Welcome to

Product School!
MODULE 10 - MARKET YOUR PRODUCT
Agenda

WEEK 1 WEEK 2 WEEK 3

Understand Customers & Problems

Course Introductions Competitiveness, primary & secondary activities, customer
Validate an Opportunity Hypothesis
Instructor & trainee Intros journey maps
Effort vs. user value, A/B testing & customer interviews

Introduction to Product Management Create an Opportunity Hypothesis

PM skills, goals & methodologies Qualitative & quantitative methods, setting goals
Define Product Requirements
PRD, MVP & roadmaps
Set Product Objectives
User personas, metrics & use cases

WEEK 4 WEEK 5 WEEK 6

Start Building Develop Your Product II Get Hired

Design processes, product vs. design & sketching MVC, API design & team management Retrospectives, public speaking & resume reviewing

Develop Your Product I

Market Your Product Deliver and Present
Development methodologies, engineers & product, design
Channels, messaging & insights Capstone Project
patterns
 Agenda Accelerated

DAY 1 DAY 2 DAY 3 DAY 4 DAY 5

Strategy & Discovery Research & Define Design & Develop Launch Present

Create an Opportunity Hypothesis Start Building

Course Introductions Market your Product Deliver & Present
Qualitative & quantitative methods, Design processes, product vs. design
Instructor & trainee Intros Channels, messaging & insights Capstone Project
setting goals & sketching

Introduction to Product
Management
PM skills, goals & methodologies
Validate an Opportunity
Hypothesis
Effort vs. user value, A/B testing &
customer interviews
Get Hired
Develop Your Product I Retrospectives, public speaking &
Development methodologies, resume reviewing
engineers & product, design patterns

Develop Your Product II

Set Product Objectives Define Product Requirements MVC, API design & team
User personas, metrics & use cases PRD, MVP & roadmaps management

Understand Customers & Problems

Competitiveness, primary &
secondary activities, customer
journey maps
Index > Session

Agenda

1. Customer Acquisition Channels

2. Going to Market

3. Customers and Messaging

4. Customer Insights
Module 10 > Section 1 > Customer Acquisition Channels

Customer
Acquisition Channels
Module 10 > Section 1 > Customer Acquisition Channels Unmute and Share Estimated time: 10 minutes

Instructor-Led Q&A:
Acquisition Channels
1. Where do we find our customers?

2. How can we best gain insight into

customers?

3. How do you understand customers’ jobs,

pains, and gains?
Module 10 > Section 1 > Customer Acquisition Channels

Customer acquisition channels

Customers are at the intersection of a company’s 1. Are my customers reached by different

strategy and the success/failure of how well it's distribution channels?
been executed.
2. Are they willing to pay for different
To best serve your customers' company, group aspects of your product?
customers into segments and make pragmatic
3. Will their needs require, and justify a
decisions about how to best offer their services.
distinct offer to bring to market?
When considering the structure of your segments
4. Do their buying/purchase patterns change
first understand the following:
across product offerings?
Module 10 > Section 1 > Customer Acquisition Channels

The following are

indicative but not limited
to the types of customers
you need to serve:
Module 10 > Section 1 > Customer Acquisition Channels

#1: Mass market

1. Often found in the consumer electronics

sector

2. Focus on one large group of customers

with broadly similar challenges, and
opportunities to address unmet needs.

An example would be a music speaker or a smart

TV.
Module 10 > Section 1 > Customer Acquisition Channels

#2: Niche market

1. This group of customers has very

specialized requirements around value
proposition, distribution channels, and
customer relationships.

2. Such models can be found in supplier-

buyer relationships.

Examples can be car manufacturing or medical

devices for hospitals.
Module 10 > Section 1 > Customer Acquisition Channels

#3: Segmented

A business model leveraged by consumer retail

banks, segmented customers have similar but EXAMPLE
verifying needs based on their network. In banks, their portfolio of financial
instruments will be very different for
clients with $10K in assets vs. $100K
in assets as some products will require
a minimum amount to have access
Module 10 > Section 1 > Customer Acquisition Channels

#4: Diversified

1. This business model can seen on full

display at a company like Amazon where
the same customer is going to the site to
purchase a book and is the same customer
that has an Amazon Web Services (AWS)
account for a product they’re building.

