(This article is cross-posted at onproductmanagement.net)
In several online forums/blogs recently, there has been a lot of talk and discussion about “how often do I update this?” “Change that?” “Do this?” There was a specific thread that was related to a question about a product roadmap, but I’ve also seen the same question about web content, marketing communication pieces, customer visits and other outward facing activities. Our product professional peers are looking for some schedule so they can plug the activity into their calendar and update x, y or z regularly.
But, a calendar appointment is not what is needed to address the challenge.
(This article is cross-posted at onproductmanagement.net)
I don’t know when it happened but it officially became fall in the Northern Hemisphere. Typically I would moan at this thought, which makes me think about how many bags of leaves I need to rake this season (typically 100 around my house,) or worse yet, that winter and the freezing temperatures are approaching. But this year I’m hoping the new season brings a breath of fresh air. This summer, I realized my parents are getting old. Three out of the four had a significant health problem. And while, thankfully, all are doing better now, it made me face the reality that needs, plans and provisions need to change.
It happens to our products too.
(This article is cross-posted at onproductmanagement.net)
Congratulations on creating the product marketing roadmap. Congratulations on discovering and creating metrics that show how you are progressing on that roadmap. But, now you have to communicate this information. The roadmap has no value if it is not shared.
(This article is cross-posted at onproductmanagement.net)
In my recent post on product marketing roadmaps, we discussed how to get started creating your road map and how it serves nicely as a bridge between other department plans and efforts such as marketing, sales and product management. Once you’ve created your product marketing roadmap, you have to actually use it as a guide to strategic activities. And, if you are going to use it, you need to know that the efforts are moving toward success. You have to look at measurements which gauge the progress of the movement.
When ever a new product is launched, great pains are taken to measure success of the new product (you are measuring, right?). Do you know what are you measuring against? If you created a business case prior to developing the product, you should already have a first year sales forecast ready, available and communicated to all involved. (more…)
