We’ve all heard about the consumerization of SaaS. An inverse trend I’d like to see is the GTM-ification of Consumer. Go-to-market is at best an afterthought for most consumer product (excluding growth efforts).

Most consumer products are simply “ramped up”: a 5% experiment, if successful, will be dialed up to 100% (95%, if you are diligent). Depending on size of the feature there may be some press. But no one is thinking about how to pitch the feature to a user.

"Pitch a consumer product? Why? It is an improvement, users will just start using it." Facebook's newsfeed release nearly caused a revolt with their users. GMail was famously in beta for ~5 years, so they could change things and break workflows (5 years!!). I've been guilty too!

But Whatsapp's recent T&C snafu is a reminder of why you can't take users for granted any more. They are more savvy, they know they have options, and they care. "We can't let Whatsapp bully us" is a common reaction I hear from F&F in India as they message me on Signal.

Taking a product to market — the right pitch, education, carrots (or sticks) — is existential for SaaS. Consumer products should take a leaf from this book. The front page ads in Indian newspapers may have been avoidable with a thoughtful GTM plan, and perhaps a new emoji set :)