One of my favorite phrases to hear in a meeting is, “how might we…?”

It demonstrates curiosity. A growth mindset. An openness to new ideas or approaches. Collaboration.

And it’s almost always how the best ideas get started.

But, experimenting with new ideas isn’t always as easy as it sounds. As PMMs we often have small teams, limited budgets and complicated stakeholders.

That’s why this month, I decided to ask for advice from the incredible group of product marketing leaders inside the PMM Camp community. It’s the kickoff for a new segment I’m calling Camper Q&A (pretty self-explanatory).

I prompted the community to share their best approaches, techniques and tips for experimentation. And they delivered.

Happy experimenting 🧪🔬

How do you incorporate experimentation into your GTM strategy?

Here’s what four product marketing leaders had to say 👇🏻

Rebecca Byers

Head of PMM @ QA Ltd

I'm here for the PMMs who feel data-poor, like their company is a dinosaur. It's hard to experiment if you don't have a good way to capture results. It's hard to experiment if even foundational best practices -- include an email template with that launch! Include a hitlist of customers to target! -- feels revolutionary to your org.

But I'm convicted to never stop striving. "How could I make this more interactive, so the client asks a question to sales?" "What would it look like on a bigger screen, a smaller screen, if boxed as a mailed gift, if part of an event?" "How could I launch this to a community rather than a person? What does find-ability and problem-relevance look like in a network?"

I find that asking questions about my persona's experience often drives the next level of experimentation. Along with making real, dedicated space for creativity and brainstorming. Then, even if we sometimes feel like data-poor dinosaurs, we can still levelup, try new things, and generate novel and valuable customer experiences. (And sales usually gives a qualitative thumbs up, too!)

Matthew Stocco

Senior PMM @ Fellow.app

One thing I love to do: when building the list of deliverables, I look at what we are launching and think about a unique channel, how we are showcasing the product, the delivery of a different asset we don’t normally do, etc. This is usually pitched as an “additional item for this launch” to see if our audience will respond.

Some have been spectacular (like adding in guided demos) and some not so much. But that’s okay - I would rather try something new as an “additional item” to see what sticks and what doesn’t.

Allison Rona

Director of PMM @ SalesIntel.io

I think at least a little experimentation needs to be baked into your daily flow. If you rely on the same ol' same ol', you'll keep getting the same ol' results (maybe).

I just launched a nurture for the first year after a customer signs with us to increase awareness and adoption of specific features. I'm experimenting with segmenting users based on their usage and offering "gentle nudges" if they haven't tried that specific feature in different channels. My company hasn't done this before and I'll be curious to start seeing some results in a couple of months.

Meredith McMannus

Lead PMM @ Pocus

One of my favorite ways to incorporate experimentation around messaging is to test product and feature-forward messaging vs. positioning through personal stories and benefits. There's often a need for both types of messaging in your strategy, but knowing who and when to target with each type can be a big unlock.

CAMPER ESSENTIALS

📚 Reading List: Check out the book Sprint if you’re looking to solve big problems and test new ideas in just five days.

🎧 Playlist: Andy, Jason and I dropped a new episode of our pod, Ready for Launch. This week we break down our favorite creator launches (think open carts, exploding offers, and more). I think this might be our most actionable episode yet.

Until next week,