Product Launch Collaborations

Do product launches feel like a last-minute scramble? Here's how to fix it. For Company X, the only thing consistent about product launches was that they were delayed, often by weeks. Each delay pushed back revenue, annoyed prospective customers, and frustrated the sales team. The teams were left rushing to pull together last-minute go-to-market materials. What was going wrong? The product team stopped once the product was built. They were time-pressured and had to get straight onto the next piece of work. They knew the marketing team handled messaging and they didn't have time for a big handover at the end of the project. It was unclear who was responsible for pulling together materials, like screen grabs, features and benefits. Sound familiar? Here's the fix: 🚀 Start launch planning at the beginning of the project. Involve reps from marketing, CX, and support in the kick off meeting and agree what ongoing involvement is needed up front. 🚀 Collaborate in parallel. By starting launch planning early, you eliminate a handoff. Marketing gets all the information they need and can work in parallel. Both product and marketing enjoy efficiency benefits, and the product launches on time. 🚀 Share meaningful show & tells. Invite stakeholders to regular demos (tailor the content to meet their needs). A great demo doesn't only show functionality; it prepares, elicits feedback, and gets buy-in. When I helped this company change their approach, their launches became timely and far more effective. Marketing had better messaging, meaning the product landed better with customers. The noise from exec stakeholders disappeared. --- If this sounds familiar, let's talk (just drop me a DM). I help time-strapped CTOs & CPOs build collaborative, effective product teams that deliver impact. You don't have to do it all alone.

90% of my working hours are spent serving a brilliant marketing team. The other 10%? I spend as a board member and advisor. Which means… my inbox/sms/linkedin/Friendfeed gets interesting. Some days, it’s a founder asking for feedback on positioning. On other days, a GTM leader floats a beta invite. And occasionally, it’s a cold DM that says: “Hey, we’re launching a thing. Can you amplify it?” Haha. No, I can't, because that's not a partnership. That's a press release with a CC line. And unfortunately, that’s how most companies still treat advisors. Luckily, I've seen what real advisor relationships can look like. And it's night and day. Take Navattic's Launchpad launch. Mostly due to Natalie Marcotullio's brilliant direction, it was one of the cleanest I’ve seen in a long time. It was focused. They didn’t “activate influencers.” They enabled real collaborators. They weren’t handed a script. We were invited into the process. Feedback was just as important as amplification. They brought the advisors in six months before launch. And it was seamless. Monthly updates on the product as it evolved A live advisor enablement session (with Q&A) A custom GPT trained on positioning and use cases Templates for posts (with zero pressure to use them) And most importantly: space to push back. That showed in the launch. The posts weren’t generic. The reactions weren’t forced. Because the people sharing it actually understood the product and believed in the “why.” If you’re planning your next launch. Copy this. Don’t just toss a landing page on the site and hope it sticks. Don’t treat creators like distribution channels. And for the love of all that is good and holy, stop cold-DM’ing PDFs and calling it a partnership. Instead, ask yourself: Are we enabling people who care? Or using people who reach? Because your audience can feel the difference.

Yesterday I highlighted Hexagon's Maestro product launch but having launched countless products that have redefined industries, I’ve learned one core truth: a product launch lives or dies by timing and alignment.   As Mary Sheehan says in "The Pocket Guide to Product Launches":   “The biggest challenge is actually getting the timing right… In order to get [product and marketing] humming together in perfect alignment, it's quite an undertaking.”   Especially in larger organizations where the product management team might be more used to a mature features/functions centric approach OR maybe not comfortable sharing with marketing until very very late in the process OR where there are too many product launches happening at similar timings.   To cut through the noise and dominate, you need to get these 5 things right:   1️⃣ Alignment & Timing -- and I cannot emphasize this more.   Misaligned timelines between product, marketing, and sales are the #1 killer of launch momentum. Marketing must be at the table early - before the roadmap becomes reality. In complex engineering products it is even more challenging since there could be an idea that "what does marketing know about products" - which needs to be shifted to "marketing can help us to be more customer-centric"   2️⃣ Positioning & Messaging   Start with the “why.” Why now? Why this product? Why does it matter to this segment? Strong positioning isn’t just for PR - it fuels every touchpoint that follows.   3️⃣ PR & Media Strategy   Plan to earn attention. That means embargoes, executive interviews, media partnerships, and a newsworthy angle that hijacks the news. Don’t just announce - take over the conversation.   4️⃣ GTM & Demand Generation   Launches are pipeline events. From campaigns to content to customer stories, your GTM motion should be orchestrated to activate both brand and demand - before, during, and after day one.   5️⃣ Sales Enablement   If your sales team isn’t ready, your market isn’t either. Train and equip them with demos, ppts, email material in SFSDC and tools that help them sell the story - not just the spec sheet.   So here’s the question:   Who owns what?   The NPI (New Product Introduction) process primarily lives in product management - but who owns building a story so good it could compete with a #Netflix series?   #ProductLaunch #GoToMarket #MarketingLeadership #ProductMarketing

