How would you set goals and marketing budget for the first product launch of a product-led growth, B2B SaaS company coming out of stealth when you were the first marketer?

My primary goal with an early-stage launch is scaled traction. If you’ve already got customers, the objective should be to get to the next step function of growth. I.e. 10 obsessed customers would grow to 100 or X in revenue. 

In terms of budget, the costs are more sweat equity to develop meaningful product positioning and a compelling narrative. Research can help validate this. The other cost will be PR. Working with a firm that brings relationships and experience to the table is often worth the cost.

This one is tough to answer without more details :) 

Some questions to ask yourself:

• Do we already have users and can we leverage them to drive new sign-ups? Through testimonials, customer stories, and by incentivizing them to spread the word?
• Do we want to focus on existing or new users? Free or paid users?
• Where might we find new users?
• What are some low-cost ways/channels we can get the word out? E.g. Press or Product Hunt?
• Can we leverage our investors? Do they have channels we can use? E.g. the most basic being can they reshare your social posts / press?
• Are there paid channels relevant to my audience? What's our appetite for experimentation?

Your first product launch is going to be a special one!

I believe it will be maybe a little more than just about the product. It’ll be about the company. Use the opportunity to tell a really big story. So you would have to nail your market differentiation, your brand and your strategic narrative. Combined, of course, with some awesome product news.

Then you need credibility, a lot of social proof. Social proof will be key. So you will need to have custom stories and stats, ROI studies, maybe peer reviews on G2 sites and the likes.

In terms of metrics that you need to think of, I would think big - set big audacious goals in terms of awareness and pipe.

Ok... budget. I have no idea :)

But in my book, you would have to be creative first, and think about the ways to break through the noise. Experiment with new tactics, with your own voice, with your style. Budget doesn't buy creativity. I'll give you an example. We had a product launch a few months ago at Gong and we actually had the cartoonist join our live launch event. That person was sketching what was happening during the event, on the fly. And we ended up with a beautiful drawing , almost a mental map of everything that was going on with the speakers and the customers and the story and the attendees. And then we sent that as a post-event giveaway to the attendees, and guess what? They absolutely loved it.

Well, that didn't cost an arm. But it did create an awesome personalized and engaging experience that people will remember.

That is just one example showing that you don't have to have a crazy budget to be creative, impactful and memorable.