2. This strategic rationale is feasible because

the company reaches customers + the
ability to produce IT infrastructure in real-
time.
Module 10 > Section 1 > Customer Acquisition Channels

#5: Multi-sided platforms (Or

multi-sided markets)
Example 1: The App Store Example 2:

1. The product requires more than one 1. A credit company needs merchants to
participant to create a market. accept payments and consumers to request
a credit card from their financial institution
2. Without developers building apps
of choice.
consumers love, there will be no demand
for the App Store.

3. Simultaneously, if there are no customers

downloading apps, there’s no demand for
the apps to be built thus the App Store
fails.
Module 10 > Section 1 > Customer Acquisition Channels

Key takeaways

1. How you're going to sell to your customer

is just as important as the previous steps.

2. There are 5 archetypes for channels: mass

market, niche market, segmented,
diversified, and multi-sided platform.

3. Consider the relationship between the

customer and the channel you are using.
Index > Session

Agenda

1. Customer Acquisition Channels

2. Going to Market

3. Customers and Messaging

4. Customer Insights
Module 10 >Section 2 > Going to Market

Going to
Market
Module 10 >Section 2 > Going to Market

Going to Market

Many companies create launch checklists, which
are preset templates of the information the
marketing team needs to launch a product.
Problem? Not every product launch is the
same, both in terms of:
1. The product you’re launching
A lot of the work you’ve done so far, from
identifying your target customers to analyzing the
competition to developing product messages for
each persona will inform your overall strategy and
influence the decisions you make within the GTM
plan.

2. How people receive information

Module 10 >Section 2 > Going to Market

Identify the launch owner early

A great way to launch a product is to identify a

launch owner early on.
Form a team with representatives
Establish clear launch objectives and
from each key group: design,
responsibilities within a go-to-market (GTM)
plan.
engineering, product, support,
and marketing
Module 10 >Section 2 > Going to Market

Launch tracker spreadsheet

For these meetings, it’s helpful to create a launch tracker to organize the launch.
3 sheets in a spreadsheet are sufficient:

Action Items Caution Items Key Decisions

These are specific tasks,
assigned to a specific
person/team along with when it
was assigned, when it was due,
and any comments/status
updates appropriate for the task.
These are possible Including who made it, when it
problem issues along with who was made, and any comments.
raised them, when they raised
them, when the issue was
resolved, and any comments.

It will be a living document that will be your launch reference.

Module 10 >Section 2 > Going to Market

Launch strategy: pre-launch

A.K.A stuff you do before the launch! Identify Launch Goals

1. Your V1 of a product message is usually 1. What’s your aim?

done way before the launch
2. Users? Profitability? Getting people to
2. Other things like updating your support upgrade? A mix?
docs will be closer to when you actually
These goals will drive your launch strategy.
launch
Module 10 >Section 2 > Going to Market

Plan WHEN to launch

Sometimes a specific date, but usually a date

EXAMPLE
range. Businesses sometimes have buying periods that
you might need to time your launch around.
Important to pick this launch window as early as
possible as it affects your product’s development. OR

Sometimes companies have extra money in

their budget they need to spend before the end
of the year, so they’ll buy more in December
Module 10 >Section 2 > Going to Market

Iterative Development launch

2
The main thing to remember is dev works in
sprints and marketing/sales work on dates.
1
If you’re on a web/app with continuous
deployment or releases after each sprint,
marketing might be continuous.
Sprint 3
Or, marketing will ask dev to hold off releases to
do a “big bang” launch.
5

Here, you want to do a bigger marketing effort 4

around a release, and big bangs are arguably easier
with Iterative Development.
Module 10 >Section 2 > Going to Market

Plan a release sprint

Sprint Sprint Sprint Sprint Sprint

Sprints are regular and you know their due dates + roughly
what’s in them.

A better idea of what will ship when than waterfall.

There are N sprints before a public release, and at a certain point,

marketing will build up the launch team.
Module 10 >Section 2 > Going to Market

Plan a release sprint

Sprint Sprint Sprint Sprint Sprint

Pick the sprint you’ll release at.

