Growth Product Manager's Handbook: Winning strategies and frameworks for driving user acquisition, retention 9781837635955

Table of contents :
Growth Product Manager’s Handbook
Contributors
About the author
About the reviewer
Preface
Who this book is for?
What this book covers
To get the most out of this book
Conventions used
Get in touch
Share Your Thoughts
Download a free PDF copy of this book
Part 1: A User-Centric Management Strategy
1
Introduction to Growth Product Management
The emergence of growth product management and its importance in today’s business environment
Key responsibilities and skills of a GPM
Product strategy
User research
Data analysis
Experimentation and iteration
Key processes of growth product management
Strategy development
User research and insights
Experimentation and iteration
Data analysis and insights
Cross-functional collaboration
Performance measurement and optimization
Stakeholder communication
Challenges of implementing growth product management processes
Challenge 1 – Limited resources
Challenge 2 – Organizational resistance
Challenge 3 – Complex data analysis
Challenge 4 – Uncertainty and risk
Challenge 5 – Cross-functional collaboration
Summary
Questions
Answers
2
Understanding Product-Led Growth Management Models
Difference between growth product management (GPM) and product-led growth management (PLGM)
Key GPM models and frameworks
Types of product-led strategies
Product engagement model
Viral loop model
Expansion model
Platform ecosystem model
Distinction between demo, free trial, and freemium models
Utilizing PLG techniques – pros and cons
Product engagement model
Viral loop model
Expansion model
Platform ecosystem model
Other considerations when deciding what techniques 
to use
Future trends of PLG management
Summary
Questions
Answers
3
Understanding Your Customers
Conducting user research and analysis
Critical success factors
Challenges when conducting user research and analysis
Creating customer personas
Difference between a B2C and a B2B customer persona
Developing effective buyer personas – process and steps for B2B and B2C contexts
Unveiling buyer pain points – crucial insights for B2B and B2C persona profiles
How to effectively identify buyer persona pain points?
Applying buyer persona profiles in your customer acquisition and customer retention strategy
Customer retention
Customer acquisition
Customer development
Harnessing the power of customer persona knowledge for product-led businesses
Summary
Questions
Answers
Part 2: Demonstrating Your Product’s Value
4
Unlocking Success in Product Strategy and Planning
Turning customer insights into products – product development and MVP development
Product design and prototyping – creating user-centric products
Feature prioritization – building the right product
Developing an effective MVP
Iterative development and continuous improvement
Developing a product roadmap – PLM, product positioning, and pricing strategies
Effective PLM strategies
Strategic product positioning – crafting a compelling market presence
Innovative pricing strategies for product success
Balancing long-term vision and short-term goals in road mapping – navigating the path to product success
Fueling growth – mastering GTM planning for growth product managers
Market segmentation to provide focus
Competitor analysis to provide perspective
Distribution paths to facilitate access
Marketing and promotions to drive awareness
Navigating the pitfalls of product planning
Acquiring sufficient customer insights
Unclear problem definition
Lack of prioritization
Weak cross-functional collaboration
Unrealistic timelines
Scope creep
Inadequate skill sets
Insufficient budget
Lack of buy-in
Weak product discovery
Ineffective launch planning
Summary
Questions
Answers
5
Setting the Stage for a Powerful Product-Led Enterprise
The importance of a product-led culture
Why product-led?
