AMA: Adobe Head of Lightroom Product Marketing, Mary (Shirley) Sheehan on Stakeholder Management

February 21 @ 10:00AM PST

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Adobe Head of Lightroom Product Marketing, Mary (Shirley) Sheehan on Stakeholder Management

Top Questions

How do you influence people who are not aligned on the same objective (a different team with different goals) to move the needle on an interdisciplinary project?

Mary Sheehan

Adobe Head of Lightroom Product Marketing • February 21

> Shared goals are key. Show how your collaboration benefits their specific > objectives. First, understand their perspective. Here's my 7-step influence > framework: 1. Build Relationships: It all starts here! 2. Excite them with data & ROI: Facts and figures win hearts. 3. Collaborate on ......Read More

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What marketing tools (e.g. personas, buyer journeys, sales playbooks, etc) have you found most effective in getting stakeholders aligned on marketing strategy?

Mary Sheehan

Adobe Head of Lightroom Product Marketing • February 21

Personas are gold for alignment. Start with the persona, then walk stakeholders through the strategy with real-life examples (think mock ads). Share predicted ROI to solidify the plan.

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Have you ever considered using a stakeholder empathy map? How much time and resources went into it? And how often do you think a product marketing team needs to refresh it? Thanks

Mary Sheehan

Adobe Head of Lightroom Product Marketing • February 21

Absolutely! While I haven't used a formal empathy map, I rely heavily on DACI charts (Driver, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) for every project. It's like an empathy map focused on action. I map stakeholders, their goals, preferred communication channels, and roles (decision-maker, influencer, ......Read More

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As a product marketer, I run multiple projects simultaneously. In such a scenario, stakeholder management becomes an operational task. Is there a checklist that you follow to ensure efficiency?

Mary Sheehan

Adobe Head of Lightroom Product Marketing • February 21

You're right, it's an operational beast! I use a multi-project checklist with: * Projects & communication plans * DACI charts for each project * Preferred communication styles & schedules But the real game-changer? Building relationships: * 1:1 meetings with PMs & leaders: Connect early ......Read More

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What has been the greatest accomplishment made when you’ve had to influence others without authority and did it make things easier for you when you needed buy in on other projects?

Mary Sheehan

Adobe Head of Lightroom Product Marketing • February 21

As a startup PMM, I often had to forge my own authority. This is a constant struggle : People don't know what PMM does, you rarely have a budget, and have a small team or no team. The secret sauce? Find a champion. At AdRoll, I convinced a "get-it" product manager to partner on a case study launc......Read More

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How do you format and share your messaging with stakeholders?

Mary Sheehan

Adobe Head of Lightroom Product Marketing • February 21

Stakeholder buy-in is crucial for successful messaging - I dedicate a whole chapter to this in my book, The Pocket Guide to Product Launches. Here's my approach: 1. Share the Plan: Start by outlining the core messaging elements. This could include any market or customer insights,target audience,......Read More

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