Step seven in the 9II9 product lifecycle is Launch. The process of figuring out the most cost-effective way for a new product to acquire and retain users is called a go-to-market strategy (GTM). Organizations that don’t have a product management function, and may rely on the engineering team to define, develop and release products, often miss this critical part of the product launch process. The GTM process includes planning paid online and offline ad campaigns, running house ads, pushing out press releases and building buzz through write-ups and reviews in industry press.

One of the key distinctions between a product vs project are all these activities that happen after the technical development work is done. A Product Manager owns the go-to-market aspect of launching a product. A product launch is not an event. It is a process. The Product Manager owns this process and works across various stakeholders to execute on PR and marketing strategies that drive growth and adoption of the product.

Sales Guides

Digital products that monetize through advertising, subscriptions or other paid services need effective tools for educating potential customers on the value of these offerings.

A Product Manager’s role is to equip the sales team with tools such as a product brief, ad spot definitions, and audience insights. These can be delivered as a product brief or presentation deck.

Advertising Strategy

The Product Manager is responsible for the growth and retention of a product post-launch. In order to meet certain growth KPIs, a Product Manager is able to leverage a combination of paid and organic user acquisition strategies. Paid campaigns involve working with digital advertising and marketing teams to prepare and execute on a media plan. A media plan identifies all the places where the ads will run and the expected yield for each. A third-party product that will display an ad for your product is called a traffic source. Once a campaign is started, it is monitored and optimized to ensure that the budget is allocated towards the most effective and highest quality traffic sources. In this context, quality refers to the stickiness of the users that are originating from a particular source. An ad campaign concludes with a post-campaign analysis report.

Promotion Strategy

In a media organization, especially those with internal video production teams, developing on-air and digital video promos is a standard part of the go-to-market activities for a new product. The Product Manager will use an existing product brief or complete a special creative brief to provide the necessary messaging and talking points that the promo video producer would need in order to write a script and produce a video for TV or social.

Pre-launch campaign

In order to generate buzz leading up to a new product launch, the Product Manager can begin contacting relevant influencers and publications in an effort to have write-ups about the coming product launch.

Public Relations Strategy

For significant launches that offer a new and novel idea or a major benefit that users were not able to experience before, a press release us warranted. Given that press releases are often sent as a broadcast to multiple sources, it is best to limit the frequency of press-worthy events. Tools such as PRNewswire and PRWeb are great options for not only getting a press release distributed to audiences in targeted locations, they also provide professional advisory services for preparing releases.