AMA: Enable VP of Product Marketing, Amanda Groves on Influencing the Product Roadmap

Managing and informing the roadmap looks like operating as a lawyer and advocating for your client. Collect the feedback, document it, present your business case (quarterly at minimum - early and often is best). And get alignment with a Product Leader or Ops manager on WHEN is the best time for their time to coalesce that feedback into roadmapping decisions. The most successful cross-functional teams had this clearly defined in the New Product Introduction process with t-shirt sizing weighted scaled to help stack rank what made the roadmap from all angles (internal teams) and customer intake flows. Tools to help: proadpad, notion, productboard, airtable. My favorite of the aforementioned are a combo of notion and productboard to capture share and inform roadmapping decisions (with syncs to data lakes/CRMS so it's all data-backed). It is a PMM's job to represent the market and our customers throughout the product development lifecycle - including roadmap decisions. However, what informs the roadmap, and what makes the roadmap - isn't always the same or that simple. There could be very good reasons for a Product team to prioritize refactoring via application enhancements versus innovations like AI. For instance, maybe the business is pivoting to PLG where more embedded self-serve mechanics are needed to drive mass commercialization? This would take priority and ultimately benefit the customers and market, but are serving the broader GTM business case versus "market or customer" feedback loops.

Great question. It depends on what the PM is trying to glean from alpha/beta phases of the dev cycle. Is this a time for functional testing? Are we soliciting for validation of use cases? I've seen early access (EA) used for a myriad of reasons based on the complexity of the feature/product and customer base. What's important is that PMM is aligned with PM on what EA is for, goals, and how each party (inclusive of customer) should participate throughout the process. Oftentimes we just "do" the prescribed steps in fast succession without stopping to understand the why. Understand and codify the why. If/when you have alignment - I look for the following type of feedback (from PMM perspective): * the customer can use the feature as outlined in product scope/definition * the feature is adopted with ease (v. raging clicking and confusion) * value is received/unlocked and we are able to capture the upside in a form of a testimonial/sound bite. * use case is validated and surrounding materials are vetted as useful for mass commercialization or identified as a need Incentives that can be used: * Exclusive beta privileges * Exclusive user community access * Ambassador programs * Swag/gift cards (I really try to avoid these in favor of more meaningful initiatives) * Time with influential folks (CEO/CPO) * Guest content participation

It depends on the level of partnership between PMM and PM leaders to start - and how the teams have aligned on the NPI process. To me we absolutely should play both roles, it's not bifurcated as an either / or statement. As a partner, we're expected to influence. If we aren't influencing, we aren't a good partner. Period. Do not take a backseat in these conversations. Influence the roadmap early and often with conviction on what the market / customers need based on qual and quant data - and partner with PM to ensure it's codified into the prod dev process early and often.

PMMs can get involved early by identifying patterns between feature adoption and personas/target markets and codifying that into consumables for product development. Maybe the engineering team has a hard time seeing beyond the code into who they're building for and what they want - that's where you can come in as a PMM and influence. In terms of how much influence a marketing strategy should have...let's take a page out of 6sense's book for a second. Their CMO now CRO Latane Conant astutely changed the name of Chief Marketing Officer to Chief Market Officer - to represent the Market - not the verb (to market). With that change, the remit is focused on what they market needs/wants and how we address them (in marketing, product solutions, gtm, etc). If we have this in mind, then the market strategy greatly influences the roadmap - otherwise, we're building for the wrong audience(s) or potentially wrong biases by department.

I'm not sure if this question is asking about true application of brand voice and attributes in design process - or hypothetical when conducting customer insight sessions to validate design decisions. So let's explore both! For application of brand voice attributes in design: * Codify a brand guide for product use and get aligned across teams * Create a design system that utilizes attributes from the guide so it's embedded by default For including these attributes within streams of customer insight sessions: * Use probing questions that are aligned with the spirit of the brand/voice * Present concepts within parameters of brand/voice guidelines * Replay what you've heard from the client in the spirit of brand/voice guidelines It all starts with mutual team alignment and building the brand/voice guidelines for product. I find this step is often skipped and bandaged with assumptions/applications from content marketing guidelines. The application is a different journey stage and should be treated as such (but aligned with marketing north stars/voice & brand).

