AMA: Momentive.ai Director of Product Marketing, Global Insights Solutions, Morgan Molnar on Product Launches

We JUST revamped our GTM framework & process at SurveyMonkey and you're in luck - I drove this process at the company & am coming off the project pretty fresh. Ultimately, product marketing should own the go-to-market launch framework and process. So you or someone on your team should be a driver, with several cross-functional partners consulted. We got drafts in front of product leadership, marketing leadership, sales enablement (whole team in our case), sales & success leadership, ...Read More

When launching a new feature of an EXISTING product, it can be difficult to attribute financial metrics to a single feature launch. Here are some things to consider as KPIs for your feature launches. Package upgrade rates or package mix. This is helpful when a new feature is launched only in certain packages you offer. Average deal size. Great if the feature is a paid value-add to a solution you currently offer. Win rates. If a feature was highly requested or cited as a reason for previously los ...Read More

For almost every feature launch, you have to evaluate the amount of market- and customer-facing activities it makes sense to do. For features that don't warrant a market launch (i.e. they aren't a differentiator, don't support a strategic partnership, or open up opportunities for new business) but DO warrant customer communication and customer-facing team readiness, it's still important to have launch tiers. Is this something that adds value & could enable up-sell or upgrades? Is it a major ...Read More

As part of our GTM launch framework & process roll out, we created a GTM strategy & execution plan templates that correspond with different market launch & customer impact tiers. If you nail the GTM strategy, the plan will fall into place if you have the foundational framework. Here are some of the things that make up a highly effective GTM strategy & plan. You can pretty much tackle each of these in order, starting with aligning on the process goals & timeline, then working ...Read More

I loooove this question! A few reasons product launches may fail or underperform come to mind, all of which I've experienced personally and learned from. Let's assume for a second that you have product-market fit, meaning the product features, pricing, and messaging all resonate with target buyers. Yay! But a quarter goes by and you miss your pipeline/adoption/bookings targets, and aren't on pace to meet longer term goals. Uh oh... Here are a few things to look into: 1. Your goals were unrealist ...Read More

Product/feature launches are SO cross-functional and require SO much coordination, that I'd say that anything that helps you with project management and coordinating everything in one place is the most indepsensible "tool".  This could be in the form of frameworks like a DACI/RACI model that helps you get clarity & buy-in for launch roles & responsibilities, a Gantt chart to help you see the launch timeline birds-eye view, or project management software (we've used Asana, Jira, Wrike, Cl ...Read More

The fundamental elements of product launches (see my answer in response to what makes a highly effective GTM strategy & plan) don't change for B2C vs B2B launches. Here are the major differences: Your ideal customer profile, launch campaign targeting, and relevant messages Product distribution channels - online SaaS that requires a strong web and digital marketing presence needs to be treated differently compared to in-store consumer products that require physical packaging and a shelf assor ...Read More