AMA: MyFitnessPal Vice President Product Marketing, Katie Levinson on Product Marketing vs Product Management

I’ve mostly seen in-app copy live under Design within the Product org, and that’s also the case in my current company. This setup makes sense because in-app copy is part of user experience design, and it requires the expertise of and close collaboration with product designers and UX researchers to ensure that the copy aligns with both product flow and functionality.  But, it’s important that the copywriters on the design/product side communicate with copywriters on the marketing creative side, e ...Read More

For product marketing to be most helpful, the more “upstream” you can get involved the better. This means partnering with product from the earliest stages—when whitespace opportunities are being identified and market opportunities (not just marketing opportunities) are being explored. PMM can offer a lot: Strategic guidance on what to build by bringing in market insights, competitive analysis, and customer feedback. PMM can also lead or partner on research initiatives to uncover customer pain po ...Read More

In order for Product Marketing to be successful, it’s helpful to project briefs to include: Feature description: A clear and concise explanation of the feature, including what it does and how it works. This serves as the foundation for PMM to develop messaging and positioning. Insights/research: Any relevant data, research, or insights that influenced the decision to build the feature. This helps PMM understand the “why” behind the feature, enabling them to craft compelling narratives that align ...Read More

I’ve generally seen product marketing own pricing in an organization. They partner with research or even an outside firm to understand the competitive landscape, run surveys like the Van Westendorp and shopping cart exercise to get at psychological thresholds and optimal pricing, and do qualitative interviews to understand how the price plus suite of features/offerings actually land with both users and prospects.  That said, pricing is rarely straightforward or in the purview of just one team. I ...Read More

Ownership of customer feedback varies depending on the stage of development, organizational structure, and quite frankly just bandwidth of various team members at any given time. In smaller organizations or startups, where product marketing and research teams might not be fully staffed, gathering feedback is often a shared responsibility across multiple teams. Specific feedback on designs is usually owned by the UX Research team. However, in some organizations, especially smaller ones, Product o ...Read More