Key responsibilities and skills of a GPM
As stated in the introduction, a GPM is responsible for driving a company’s growth and success by strategically managing and optimizing its product portfolio. Their duties include a variety of activities such as product strategy, user research, data analysis, experimentation, and cross-functional collaboration. Let’s take a closer look at each of these tasks of a GPM and how they differ from those of a traditional product manager. Then we’ll look at a GPM’s day-to-day duty to give you a clear picture of what it’s like to be a successful GPM.
Product strategy
A GPM adds value to product strategy by concentrating on driving sustainable and scalable growth outside the purview of traditional product management. They look beyond traditional product characteristics and customer needs to include a broader perspective that includes market dynamics, business objectives, and upcoming prospects.
A traditional product manager will gather user feedback, do market research, and prioritize features based on consumer demand when designing a new feature for an existing product. While this strategy is critical, a GPM would provide value by looking at the big picture.
A GPM would begin by researching the market, detecting trends, and assessing competition pressures. They would concentrate on client demands and look for new alternative markets, unexplored user categories, or emerging technology that could provide prospects for expansion. They can discover new opportunities for growth that were previously ignored by undertaking extensive market research and considering broader market dynamics.
A GPM also collaborates closely with business and senior stakeholders to align product strategy with the overall growth objectives of the firm. They would be intimately familiar with the business concept, revenue streams, and key performance indicators (KPIs). This broader understanding enables them to see how the product strategy can contribute to the company’s growth objectives and design a roadmap that is consistent with the overall strategy.
A GPM, unlike a traditional product manager, combines data-driven decision-making in their product strategy. They employ data analytics, insights into user behavior, and performance indicators to support their decisions and validate theories. They may optimize the product offering, find areas for improvement, and make educated judgments that maximize growth potential by using data to drive their strategic choices.
GPMs prioritize growth experiments and programs that strive to test and validate new ideas and embrace an experimentation and learning culture. They may swiftly iterate on product features, pricing structures, marketing campaigns, and user acquisition tactics by planning and executing experiments. This iterative methodology allows them to identify scalable growth strategies and pivot as needed based on real-world data.
User research
User research is a vital responsibility of both traditional product managers and GPMs. GPMs, however, contribute value and differentiation in their approach to user research.
GPMs go beyond traditional product managers in terms of data-driven user insights by building a holistic understanding of customer needs. While traditional product managers concentrate on gathering input and performing research on existing products, GPMs look at the big picture. They investigate users’ motivations, pain areas, and goals in order to find unmet needs and growth potential. This broad understanding enables them to create creative solutions that more effectively answer user needs.
For GPMs, experimentation is a critical component of user research. They plan and carry out experiments such as A/B tests, usability tests, and/or focus groups to gather input and validate assumptions. These trials provide useful information about user preferences, behaviors, and pain spots. GPMs improve the user experience and drive growth by iterating on the product based on these results. This iterative method ensures that user research is a continuous and dynamic process that allows them to respond swiftly to changing user needs and market circumstances.
GPMs add substantial value by focusing on scalable and sustainable growth. Through extensive user research, they uncover growth prospects and optimize the product experience to attract and keep consumers. They establish strategies to extend the user base, enhance engagement, and drive revenue development by understanding user needs, motivations, and pain areas. This user-centric strategy ensures that product decisions are in line with consumer expectations and preferences, resulting in the company’s long-term growth.
Successful GPMs actively prioritize collaboration and cross-functional alignment. To incorporate user research insights into product development, they must work closely with designers, engineers, marketers, and data scientists. They promote collaboration and ensure that the product roadmap and feature priority address customer needs effectively. Because of this active cross-functional collaboration, they are able to translate user research findings into meaningful product enhancements.
While both traditional product managers and GPMs perform user research, GPMs differentiate themselves by focusing on scalable and sustainable growth through a comprehensive understanding of user demands, data-driven insights, and experimentation. Their user-centric strategy, along with collaboration and cross-functional alignment, enables them to identify growth opportunities, optimize the user experience, and generate improved company growth outcomes.
Data analysis
GPMs mine data for meaningful insights that influence decision-making and improve product performance. GPMs differ from standard product managers in the depth and breadth of their data analysis. While traditional product managers may focus on fundamental indicators such as user engagement and revenue, GPMs analyze data in a more complete and sophisticated manner.
To find hidden patterns and trends in user behavior, GPMs use techniques and methodologies such as cohort analysis, user segmentation, and predictive modeling. This enables them to look beyond surface-level analytics and gain a better understanding of the underlying elements that influence user retention, acquisition, and development (RAD).
GPMs place a high value on data-driven decision-making. Data analysis is used to inform and validate product strategies, feature prioritization, and experimentation. They decrease biases and make better-informed judgments that are more likely to create growth by relying on objective data rather than subjective opinions.
Another key difference between GPMs and traditional product managers is their experience in hypothesis testing and data-driven experimentation. They plan and carry out multivariate tests and other experiments to assess the effect of modifications and iterations on KPIs. This rigorous testing methodology enables them to iteratively refine the product based on data-driven insights.