Early morning (my time...) long form musings. 💵 Revenue stalls when teams stay in their lanes. Collaboration is the only way to win. Too many companies treat Product Marketing like a content factory, looking to them to crank out decks, one-pagers, and flashy campaigns - without asking a very important question -> Will this actually help sales convert? We don't want to be talking about features, or just running campaigns randomly to create buzz. Or - leave our Sales team to battle buyer objections without support. We all win when these these groups (and others) collaborate early and often, making sure we align around *outcomes* buyers are interested in. That means creating messaging that isn't about us, it's about our prospects and talks to their pain, their needs, their goals. We can't afford to leave Sales guessing how to translate features into business outcomes. We don't want our partners in Product Management frustrated because their vision gets watered down. We gotta talk, people! If we collaborate, sales enablement becomes a growth engine, not an afterthought and conversion rates increase instead of pipelines stalling. Cross-functional engagement isn’t just “nice to have.” It’s how we help our companies turn messaging into revenue. That means: Building messaging that connects outcomes to buyer pain, not specs to features. Partnering with sales before a launch to arm them with tools, stories, and training that shorten the sales cycle instead of slowing it. Making enablement a culture, not an afterthought. If Product Marketing is doing its job, sellers don’t just get collateral. They get clarity, confidence, and conversations that convert. Alignment isn’t optional. It’s revenue. #productmarketing #outcomefocus #salesenablement

When it comes to launching a B2B collaboration, it's all about strategy, timing, and connecting with your audience. Here's a sneak peek into some of the steps I take to ensure a smooth, successful launch: 1. Collaborate on Strategy: Align with your partner on goals and messaging. Have them provide examples of ideal or top-performing posts and brainstorm promotional strategies —success is all about working together! 2. Evaluate Your Promotional Channels: Think outside of the box. Social media is just one avenue; also consider email, DMs, and word-of-mouth. Could you feature it in a LinkedIn Article or host a LinkedIn Live event? 3. Personalize Your Messaging: Let different audience segments know what value they would find in your content when you share it. 4. Assign Links & UTM Tags: Optimize your link-in-bio and stories with tracking links so you can measure every click. 5. Prepare Promotional Content: High-quality visuals, engaging captions, and a consistent posting schedule are key. Mix up content with teasers, stories, and behind-the-scenes shots to build a story. 6. Prime Your Audience: Start building excitement early with polls, Q&A posts, and sneak peeks. 7. Post-Launch Engagement: Be prepared to continue the conversation with your audience after you hit send. Taking full advantage of a partnership often goes beyond a single post. 💡Pro Tip: Don’t forget to monitor your analytics to see what’s resonating with your audience in preparation for future collaborations. What else would you add? Let me know in the comments! #b2binfluencers #b2bthoughtleaders #influencermarketing #thoughtleadership #collaboration

PMMs and PMs both have a process for bringing products to market. Unfortunately both (still) happen separately. It looks more like a baton pass, not a collaboration. The trick is figuring out where both systems can overlap. And if possible, how you can blend them together. In the updated image above 👆 I’ve mapped out two processes. The left is the release process, owned by a PM. The right is a launch process, owned by a PMM. (The release process is based on my understanding of a typical product development and release process. It’s likely imperfect, so I’m open to feedback.) Today, many PMMs come into the picture at the release phase, completely missing the earlier parts of the process. Getting looped in early enough to have time for research, strategy, and proper enablement is hugely important, especially for higher priority launches. It’s a big shift that can help make your launches more impactful. When I first shared this graphic 10 months ago, I got a lot of feedback from PMMs saying that we should be brought in at the first step - the idea phase. After all, we should have a deep understanding of customer needs and what’s happening more broadly in our market. And that should influence what goes on the product roadmap. So I’ve updated the diagram to reflect that. But even better than that is getting to a point where both PM and PMM are working together during both processes. Collaborating, sharing insights, and improving each other’s work. It should look like one process vs two that meet and a handoff point. That’s the difference between tactical and strategic launches. #productmarketing #launches Btw, we talk a lot about this stuff in our course, Ready For Launch. If you're looking for more confidence and a proven playbook for product launches, our last cohort of the year starts this Thursday! To check out the full syllabus, use the link at the bottom of the image above 👆

We have all seen the tension and many times the blame games that take place between Product and Marketing. But it doesn't have to be that way! In our latest podcast episode, I had an enlightening chat with Rebecca Shaddix about how Product and Marketing can collaborate effectively. One key takeaway: both teams are under more pressure to deliver than ever, but working fast doesn't mean working right. So, how do you avoid disconnection between these critical functions? Double down on a robust bidirectional feedback loop. Rebecca shared insights on how product marketing should not just relay noise, but distill market insights into actionable themes. This helps in crafting messages that truly resonate with customers while supporting clear business outcomes. For product managers, understanding user interactions with products is essential. Are there features that could enhance adoption? With a consistent feedback loop, ideally on a monthly basis, both teams can stay aligned and adapt strategies quickly to meet market needs. Rebecca pointed out that when the collaboration between these teams fails, it's often due to marketing not stepping in early enough as a strategic partner. Marketing should bring valuable insights and not just act as a reactive launch partner. By ensuring both sides engage as equal partners, we can create a truly cohesive and symbiotic relationship that drives growth and innovation. This means focusing on customer value and business impact, not just shipping features or campaigns. How are you ensuring effective collaboration between your Product and Marketing teams? Share your thoughts!