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Courtney Craig

AMA: Shopify Head of Retail Product Marketing - Acquisition, Courtney Craig on Product Launches

May 21, 2024 @ 9:00AM PT

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  1. What's the most effective way you've found to introduce/launch new features within the product UI?

    Courtney Craig
    Courtney Craig

    Shopify Head of Retail Product Marketing | Formerly GoDaddy, ClearVoice, AppBuddy, Scripps • 2y

    Intercom - I love their product! You can create announcements on the bottom right of your UI, or as large nearly full screen overlays... but it's not intrusive and looks separate from product notifications. A guided tour using an external tool like WalkMe.... or develop something similar internally Butter bars within the UI that sit at the very top of the screen and hyperlink text that goes to a blog post This one is cheating because it's not technically the UI, but create a personalized log in ...Read More

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  2. When you look at the best launches that you have done, what did you get right that made them so successful?

    Courtney Craig
    Courtney Craig

    Shopify Head of Retail Product Marketing | Formerly GoDaddy, ClearVoice, AppBuddy, Scripps • 2y

    Looking back, the most successful launches I've done have the following elements:- Messaging/concept research, conducted EARLY on, while the product is still being developed or early access/beta. Conducting this research when product is still in development will ensure a strong go-to-market message, so you aren't guessing the what is the best value prop, reasons to believe, or even features to lead with in your launch. Early testing can also tell you what features your market cares most about, a ...Read More

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  3. How do you increase the Product Marketing function's ability to be a more strategic player in the company and not just the launch arm of the feature factory?

    Courtney Craig
    Courtney Craig

    Shopify Head of Retail Product Marketing | Formerly GoDaddy, ClearVoice, AppBuddy, Scripps • 2y

    This is always a tough one, depending on how PMM has been historically viewed within the organization, and how experienced the Product team is at working with PMMs. Many times they just don't have experience working with strategic PMMs, and we need to show them what that looks like. Here are some ideas on how to tackle this: Get involved EARLY in the product development process and bring insights to help shape the roadmap strategy. When PMs are just starting to think about new features/how to ad ...Read More

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  4. What creative ideas have you come up with for product launches that are terrible and/or really dull?

    Courtney Craig
    Courtney Craig

    Shopify Head of Retail Product Marketing | Formerly GoDaddy, ClearVoice, AppBuddy, Scripps • 2y

    First of all, if it's really dull and doesn't add value - don't market it! It's ok to not market every single feature launch. Develop a tiering system or criteria for when you put effort into marketing a feature launch. You don't want to burn out your audience on features that are small. Save a collection of small features for a larger launch centered around a common theme at a later date. If it's a developer-facing product/feature - hack days or dev workshops! If it's a feature that's hard to e ...Read More

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  5. What tactics do you use to effectively incorporate new, creative aspects into product launches that can so easily become routine and mundane?

    In the SaaS world especially, I feel like it's easy for PMMs to fall into the pattern of checking off the "traditional" product launch activity boxes. This may be because of limited bandwidth and resources or restricted budget, which can ultimately keep PMMs doing the same things that have previously worked. For me, this has often stunted my creative aspirations, and led me to feel more like a project manager than a standout Product Marketer.

    Courtney Craig
    Courtney Craig

    Shopify Head of Retail Product Marketing | Formerly GoDaddy, ClearVoice, AppBuddy, Scripps • 2y

    Two things:

    1. Always be getting inspiration from other brands... I have a coworker who likes to look to brands like McDonalds and Nike, and it always inspires new ideas.

    2. Take a step away from your work, clear your head, and come back to it with fresh eyes. And ask yourself - is there a way to make this fun? What would a kid do to promote this?

    3. Stay on top on new marketing trends, tools, tactics by following blogs/newsletters/communities like Marketing Brew, Sharebird and PMA.

    1,251 Views
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  6. How do you measure success when launching a second product? Are you focused on current customer adoption or new customer adoption?

    Courtney Craig
    Courtney Craig

    Shopify Head of Retail Product Marketing | Formerly GoDaddy, ClearVoice, AppBuddy, Scripps • 2y

    Typically, both! If the feature is big enough to make a product stand out in the market (and isn't table stakes), then I typically will find a way to promote it to prospects, or wait until there are enough features that can be grouped together to create a larger marketing campaign. I usually prioritize measurements for success in the following order: Existing customer adoption - usage of the feature over a period of time, or to a achieve a specific milestone. New customer adoption - engagement, ...Read More

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