Product Marketing: A Strategic Function in Every Organization
Product marketing, a strategic and crucial function in any organization, is the driving force that propels products to market and maintains their relevance. It is the voice of the customer within the company, the mastermind behind messaging and positioning, the enabler of sales, and the accelerator of adoption. Product Marketing Managers (PMMs) are the specialists responsible for a variety of deliverables that are vital to the product lifecycle.
The Role of Product Marketing Managers
PMMs are involved in making product features appealing to customers across various channels, such as email marketing, webinars, and other marketing functions. They play an essential role in ensuring products meet the needs of the company’s target customer. This makes them some of the world’s most accomplished plate-spinners.
The Importance of Product Marketing
Product marketing is at the heart, the intersection, and the core of all successful companies. PMMs collaborate with key teams such as the marketing team, sales, customer success, and play a crucial role in helping the business achieve its goals. Despite its complexities, product marketing is made manageable through the Product Marketing Framework.
The Product Marketing Framework
The Product Marketing Framework covers all the necessary areas required to navigate the product marketing journey. It defines five fundamental phases of product marketing: discover, strategize, define, get set, and grow. Familiarizing yourself with the full framework is highly recommended to really get to grips with each of the moving parts.
Differences Between Product Marketing and Other Marketing Roles
The world of product marketing is often confused with product management. While there are similarities, the roles have distinct differences. Both roles are responsible for product launches and need to coordinate different teams within an organization. However, Product Marketing Managers (PMMs) focus more on understanding and marketing to customers, driving demand and usage of the product.
Product marketing is also different from other marketing roles such as marketing communications, brand marketing, demand generation, and field marketing. Each role has its unique focus and function, but all contribute to the overall success of the organization.
Getting Into Product Marketing
Getting into product marketing does not require a set path. Some common backgrounds that transition into product marketing include product, marketing, sales, customer success, project management, and engineering. To become a product marketer, it is beneficial to shadow some of their work and gain as much practical experience as possible.
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