AMA: Iterable Former Director of Product Marketing, Jeffrey Vocell on Product Launches

I think every product marketing team should! Ultimately, at Iterable we have 3 key documents: Product GTM Launch Plan - This is a spreadsheet that includes every team involved in a launch, what set of activities are being done, where they are in the development process, and more. It's really a central resource for the entire launch. Positioning & Campaign Kick-Off - This document should be filled out first before everything else. It includes all of the foundational details that will help cre ...Read More

It depends on the launch, but I will usually do a mix of these:Customer Research: Talk with existing customers, or survey your existing customer base (or a segment of it) if a solution your launching is directly related or adjacent to an existing product you have. If you need deep insight into the pain points a customer is facing a 1:1 conversation would likely be best. There’s no magic number of conversation to have - but once you start noticing trends in a lot of answers you can generally stop ...Read More

This is a great question. I think there are a few ways of testing messaging effectively: Ask one rep, or a small team, to position your product in a specific way. This is a very clear feedback loop, and you'll see what works and what doesn't really quickly. Depending on the size of your company you may not be able to do this, but if you can have a rep from sales position your product on a call for a few customers, you'll get clear feedback and reactions. A/B Testing. Typically this can only happ ...Read More

Yes! At HubSpot we had a template for this, and I’ve created one at Iterable as well. I think there are a few phases of a launch that include different people from your organization.Phase 1: Research - Every product launch HAS to start with research. This is a phase I find many PMMs skip, but the importance can’t be overstated - it’s where you get all the detail that will inform all your next steps. Typically this phase includes PMM, PM, Customer Marketing (if you’re surveying existing customers ...Read More

I feel like the answer to this could be it's own book. 😊 Ultimately, a PMM should be the "quarterback" of a launch and should be driving success at each stage. From the moment you hear about a large launch coming you should focus on: Aligning the team around that product Communicating clearly and effectively Sharing information about what the product is, and why it matters Holding team members responsible for their part in the launch Organizing feedback, and day-of launch activities Doing a retr ...Read More

I think I eluded to some of these in the answer below on tracking the success of a product post-launch, but to summarize: Product Launches: Awareness: PR mentions, organic social traffic, product page traffic, social conversations, etc. Interest: Growth in leads, MQLs, demos or key "middle of the funnel" metrics for you business. Impact: Revenue, and retention. Growth/Maintenance: like to look at two categories here: Product Usage: it could be basic usage, or usage of a specific part of your app ...Read More

Oof, I’m not sure I want to relive those memories! I think every product launch is an opportunity, there are new challenges that arise and problems to solve. I’ve led and managed a ton of launches - and in pretty much every single case there has always been some last minute changes. For me though, that’s the most exciting time - it’s when product marketers thrive through bringing everyone together in the build-up to the launch.One launch in particular comes to mind though… We were launching an a ...Read More

It really depends on what you’re launching, where your product fits into the customer’s journey, and the broader market. Generally speaking I think really large notable product launches can be measured by all, or just some of the following:Awareness: Organic search traffic before/after launch, rise in social conversations (post launch), PR mentions, and more.Interest: Growth in leads, MQLs, demos, or similar metrics for your business.Impact: Revenue, retention, and more.Overall here’s my playboo ...Read More

Yeah! Look at all the ways your company communicates with the market. Talk to various people across the business - PR, CSMs, Support, and others. You will find ways to promote your product that you may not be aware of through these conversations.  For creativity, I like keeping a "swipe file" of great product marketing I've seen from other companies. When I need ideas, I go to this swipe file and it helps looking at various creative copy or promotion ideas that can be built into my own launches. ...Read More

Good question. I typically look at 90-days post launch as the end point. Ideally all of the key teams within marketing - like product marketing, content, brand, social, demand gen, customer marketing, and others are all working together to plan integrated campaigns. There should be some natural alignment between these campaigns and your launches to carry the momentum past the 90-day mark.That being said, it’s important to be aware of what’s happening in the market. If a particular feature or pro ...Read More

This is something I discuss with a lot of product marketing leaders because we naturally want to figure out how to do better. I’ll offer 3 mistakes I see a fair amount - but if you have a particular challenge, reach out to me on LinkedIn and I’m happy to help. Communication: Regardless of the size of your organiztion, you should be communicating relevant updates to all the stakeholders. In some cases, that may mean the entire company or a broader project team - or even an entire team like market ...Read More

Great questions. Product Marketing should be involved, or at least aware of, every launch in my opinion. I think it's important to establish launch levels, or some process around it though - a very minor feature update shouldn't get the same amount of time dedicated as an all-new product line. At Iterable we have extra small, small, medium, and large launches and the set of activities we do for each is different - and shared with the product team as well so they're aware. As far as tools, it's a ...Read More

Your positioning and messaging should be written in parallel with development, and ideally should be finalized before the product goes into a wide beta. But if you're working on a larger launch, it's likely you'll need to start other activities ahead of time too like: Video: Any video asset you create will likely have a long lead-time. It will require things like a script or outline, planning, screenshots, and a whole lot more. You should get as much of the planning for video content done ahead ...Read More