How do you launch new features in products? Plus, what are the best resources to learn product marketing from? (Could be a podcast, following some good companies, books, etc)

When launching new features in products, you can influence activation by reaching your customers where they are in their journey. Whether that's in-app with embedded posts, product tours, explainer videos - or reactivate sleepy customers with targeted email messages. Best resources to learn from: your peers! Join a community like product marketing alliance and try to find mentors (I am always open to chat and coach!). Books: Story brand by Donald Miller, Obviously Awesome by April Dunford, On Writing Well by Willian Zinsser. Podcasts: The Product Marketing Insider, The Product Marketing Experts, Women in Product Marketing. Happy trails!

A new feature within a product would usually fall under a Tier 2 or 3 launch in my book. That means they are getting attention, but not quite everything you have up your sleeve. Tier 2 or 3 launches often include:   

1. Website updates 
2. Launch blog  
3. External comms  
4. Employee comms & employee activation 
5. Light field enablement 
6. Internal FAQ document
7. An ammendment to the core product messaging & positioning, as needed

Salesforce has historically done fantastic job launching new features in products on a recurring & predictable schedule, meeting the customers where they already are, and showing the feature value.

For overall product marketing, marketing, and category creation education, definitely check out the book Play Bigger. It puts a new spin on thinking differently and creating differention in the market.  

And of course, give Clari a follow and see how we are activating our channels across social media, product news, web, and more! 

There are two great resources I highly recommend, aside from Sharebird (which contains a true wealth of guidance):

1. Reforge’s Product Marketing course

2. Product Marketing Alliance

I recently took the Reforge course and got a huge amount of value from it, even though my career is over a decade long. There are always so many ways to keep improving yourself and your work! Both of my suggestions above have a price tag, so work with your company to see if they’ll sponsor a seat for you. 

You can also find Product Marketing / Marketing leaders whose careers you admire and follow their content. Here’s a shortlist of mine:

• Joanna Lord, many-time CMO and board member - produces great content (and is also quite funny and enjoyable to listen to)

• Peep Laja, CEO of Wynter - produces lots of strong content on messaging (I did a podcast with him once, and he’s interviewed many other marketers) 

• Meghan Keaney Anderson, many-time head of marketing - her LinkedIn posts are relatable and helpful

• Agustina Sacerdote - trifecta of a marketing, product, and growth leader

• Christy Roach - exceptional product marketer and team leader with a healthy dose of pragmatism

I’m hyperlinking their LinkedIns so you can Follow them, but they’ve authored a tremendous amount of valuable content so just google them and you can find what’s relevant for you. 

To launch new features (vs new products), I ladder them to our established, core use cases. This approach ensures consistency in marketing materials and helps customers understand how our new features fit into the greater set of solutions that our product provides and makes them stronger.

For learning about product marketing, my favorite resources include:

1. Online communities: Sharebird, PMM Files and PMM Camp (PMM Files and PMM Camp share a lot of examples in the wild that I enjoy clicking through!)

2. Industry publications: Ad Age (I love to be inspired by messaging and creative across industries!)

3. Professional networks: Following CMOs from various industries on LinkedIn (I am interested in seeing what is top of mind for them, and benefit from any wisdom they share!)