Defining a product-led culture
Principles of a product-led culture
The values of a product-led culture
Benefits of leading with products
Creating a compelling product vision
Defining vision
Translating vision into priorities
Fostering aligned execution
Motivating and developing teams
Adapting and evolving
Fostering a customer-centric culture across the organization
Embedding the customer perspective
Advocating for user immersion
Co-creating with customers
Motivating teams through impact
Instilling user perspective in workflows
Tearing down silos
Operationalizing customer centricity
Sustaining a learning culture
Implementing supporting processes and structures
Adopting agile development practices
Instituting continuous customer feedback loops
Fostering cross-functional team collaboration
Summary
Questions
Answers
6
Defining and Communicating Your Product Value Proposition
The importance of defining and communicating value
Knowing your target customer and their needs
Defining your value proposition
Key differentiators
Core benefits
Killer use cases
Core messaging
Crafting a compelling value proposition statement
Integrating the statement across channels
Evolving the statement over time
Communicating your value across touchpoints
Partnering with marketing for success
Aligning early with marketing
Consistency between internal and external messaging
Marketing polishes messaging
Planning integrated campaign launches
Channel expertise
Website and advertising partnership
Ongoing optimization
Avoiding pitfalls in value proposition design
Not actually solving a real customer need
Putting features before benefits
Failing to differentiate from the crowd
Not targeting specific buyer personas
Inconsistency across touchpoints
Failing to evolve messaging
Focusing excessively on brand image over benefits
Relying too heavily on industry jargon
Summary
Questions
Answers
Part 3: A Successful Product-Focused Strategy
7
The Science of Growth Experimentation and Testing for Product-Led Success
The significance of growth experimentation and user testing
Reduced risk
Accelerated learning
Improved ROI
Increased agility
Fostered innovation
Data-driven alignment
Optimized user experiences
Sustained competitive advantage
Principles of growth experimentation
Designing and executing growth experiments with precision
Selecting strategic metrics
Crafting controlled experiments
Planning and executing effective growth experiments
Designing controlled experiments
Reducing biases through randomization
Blinding mitigates perception biases
Leveraging analytics tools
Minimizing bias throughout the experiment
Optimization in action – testing to boost app retention
Analyzing experiment results and iterating on product features and marketing strategies
Embracing a growth mindset
Continuous optimization fuels growth
Types of growth experiments
A/B testing – crafting the perfect blend of impact and innovation
Cohort analysis – understanding the evolution of user groups
Funnel analysis – paving the path of conversion
Empowering growth product managers for informed experimentation
Analytics tools setup – crafting the infrastructure of insights
Data-informed decision-making – the art of insightful direction
Data-informed approach versus data-driven approach
The symphony of growth
Decoding experiment analysis and iteration for ongoing growth
Analyzing experiment results – the pillars of informed decision-making
Embracing a growth mindset – embracing failure as an ally
The symphony of evolution
Summary
Questions
Answers
8
Define, Monitor, and Act on Your Performance Metrics
The strategic importance of performance metrics
Mitigate risk
Focus innovation on validated user needs
Increase team alignment
Speed up iteration and adaptation
Optimize user journeys end-to-end
Fuel data-driven decision-making
Defining the right performance metrics
Connecting metrics to business objectives
Monitoring and analyzing performance metrics
Using performance metrics to drive growth
Analyzing experiment results and iterating on product features and marketing strategies
The power of experimentation
Setting the stage for experiments
Conducting experiments
The importance of rigorous analysis
Iterating and implementing changes
Establishing a performance-driven culture
Why does a metrics culture matter?
What does an ideal performance culture look like?
How can organizations instill a metrics culture?
