Metrics for Measuring Launch Success

By David Ronald

One of our clients recently asked for suggestions what metrics they should be using to measure the efficacy of their product launches.

We addressed this question by considering the various stages of their buyer’s journey—the path that a buyer takes, starting from the recognition of a problem or need, followed by the evaluation process, all the way to a purchase and beyond

(See my post on Mapping Content to Your Buyer's Journey for more information about this interesting topics.)

In this blog post I'm going to share the shortlist that we came up with. 

Awareness

• Downloads / Invitation Signups—a lead magnet on your website (such as an eBook) can be used as an early signal of interest in your product. You can also consider using an invitation to preview the upcoming product during the pre-launch phase as early indicator of awareness. 
• Website Traffic—measure traffic to your website throughout the launch timeframe to learn which specific launch activities “move the needle”. 
• Promotional Channel Metrics—look at promotional channels metrics, such as click-through-rate in your advertising, email, and social campaigns, to gain an idea of the effectiveness of your positioning and messaging. 
• News Coverage—news coverage can be an indicator of awareness but be mindful that this is a signal of the effectiveness of your public relations, not necessarily an increase in awareness of your potential buyers.

Marketers refer to this stage of the buyer's journey as Top of Funnel

Consideration

• Free Trial Signups—a free trial is a great way to assess interest in your product and provide opportunities for prospects to discover value. It can also be the beginning of a nurture campaign that exposes prospects to more functionality in the product and offer opportunities for in-person engagement.
• Product Demos—a product trial that involves engaging with someone in your sales or sales team is a strong indicator of interest and intent.
• Community Involvement—tracking the participation in your community be prospects can be a good signal, if a strong and active community is a component of your go-to-market motion.

Marketers refer to this stage of the buyer's journey as Middle of Funnel

Decision

• Conversion Rate—the ratio of leads that convert to customers is one of the most important metrics to track as it provides insight into the efficacy of the entire product marketing effort.
• Time to Close—the average time that it takes a deal to close can be a valuable metric to track, even if isn’t truly an indicator of the success of a product launch.
• Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)—the amount of money that it takes to acquire a typical customer is an important metric and indicates how challenging it is for your business to acquire new customers.

Marketers refer to this stage of the buyer's journey as Bottom of Funnel.

It’s crucial, however, to proactively define a timeframe for the launch. Why? Because it’s not a level playing field if, for example, a previous launch ran for 120 days, while your more recent launch only lasted 90 days. 

The buyer's journey doesn't end once a purchase has been made. Once a buyer has converted to a paying customer, the following metrics are relevant:

Retention

• Customer Usage—tracking customer usage over time, such as monthly active users, is a is a good signal of how much customers perceive value in your value. Some companies excel at acquiring new customers but do a less excellent job of keeping them coming back.

Referrals

• Net Promoter Score (NPS)—determining evaluating how many customers are likely to recommend your product to others is a valuable metric for product markets to track. Although it doesn’t measure the efficacy of the launch itself it does signal the effectiveness of your product marketing overall

Last, but not least, another good way to assess the efficacy of your product launch is with qualitative feedback that can be obtained through surveys, one-on-one interviews, and focus groups. 

This should be both internal and external:

• External feedback—collect feedback from customers and prospects to get reactions and constructive notes about the positioning, channels, and other launch elements.
• Internal feedback—collect feedback from internal audiences, including sales reps, marketers, executives, and product managers.

You can use this feedback to identify opportunities for improvement. You could even consider using these as KPIs for our next launch.

Conclusion

Launching a product successfully can be challenging, as the high failure rates described earlier demonstrate.

By setting clear goals around launches, aligning your product, sales and marketing teams around these objectives, and ultimately measuring performance against these metrics will help increase the probability that your next product launch will be your best ever.

Did we leave anything out? If so, leave us a comment.

Thanks for reading.

Mapping Content to Your Buyer’s Journey

By David Ronald

Too many marketing teams fail to map the journey of their buyers.

Consequently, they send buyers similar content again and again—and are surprised when they don’t achieve the results they want.

It’s important to map the buyer’s journey and create content that’s relevant for each stage along the way. 

And it’s important to experiment with different types of content and optimize based on outcomes. 

A large portion of a buyer’s journey is done digitally (even if it’s not the 67% cited by SiriusDecisions in the early 2010s). This provides a huge opportunity for you to understand your buyer's journey and optimize digital touch points with relevant content, to ensure you influence prospects early in their journey, leading to better engagement and conversion rates. 

