Sample Market Planning Notes

Behind the Scenes on Market Briefs discussions

Demonstrating a sample of collaboration in Product Marketing can be a challenge, but these side notes that went into the creation of the Market Briefs shown above are the real thing from the field.

The PMM role is not to invent the content, but to facilitate easy communication of key information from the solution side to the customer.

A great deal of internal information needs transferred transparently from product to the sales teams to keep everyone informed, aligned, and in the same loop.

The real challenge of PMM (and marketing overall) isn't creating customer messaging or juggling launches, strategic planning, etc, though those are critically important; but the fundamental skill for success is the ability to maintaining open communication without monopolizing everyone else's time in meetings and email chains.

The PMM's critical skill is in managing communication between people, even if she is a team of one person:

Sales needs to communicate efficiently with Product and with the Customer.
Product needs to communicate efficiently with Sales and with the Customer.
The Customer needs to communicate efficiently with Product and with Sales.

Facilitating this communication is the key to alignment and massively reduces confusion, friction and mistakes.

The notes below are not comprehensive and they don't contain any earth-shattering new revelations. Rather, they simply show the back and forth between marketing and the other team or person, where I'm looking for anecdotal confirmation of my research into market factors with the person I'm meeting, and gathering specifics from them to inform the market brief details. This involved the Accela sales team in the first case, and the CTO in the second.

You can download the notes text file. (.txt file) if you like; I've gotten into a habit of using text files because they're easily read by humans and computers, tiny filesize, and strip formatting that interferes with cut and paste.

PROTIP: Don't just link a text file when posting a press release, and don't link to some other site that gets all your SEO juice unless you also are hosting the file, reformatted into good HTML, on your own site so search engines can see it in a more SEO-friendly format.

decorative image created by Monica Bower of a laptop on a desk with people discussing Accela in the background, with a slight digital pixel effect.

Accela Additional notes - sales team discussion 11/14/2023

Estimating the market share of Accela and its competitors in the government cloud market requires making some assumptions, as the specific segment of the market they occupy is more specialized than the broader government cloud market. Let's consider the following:

Total Government Cloud Market Size (2023): Estimated at USD 30.29 billion.

Segmentation: Accela and similar companies focus on front-end solutions like permitting, inspections, community interactions, etc. This segment is distinct from and smaller than the infrastructure backend provided by companies like AWS, Azure, and Cisco, and from other front-end cloud solutions used in Governance such as records management, elections tabulation and tax collection.

Market Size Fractional Estimation:

Scenario A (Conservative Estimate): Front-end solutions specific to permitting might constitute 4% or less of the total market. At 4% the segment has a market size of USD $1.21B.
Scenario B (More Optimistic Estimate): If we assume a larger share, at 10% the segment would be around USD $3.03B.

Detailed market research specific to this segment would be necessary to improve accuracy, and may be available from Accela directly to their resellers.

Sidebar on tactics:

American Planning Association Ohio Chapter (APAOH)

Email and social campaigns (webform CTA) tied to OnBase cobranded content
Awareness/Branding/Direct Response advertising (digital/content/native) in Bizjournals (5 markets), digital GovTech/eRepublic, ColumbusCEO
Media Events (Bizjournals, OnBase, ODGS) as well as closed-audience Webinar event(s) co-hosted with OnBase
Manual and automated monitoring of RFP sites for OnBase projects (ohiobuys, city of Columbus, Cinci, Cleveland, Franklin Cy, Cuyahoga Cy. Etc; SAP Ariba, Coupa, Tradeshift, etc)
Automation to seek out companies newly cresting the $50M mark in size or companies that have merged/been acquired to form an entity larger than $50M

The local/siloed nature of sub-state government in general means there’s a play for more ‘guerilla marketing’-like tactics, such as sponsoring regional, state-level and national commissioner membership groups like SE OEHA, AOHC (and equivalents in other states), NACCHO (National Association of County and City Health Officials), ASTHO – And the analogue associations for B&Z and Auditors such as Ohio Building Officials Association (OBOA), American Planning Association Ohio Chapter (APAOH), and the Ohio Townships Association (OTA) – as well as equivalents in other states. Sponsorship of meetings, speaking at events, and Accela providing materials cobranded by 3SG Plus can generate significant awareness among decision makers and purchase influencers at low cost. More research needed quickly.