Avoiding common pitfalls
Real-world examples of metrics-driven cultures done right
Building an enduring metrics-driven culture
Summary
Questions
Answers
9
Guiding Your Clients to the Pot of Gold
The importance of customer success in product-led growth
Defining customer success in a growth product management context
Why customer success is essential for sustainable growth
A real-world example – the Salesforce story
Aligning customer success with your growth strategy
The customer journey – onboarding, adoption, and retention
Strategies for seamless onboarding
Nurturing adoption and engagement
Techniques for long-term retention and value
Leveraging customer feedback and success stories
Scaling customer success teams – hiring and training
Building strong customer relationships – engaging with customers, delivering value-added services, and driving upsell and cross-sell
Strategies for engagement, value-added services, upsell, and cross-sell opportunities
Establishing a performance-driven culture – the keystone of long-term customer success
Why a performance-driven culture matters
Summary
Questions
Answers
Part 4: Winning the Battle and the War
10
Maintaining High Customer Retention Rates
The importance of customer retention in product-led growth
Defining customer retention in PLG
The role of retention in sustainable growth
Cost savings and increased revenue from retained customers
Case studies on successful PLG with high customer retention
Strategies for improving customer retention
Strategy 1 – personalization powered by interoperability
Strategy 2 – onboarding and user education
Strategy 3 – loyalty programs and incentives
Strategy 4 – customer support and communication
Strategy 5 – predictive analytics for churn prevention
Strategy 6 – upselling and cross-selling techniques
Strategy 7 – content marketing for retention
Strategy 8 – community building and user engagement
Strategy 9 – referral programs and advocacy campaigns
Lessons for growth product managers
The role of customer feedback in improving retention
Importance of customer feedback in retention
Different feedback collection channels
Feedback analysis and categorization
Identifying root causes of churn
Implementing feedback-driven changes
Feedback loops and iterative improvement
Real-world examples of feedback-driven retention improvements
Turning customer feedback into growth intelligence
Measuring and tracking customer retention
Key customer retention metrics
Setting SMART retention goals
Cohort analysis and customer segmentation
Using CRM systems
A/B testing and experimentation for retention
Data-informed decision-making
Benchmarking and industry standards
Continuous monitoring and reporting
Customer-centric retention – focusing on customer needs and expectations to build long-term relationships
Summary
Questions
Answers
11
Unlocking Wallet Share through Expansion Revenue
Metrics for tracking expansion revenue
Annual recurring revenue
Average revenue per user
Renewal rates
Expansion monthly recurring revenue
Product usage data
Account-based benchmarks
The significance of ARPU in PLG for user-based sales models
Key ARPU variants
ARPU quantifies retention potential
ARPU impacts customer acquisition cost payback
ARPU benchmarks by industry
Core strategies to increase wallet share
Pricing model selection
Packaging segmentation
Add-on modules
Upsell and cross-sell
Promotions
Loyalty programs
Key ARPU metrics
ARPAU
ARPMAU
ACV
ASP
Analyzing trends by segment
Measurement frameworks to gauge impact
Evaluating renewal rates, trends, and predictors
Calculating and interpreting expansion revenue lift
Product usage analysis by segment personas
Comprehensive reporting frameworks
Data-driven optimization and personalization strategies
Optimization practices
The pivotal role of customer success teams
Pitfalls to avoid
Vanity metrics – a deceptive mirage
Data paralysis – breaking free from analysis inertia
Customer segmentation mistakes
Poor timing of upsells
Addressing critiques
Summary
Questions
Answers
12
The Future of a Growth Product Manager
The importance of PLG for modern businesses
The definition and significance of PLG
Case studies illustrating successful PLG strategies
The key role of growth product managers in driving PLG
Key skills and attributes for growth product managers
The evolving landscape of growth product management
The technological imperative for adaptability
Harnessing the power of digital channels
Fulfilling the promise of personalization
Understanding shifting consumer behaviors
Adapting to stay ahead of the curve
The intersection of ethics and growth
Balancing business imperatives and user well-being
Data privacy and transparent consent
Inclusive and accessible algorithmic systems
Human-centered design for all
Case studies of spectacular product failure
Quibi – misjudging the market
Juicero – overengineering without purpose
Theranos – the perils of deception
Growth product managers as change agents
Advancing financial and social access
Accelerating diplomacy and sustainability
Amplifying social impact campaigns
The future of work and skills
Emerging areas of expertise
The X-factor of high-EQ leadership
Owning your capability building
Career paths and professional development opportunities for growth product managers
The path ahead – growth product managers as conscientious innovators
Summary
Questions
Answers
Index
Why subscribe?
Other Books You May Enjoy
Packt is searching for authors like you
Share Your Thoughts
Download a free PDF copy of this book