What's the difference between a good launch and a great launch?

I think one of the best parts of being a PMM is you get to bring a bunch of different people/teams together to work towards a common goal. I’ve probably done more launches than I dare count and manage people who’ve managed people who’ve done even more launches than me. I guess the launches that I remember most are the ones where we worked well together on. Product announcements are great moments for your company because it brings people together and it’s an exciting and celebratory milestone. I ...Read More

As teams scale and more processes are put into place to streamline go-to-market, PMMs can become overly reliant on launch playbooks. We’ve all been there — you identify the tier, fill out the launch plan, and start working through the corresponding checklist of tactics. In many cases, this will result in a smooth process and pretty good launch — after all, the playbooks are there for a reason. But great launches come from taking a step back from the playbooks and processes to think about what th ...Read More

One word: retrospectives! For me, the success or failure of a single launch isn't as important as what we learn along the way. However, in every company I have been at this has been the hardest thing to implement consistently - especially in high-growth organizations where it feels like you are sprinting from one project to the next and don't have time to look backward. But make it a priority to sit down with all of the stakeholders from the launch (preferably as one group), and take the time to ...Read More

I think what distinguishes great from good is how purposeful the launch was, including these aspects: Were there set objectives for the campaign or product? How does the initiative help the company reach the right customers or win the market? Were stakeholders and collaborators brought in to understand the "why" and how it impacts or benefits them? Are there processes for measuring success and doing reflections/post-mortems? If marketers spend time understanding the why and setting up mechanisms ...Read More