Why So Many Companies Make Mistakes When It Comes To Launch

Many leadership teams find it difficult to address the go-to-market process precisely because it is difficult to measure.

Often they are confused about the importance of this process and what the tangible steps of going to market are. Unlike roles like demand generation and social media marketing, which are very transparent, the results of the go-to-market (GTM) process are not as visible.

What does it mean to have a successful product launch?

Many companies can’t answer this very simple question and often don’t set clear metrics before an upcoming launch. They also don’t know when to measure the success of a launch. They often assume that success is measured on or right after the day of the launch, but that is often not the case.

As soon as the product roadmap and product hypothesis are created, a company should create metrics for the launch of the product. Well before a launch, they should measure customer feedback. Some companies (e.g., Amazon) write a press release before creating a product to understand what might be missing from the launch if they’ve had difficulty putting together a pitch for the market.