AMA: Grammarly Global Head of Product Marketing, Natala Menezes on Product Launches

Teamwork makes the dream work! But with large launches and lots of people eager to make it work, it can be confusing. I find that centering that teamwork on an agreed to “Bill of Materials” -- the list of all marketing content that will be produced - helps drive alignment, timelines, and accountability. Within that list identify who the “owner” is - the person that will drive the execution of the content and in some cases, identify key reviewers or collaborators. Set dates and call out contingencies (i.e. Before the press release can be drafted the product launch messaging / positioning needs to be approved).

We absolutely tier our launches and we do it for 2 specific reasons: * Resources and investment need to match the outcomes we expect from a launch * Not every feature is news! In some cases, bundling features together will tell a more compelling and meaningful story and we are very conscious about how often we activate our customers with news Here’s how we approach tiers: Strategic Moments: These VIP launches have executive (founder+) involvement, are tied to a major event, and get the full roster of resources across PR, AR, social, events, campaigns, creative, content, and execs. Tier 1: Major platform news or industry/category game-changer. Sometimes a bundle of lower-tier announcements. Very similar to strat moments in terms of resourcing, especially around PR and AR, but a reduced level of executive engagement. Tier 2: New SKUs or a package of features. Full social, blogs, content some campaign and creative support, no PR/AR support. Internal alignment and sales enablement. Tier 3: New features. Typically rolled out via blogs, help content, in-app alerts. No PR/AR support. Tier 4: Feature updates or enhancement. Content updates, blog post (maybe).

This is going to sound ironic, but having a templatized launch process helps my team focus on creativity in messaging and execution. We use an agreed-upon Messaging & Positioning document framework and a standard launch deck. Then we think about what would be the wildest, craziest thing we could do for launch and defend WHY we aren’t doing that thing. It’s an exercise that helps us think out of the box and focus on differentiation and self-imposed limits.

Define this at the beginning! I typically find that a 3-month lookback gives the most holistic view on a launch success. Within that time period there are a few key moments: * Launch Day - what was delivered in terms of coverage, sign-ups, and customer excitement? * Launch Week - how did the week wrap up in terms of key metrics? * Month 1 post-launch day - One month out what are the results in terms of adoption and use? Are there any changes that should be made to marketing programs? This is also the best time to do a launch retrospective when the launch is still fresh but the team has had some time to recover! * Month 2 post-launch - this is when you will start to see the impact of acquisition campaigns and lifecycle marketing. Typically you’ll want a 30-day lookback window, although the first 7 days will be the most active. * Month 3 post-launch - based on your early results, you may have made changes to your marketing programs, at this time you can see the impact of those changes. For each of these milestones, I find it best to send a summary report and to keep track in a single doc or spreadsheet so you can track performance against set goals and metrics.

Launches are exciting moments in time designed to raise awareness and have a big impact on delivering against a vision. They highlight news and shiny new products. Iterative releases are typically smaller-scale improvements and more oriented around product adoption and use. Often combining iterative releases into a bundle or theme can give them greater mindshare with customers. For smaller releases rollouts via in-UI content or help files might suffice.

Yes -- primarily because enablement needs to be cognizant of local conditions and selling paths. For example, in a large enterprise company, you might have a dedicated specialist sales team in AMER but in the regions, you have sellers that sell the entire portfolio. Getting a share of mind in that process is different than with your dedicated US-based sellers. Focusing on the seller mindset and process will help with global rollouts.

Pricing is both a science and art -- which means in many cases, it is hard to predict if you have hit the right price (high enough to capture maximum value but low enough that you can scale it to a broad customer base). Because of that, it can sometimes feel like pricing is based on the wind, but in reality, it is a careful process! Here’s a step-by-step that has worked for us: 1. Research - Dig into competitive pricing (how are similar products priced, what would the alternatives cost?) and identify pricing models that might work (consumption-based or per-license?). Make a recommendation on a set price and discounting model based on your data. 2. Validation - does the pricing resonate with customers (will they buy it at that price? What are their objections?) Also, validate with your Sales teams. Can they sell it at this price? Will they sell it or is the ASP not high enough for the effort? Would bundling help 3. Alignment - In a larger company, this might involve a presentation and review with a pricing council, in a smaller company this might be sign-off from key execs and alignment with key leaders. Regardless, alignment with your leadership and with sellers is critical prior to launch. 4. Training - It's important to not only share the logistics of new pricing (how it will be rolled out to the website for self-serve or the process to purchase in a sales assisted process) but also the why. Training internal teams on the reasoning beyond price targets and the mechanism for discounts is key. I like to create 2 slides: why (reasons for the pricing and details on how it was derived), use cases & objections (essentially the talk track and key messages for sellers). 5. Launch! Going live on your website and with sellers is exciting. Now get the gong ready for your first sale!