I’m going to examine how to understand and influence your buyer’s journey in this blog post.

What is the Buyer’s Journey?

First, what is the buyer’s journey? 

The buyer’s journey encompasses the path a buyer takes, starting from the recognition of a problem or need, followed by the evaluation process, all the way to a purchase.

Understanding the path your buyers take when choosing to make a purchase can be complex and confusing. But, by proactively addressing the needs and expectations of customers at each stage, you can create a seamless path that leads to higher customer satisfaction, stronger relationships, and increased sales.

Understanding Your Buyer’s Journey Matters

Understand the buyer’s journey matters for a number of reasons. These include:

• Facilitates the identification of challenges encountered by your target audience throughout the purchasing process.
• Enables the examination of the choices customers make at each stage, offering valuable insights into their decision-making patterns.
• Encourages a solution-oriented approach in your marketing efforts, ensuring that your messaging aligns with customer needs and pain points.
• Enables the customization of marketing strategies to specific audiences, leading to more targeted and effective campaigns.
• Builds trust with your customers by demonstrating a deep understanding of their journey, fostering credibility and loyalty.
• Enhances the customer experience by addressing pain points, providing relevant information, and delivering personalized interactions.
• Enables data-driven decision-making to help business leaders make informed decisions, refine their marketing strategies, and allocate resources effectively to maximize their results.

Each of these reasons is important in its own way.

Buyer’s Journey vs. Customer Journey

Before going further, though, let’s compare examine two terms that are often used interchangeably:

• Buyer’s Journey—focuses primarily on the path a customer takes from the initial stage of identifying a problem or need, through the evaluation of solutions, to the final purchase decision. It centers on the pre-purchase stages of the customer’s experience.
• Customer Journey—encompasses the entire end-to-end experience a customer has with a brand, including the post-purchase phase. It extends beyond the purchase itself and covers the ongoing interactions, support, and satisfaction that customers experience throughout their relationship with the brand.

(You may also be interested in our blog post, The Secrets to Keeping Your Brand Design Fresh.)

Stages of the Buyer’s Journey

The buyer’s journey, also known as the marketing funnel, is shown conceptually in the following diagram:

1.Awareness

During the awareness stage, buyers have come to the recognition that they are facing a problem but haven’t identified a specific solution yet. They are unaware of you and how your product can solve their problems. 

Your role is to educate them on ways the problem can be solved, ideally in a vendor-neutral way that builds interest and trust. 

Marketers also refer to this stage as Top-of-Funnel.

2.Consideration

In the consideration stage, buyers have progressed beyond mere awareness and are now actively exploring multiple solutions available to address their identified problems and needs. 

They are evaluating different options and assessing which ones align best with their requirements and preferences. 

Your role is to provide comparative analyses, and compelling value propositions to position your product as a compelling option. 

Marketers also refer to this stage as Middle-of-Funnel.

3.Decision

At the decision stage, buyers will make a decision which product will solve their problem and are ready to move forward to a purchase. This involves finalizing details such as pricing, terms, and any additional considerations before committing to the chosen solution. 

Your role is to accelerate their buying decisions with clear and persuasive calls to action and removing any obstacles. 

Marketers also refer to this stage as Bottom-of-Funnel.

Mapping Content to Your Buyer’s Journey

Delivering the right content at each stage of the buyer's journey ensures that prospects receive value and positive experiences, ultimately influencing their purchasing decisions. 

Here are some recommendations for types of content that are appropriate to each stage in the journey of your buyers:

1.Awareness

• Corporate video
• eBook (eg, describing the common solutions used in your industry)
• Third-party survey / report (eg, examining common pain points in your industry)
• Technical content (eg, a solution brief)
• Social posts
• Blog posts 

These are just a few of the items that are relevant to this stage in the journey.

2.Consideration

• Case Studies
• Buyer’s guide
• Benchmark report
• White papers (eg, “Key Advantages of the DataPelago Engine”)
• Analyst report (eg, Forrester Wave)
• Product demos
• Online courses
• Workshops
• Webinars

These are just a few of the items that are relevant to this stage in the journey.

3. Decision

• Total Cost of Ownership report
• Executive dinners
• Consultations

Of course, some of the items in these lists are not content but are instead, marketing deliverables.

I cannot emphasize enough that it’s crucial to create a variety of content—some people enjoy learning about a topic by watching videos or webinars, some people prefer reading short-form or long-form content, and others would rather take class or talk to a subject matter expert.

