AMA: DocuSign Sr. Director, Global Solutions Marketing, Paul Rudwall on Solutions Marketing

The list of things I wish I had known is long, but I'll try to highlight some of the more important ones. (I really wish I had a resource like Sharebird when I was starting out. There was nothing like it back then.) Lead To Products, Don't Lead With Products: As a PMM it's really easy to get enamoured with the thing you're marketing, especially when Product is telling you it's revolutionary. I've got news for you... Nobody cares about how it works unless they know what problem it solves for them ...Read More

I don't think there's a significant difference. Ultimately, creating a category is about: Identifying a customer problem Reframing the way they think about it Presenting them with a fundamentally different and more compelling way of solving that problem. The fundamental goals are the same, regardless of the level at which the work is done. That said, I do think it can look different depending on where a company is in their evolution. For example: Phase 1: Initially, a company may start its categ ...Read More

I think it's helpful to consider the following following: Focus on What Matters to the Customer: Understand your customers' primary needs and pain points. What aspects of your platform directly address these concerns? Prioritize these features in your messaging. Highlight Purchase Drivers: Determine what will lead customers to choose your product over others. This includes the benefits that help them deliver more value to their business, advance their careers, and make their jobs easier or more ...Read More

At its simplest, I think product marketing typically focuses on "What does this product do?" whereas solutions marketing typically focuses on "How do they come together for you?" Taking a step back, I think the need for solutions marketing arises when a company transitions from a single-product company to a multi-product company. At this stage, you typically begin to run into situations where different types of customers require an expanding number of different permutations of products, services ...Read More

Yes, we aim to gather quantitative feedback whenever possible. While I don't believe it's necessary for great messaging, it can complement existing efforts and help reduce the risk of bias interfering with your messaging. There are really two areas that my team thinks about research: Market Research: Gathering data, either from 3rd-party sources or from customers, in order to identify market opportunities to pursue in your GTM strategy and product development. Messaging Research: Gathering input ...Read More

To move to verticals, you need verticals large enough to support a dedicated GTM strategy and distinct enough to justify dedicated resources. Essentially, is the vertical unique enough to need its own Sales and Marketing team, and is the opportunity significant enough to warrant full-time attention? At Docusign, we face this question frequently. While virtually any company can use our technology, certain verticals like Financial Services, Healthcare & Life Sciences, Public Sector, and Real E ...Read More

Start with the customer. If you start anywhere else, you're likely to run into a lot of issues. While there are a number of contributing factors here, the core of it is you want to start with what your buyers think matters, not what you think matters. That said, I think a big part of the Product or Solutions Marketing role is to aggregate information from a variety of sources and distill it into simple and compelling messaging that generates customer demand and arms GTM teams to turn it into rev ...Read More

This is a great question. The conclusion I've come to is that while internal messaging is critical, it's not sufficient on its own to drive a significant shift. Incentives play a crucial role, and aligning them requires a full-company effort. Simply put, messaging alone won't be enough to make the change. That said, messaging is still very important. Here are some key lessons I've learned: Leadership Buy-In: The shift must be driven by your CEO, with full support from your Executive Leadership T ...Read More