Converge everything there (e.g. bug fixes > new features,

increasing QA). That sprint is focused on release readiness.

Use the next sprint to address any release fallout.

Plan for a little disruption in case critical issues arise

(EXAMPLE: server overload or critical bugs).
Module 10 >Section 2 > Going to Market

Beta release

Early Releases = Sometimes internal

The goal is to make sure everything works as

expected and catch glitches before showing it to
users.
Module 10 >Section 2 > Going to Market

Test the message & campaign

● Show it to people and see how they react.

● Use surveys, focus groups or have key

tastemakers.
Module 10 >Section 2 > Going to Market

Determine the launch’s scope

Not every launch is equal.

If there’s just a great new feature…

1. Maybe all you need is an email to existing

customers

2. No team needed

3. A press release with a link to the product

or blog post about it. They help promote
the product & act as inbound marketing
(getting people to the product).
Module 10 >Section 2 > Going to Market

Determine the launch’s scope

Beyond press releases, you might do a small press effort.

The next level is a big press tour:

1. Coverage in many publications.

2. Pick an embargo date (when it’s released).

3. Talk to the press during the week before, telling them not
to publish until the embargo lifts.

If one publishes early, it can ruin the launch.

Last, you might do a big bang. A mix of a big event + press

briefings.
Module 10 >Section 2 > Going to Market
5 Pre-launch considerations
Assets
(PM might help
coordinate marketing
needs): What photos,
videos, copy, etc. Will
you need it for the
launch? What site
updates?
Create Buzz Partnership Email List Plan Be Prepared!
Are there key Are there How do you want to If you’re doing an
influencers’ sales/distribution reach out to current event/press tour,
outreach/seeding partnerships to make customers, those who practice everything for
information? How can sure they are in place? signed up via a the demo.
you generate Are there long-lead landing page?
excitement for the PR partnerships to line A handy tip is to have
product pre-launch? up? a list of common
questions/answers you
expect. Also, record
yourself on camera
doing a mock
interview!
Module 10 >Section 2 > Going to Market
LAUNCH!

4Ps Model

To help the launch team, the PMM/PM can

reframe the earlier business canvas into the 4Ps Product Price
model.

Promotion Place
Module 10 >Section 2 > Going to Market

Product - The point of launch

● Unique value proposition?

● Strengths and weaknesses?

● MVP or full product?

● Convenience or specialty?

● Key personas?

● How do you demo it?

Module 10 >Section 2 > Going to Market

Price - It’s tricky!

● Price vs. perceived value

● What’s the problem worth solving

● Competitor pricing

● Make sure you’re making money

Module 10 >Section 2 > Going to Market

Place

A great starting point when figuring out where to

sell your product is.

● Where do target personas shop?

● Identify key channels

Module 10 >Section 2 > Going to Market

Promotion

1. How and where will you advertise the

product?

2. How will you advertise?

3. Should derive from the key message

4. Lifetime value (LTV) vs. cost to acquire

customer (CAC)
Module 10 >Section 2 > Going to Market

The launch

Next… Execute the plan!

Get the product out to everyone.

PM is often a company spokesman, especially in

startups.

Make sure the launch team can help with any

emergencies (e.g. a flood of visitors to the site
causes it to crash, support issues, etc.).

Generally, lots of pre-launch planning makes

launch relatively easy.
Module 10 >Section 2 > Going to Market

Post launch

Most of your work will be internally focused, ● Most of this will be around advertising
assessing early results and metrics and planning (i.e. sharing your message with potential
what’s next. customers)

The marketing and sales teams will focus on how ● Making them aware of your product
to promote and sell the new, current version.
● Explaining why they should care
Let’s look at some of the things they’ll be
doing/terms you might hear.
Module 10 >Section 2 > Going to Market

Content marketing

A current trend in advertising is content

marketing.

Basically, you’re not making an ad saying “buy

me,” you’re making content with an implicit
message of “our product is awesome for you”.

Could be a beautiful photo on Instagram.

Could be a blog post talking about how your

product solves specific problems for people w/
some actual advice they can use without buying
the product.
Module 10 >Section 2 > Going to Market

Paid media

Paid media is (big shock) any form of marketing or advertising where you pay to
leverage a channel to reach your target audience.