Identifying Your Content Needs

Here are some recommendations on creating content that make a compelling journey for your business: 

• Ask the sales team what their content needs are—if they need a specific piece of content, such as a benchmark report, in order to move a large opportunity to close, create that first.
  
• In general, though, focus on creating content for the top of the funnel first. Create content that has the broadest applicability, such as a corporate video or an eBook.
• Move onto creating content for the middle of the funnel such as a buyer’s guide or a white paper.
• Return to the top of the funnel and develop content specifically for each buyer, such as developers, data scientists, CXOs, that you want to bring to your side—content targeted towards a specific persona is likely to resonate more than content that is generic.
• Move onto creating similar content for the middle of the funnel.

Repeat this process until you have all the content requirements addressed. In general, one can never have too much content.

Prioritizing Your Content Creation

Although you can never have enough content, there are only 24 hours in a day. In this section I share a process for setting content creation priorities.

At a former company company I created a series of content matrices, one for each use case, that showed the types of content available for each stage of the journey, for each type of buyer. Here's an example of what one content matrix looked like: 

Our goal was to have a minimum of three items available at each stage in the funnel for each persona. Where there were gaps, we focused on creating content to fill them, along with refreshing content that was older and becoming obsolete. This approach informed our content creation activities.

Looking for Signals

How do you know when a buyer transitions from one stage in their journey to the next?

The answer is to observe which content your buyers are interested in:

• Someone filling out a form on your website to download an eBook that explores the solutions being used in your industry could indicate they are in the awareness stage of their journey.
• Someone clicking downloading a benchmark report may imply they are in the consideration stage. 
• And someone requesting a price discount may be sending a signal that they are in the decision stage of their journey.

Although it’s not an exact science, these signals can be relevant, and you should be attentive to them—sending the wrong content to a buyer can delay or even derail their journey.

Conclusion

Understanding and mapping the buyer's journey is essential for creating a marketing strategy that resonates with potential customers at every stage of their decision-making process. 

Too often marketing teams miss opportunities by delivering redundant content that fails to engage buyers meaningfully. By focusing on tailored content for each stage—awareness, consideration, and decision—marketers can deliver value, build trust, and accelerate the path to purchase.

The digital era amplifies the importance of this journey. As a significant portion of the buyer’s journey happens online, companies must optimize their digital touchpoints to capture prospects early, offer relevant information, and guide them toward making informed decisions. 

The ability to create a cohesive, personalized journey is what differentiates successful businesses, enabling them to build lasting customer relationships and drive revenue growth.

Thanks for reading through to the end.

We’d love to hear from you – leave a comment and let me know what you think.

5 Things Wrong with Marketing in 2024

By David Ronald 

Marketing is going through challenging times.

Marketing teams are struggling to make their voices stand out amidst the overwhelming noise of today's digital landscape. With buyers being bombarded by an endless stream of ads, emails, and social commentary, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for brands to capture attention and differentiate themselves. As a result, marketing efforts often get lost in the clutter.

What are marketers to do?

(See my blog post, 5 Ways that AI Can Improve Marketing ROI, for suggestions on improving marketing performance.) 

In this blog post I am going to look at five things that are wrong with marketing.

1. Overemphasis on Short-Term Gains

Many marketing strategies focus too heavily on immediate results, such as lead generation or quick sales, often at the expense of long-term brand building. This short-term mindset can lead to a lack of customer loyalty, a diluted brand identity, and missed opportunities for sustainable growth.

2. Ignoring Data-Driven Insights

While data is more accessible than ever, many companies still struggle to effectively utilize it. Some rely on gut feelings or outdated metrics, while others get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of data without drawing actionable insights. A lack of proper data analysis can lead to missed opportunities or inefficient campaigns.

3. Inconsistent Messaging Across Channels

With the rise of omni-channel marketing, many brands struggle to maintain consistent messaging across platforms. This fragmentation confuses customers, weakens brand identity, and makes it harder for a message to resonate. Cross-channel integration and alignment are crucial for creating a cohesive experience.

4. Poor Customer Experience Management

Brands often focus too much on acquiring new customers and neglect the experience of existing ones. Marketing needs to extend beyond initial acquisition and nurture the full customer lifecycle, offering value at every stage. Failing to provide a consistent, personalized experience can erode trust and lead to churn.

5. Over-Reliance on Automation

While automation is a powerful tool, over-relying on it can strip the human element from marketing. This can lead to impersonal interactions, irrelevant content, and a loss of brand authenticity. Personalization at scale is important, but so is maintaining a balance between automated processes and genuine customer connection.

