AMA: Notion Head of Product Marketing, John Hurley on Product Launches

When it comes to defining goals for product launches, we tend to consider both short-term and long-term objectives. In the short-term, our goals may be centered around acquisition, engagement, and awareness. For example, we might aim to gain a certain number of new users, or to generate a certain amount of buzz on social media in the weeks following the launch. These early indicators can help us understand whether our product is resonating with our target audience, and can give us some early fee ...Read More

Marrying company objectives and vision with customer pain and value – which is informed by user/buyer research and market research. Leads to themes that will help drive value with company and customers. Within those timebound themes, you have product innovation (bundles of features, new products) that teams will be involved in.  So you can think of it like this  Company objectives and vision with customer pain and value > Themes > New/Improved Capabilities > Launches Features do not nec ...Read More

Simple answer here is a great Tiered model, a NPI process (for larger companies), and differentiating between Launches and Releases. Often see many product launches that are really more release marketing versus integrated product launches.  You have the greatest outbound marketing launch in the world, but ultimately all the launch and growth levers in the world won’t make new products successful in market without 4 things… Top-Down Accountability: Executives setting and aligning around targets, ...Read More

PMM is hard (and awesome) because we are a hub, not a spoke that often controls the final outputs. We’re not growth marketers, or demand gen manager, or brand marketers. However we do influence, inform, manifest, and/or articulate growth strategies and campaigns. Product marketing needs other growth teams to commit and execute. Same goes for traditional demand gen and campaigns – we have a bit more influence there and ability to define demand programs and contribute content, but still heavy reli ...Read More

Decisions on channels starts with segmentation (dividing the market into different segments with specific needs/characteristics) and targeting (analyzing the sectors and choosing which ones to direct marketing efforts towards). Most PMMs then focus most of their energy on the positioning and messaging (developing a strategy or image for a product/service to make it stand out to the target audience). However, determining channel-market fit for the target audience is just as critical. This comes w ...Read More

I think less about which teams since each organization is different, and more about the functional workstreams and then mapping people to workstreams. I also recommended some models like DACI and RACI. Positioning / Messaging Business Case / Modeling Campaigns Field & Events Content Growth Channels Comms / PR AR Brand Web Enablement Packaging & Pricing Customer Success (Services, Support, Education) Partners Customer Marketing Technical Marketing (Enablement, Content) Enablement scope re ...Read More

Yes, beta programs are critical to successfully bringing products to market. First, they allow you to gather feedback from early users, which can help you identify and address any issues or concerns before the full launch. This is both related to the product completness and usability, but gaining a deeper understanding of value, the messaging, the target audienc, and informing HOW to launch – not just what to launch. Additionally, beta products can help generate excitement and anticipation aroun ...Read More