Ads Buy Sponsored Content Search/Google Ads

Big paid ads are less common The content you pay to get up Pay per click /impression/action
now. on blogs, social, etc.
Module 10 >Section 2 > Going to Market

Owned media

Channels you control where you produce content.

You might make a blog or YouTube video with

some actual content, showing your product in
action or discussing a problem customers have +
potential solutions.

Then you’ll promote it on your own social

channels.

Use social channels for discussion/engagement.

Module 10 >Section 2 > Going to Market

Earned media

When people talk about your product via the

press, word of mouth, people randomly blogging
about your product, etc.

It’s free, but you have no control.

Having a focused/repeated key message is the

trick to avoiding negative earned media (along w/
a solid product).

This is incredibly effective: people trust reviews

& word of mouth > nearly everything else.
Module 10 >Section 2 > Going to Market

Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)

Ultimately, CLV is what we want to focus on. If you have to spend $100 on display and affiliate
promotions to acquire a customer but only expect
How much money do you expect to make for this
to make $20 on this customer, you’ll have lost
customer over the product’s lifetime?
money.
Useful for determining how much to spend
advertising this customer.

The CLV should be greater than what you spend

to acquire the customer.
Deepen your understanding of
customer life value and how to
apply them in Product on our
Product Leader Certification.

Live Module 9: Master Product

Financials
Module 10 >Section 2 > Going to Market

Experiments

Ultimately, the marketing team will be running Then, just like with product iteration, marketing
lots of experiments to figure out how to best reach can work to optimize their funnel to get as many
customers. customers as possible trying/buying the product.

What’s nice is those experiments will yield data.

And when people come to the website, here’s the

loop they go through and where there’s leakage
before they click to buy.
Module 10 >Section 2 > Going to Market

Key takeaways

1. GTM is extremely critical for a successful

launch.

2. Carefully think about your strategy.

3. Align your stakeholders.

4. Make sure you're ready for the unexpected.

Index > Session

Agenda

1. Customer Acquisition Channels

2. Going to Market

3. Customers and Messaging

4. Customer Insights
Module 10 > Section 3 > Customers and Messaging

Customers
and Messaging
Module 10 > Section 3 > Customers and Messaging

Why does marketing matter?

Marketing is a key component of building a
successful product.
Since many of us have technical backgrounds, we
likely dismissed marketing before as unimportant.
Even if we built the perfect product, will it sell
itself? The harsh truth is that it won’t. If target
customers don’t know, find, or buy your product,
it will flop.
Fortunately, marketing and sales teams exist to
make sure the right customers learn about,
find, and buy your product!
You will often be providing input to
marketing/sales strategies, and they’ll be giving
you feedback that you’ll incorporate to make the
product better.

If the wrong people buy your product, they won’t

be happy, the product will flop.
Module 10 > Section 3 > Customers and Messaging

Introducing the Product

Marketing Manager (PMM)
Some companies even have a second role within
marketing related to product management, the
Product Marketing Manager (PMM).
1. Focused externally and an expert on the
customer (and the buyer, if they’re not the
same person, such as in enterprise
software).

2. The PM will focus internally on getting

the product built.

3. Companies that have both PM & PMM

call:

a. The PM “inbound”

b. The PMM “outbound”

Module 10 > Section 3 > Customers and Messaging

Introducing the PMM

PMs spend 33% of their time on go-to-market PM vs PMM

activities and roadmapping
1. PM:
1. Managing these activities makes it hard for a
a. Product development
PM to focus on new launches.
b. Voice of the customer
2. Potential problems include:
c. Alignment across the organization
a. Missing a launch date 2. PMM
b. Not hitting revenue projections a. Marketing program management
b. Targeted messaging & positioning
c. Market segmentation
Module 10 > Section 3 > Customers and Messaging

Introducing the PMM

PMs and PMMs rely on one another.

PMM needs a PM to:

● Validate customer messaging

● Provide training materials and selling

guides for sales

● Keep current with product updates

Module 10 > Section 3 > Customers and Messaging

Business model canvas

Can help us understand how to best market our

product to the right customers.
Module 10 > Section 3 > Customers and Messaging

Customer segments

Who are the key personas?