Thank you for reading.

Do you agree with this list? Leave us a comment and let us know what you think.

My Passion for Product Marketing

By David Ronald

Someone asked me recently, while we were vacationing, why I am passionate about product marketing. 

This question kicked off a long conversation, and although my answer wasn’t concise then, it prompted me to deeply examine my passion for this discipline.

Although I am excited about marketing in general, it's true that I have a special affinity for product marketing.

In this blog post I’m going to attempt a cogent explanation why.

So, here goes…

Educating Audiences

A passion for education runs deep in my family. My mother was a primary school teacher, and my sister has followed in her footsteps, dedicating her career to the same field. It seems that an educational bias is woven into our DNA, as I’ve often felt a strong inclination to share knowledge, whether in formal settings, like a classroom, or in more informal environments, such as coaching on a football field.

This innate desire to teach, inspire, and communicate ideas is something that has shaped not only my personal life but also my professional approach.

In product marketing, education plays a central role, and it’s one of the aspects that excites me the most. A core component of the job is explaining complex ideas in a way that is both accessible and compelling to the target audience.

This might mean guiding potential buyers through the reasons why my product is the best solution to their problems or, equally important, training internal teams, like sales or customer success, on how to effectively communicate the value of our product. In both cases, the goal is to break down information into digestible insights that empower others to make informed decisions, something I find both rewarding and challenging.

Intersection of Strategy and Creativity

Product marketing sits at the intersection of strategy and creativity, making it a uniquely exciting field. I am passionate about devising strategies that encompass market positioning, competitive analysis, and go-to-market plans. The thrill of analyzing market trends and identifying opportunities for differentiation is invigorating.

At the same time, the creative aspects of product marketing allow me to explore innovative ideas and push boundaries. This duality of strategic thinking and creative execution is what makes product marketing so compelling to me. I enjoy the challenge of developing integrated marketing strategies that not only align with business goals but also engage and inspire target audiences.

Impact on Business Success

The tangible impact of effective product marketing on business success cannot be overstated. I am passionate about the role product marketing plays in driving revenue growth, brand awareness, and customer loyalty. Seeing a well-executed marketing strategy translate into increased sales, market share, or positive customer feedback is incredibly fulfilling.

I am particularly motivated by the idea that product marketing is not just about selling a product; it’s about building a brand that resonates with customers and fosters loyalty. This involves cultivating relationships, understanding customer journeys, and continuously iterating on strategies based on feedback and performance metrics. The cyclical nature of this process keeps me engaged and committed to the pursuit of excellence in product marketing.

Crafting Compelling Narratives

One of the most exciting aspects of product marketing is the opportunity to craft compelling narratives. In a crowded marketplace, the ability to tell a story that resonates with the target audience can be a game-changer. I am passionate about developing brand narratives that not only communicate product benefits but also evoke emotions and connect on a personal level.

Through various marketing channels—be it social media, content marketing, or traditional advertising—the challenge lies in articulating a clear and memorable message. I find great satisfaction in the creative process of developing campaigns that capture attention and inspire action. Whether it’s through engaging visuals, captivating copy, or innovative formats, my goal is to create experiences that leave a lasting impression.

Understanding Customer Needs

At its core, product marketing is about understanding and meeting the needs of customers. This requires a deep dive into customer behavior, preferences, and pain points. The thrill of conducting market research, analyzing data, and deriving insights that can influence product development and positioning is invigorating. I relish the challenge of getting into the minds of buyers, discovering what drives their decisions, and how we can create solutions that resonate with them.

This customer-centric approach extends beyond merely gathering data; it involves empathy and a commitment to delivering real value. I find it immensely rewarding to translate complex insights into actionable strategies that can shape product offerings and marketing messages. The more I learn about customers, the more I am motivated to advocate for their needs within my organization, ensuring that our products align with their expectations and desires.

Collaborating with Colleagues

Another aspect of product marketing that I am passionate about is collaboration. Working in product marketing requires engaging with various teams across an organization, from product development to sales and customer support. This collaborative environment fosters a sense of camaraderie and shared purpose. 

I thrive in cross-functional teams, where diverse perspectives come together to achieve a common goal. I find joy in aligning marketing strategies with product roadmaps, ensuring that we are not only meeting market demands but also anticipating future needs. The synergy created through collaboration enhances creativity and innovation, making the product marketing process more robust and effective

Adapting to Change

The ever-evolving landscape of technology and consumer behavior means that product marketing must be adaptable and agile. I am passionate about staying ahead of trends, understanding emerging technologies, and adapting marketing strategies accordingly. The challenge of navigating shifts in the market landscape keeps me engaged and motivated. 

