AMA: Vanta Head of Product & Brand Marketing, Sarah Scharf on Product Launches

Yes, it's important to run a different playbook for major launches versus minor ones. Rather than thinking just around "product" vs "feature", I'd recommend developing a common definition for different tiers of launches. These are roughly the tiers we use: Tier 1: Expands capabilities with a distinct, new product offering. New product SKU. Significant competitive differentiation. Tier 2: New, incremental functionality/capability that extends your offering its current target market. Competitive d ...Read More

I personally feel like too much is made of the distinction between B2B and B2C. Heads of IT are people too! In either case, the messaging is paramount. As I said above, commit to “Know the user. Know the magic. Connect the two.” And be able to express that in short / shorter / shortest lines of messaging As for placement, I have found B2B a bit easier than B2C. There are many more digital channels to reach people when they are staring at a screen from 9-5. That said, one of our most successful m ...Read More

Every organization thinks about this differently, and I’ve worked across the spectrum from a single, annual release (Android OS) to continuous release (B2C startup). So what cadence is right? If you pressed me for a single answer, I would say a quarterly release (I didn’t make this up, I just happen to agree with this post by David Sacks: https://medium.com/craft-ventures/the-cadence-how-to-operate-a-saas-startup-436aa8099e8). Quarterly tends to be long enough to bundle together several meaningf ...Read More

Of course! And for the record (and in case my product team is reading this ::waves::) that is a very healthy and constructive tension. Coordinating launches is all about tradeoffs. How I would approach is: Articulate the tradeoffs: Clearly lay out what PMM and other stakeholders could produce with another weeks vs at the proposed launch date. Ideally, you have examples of launches that have been rushed and ones that have been done “right,” with results you can point to. Make this pre/post as cle ...Read More

It’s a great question. As much as you benefit from playbooks and templates, too much of the same will burn out your team and dampen your impact. I’d recommend a few things to ensure you leave some room for new ideas: Agree to a cadence: As mentioned above, if you have a set cadence of launches, it gives you more time to plan ahead - or at least know which launches you really want to go big on versus which you are OK with a set playbook Make your standard communications rinse and repeat: If you d ...Read More

A rock solid messaging doc is the most indispensable tool for a product launch. I still live by the mantra that Lorraine Twohill, Google’s CMO, instills in all PMMs: “Know the user. Know the magic. Connect the two.” Understanding the desires and pain of your customer is important. And understanding, in a fair amount of detail, the discrete features that make a product so special is critical. But the best PMMs are able to connect how those amazing features uniquely alleviate the specific pain poi ...Read More