These are the most important personas that you

believe you’ll create the most value for, and
they’re who you want to prioritize opportunities
for.
Module 10 > Section 3 > Customers and Messaging

Expanding our personas

1. How does a persona define success?

2. How are you perceived?

3. What’s their buying criteria?

4. How do they evaluate products?

Module 10 > Section 3 > Customers and Messaging

Value propositions

What’s the benefit/value that a certain group of

your products or services provided for a given
persona?

What customer pain points are you solving?

Module 10 > Section 3 > Customers and Messaging

Channels

How does the company reach each persona to

deliver value, including marketing,
communication, distribution, sales, and support?
Module 10 > Section 3 > Customers and Messaging

With an enterprise product and a high-

The Customer
valued customer that purchases a lot of
Relationship block will licenses, the customer likely expects their
account manager to talk to them personally
help your team
and maybe even come to the customer’s
determine how to reach office to give a demo.
these customers, too. Again, make sure the choices you make for
customer relationships match your
customer’s expectations.
Module 10 > Section 3 > Customers and Messaging

Customer relationships

What type of relationship, from personal to

automated, do you want to establish with each
persona?

Also consider what each segment expects, what

you have now, how costly they are, and how you
expect to maintain them.
Module 10 > Section 3 > Customers and Messaging

Revenue streams

This represents the company’s incoming cash

(revenue minus costs is the company’s earnings).

A company might have multiple revenue streams.

For product marketing, think about how

customers expect to pay for a product. One time?
Recurring?
Module 10 > Section 3 > Customers and Messaging

Product messaging

One of the most important things the business
model and value proposition canvas can help
you and your team with is to determine the
right product message.
How do you communicate your product’s value to
the customers?
Framing your product in this way—why should
the customer care—helps with everything from
how you’ll sell the product to what features really
matter. It’s so important that we even include it in
our PRD template!

These canvases can help because they specifically

ask you to think about your customer’s needs,
problems, and goals along with what problems
your product solves and what benefits it provides
to your target customers.
Module 10 > Section 3 > Customers and Messaging

Segments

Possible to have different messages for different

segments.

That’s OK.

But better to have fewer messages (just

simplifies how much work you have to do to
market a product).
Module 10 > Section 3 > Customers and Messaging

How do we craft a message?

Let’s look at a step-by-step

guide to creating a
product’s message
Module 10 > Section 3 > Customers and Messaging

Step-by-step guide to creating a

product’s message
There are 3 key questions our theme should answer:

1. WHY is this product/company important? WHY

are you doing this? Why

2. HOW are you going to do this?

How
3. WHAT is special about your company’s mission
that will make a customer want your product over What
a competitor’s?
The Golden Circle
Ideally, there will be one fundamental theme that By Simon Sinek
answers those three questions.

Begin by writing down your company’s core “why.”

Module 10 > Section 3 > Customers and Messaging

What’s fresh and new?

Something important to note is that the “fresh and Next, for each new feature you listed:
new” part might differ for new versus existing
1. Write why the customer should care
customers.
2. How this feature relates to your theme
If your product is unknown (a common issue with
startups), there’s likely a large customer base that
will see your product for the first time. Explain
why the product matters - the benefits they
provide to the customer.
Module 10 > Section 3 > Customers and Messaging

Compared to the status quo?

How is your product different and better than

NOW
what the customer’s doing now?

This is relevant in the messaging for new FUTURE

customers.

In another section of your paper, create the “Now”

and “Future” columns. Write out what the
customer’s doing now and why your product is
better.

.
Module 10 > Section 3 > Customers and Messaging

First impression

Another aspect of your message is what might

someone’s first impression of your product be,
and do you need to influence that impression?

Write down what you feel each persona’s first

impression of your product will be.

If you need to influence that impression, write

down how you want to shift the perception.
Module 10 > Section 3 > Customers and Messaging

Using a company’s “voice”

This is the diction and tone you will use in your

marketing and advertising materials.