Additionally, GPMs contribute value by effectively synthesizing and communicating data insights. They convert complex data analysis into practical recommendations that cross-functional teams can comprehend and implement. This talent is critical for driving alignment, influencing stakeholders, and fostering an organization-wide data-driven culture.
GPMs examine data at the product and macro levels, benchmarking against market trends, competitive environments, and industry benchmarks. This larger perspective enables them to recognize possibilities for growth, assess market shifts, and make strategic product decisions that position the organization for long-term success.
Experimentation and iteration
GPMs differ from traditional product managers in that they use a systematic and deliberate approach to testing and iteration. While traditional product managers may undertake limited testing or rely on intuition, GPMs place an emphasis on experimentation as a key component of their technique.
GPMs, for example, support a culture of innovation and encourage a philosophy of continual learning. They look for opportunities to put theories to the test, validate assumptions, and get data-driven insights. GPMs promote a culture of experimentation and build an environment in which failure is not viewed as a setback but rather as a chance to learn and iterate.
The volume and scope of exploration is another unique feature. GPMs are more likely to run large-scale, data-driven experiments, such as A/B tests, multivariate tests, or user studies, to assess the impact of changes on key KPIs. They construct experiments in a systematic manner to isolate factors, test the effectiveness of various techniques, and make educated judgments based on the results.
GPMs are also skilled in analyzing and interpreting experimental outcomes. They have a thorough understanding of statistical principles and data analysis procedures, allowing them to derive relevant conclusions from data obtained during trials. They can iterate on product innovations, user experiences, and growth strategies more effectively by exploiting these insights, generating incremental changes, and optimizing for better outcomes.
Additionally, they contribute value by integrating experimentation with the overall product plan. They coordinate experiments with strategic goals and efforts to ensure that each experiment serves a defined purpose in driving growth. They prioritize trials that have the potential to make a substantial impact while also aligning with the company’s growth goals.
It is critical for GPMs to excel at synthesizing and applying experimentation insights. They use data and customer feedback to discover improvements and iterate on the product roadmap. This iterative strategy allows them to consistently improve the user experience, fix pain spots, and generate long-term growth.
Real-world example
When PayPal aimed to boost customer acquisition, the payments pioneer leveraged rapid experimentation to optimize signup conversion. Rigorous A/B testing examined the sensitivity of reductions in form fields and faster credit approvals. By instrumenting key funnels and iteratively trying variations, PayPal determined the minimal yet sufficient data requirements to reduce fallout. Promising tests were incrementally expanded to larger groups with control groups continually validating improvements. Despite risks of lower data capture, conversion lift is persistently overshadowed. Continued measurement some months later showed double-digit gains, upon which further signup refinements were launched. Through disciplined testing cadences, PayPal fostered cycles of data-driven innovation.
A typical day for a GPM is dynamic and multifaceted, involving a variety of activities focused on driving growth and optimizing the product experience. While specific tasks may vary depending on the company and the stage of the product life cycle, here is a glimpse into what a day in the life of a GPM might look like.
A GPM’s day
Typically, the day begins with a perusal of emails, messages, and notifications from productivity tools. The GPM sets objectives and goals for the day based on active initiatives, metrics, and forthcoming deadlines.
A large portion of the day is spent evaluating user data and developing insights. To uncover trends, patterns, and opportunities for improvement, the GPM delves into user behavior analytics, conversion funnels, and other relevant data sources. They collect useful information to inform decision-making and prioritize prospects for growth.
GPMs meet and collaborate with cross-functional teams on a regular basis. They engage with designers, engineers, marketers, data scientists, and other stakeholders to discuss current initiatives, provide direction, solicit input, and assure alignment. Collaborative meetings may include brainstorming new ideas, debating experiment results, or dealing with technical issues.
They collaborate closely with the team to design A/B testing, usability tests, and other experiments to validate hypotheses and assess the impact of product changes. They track the progress of experiments, assess the outcomes, and iterate based on data-driven ideas.
Strategic planning and product roadmap development take up a portion of the day. To refine the product strategy, the GPM analyzes market trends, the competitive landscape, and customer wants. They work with the team to create new initiatives, prioritize feature improvements, and match product direction with the company’s growth goals.
A GPM must communicate effectively. They plan meetings with CEOs, team members, or other stakeholders to deliver updates on growth efforts, exchange insights, and discuss goals progress. They collect input, address issues, and ensure that stakeholders are informed and on board with the product vision.
Continuous learning is vital as the field of growth product management evolves. The GPM spends time reading industry blogs, attending webinars, and taking appropriate training courses. They stay current on emerging trends, best practices, and new tools that can help them improve their abilities and advance their careers.
The GPM takes time at the end of the day to reflect on the day’s activities, review progress toward targets, and document insights and learnings. They may be responsible for updating project planning, documenting experiment results, or preparing reports for distribution to the team or stakeholders.