AMA: You.com Director, Product Marketing, Ben Geller on Go-To-Market Strategy

Before determining what metrics you use to track success, it's critical to first align on the Objective—what you seek to achieve with your GTM strategy—stated in plain, clear language. For example, if the Objective is to determine the best channel for generating sales pipeline, then: * Leading indicators may be cost per lead, quantity of leads, and quality of leads * Lagging indicators may be $ value of pipeline created, and conversion to MQL/SQL/Customer/revenue. That being said, if your Objective was different—e.g., let's say you wanted to break into a new vertical—the relevant metrics shift: * Leading indicators may be # of design partners secured * Lagging indicators may be referencable customers or case studies. Balancing Leading & Lagging Indicators To balance immediate feedback with long-term tracking: 1. Establish a measurement cadence – Leading indicators should be monitored weekly/monthly, while lagging indicators require a longer time horizon. 2. Validate directional accuracy – Early signals should correlate with long-term outcomes; if not, recalibrate tracking methods. 3. Build a feedback loop – Use leading indicators to adjust tactics in real time while ensuring they ladder up to lagging indicators. Ensuring Clear Attribution Across Cross-Functional Teams * Start with alignment on the Objective & strategy. Every team should understand their role in driving outcomes. * Define clear ownership of metrics. Assign leading and lagging indicators to the appropriate teams to prevent overlap or confusion. * Leverage a centralized reporting system. Ensure transparency by using dashboards that track contributions from marketing, sales, product, and other key teams. One common pitfall is focusing too much on optimizing leading indicators without ensuring they drive the desired lagging outcomes. Keeping both in sync ensures a well-balanced GTM approach.

Generally, for tiering GTM Launches, I like to think about the extent to which the product experience & how we market the product changes. Here's the tiering system I recently implemented at you.com that has been battle tested in 50+ launches: * Tier 1: Major Product or GTM Shift * Description: Product experience and/or how we market the product fundamentally changes * Frequency: 2-4/year * Campaign Strategy: Dedicated Campaign * Example Distribution Channels: Heavy PR push, eEvents * Pre-launch testing: Beta program with enterprise customers * Tier 2: New Feature or Enhancement * Description: Meaningful product addition or improvement * Frequency: 10-12/year * Campaign Strategy: Align to existing campaign / Customer marketing push * Example Distribution Channels: Blog post, sales training * Pre-launch testing: UXR with power users * Tier 3: Iterative Evolution * Description: Subtle evolution of product experience * Frequency: 20-30/year * Campaign Strategy: Align to existing campaign / Customer marketing push * Example Distribution Channels: Email, social * Pre-launch testing: Internal bug bash * Tier 4: Usability & Bug Fixes * Description: Minor usability tweaks and bug fixes * Frequency: Weekly * Campaign Strategy: No campaign * Example Distribution Channels: Help Center update * Pre-launch testing: Internal bug bash For competitive intelligence, the best approach is to step into the shoes of their customers—dig into how the product is being marketed (FB ad library is a great resource for this!), sign up & use the product, and talk to their customers.

If you’re not seeing expected results, the first step is diagnosing whether it’s a strategy challenge or an execution challenge. One of the biggest pitfalls is optimizing metrics when the real issue is a flawed strategy . Identifying this early saves time and resources. Strategy Challenge If the fundamental GTM strategy isn’t working, no amount of optimization will bridge the gap. This requires stepping back, aligning with stakeholders, and exploring entirely new approaches. A key signal is an LTV:CAC ratio ≤~2, which is beyond the realm of incremental fixes—you need a new playbook. Execution Challenge If the strategy is sound but results are lagging, focus on rapid testing to optimize your target metrics. In defining target metrics, you can think broadly about two buckets: • Input metrics: Early indicators like email open rates, engagement, and CTR in a nurture campaign. These are leading indicators that you can often move in single tests. • Outcome metrics: Core business goals like signups, revenue, or pipeline growth. These are lagging indicators that typically take a large number of tests to improve. To drive impact fast, focus on tactics to lift your input metrics (e.g., subject line testing, messaging testing, design, and targeting)—the improvements will compound into meaningful outcome shifts.

At You.com, we’ve adopted a new agile GTM approach that’s been working well. One of the biggest challenges in GTM strategy is that you can spend too much time planning, but until you start executing, you won’t know what actually works. How We Approach GTM Alignment: * Start with Clear Objectives & Metrics – Define success upfront by setting clear goals (e.g., pipeline growth, adoption) and key results for the launch or time period. * Outline a High-Level Plan – Develop a 30,000-foot view of key activities to achieve those goals, ensuring they align with budget and resources. Pitch this to execs and cross-functional stakeholders for buy-in. * Focus on Fast Execution – The real challenge isn’t planning—it’s execution. * Run a quick brainstorm, prioritizing high-impact, quick-win ideas. * Start executing immediately, iterating based on real-world results rather than assumptions. * Continuously reassess—adjust based on what’s working in practice. Why This Works This agile approach prevents two major pitfalls: * Over-planning at the expense of execution. You don’t want to burn time in endless strategy discussions. * Rigid plans that don’t match reality. The sooner you test, the faster you adapt and scale what works. Calling Your Shots: A Key Principle A cornerstone of this approach is quantifying the impact of ideas upfront to make more objective decisions. * When you have an idea pipeline, estimate its impact based on available data. * After execution, compare expected vs. actual results to refine your judgment. * Over time, this sharpens your ability to identify what works, reducing the time to meaningful results. By staying flexible, data-driven, and action-oriented, this approach compresses time to value, ensuring your GTM strategy stays effective and scalable.

One of my favorite documents I create for a product launch is a PM <> PMM Launch Handoff Brief * I use this document to help facilitate and standardize the transfer of information from PM to marketing. This will help you ensure product marketing has the context they need to bring this new product to market. * We generally have the product owner complete this document with PMM at the beginning of launch planning. * Don’t have time to meet? Have the PM record a Loom clip talking through each question and share it! Here's what the brief consists of: GENERAL INFO Product Name: External name Target Release Date Release Category: New Product or Product Enhancement Release Tier: PMM to highlight one: * Tier 1 - Product experience and/or how we market the product fundamentally changes * Tier 2 - New meaningful product feature / enhancement * Tier 3 - Subtle evolution of product experience (e.g., new model release) * Tier 4 - Bug fixes, subtle UX improvements Product Owner: PM Name Assigned PMM: PMM Name PRODUCT DESCRIPTION What does it do? A quick 1-2 sentence description of the product What problem is this product solving? A quick 1-2 sentence description What value does this deliver to customers? Quick bullets Target users Any specific persona? What are the competing alternatives? Including what would customers do or use if this feature/product didn’t exist Differentiators/Unique attributes What can we do that alternatives can’t How is this feature connected with our overall platform? Product materials and resources What does it look like? How does it work? Examples: * pre-recorded demo video * clean product screenshots/figma mockups, * customer interview recordings What metrics will you be measuring around this feature? Product KPIs, revenue goals, etc. How does this product/feature benefit the company? E.g,. Catch up with competition, expand the EU market Feature Limitations What are the known issues and limitations of this feature, and time to resolve? Specific customers who have requested this feature