Govtech state and local events (Ohio Digital Government Summit Oct) tied with content-based outreach (email driving to content/landing page(s). Long nurtures will be expected as timing is an issue for funding availability, so campaigns must be lengthy to blanket majority of decisionmakers at the right time. Govtech /eRepublic media can restrict by geo so there is definite value to a media buy here

Bizjournals content penetrates the B&Z space, so content can piggyback here on that buy. OnBase and PODS-DX at the forefront.

Video content is always more effective, but especially so with buyers who are not always IT roles themselves. Accela video content (Vyond combined with stock roll and Loom screen capture) can be very effective.

‘Get a demo’ buttons on site can go to a variety of premade demos with lead capture worked into that process.

2024: Approximately $3.77B

2025: Approximately $4.68B

2026: Approximately $5.82B

Decorative image created by Monica Bower of a meeting in a stylish office between the CTO and a marketing executive.

PODS DX - CTO discussion 11/16/2023

Based on the projected Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 6.7% for the IT outsourcing market, the estimated market sizes for the years 2024, 2025, and 2026 are as follows:

2024: Approximately USD $179.15B

2025: Approximately USD $191.15B

2026: Approximately USD $203.96B

Top concerns for IT projects at the enterprise level, as identified by various sources, include:

https://www.techtarget.com/searchcio/tip/Top-7-CIO-challenges-and-how-to-handle-them
https://enterprisetalk.com/featured/top-challenges-it-leaders-will-face-in-2022/
https://enterprisersproject.com/article/2023/1/it-leadership-top-5-challenges-expect-2023
https://www.dataprise.com/resources/blog/top-challenges-2022/

Also, great advice - look at Linkedin Collaborative articles and see what IT Project Managers are identifying as their DX problems

Navigating Macroeconomic Trends and Improving Customer Experience:

Enterprises face challenges in dealing with macroeconomic trends like inflation and budget constraints, as well as the need to improve customer experience. This includes adapting to recent AI developments that could change business-consumer interactions.
Improving customer experience remains a priority, despite cost-cutting efforts. The advent of technologies like generative AI challenges existing customer experience strategies and tools.

Cybersecurity:

Bolstering cybersecurity to deal with the latest wave of attacks is a constant focus. Enterprises are looking to automate cyber defenses while also focusing on the human element of cybersecurity.
Cybersecurity remains a significant challenge due to the increasing frequency, scope and sophistication of cyberattacks. The adoption of hybrid work models has added complexity to maintaining secure IT environments.

Balancing Cost-Cutting and Innovation:

Enterprises need to balance cost-cutting initiatives, such as automation and modernizing infrastructure, with digital transformation programs that include developing new products, growing digital sales channels, and delivering new AI/ML capabilities.

Developing Self-Organizing Standards in Agile, DevOps, and Data:

There is a challenge in developing and executing proactive and strategic plans in agile, DevOps, and data governance. Enterprises struggle with planning and need to facilitate discussions around self-organizing standards for better planning and execution.

Talent Retention and Skillset Gaps:

Retaining and finding skilled talent is a major concern. The competition for talent has increased, especially in light of remote and hybrid work environments, leading to a shortage of people with the necessary skills.
Skillset gaps, particularly in areas like data science, digital transformation, and innovation, pose challenges for long-term success and sustainability in technological advancements.

Partnering with Business Leaders on the Future of Work:

The shift to hybrid work requires IT leaders to partner with business leaders to define the future of work, including aligning data governance initiatives, selecting machine learning and AI experiments, and investing in digital experience monitoring tools.

These challenges reflect the dynamic nature of the IT landscape at the enterprise level, where balancing innovation with security, economic trends, and human resource management remains crucial.

CTO's product value statement (will need edited down)

"At 3SG Plus, we revolutionize IT project execution by harnessing the power of the gig economy model, bringing you the brilliance of top-tier Business Analysts, Cybersecurity Consultants, Developers, and Network Architects on an as-needed basis. Our PODS service is designed for projects that demand expert skills without the long-term employment costs. You gain access to industry-leading talent during their off-peak hours at competitive rates, ensuring cost-effective, outcome-based solutions for your IT projects. Our model is not just about filling roles but achieving excellence in a time and budget-sensitive manner. Whether it's a prototype or a multi-layered IT project, our skilled PODs teams, coordinated through our dedicated project managers, seamlessly integrate with your in-house teams, ensuring transparency, adherence to schedules and budgets, and adaptability to your unique needs. With 3SG Plus's PODs, your in-house staff remains focused on driving top-line growth while we efficiently tackle your bottom-line-level IT projects, offering flexibility, expertise, and affordability."

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