
Ask the Experts
Jeffrey Vocell, Director of Product Marketing at Iterable will be taking your Qs and lifting the lid on the GTM process and how to scale for success. November 4th, 12pm EST. Don't miss the boat. 👇
Jeffrey Vocell, Director of Product Marketing at Iterable will be taking your Qs and lifting the lid on the GTM process and how to scale for success. November 4th, 12pm EST. Don't miss the boat. 👇
Where am I?
In Product Marketing Alliance you can ask and answer questions and share your experience with others!
How can I communicate the role content strategy and design plays in the scaling process? It’s been problematic finding common ground with key stakeholders.
Hey David! Thanks for the question.Â
Before communicating it, I’d spend some time understanding where it’s breaking down. Are you pitching them ideas that don’t line-up with their goals? Do they view company, or product, positioning differently than you do? Are they writing about high-level topics that don’t connect down to your product? There’s potentially a million more questions we could add here - but getting to the center of where that’s breaking down will be more important than any tips or tricks I, or any other PMM leader, could offer.Â
That being said, to more directly answer your question here's what I would advise:
Let me know if that helps! Happy to chat more specifics 1:1 as well.
Awesome, thanks Jeffrey!Â
As I ramp up my scalability efforts, I’m conscious of costs for marketing, lead-gen, etc. could become unsustainable. What’s the most effective way to estimate customer acquisition costs?
Hey Fergus! There are a ton of thoughts and opinions on how to best calculate CAC out there. I think the biggest thing is whomever is responsible for measurement and analytics at your company - ensure the way you are measuring CAC is aligned with them, and they're bought-in to the metric. I've found it's generally the Operations team (at least at SaaS companies) and once this is aligned most folks will get on board and be able to measure it. At HubSpot we looked at this and months to payback for new customers and how our marketing spend was impacting the # of months in that equation.Â
Happy to talk more specifics 1:1 as well since I know alot of this can be sensitive.
What would you consider to be the most common GTM pitfalls, and how can I avoid falling into these traps?
Great question, Amy! There's so many, but a few common ones I see...
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Hi Jeffrey! Which customer retention programs can I introduce within my product marketing team to protect my existing client base and drive future growth? After all, they’re at the core of a company’s growth and success!
Hey Alex!
Do you have a customer marketing team? If so, I'd ask for their help with some of this as well.
That being said, think about things that will engage with your audience like: AMAs with product team members in a community, customer-facing webinars, PMMs/PMs hoping on at-risk customer calls, customer stories/testimonials/case studies, a Customer Advisory Board of your top-tier customers, and more. You should also consider a monthly customer newsletter and targeted messaging to customers to keep them engaged. If you're collecting feedback (like NPS) then think about how to close the loop on that feedback with customers and send different messaging to folks who may be a detractor versus a promoter.Â
Hi Jeffrey, I’m not entirely sure myself and my PMM team is making the most of the data at our disposal. How can we convert data into information we can include within our go-to-market strategy?
Great question, Chloie! This is something I think every PMM team faces at some point (or on an ongoing basis).Â
First, I'd spend a little bit to understand what information you have: website analytics, market research/analyst reports, customer surveys/support, etc. Once you have that, see how those individuals/teams gathering the data share it out. Do they use Slack channels to communicate it? If so, can you be invited to those to see data. Or do they send emails and can you be added to the distribution list. Regardless of the method, gathering the data has to be the first step.
Next, consider how you want to use the data. Oftentimes I've used it to help inform GTM strategy, positioning, pricing, and competitive intelligence. For example, you can build a feature matrix of your product versus key competitors based on all this information and use that to help sales and CS in their conversations with prospects and customers.Â
When you learn about new launches coming down the pipeline, it's important to take a little bit of time (I try to time box it to between ~2-3 weeks) to understand the landscape and data you have. This should inform your positioning and your entire GTM plan.Â
I know people whose companies have enjoyed great domestic success, but I’m keen to scale internationally; are there any globalization techniques you’d consider to be indispensable? Thanks.
Hey Johnny! We thought a lot about this during my time at HubSpot too, but a few things:
Hi Jeffrey. Company culture plays a pivotal role in scalability, but how can I encourage my team members to buy into the core values at my company so we’re not pulling in separate directions?
Hey Nick. You have to believe them and live them first, before your team will (assuming you're leading others, or the entire team). One of our core values here at Iterable is balance. I will admit that I have never been great at that, and throughout my career have always prioritized work - and now leading a team, I've been more thoughtful to set the right example by ensuring I'm taking time off to recharge to set that example for the rest of the team. This is one small example, but whatever your company culture is or values are, make sure you are living them and that your team sees it.
Aside from that, built it into team meetings and events. If you have a value around transparency, or authenticity, help that shine through in team meetings by talking about executive decisions being made, or what's happening in your personal/home life a bit.Â
Happy to talk more specifics as well, feel free to DM me on the PMM Alliance Slack and I can talk a bit deeper about what we do here at Iterable.Â
I’ve been told trying new methods is key when scaling a team. Do you have any pointers on how I can experiment with new processes, without compromising goals and high standards? Thanks!
Great question, Coleen! I think there's a few ways of doing this...
Jeffrey, what OKRs would you prioritize in beginning, intermediate, and highly developed product marketing teams? Is it entirely dependent on the organization and situation, or do you think that some metrics have more importance at different levels of development?
Another question: what achievable, short term goals would make sense to a new PMM just getting into the role?