up? Book a 30-minute call and we’ll plan the assets back from your date, or take the free Brand & Website Scorecard to check the page launch traffic will land on.

Sources

Checked October 2, 2026.

• The Open Graph protocol, ogp.me, basic metadata.
• LinkedIn Help, Make your website shareable on LinkedIn, image requirements.
• X Developer Platform, Media best practices.
• Nielsen Norman Group, How Long Do Users Stay on Web Pages? (September 12, 2011).
• web.dev, Largest Contentful Paint (LCP).