AMA: Zendesk Senior Director, Product Marketing, Candace Marshall on Product Launches

It's critical for PMM to be in lock-step with Product. In fact, the two teams should be joined at the hip. There are many ways to integrate with the PM team but here are some tips: 1) establish PM to PMM mapping to ensure you have coverage across your product portfolio 2) have weekly 1-1s with your PMs 3) join PM's sprint & product planning and daily stands-up when needed (especially as you get closer to GA), Decisions on what features to focus on in each launch are usually a joint effort be ...Read More

Excellent question. To answer your first question, as product marketers, we get requests for all types of content. One tip is to align on a bill of materials, segmented by launch tier. That way, every time you launch a new product, you know exactly what resources you will develop. Ensure you align and set expectations on this bill of materials with your cross-functional partners, like sales, enablement, and marketing. This will help streamline your launch efforts because any time there’s a launc ...Read More

I love this question because you're right - your job is not done the day after launch :) It's critical to maintain momentum to continue driving pipeline, bookings, AND adoption (usage of your product/feature) post-launch. Here are a few ideas to maintain that momentum: Post-Launch marketing: Continue marketing efforts after the launch, leveraging the channels that resonate most with your target audience. This helps keep your product or feature top-of-mind for potential customers (another tip: ma ...Read More

Going from single to multi-product is an exciting time. To build a cohesive narrative, it's important to begin with the foundation of product-market fit. Start asking and aligning on fundamental questions like are you targeting the same core audience as your current product, or are you expanding to reach a broader audience? Are you moving upmarket or venturing into adjacent markets, potentially with a different buyer persona? Understanding and aligning on these core questions will help you craft ...Read More

After launch, you want to immediately start gauging the success of your product launch. An easy way to track success is by funnel stage: Awareness & engagement (metrics like people reached) Pipeline & bookings (how many people are interested in your new product and actually buy it Product Adoption (how many customers start using your products after purchasing) In my experience, it's important to align on success metrics way before launch (in fact, this should be during your launch planni ...Read More

First, start with gaining a deep understanding of your target audience - what they love, what they struggle with, and how your product solves their problems uniquely. This will help you create clear and compelling positioning, messaging, and launch narrative. Secondly, establish clear comms and coordination with your teams - even without dedicated PMMs, cross-functional collaboration is key. Tag-team who is going to work with Product on launch/GA (general availability) timelines, drive marketing ...Read More