When does it make sense to lean into a dedicated vertical or industry marketing function? And once you decide, how do you get it off the ground?

There are multiple criteria to decide whether a dedicated industry marketing resource is needed. 
First, does this vertical need distinct, industry specific messaging and GTM motion? Are the use cases very different from other industries? So different that an industry agnostic story wouldn’t be effective?  If an industry needs some industry specific features, or faces industry specific regulations and maturity curve, it might warrant dedicated marketing resources too. 

Second, does it have alignment with sales? Are there a critical mass of sellers who are dedicated to sell to accounts in that vertical and can take your messaging & positioning to market?
Third, does the industry have a big enough TAM to justify the investment? What are the sub-vertical within the industry or accounts and partners that are in the ecosystem? 

Fourth, are there proven customer success and ongoing resources to keep investing and growing this vertical? Does the company have a lot of opportunity to win and grow in that vertical? An industry led GTM motion is a long term commitment, sales need to get familiar with the vertical specifics, the marketing team needs time to develop assets, the funnel takes time to nurture and the pipeline takes time to grow. Without a long term commitment, you won’t be able to make the most out of your initial investment.

I answered the "when to introduce industry marketing" question here: https://sharebird.com/h/product-marketing/q/product-marketing?answer=peBxUG2DnB&utm_source=questionanswer&utm_medium=share

Let's talk about how to get it off the ground. Here are a few things to consider:

• Get executive alignement. After a couple starts and stops trying to get industry marketing off the ground myself, make sure there is executive alignment on the industry strategy. Do your homework, create a presentation (or memo if that's your company's style), get buy-in individually with the necessary stakeholders, then get an audience at the executive level.

• Your first pass at any new GTM motion should be treated like a pilot. Give the team space to test and learn. You may be trying new vendors, new channels, events, etc. They won't all work immediately and the strategy will need refinement over time.

• Provide sufficient resources (and time) to see success. Many years ago at SurveyMonkey, we piloted a new healthcare solution and it was sunset within a year. But in hindsight, we didn't consider seasonal buying cycles, give our campaigns and nurture programs time to take root, or fund it enough to drive meaningful product awareness.

• Start at the bottom of the funnel, and work your way up. You can be more nimble when piloting new pitch materials and talk tracks with sales. Once you see what's working, formalize it into content on your website and then move to campaigns with spend behind them.