Being at the forefront of these changes allows me to explore new tools, platforms, and methodologies that can enhance marketing efforts. Whether it’s leveraging data analytics for more targeted campaigns, utilizing social media for engagement, or exploring new content formats, I am driven by the desire to innovate and improve continuously.

Lifelong Learning

Product marketing is a field that requires continuous learning and adaptation. I am passionate about personal and professional growth, and I believe that staying curious and open to new ideas is essential for success. The opportunity to learn from peers, attend industry conferences, and engage with thought leaders excites me.

I actively seek out resources, whether through online courses, webinars, or industry publications, to deepen my understanding of product marketing trends and best practices. This commitment to lifelong learning not only enhances my skills but also positions me to contribute meaningfully to my organization.

Promise of Technology

In today’s age, technology plays a pivotal role in product marketing. The proliferation of digital channels, social media, and data analytics has transformed how we connect with customers. I am passionate about leveraging technology to enhance marketing efforts, streamline processes, and improve customer engagement.

Whether it’s utilizing marketing automation tools to personalize campaigns, employing analytics to gain insights into customer behavior, or exploring innovative digital formats, technology offers endless possibilities. I enjoy staying informed about emerging technologies and trends, understanding how they can be integrated into marketing strategies for greater impact.

Summary

In summary, my passion for product marketing is driven by a deep commitment to understanding customer needs, crafting compelling narratives, and making a tangible impact on business success. The intersection of strategy and creativity, collaboration with cross-functional teams, and the ability to adapt to changing market conditions all contribute to my enthusiasm for this field.

As technology continues to evolve, and customer expectations shift, the challenges and opportunities within product marketing will only grow. I am excited about the journey ahead, eager to embrace new challenges, learn from experiences, and contribute to the success of innovative products and brands.

Thanks for reading all the way to end—I really appreciate it.

Feel free to leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

Tips on Determining your Unique Selling Proposition

 By David Ronald

Your unique selling proposition is that one special difference that sets your product or business apart from everyone else.

How do you determine your unique selling proposition?

Begin by identifying what is distinct about your business, why that is important, and what it means for potential customers?

What you are looking for is a unique selling proposition (USP) that a buyer can immediately grasp, understand and appreciate. If you can boil it down to a single sentence, that is even better. Then, if you want to be like the great businesses, you will begin to build all future marketing and advertising efforts around this core idea, you will teach it to your employees, and you will all begin to live it.

If you think about those businesses that have a very identifiable USP, you will notice that it is in fact a large part of their success. The USP is a reason for consumers to frequent a business, a catchphrase, and a distinctive hook for the business to hang their hat on, all rolled into one:

• “Avis—We Try Harder”
• “You’re in good hands with Allstate”
• “Federal Express: When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.”

Interestingly, surprisingly even, most small businesses do not have a USP. They are just out there, doing their thing, selling their stuff, and never really distinguishing themselves in the market place. Maybe they succeed or maybe they do not, but if they do, it might be because they have a good location, or the owner has some great contacts, or some other factor, but often it is not because they offer something unique and distinct to the consumer.

That’s a shame, because in this overly-crowded marketplace, without offering potential customers something different and distinctive, without letting them know you can solve their problem, you will fail to stand out, and if you don’t stand out, success is very hard to come by.

You begin to create a USP by looking at the market and finding a need that either you successfully fulfil already, or which is unfilled but can be fulfilled by your business.

To create a great USP, consider these questions:

• What characteristics of your business are unique?
• Of these, which are most important to your customers and potential customers?
• What gaps are there in the marketplace that your business is uniquely qualified to fill?
• Of all of these, which can be most easily communicated?

Once you have decided which traits make your business unique, and what the market is looking for, boil the idea down to a paragraph or two. This will not be easy, but that’s okay. Write it and re-write it. Take the idea down to its core. If you cannot state what it is about your business that is unique and different, how do you expect your customers to ever know it? To be truly effective, your USP must create value in the mind of customers.

Think about FedEx again. Its USP combines what it does with what customers needed. That’s the gold standard.

By re-focusing your business on your USP, you can inject it with new life and energy. You know what the customer wants and you have positioned yourself to uniquely fill that need. You will not appeal to everyone, but to those that need what your USP offers, you should appear indispensable.

Indispensable – It has a nice ring, doesn’t it?

Thanks for reading.

Leave us a comment and let us know what you think about this post.