A Product Marketer’s Guide to Sunsetting a Product
WRITTEN BY Megan Liken, Fluvio Consultant
With the announcement of Google Jamboard shutting down, we were inspired to write an article about the process of sunsetting a product. As a product marketer, you will likely find yourself in the position of having to manage the retirement of a product or feature at some point. Like go-to-market (GTM) plans for new innovations, this process requires proper planning and strategic marketing to ensure a smooth transition for both the company and its customers. In this guide, we'll provide a list of best practices for product sunsetting.
Why Products Sunset
A product sunset, also known as product discontinuation, deprecation, or end-of-life (EOL), refers to the deliberate decision by a company to cease the production, sale, and support of a particular product or service. This decision can stem from various reasons, including outdated technology, shifting market demands, regulatory changes, or as part of a broader strategic realignment.
Identifying the Need for Sunsetting
Before initiating the sunsetting process, companies must first identify the need to do so. This required evaluating various factors, such as:
Product Performance: Assessing the product's performance metrics, including sales figures, customer feedback, and usage statistics, can provide valuable insights into its viability.
Market Demand: Analyzing market trends, competition, and customer preferences can help determine if the product is still meeting the needs of the target market.
Profitability: Conducting a thorough financial analysis, including cost-benefit calculations, can help determine if the product is generating sufficient revenue to justify its continuation.
By considering these factors, companies can make informed decisions about the need to sunset a product.
Four Pillars of Sunsetting a Product
Communication is Key: Transparent and timely communication with customers is crucial. Companies should clearly convey the reasons behind the product's discontinuation, the timeline for phasing it out, and any available alternatives or migration paths.
Migration Strategy: Providing customers with viable alternatives or migration paths is essential for maintaining their trust and loyalty. Whether it's transitioning to a newer version of the product, offering comparable alternatives, or facilitating data migration, companies need to ensure a seamless transition experience.
Take Google Jamboard, for example. With their announcement, they are clearly outlining the reason behind the product discontinuation as well as providing a timeline and migration strategy:
Customer Impact Assessment: Assessing the impact on existing customers is crucial. Understanding how the sunsetting will affect their operations, investments, and dependencies allows for better planning and mitigation of potential fallout.
Resource Allocation: Sunsetting a product frees up resources that can be reallocated towards more promising initiatives. It's essential to evaluate the opportunity cost and allocate resources wisely to maximize the company's growth and innovation potential.
Components of a Sunsetting Strategy
Stakeholder Communication:
First you’ll want to identify key stakeholders, including internal teams, customers, partners, and suppliers and leverage Product Marketing’s “Super Skill" to facilitate discussions and develop a communication plan outlining how and when stakeholders will be informed about the sunsetting process.
The key outcome: Clear and transparent messaging about the decision to sunset, the timeline, and available alternatives or migration paths.
Timeline and Transition Plan:
You'll need to decide when the feature will be removed and communicate this to all relevant parties. This will help everyone involved in the process to be on the same page and understand what needs to be done.
The key outcomes:
An established timeline (ideally 6-12 months) for the sunsetting process, including key milestones and deadlines.
An outline of the steps involved in transitioning customers away from the product or feature.
Customer Outreach:
It’s important to utilize a wide variety of communication channels such as email, website, social media, webinars, in-app messaging, and forums in order to reach customers. Additionally, personalizing communications where possible will enhance relevance and engagement.
The key outcomes:
Generating awareness of the product sunset and timeline.
A list of resources and dedicated support to assist customers during the transition period.
As you can see, Google Jamboard is spreading the product discontinuation announcement widely utilizing press releases, message boards and see below in-app product banners and email notifications:
Internal Communication and Training:
It’s just as important to communicate to internal teams as it is to customers about the sunsetting decision and its rationale. You’ll want to equip sales, support, and development teams with the necessary information and tools to address customer inquiries. This can look like co-creating FAQs and migration plans with other customer-facing teams.
The key outcome: Fostering a culture of empathy and support to manage internal morale during the transition.
Messaging and Positioning:
Next for the public announcement, you’ll want to develop clear and concise messaging, focusing on benefits, and positioning the change appropriately reassures stakeholders and customers. Highlight the company's commitment to customer satisfaction and long-term success. Don’t forget to develop a communications strategy for 3rd parties like media outlets and industry influencers.
The key outcome: Effective communication that mitigates uncertainty and maintains trust.
Monitoring and Feedback:
You’ll need to implement mechanisms to monitor customer sentiment and feedback, such as surveys and social media listening.
The key outcome: Gathering feedback throughout the transition process, responding to concerns, and making necessary adjustments demonstrates responsiveness and ensures customer satisfaction.
Post-Sunset Evaluation:
Next, you’ll want to gather feedback from stakeholders and analyze the success of the sunsetting process. Some examples of success metrics to evaluate are:
Adoption rate of replacement product (if applicable)
NPS scores of users required to migrate to new product
Cost savings from removing data fees or maintenance costs from old products
Number of support tickets
Revenue impact
Employee feedback
Public sentiment through social mentions and reviews
The key outcome: Identify lessons learned and areas for improvement to inform future sunsetting plans.
Documentation and Knowledge Sharing:
Lastly, you’ll want to document the entire sunsetting process, including challenges faced and lessons learned.
The key outcome: Share insights and best practices with relevant teams and stakeholders to improve future sunsetting efforts.
Wrapping up
Product sunset is an inevitable phase in the life cycle of any product. Google is no stranger to this process – just take a look at this website dedicated to Google’s deprecated products. How companies navigate this phase can significantly impact their reputation, customer relationships, and future prospects. By adopting transparent communication, prioritizing customer needs, and offering viable alternatives, companies can effectively manage the sunsetting process while paving the way for new opportunities and growth.
Need support sunsetting a feature or product? Let’s chat!