How do you recommend socializing KPIs (before the work starts and when it's done)?

A cornerstone of my PMM strategy, and how I set/socialize PMM KPIs is something I call the “state of the customer report.” This is done quarterly, and is a look at the market based off of win/loss interviews, revenue and churn data, competitors, and other insights relevant to company performance. The report establishes where we are seeing the biggest breaks in the sales funnel, biggest gaps in terms of product adoption/NPS, and any other threats/opportunities perceived (for example, a new competitor stealing market share in a strategic vertical, a product use case attracting a new market segment, or a new buzzword/theme driving traffic to the website.) 

The report is an educational tool for the company, but it has the added bonus of making it crystal clear where PMM should focus their efforts, and the KPIs that matter to the company, given market and business conditions. In each report, I lay out how PMM will address issues from the report over the next quarter/6 months, and how we will measure success, so it’s clear that we are building our plan/goals based off of where we are needed most. 

Everytime I’ve launched this process at a company it’s been a game-changer, and made it very easy for me to get buy-in for PMM activities and metrics. This report is also what I link to when I share out results for the quarter so that people can see very specifically and clearly how plans -- and results -- are tied to what we’re seeing as a business.

The short answer is socialize constantly - it's an "always on" function for internal alignment and awareness. Ideally, any PMM KPIs will clearly map to both top-level company goals (revenue, net retention, product usage) and a shared understanding of "who does what"/"how a bill becomes a law" for your company's GTM motion. If your business is a fast-twitch, bottoms-up, Product Led Growth motion - it needs to be really clear what the PMM team is doing to drive triggers for acquisition, activation and maturity. In this case, the feedback will come in quickly as to what's working and what's not and thus the PMM team can use those KPIs to strategize with product and the rest of GTM. 

For slow-twitch, traditional enterprise sales motions, PMM needs to have clear KPIs for the awareness and consideration phase (messaging informing campaigns that drive opportunity creation, first and third-party content that drive "see a demo," "talk to sales" and other hand-raising activity) as well as for the long haul of sales cycles that can take months or quarters. This is where you need to be plugged into the pipeline and how account teams can move opportunities to close with content, programs, campaigns and events. Designing ways to programmatically move opptys to close will not only socialize your KPIs but also make you a valuable partner to the rest of the GTM org who might have limited, out-dated views of what PMM does. 

Great question! I agree, when it comes to KPIs, we need to keep everyone on the same page from start to finish. Here’s how I like to approach it:

• Pre-Kickoff: During campaign planning, I work closely with my partners in marketing to determine what our target account list and KPIs are for the launch. This is when we get aligned, and make sure that everyone understands the purpose behind each metric.

• During Execution: Then as we work through the campaign, our team is great about sharing regular updates during weekly check-ins and through Salesforce dashboards. Not that we need more meetings 😉 but it is the best way that I have found to keep everyone informed and allows us to pivot when needed.

• Post-Launch: After the launch, our team pulls together a report that reviews each KPI, highlights successes, and shares lessons learned. We’re also rolling out monthly metric review sessions to discuss where we saw success and areas for improvement across the funnel. 

Best case, your company has some strategic KPIs that your KPIs can feed into. If there isn't a formalized process for documenting and sharing these, I recommend taking the initiative to do so. Either in a deck or doc, detail your KPIs, how they ladder up into the business KPIs and the cadence (usually quarterly, but sometimes monthly) in which you'll be reporting back on progress. It's also best practice to share with your key stakeholders for feedback prior to finalizing, and then offer some option, either live or async for reporting on them, sharing what's working/not working and to continue to gather feedback on progress.