AMA: SurveyMonkey Vice President, Product Marketing, Priya Gill on Growth Product Marketing

In my opinion, there isn’t much overlap between PMM and Growth PMM, but the things that they need to know to power the work that they do is where there’s some overlap. From my perspective, there are two main areas of overlap: * Customer and market knowledge: Both teams require a deep understanding of user needs, behaviors, and preferences in order to effectively inform growth and PMM strategies. * Data utilization: While Growth PMMs heavily rely on data for growth strategies, PMMs also use data for market research, customer feedback analysis, and refining marketing approaches. Where they differ: * Growth PMM focus areas: * Conversion optimization: Optimize conversion funnels and improve the user journey to increase user acquisition and retention in partnership with Product * Experimentation: Conduct A/B testing and experiments in partnership with Product to identify the most effective strategies for user growth * User Retention: Collaborate on strategies to enhance user retention through targeted communication and engagement initiatives * PMM focus areas: * Product: Drive market success of the product and solutions portfolio by ensuring strong product-market fit, compelling messaging, differentiated positioning, and strategic pricing & packaging * Demand: Drive demand by supporting strategic marketing plans that cement industry authority, build brand awareness and drive pipeline growth * Enablement: Drive revenue and retention by empowering sellers and customer success with the content and narratives needed to support the customer journey and sales cycle Ultimately, the main differences lie in the primary focus of each role—Growth PMMs specifically concentrate on post-launch user growth, while PMMs have a broader responsibility across the entire product lifecycle.

This really depends on the maturity of your product and/or stage of the company you’re working at. For example, early stage and scaling growth companies often have a strong emphasis on customer acquisition to build the user base quickly. If this is where you’re at, then this is where the majority of your focus should be. For businesses with subscription models or have high customer lifetime value, a strong focus on retention is key. Because keeping existing customers happy and engaged is much cheaper than constantly trying to acquire new customers, and ultimately, contributes significantly to long-term success.

I would disagree that Product Marketing is very qualitatively focused. I think the challenge that PMMs typically have is that they primarily influence or support the teams that drive impact towards specific KPIs. For example, the most typical KPIs are pipeline/revenue if it’s a product that can be purchased or product adoption if it’s free. At the end of the day, both teams care about the user journey and that’s where I would start in creating shared goals. Identify key metrics that span the entire user journey, from acquisition and awareness to adoption and retention. This could include metrics such as sign-up rates, website conversion rates, PQL rate (product qualified lead), user retention rates, etc.

The first thing I would do is ensure I have a solid understanding of my target audience and their needs, pain points, and expectations of the product. You can start by gathering feedback from your existing user base to identify areas for improvement and/or features that can enhance adoption. Surveys are great for that. ;) This, in combination with analyzing existing user data to identify friction points will likely guide your initial focus. Other likely areas to look at next (in order of logical progression): * Onboarding flows: Do users have a smooth experience right from the start? Do they know where to begin? * UX analysis: Are there usability issues, points of friction or clear drop off points? * Customer education: Is your product difficult to get started and use? Would users benefit from kickstart guides or walkthrough videos? * Feature highlighting: Are there specific features that could greatly enhance adoption but are not being utilized? Are they being appropriately featured in the right place in the customer journey?

It’s all about how you position your skills and your ability to learn quickly to fill the gaps. There are some aspects that are directly transferable and other skills that will need to be developed. For example, skills such as data analysis and customer/user knowledge are relevant to both roles. However, while Growth PMM often focuses on post-launch strategies and user acquisition, Product Marketing spans the entire product lifecycle, involving aspects like market research, messaging and positioning, and go-to-market strategies. I would be sure to learn as much as you can about the distinctions between the roles (which I’ve highlighted in the answer to a different question) and highlight tangential experiences that you have that can showcase why you’d be successful in a traditional Product Marketing role.