* Not having clear entry/exit criteria to hit milestones ahead of launch → typically results in a launch delay. * Collaborating as a cross-functional team → Team has tension and low trust, slowing the process down and making it less fun! * Messaging that is generic → product won’t resonate with customers and typically reduces traction. Crisp messaging that inspires is essential! * Lack of alignment across org → Slows down the launch process because approvals don’t stick * Product readiness → Delays launch because the product isn’t ready or the product is announced but not available.

My primary goal with an early-stage launch is scaled traction. If you’ve already got customers, the objective should be to get to the next step function of growth. I.e. 10 obsessed customers would grow to 100 or X in revenue. In terms of budget, the costs are more sweat equity to develop meaningful product positioning and a compelling narrative. Research can help validate this. The other cost will be PR. Working with a firm that brings relationships and experience to the table is often worth the cost.

1. Create a Leadership Team: - Typically composed of the PMM who will lead the launch, define messaging and positioning and rally the org plus the product manager who owns the product and then key stakeholders from PR, Analyst Relations, and GTM / Sales Readiness. 2. Set a timeline: Build a detailed timeline with key launch milestones such as when the product will be ready, executive reviews, the deadline for creative requests, and content creation timelines. Getting clarity on dependencies and the time needed to deliver is essential. Having a launch day helps to develop a work back schedule. 3. Activate and align the x-functional team: Teamwork is the most important aspect of launching products -- a good team can operate quickly, independently, and have fun while delivering business results. A disconnected team without trust will often stall on launches, require oversight -- and generate more meetings than necessary. Key members of the cross-functional team are sales enablement, customer/partner teams, the broader PM org, internal and external comms teams in addition to PR (i.e. social, blogs), content, campaign, and creative teams. 4. Agree on the Bill of Materials: Once you’ve got the team in place - focus on the Bill of Materials (the essential marketing content needed such as the customer pitch, FAQ (internal/external), press release, product demo, etc.), entry/exit criteria to determine product readiness and the training and roll-out plan for sales. 5. Brief Executives: Keep execs updated with briefings that also line up to signoff moments.

Start by defining what you mean by impact: new user acquisition? Product adoption? Market awareness (pr coverage?). With a clear target and success metric, tailor activities to deliver on those goals. My experience has found that PR pops when combined with a customer event or activity (user conference, live-streamed roadshow, or customer event). For customer adoption focusing on multi-channel coverage (in your product + blogs + Twitter + customer testimonials + help content). As for setting the date -- that is often driven by either a committed event deadline or product readiness. When possible think about major external events (holidays) and big tech activities (apple launch day or FAAANG conferences) Products are often launched on a specific day, but the work to achieve launch goals is usually an ongoing effort.

Start with talking to customers to understand how they buy and their decision-making process. If we are working on a quick-turn launch, qualitative research via focus groups is a quick way to get a framework in place and validate product-market fit. With longer timelines, quantitative research can bring depth to user segmentation and buying timelines, and also the competitive landscape. Additionally, it is ideal when user personas are part of the product development process. Then expanding to buyers is about understanding who in an organization is a user vs influencer vs buyer.

People with a background in writing tend to excel at PMM. The key additional quality is to be a puzzle solver. Are they also technically curious (they like to know how things work) and interested in changing marketings? Do they love to tell stories? So much of being a great PMM is about bringing to life a product -- and then understanding and building a strategy for market success. Sometimes starting in a cross-functional role in content creation or customer support can lead to a PMM role, but there’s no reason not to apply directly.