Product marketing, as opposed to product management, deals with more outbound marketing tasks. For example, product management deals with the nuts and bolts of product development within a firm, whereas product marketing deals with marketing the product to prospects, customers, and others. Product marketing, as a job function within a firm, also differs from other marketing jobs such as marketing communications ("marcom"), online marketing, advertising, marketing strategy, etc. A product launch is a critical time for an early stage company. The success of the next Product Launch could determine if your company survives.
A Product Launch is a process that has a lifecycle
Thinking of a Product Launch as a process may change your entire perspective about launching products. Many people think of a Product Launch as an event, something that happens with a big bang. There may very well be a Launch Event as part of a Launch Process, but it may be just one of the things that are part of a winning launch.
The purpose of a Product Launch is to build sales momentum
So why take the time to plan and execute a Product Launch? It’s to build sales momentum. Sales momentum will enable your company to grow and prosper. You will be able to add more customers, expand your influence, hire more people and grow even more momentum.
How the 6 Secrets were “Discovered”
A small team of former product marketing managers met to discuss the good, the bad and the ugly of launching products. One by one the products they had launched were written on a whiteboard. Then for each launch the good characteristics as well as “the learning” characteristics were written down. Finally the good characteristics were clustered to see if there were any commonalities. The result was six recurring themes now captured as The 6 Secrets of a Winning Product Launch.
6 Secrets to a Winning Product Launch
A winning product launch delivers sales momentum for your company. It’s one of the few opportunities to go from incremental to exponential sales. So why do so few companies get it right? Its not because they’re lucky. It’s because they understand the 6 secrets of a winning product launch:
Matching Product Capabilities to Market Needs
Power Positioning
Setting Clear Launch Goals
The Power of Leverage
Priming the Pump
Timing the Launch to Maximize Sales
A Product Launch is a process that has a lifecycle
Thinking of a Product Launch as a process may change your entire perspective about launching products. Many people think of a Product Launch as an event, something that happens with a big bang. There may very well be a Launch Event as part of a Launch Process, but it may be just one of the things that are part of a winning launch.
The purpose of a Product Launch is to build sales momentum
So why take the time to plan and execute a Product Launch? It’s to build sales momentum. Sales momentum will enable your company to grow and prosper. You will be able to add more customers, expand your influence, hire more people and grow even more momentum.

How the 6 Secrets were “Discovered”
A small team of former product marketing managers met to discuss the good, the bad and the ugly of launching products. One by one the products they had launched were written on a whiteboard. Then for each launch the good characteristics as well as “the learning” characteristics were written down. Finally the good characteristics were clustered to see if there were any commonalities. The result was six recurring themes now captured as The 6 Secrets of a Winning Product Launch.
6 Secrets to a Winning Product Launch
A winning product launch delivers sales momentum for your company. It’s one of the few opportunities to go from incremental to exponential sales. So why do so few companies get it right? Its not because they’re lucky. It’s because they understand the 6 secrets of a winning product launch:
Matching Product Capabilities to Market Needs
Power Positioning
Setting Clear Launch Goals
The Power of Leverage
Priming the Pump
Timing the Launch to Maximize Sales