EXAMPLE: Traditionally, enterprise products =

formal and consumer = casual

Some companies create style guidelines for their

brand’s voice.
Have a general sense of what you want the voice
you want your brand to have.
Use this as a starting point and not the required
approach.
Stay consistent within each medium/message!
Module 10 > Section 3 > Customers and Messaging

Language - Skip the jargon

This can be confusing and alienating and take too
much time to explain.
HOWEVER, there are some spaces where you
want jargon.
The key is knowing the customer’s expectations.
Craft your message to match what they’re looking
for.

● E.g. selling a cyber security product

a. Mention compliance levels and

standards, things that a customer
will be looking for.
Module 10 > Section 3 > Customers and Messaging

Putting the pieces together

● Create different messages for different

customer segments in mediums

● The shorter with the wider appeal the

better

● Establish key messages early on (in your

PRD) - will help with prioritization

● It’s about what the product lets the

customer do
Module 10 > Section 3 > Customers and Messaging

Key takeaways

1. It's all about the user; WHO and WHERE

they are, WHAT relationship you want to
establish, and HOW you reach them.

2. Think about your message as a way to

explain HOW your product solves the
needs of the user.

3. Use simple language to make sure the user

understands.
Module 10 > Section 3 > Customers and Messaging

Time for a break

Stretch, breathe,
grab a drink

Estimated time: 5 minutes

Index > Session

Agenda

1. Customer Acquisition Channels

2. Going to Market

3. Customers and Messaging

4. Customer Insights
Module 10 > Section 4 > Customer Insights

Customer
Insights
Module 10 > Section 4 > Customer Insights

Empathy map

An empathy map is a tool that allows you to

explore these insights from users.
Module 10 > Section 4 > Customer Insights

Why does this matter?

● Sometimes just looking at standard
demographics and product signals is not
enough

● You may miss what a user truly feels about

your product
Module 10 > Section 4 > Customer Insights

Empathy map

● What does a customer feel?

● What does a customer hear?

● What does a customer really think and feel?

● What does a customer say and do?

● What are the customer’s pains?

● What does a customer gain?

Module 10 > Section 4 > Customer Insights

Empathy map

What does a customer feel? Leading Questions:

Your job is to see the environment as the customer ● What types of incentives are being offered
views it in an effort to empathize with the to try a product/service
opportunities and constraints. daily/weekly/monthly/annually?

● What types of problems are being

encountered?
Module 10 > Section 4 > Customer Insights

Empathy map

What does a customer hear? Leading Questions:

Understand how the environment influences the ● How do they consume content and by
customer to take certain actions. what channels?

● What factors in society really influence

their purchase decisions?
Module 10 > Section 4 > Customer Insights
Empathy map
What does a customer really think and feel?
Map the consumer journey with a clear
understanding of all the touchpoints and key
considerations for each decision made throughout
the experience
Leading Questions:
● What’s really important to the customer
and visceral response to the
products/services you offer?
● What are things they admire and/or
dislike?
Module 10 > Section 4 > Customer Insights

Empathy map

What does a customer say and do? Leading Questions:

Anticipate what questions the customer may have ● What are some of the key messages or
to complete a task. views shared toward your product and/or
industry to friends and family?
Module 10 > Section 4 > Customer Insights

Empathy map

What are the customer’s pains? Leading Questions:

Anticipate points of frustration the customer may ● What risks are customers taking by using
have to complete a task. your product?

● What are the biggest frustrations?

Module 10 > Section 4 > Customer Insights

Empathy map

What does a customer gain? Leading Questions:

Anticipate what points of delight the customer ● What wins are customers experiencing by
may have when completing a task. using your product?

● What are the points of delight?

Module 10 > Section 4 > Customer Insights

Key takeaways

1. It's not enough to rely on demographics

and product signals.

2. Using tools such as an empathy map is an

organized way to ask insightful questions
to find gaps in your product and see how
your customers truly feel.
Module 10 > Section 4 > Customer Insights Unmute and share Estimated time: 110 minutes

Breakout Group Discussion:

Product positioning & empathy map
Follow the steps to create an empathy map: Follow the steps to create your product
positioning:
1. Define the customer
1. Say: What the users say about the product
2. Define the problem
2. Think: What the users thinks when
3. Describe the feelings
interacting with your product
4. Describe other companies in the market
3. Feel: User’s emotional state related to
your product

4. Do: What are the actions the user takes

Product Positioning & Empathy Map Template here.

Q&A