I use a tiering matrix for every new release/product launch to remain objective in my decisioning. The process runs as follows: * Tier 1: Innovative, net new functionality that increases market share, domain authority, and network effects (leadership position)GTM is 10-12 weeks from development stage * Tier 2: Functionality that improves product market fit, NRR (expansion revenue) and influences acquisition GTM is 4-6 weeks from development stage * Tier 3: Table stakes functionality that is a parity play. Helps with Customer health (NPS), retention, and NPS. GTM is 1-3 weeks from development stage * Tier 4: Debt and delight. Pixel changes and performance updates that fly under the radar but improve overarching experiences & and outcomes. GTM is 0-1 week from development stage

Big question! I think a well-rounded perspective involves: * Pulse checks from field teams (CS/Sales) * Customer feedback (surveys) * Market feedback (analyst relations/reports) + closed won/lost reports * Competitive intelligence (win rates + general intel for direct competitors and status quo) If you cover those bases you're prepared to influence with gusto! Tactically sharing this information can look like: * Slides * Brief (word doc) * With referenceable material embedded throughout

Here are the top areas I focus on to partner with product on market research and gathering intel: Alignment: * Align Goals: Ensure both teams understand what questions need to be answered and what outcomes are expected. * Define Success Metrics: Agree on what success looks like for both teams, whether it's obtaining specific insights, validating hypotheses, or developing actionable strategies. Collaboration: * Joint Research Plan: Develop a research plan together, outlining the methodologies, target audience, and timeline. This plan should integrate both market and product perspectives. * Regular Meetings: Schedule regular check-ins to discuss progress, challenges, and findings. This keeps both teams engaged and aligned. Share: * Shared Expertise: Utilize the product team's deep knowledge of the product and the market team's understanding of customer needs and market trends. This combination can lead to more comprehensive insights. * Data Sharing: Share data and insights openly. Market teams can provide customer feedback, competitive analysis, and market trends, while product teams can share user data, feature usage, and technical feasibility. Co-chair surveys & instrumentation: * Surveys and Interviews: Collaborate on creating surveys, interview guides, and other research instruments to ensure they capture relevant information for both teams. * User Testing: Work together on user testing sessions, where market research can observe and gather qualitative data while product teams can focus on usability and functionality. Joint analysis sessions: * Joint Analysis Sessions: Conduct analysis sessions together to interpret data. Different perspectives can lead to more nuanced insights and a deeper understanding of the findings. * Actionable Insights: Focus on synthesizing findings into actionable insights that can inform product development and marketing strategies. Targeting/Tailored Comms: * Tailored Communication: Tailor communication of research findings to the needs of different stakeholders. Ensure that insights are presented in a way that highlights their relevance to both product development and market positioning. * Storytelling: Use storytelling techniques to make the data more compelling and easier to understand. Highlight the implications for both product and marketing strategies. There are a ton of great tools out there to help with the aforementioned. Some of my favorites include: loom, prodpad, typeform/survey monkey, clozd, notion, fullstory - to name a few.

I don't view this part of the puzzle as an assembly line. I view the roadmap as a living organism that is nurtured by both teams. With this in mind - how we fuel the roadmap is determined by how we spend our calories and codification of information for PM. A more direct answer could be: * Sharing of market insights 1:1 in PM<>PMM syncs. * Organizing a quarterly round-up of feedback to inform Product showcases/roadmap decisions. * Creating channels that serve as a feed of insights: listening loops * Sharing gong calls / trends of reports Agnostic of the tactic - your job is to tie it back to the why and business case for the market.

Ideally there is mutual respect, trust, and appreciation for each role. I think about great sports teams - the roles of defense and offensive players. The attributes of what makes great teams thrive. It is camaraderie and alignment on the greater why and outcomes. Doing whatever it takes - even if that means passionate debating. Supporting one another for the Customer. For the Business. We don't have to be "bff" with product for things to work. We need to act as counsel and a solid teammate so the product org is backed by reason and not biases. The worst product <> product marketing relationships are when product uses PMM as a scapegoat for their failures. Each remit has to take radical ownership of their remit and perpetuate trust and mutual understanding. If trust is broken - the process is doomed to fail and CX will suffer.

An effective way for a Product Marketing Manager (PMM) to influence the product roadmap is by presenting data-driven insights that align with strategic business goals. Some examples: 1. Customer Feedback Integration: A PMM can collect and analyze customer feedback to identify common pain points. By presenting this data to the product team, the PMM can advocate for feature enhancements or new product development that directly addresses customer needs. For example, if multiple customers request a specific integration, showing this demand can prioritize it on the roadmap. 2. Market Trend Analysis: By conducting thorough market research and identifying emerging trends, a PMM can help the product team anticipate market needs. For instance, if research indicates a growing demand for mobile-first solutions, the PMM can support this with competitive analysis and user behavior data, encouraging the product team to prioritize mobile app development. 3. Competitive Analysis: A PMM can provide detailed competitive analysis to highlight gaps or opportunities in the current product offering. For example, if competitors are gaining market share due to a specific feature they offer, the PMM can use this data to push for similar functionality in the product roadmap, ensuring the product remains competitive.