AMA: Patreon VP of Product and Growth Marketing, Erik Eliason on Product Launches

It depends on the scale of the launch, but I would generally use the following process:  Get Specific on Your Target Audience:  Customer Segmentation: Identify key segments such as new users, power users, or specific industries. Tailor the launch to resonate with these groups.  Journey Timing: Consider where customers are in their product journey to tailor the introduction appropriately. JTBD and Regional Nuances: Focus on the specific jobs to be done and any regional differences to ensure relev ...Read More

I would synthesize it into 3 things:  Start with the end in mind: if this launch goes well, what does it mean for the product, the company, and customers? In 6 or 12 months from now, how is the company different? What is the story you want to tell to the market? Build alignment with exec and XFN on the scope and expected impact of the launch. Doing this early will open doors to new possibilities.  Build compelling products: you can have the best raw ingredients in the world at a good price, but ...Read More

First, it’s important to understand why you may do a % rollout for GA launches. Typically its related to: Risk Mitigation: detect and fix potential bugs or user experience problems before they affect the entire user base. Performance and Scalability Testing: evaluate the impact on system performance and ensure stability. Then gradually increase the user base to test and ensure product scalability. Build Momentum: Create exclusivity and anticipation, generating buzz and increasing interest. Targe ...Read More

Educate exec and XFN: is there an internal understanding of what PMM does? Are the expectations just to launch the product? Most likely not. Getting a 360 understanding of what PMM means at the company and gaps/desires will help you and the team understand where you can have immediate impact outside of launches. These conversations are also opportunities for you to explain the role of a ‘full stack’ PMM and how that extends beyond being the ‘launch arm’.  Provide a POV: I often tell my team we ( ...Read More

Depending on your budget and target audience, there are a number of activities you can do. Principally, you should have a POV on how explicit you want to be promoting the new product vs more brand and meme-oriented activities which, while not explicitly promoting your product, can be quite effective at generating leads and new customers.    UGC: for some consumer-facing products, social campaigns with UGC can be hugely successful for driving awareness and interest. Meme ads: while not specific t ...Read More

PMMs are often under-resourced and the ‘check the box’ launch can be all too common if you don’t get in front of the launch early. It's essential to focus on uncovering key insights early and securing alignment from stakeholders on the launch ambitions. A few ways to achieve this:  Early Insight Discovery: Conduct thorough market research and customer interviews early in the planning phase to uncover unique insights about customer pain points and needs. These insights can serve as the foundation ...Read More

While challenging, the upside here is you know your constraints – timing of the event, what you’re launching, and resourcing. For something like this it’s important to be clear and direct on the tradeoffs you have to make with the team and XFN folks.  In terms of prioritizing, my plan of action would be:  Impact on company narrative and performance: what is the story you’re telling the market? How does each of these support that narrative? Is one product launch going to have a much greater impac ...Read More

I generally think PMM responsibilities fall into three buckets: Inbound - shape what is build and how it’s talked about  Launch - announcing new products and features  Outbound - driving adoption and revenue of products and features  How time is allocated across these buckets depends on: Business context: time allocation for PMMs depends on the ‘season’ the team is in. Is the team relaunching the core product? Is the bi-annual launch event upcoming? Is the product and eng team staffing up so vel ...Read More