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Natala Menezes

AMA: Grammarly Global Head of Product Marketing, Natala Menezes on Influencing the Product Roadmap

February 9, 2022 @ 10:00AM PT

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  1. As head of PMM at a startup, how did your PMM team grow over time, e.g. what positions did you hire, when, why? How did divide scope of responsibilities? What were the most strategic hires you made, including non-PMM titles if any?

    Natala Menezes
    Natala Menezes

    Dialpad Vice President Product Marketing | Formerly at: GOOG, MSFT, AMZN, SFDC Grammarly + startups • 4y

    When I started at Grammarly, I did an audit of how PMM mapped to the product organization, our consumer acquisition and growth teams, and our B2B sales teams. The audit revealed that we were significantly understaffed (did I mention we are hiring?) And as a result, PMM was focused on launches more than product strategy and messaging. My first cut of the org chart focused on coverage – ensuring that our product partners had identified partners and that we aligned to the sales org. I also develope ...Read More

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  2. How do you more effectively influence product roadmap priorities and timeline?

    Natala Menezes
    Natala Menezes

    Dialpad Vice President Product Marketing | Formerly at: GOOG, MSFT, AMZN, SFDC Grammarly + startups • 4y

    I have always loved this quote by Robert Johnson (notably a musician, not a product marketer!):  “Leadership is the ability to influence people and motivate them to do what needs to be done to accomplish a goal, vision or mission.” Those last three parts: goal, vision, and mission, are the keys to influence. Know what you are trying to accomplish (the goal), the vision of where that accomplishment will take you, and the why (the mission).  I always like to have a stack-ranked list of requested f ...Read More

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  3. What are the SaaS you think is doing product marketing exceptionally well globally and it's competitors and also please explain how is the one able to stay ahead than the rest?

    Natala Menezes
    Natala Menezes

    Dialpad Vice President Product Marketing | Formerly at: GOOG, MSFT, AMZN, SFDC Grammarly + startups • 4y

    Outside of the wonderful PMM work we do at Grammarly (we’re hiring btw), I think Salesforce and Google do an exceptional job with product marketing. Salesforce focuses on the story and the pain they are solving. They are flashy and visionary (particularly in the slow-moving enterprise space). Google differentiates by being product-driven in their narrative, often dialing into the individual product benefits over industry shifts. I think Salesforce stays ahead because of their keen focus on the c ...Read More

    3,169 Views
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  4. Can you share advice for the first product marketer at a company for influencing the product roadmap?

    Natala Menezes
    Natala Menezes

    Dialpad Vice President Product Marketing | Formerly at: GOOG, MSFT, AMZN, SFDC Grammarly + startups • 4y

    Keep a stack-ranked list of the top product/feature requests that you hear from customers. As the product marketer, you represent the voice of the customer within the organization. Bring that voice to life by knowing their needs, where the product has gaps, and which features or enhancements will have the most significant impact.

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  5. Should product marketers be "influencers" or "partners" in product roadmap decisions?

    As an influencer you might just share market and customer research, competitive intel, etc. as another input for PM to consider in their own decision making; whereas if you're a true partner, you're discussing and debating with them, as equals, what product roadmap decisions should be and why, where PMs and PMMs bring different inputs and value to the table as equals. Thoughts on being an "influencer" vs. being a "partner" in guiding the product roadmap? Thank you.

    Natala Menezes
    Natala Menezes

    Dialpad Vice President Product Marketing | Formerly at: GOOG, MSFT, AMZN, SFDC Grammarly + startups • 4y

    Ideally, PMMs are influential partners. :) 

    As PMMs, we represent the voice of the customer in product decisions – because we know our customers and their needs best through the work we do. When you have influence, PM will bring you closer to decision-making. Sometimes this starts as bouncing ideas off you vs formal integration into planning. With trust, I think the ideal scenario is where PMM is integrated into the planning process, just as PM integrates into the launch/GTM process. 

    426 Views
    2 requests

  6. As a product marketer, how do you manage product teams that are poor at scoping releases? Especially as they apply to changing release dates and minor updates.

    Natala Menezes
    Natala Menezes

    Dialpad Vice President Product Marketing | Formerly at: GOOG, MSFT, AMZN, SFDC Grammarly + startups • 4y

    It’s a bummer situation when product and engineering teams don’t deliver on the timeline planned. My best practice is to make sure that there’s organization-wide agreement and alignment on delivery dates. I’ve seen inconsistent delivery happen most in cases where marketing operates separately from the engineering workstream. A single meeting where all of the deliverables – not just product – are reviewed helps the org have greater context and status. Second, identifying delivery milestones to tr ...Read More

    815 Views
    5 requests

  7. In what ways to you see (or recommend) product marketers build trust with their XFN partners?

    Natala Menezes
    Natala Menezes

    Dialpad Vice President Product Marketing | Formerly at: GOOG, MSFT, AMZN, SFDC Grammarly + startups • 4y

    Show up! In my last role, I was on a team where it wasn’t usual for PMM to play a significant role in the PM planning or organization. I showed up, spent time with the leaders, shared what PMM could do (by doing it!), and was consistent and available. I ended up being BFF with the PM lead. Together, we had a massive impact on the product and customer adoption. It was also a lot of fun.

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