Product Marketing

It has been fun to share my thoughts with you and I appreciate those who commented, liked and shared these short bites on Growth. If you have not read the previous three - start here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/growth-elephant-matthew-mullen/. Our fourth and last in this series is going to talk about what is likely the most undervalued role related to Growth - Product Marketing.

Definition first - what is Product Marketing and how is it different than Product Management? Both are strategic roles: Product Marketing is responsible for Market Strategy and Go-To-Market Strategy (these are different). Product Management is responsible for Product Strategy and sometimes Technology Strategy (IMHO the latter should not sit with Product). In simple structure, Product Marketing is responsible for bringing solutions to market, while Product Management is responsible the commercial success of the product, cradle to grave. Another good separation is through the primary internal partners: for Product Marketing they are the revenue production functions: Sales, Channel, Brand, PR/AR, Demand Gen, etc. Product Management's primary internal partners are the build and management functions: R&D, Product Development, Engineering and of course, Customer Support.

No matter the size of an organization, the Product Marketing role is one of the hardest to master in the business. Managing a small PMKT shop is not easy, but it's easier. You are generally working with a limited number of products, industries, segments and geographies. The work is still complex and requires a high degree of skill. When operating within a larger organization, the job gets very complicated and it is important to define what is programmatic (done for all) or specific (done per industry or product). This is a critical step to ensure that the organization is operating from a common starting point in which to base downstream decisions. See my earlier article on TAM sizing as one good example why this matters. This type of organizational framework also allows you to maximize the output of your talent pool by specializing in some of the program functions. The attached chart is an example of how the Product Marketing action cycle would flow in this type of large organization framework:

Each market will buy differently and so the Go-To-Market strategy will by definition be unique. No matter the size - operating with splits or for a single product/market - Product Marketing handles a out sized percentage of your GTM. They develop and execute the plan that allows prospects to find, understand and validate the value of your product/service. And then compliment that effort by ensuring the internal organization is able to turn those prospects into customers, and then into happy (reference) customers. A knowledgeable, ready and consistent customer facing organization is a defined outcome for Product Marketing. As you consider where to invest your limited funds to Grow the business, I would strongly encourage you not to skimp on this critical function.

Ending Note: while we certainly haven't eaten the full elephant - I hope you have enjoyed these brief articles on Growth. Don't hesitate to reach out if you have questions or would like to discuss a topic I haven't covered. Until then, stay safe and healthy and thanks again for reading.