AMA: New Relic GM & SVP Product Growth, Manav Khurana on Product Launches

I always like to have a product adoption goal Day-of, 1-months, 3-months, 6-months, and 1-year out. Having this clarity is critical to figure out what we need for launch and in the weeks, months after launch.    The next step is to back into the awareness, lead (if sales led) and conversion goals from that adoption goal.    I see PMMs as the CMO of their product. They are the QB for product adoption goals. Looking at the product adoption metrics on a weekly basis is good cadence to keep an eye o ...Read More

Ultimately, it's about product adoption measured by MAU and product revenue over different time intervals.    To get there, I'd suggest looking at the following metrics with your marketing team: - Unique visitors to your product page (on the marketing site and in your product) day of launch and in the subsequent weeks/months - Conversions to hand raisers (number of people who want sales engagement), demo requests, free trials.    Your launch plan ideally has a model of awareness (via ads, PR, em ...Read More

First the failure mode (for contrast): PMM does a kick ass job with product decks and slicks. There is a training session where some people seem to be paying attention, but most people are distracted by their day-to-day job of sales. Then when a sales person gets an opportunity, they ask the PMM or PM to come in and help. Or worse, the sales lead complains at the company QBR that her team is not enabled properly.    What I think is better: Start with what's in it for the sales person... Is it hi ...Read More

I am a big fan of drumbeats. People are busy and it's easy to miss one large product announcement and even if your audience sees the announcement, it's easy to forget about it.    My favorite packaging approach is to have a broad theme ([your service] keeps getting better, a commitment to security or performance, helping your audience do something better, faster, cheaper...) and then announce each small enhancement as it comes.   Say you have 5 small enhancements over 12-15 weeks. Start with ann ...Read More

First, let me say that no one in Eng/Product likes product delays. The timing gets screwed up because of poor planning or unpredictable events. So, you have two options:   1. Avoid the coordination tax for smaller launches - so that a delay doesn't affect your launch timeline. 2. Give extra incentive for the Product/Eng team to plan better/meet their committed deadlines.    To avoid the coordination tax on small features/enhancements,  I am a big fan of announcing the product after it's shipped. ...Read More

At the highest level, I love announcing the same product multiple times (shhh: don't tell my PR person). The frequency of message makes it easier for your story to stick. Plus, depending on your customer purchasing cycle in B2B, they often need several months to go through their testing and budgeting cycles to adopt new products.    The best launches I've done have been by:   - announcing that the product is coming - opening up selected preview by request  - announcing that the product is in bet ...Read More

Existing customers are the best source for new product adoption and should be the primary target audience. With new customers, you need them to buy into your company, and then buy into your new product. That's hoping for two miracles, vs. one with existing customers.    Plus, it's so much easier to get your new product info to existing customers. You know who they are and conceivably, you have a standard way of contacting your existing customers.    I'd suggest paying extra attention to in-produ ...Read More

I've always liked having one core audience & many supporting audiences for a product story... think about it. Movies with multiple heroes are confusing.    Pick your core audience and tell the product story for them. If you have multiple supporting audiences, then describe how everyone can work better (using your product) with related audiences.   As an example, at Twilio we launched the Enterprise Plan. It provided capabilities for Finance, Security, DevOps, IT, etc. We messaged the product ...Read More