AMA: Twilio Sr. Group Manager, Product Marketing, David Esber on Messaging

My first question is: what's the reason for not relying on your revenue org? Is there a lack of trust, challenges with prioritization, or something else? The best, most differentiated positioning means nothing if it's not being used throughout the customer journey – and since the majority of marketing orgs are focused on driving leads to a sales team, that messaging better be consistent at every stage of the marketing funnel. I view our sales partners as essential in building, validating, and ac ...Read More

A deep understanding of the product, target audience, job to be done, and the technical solution is essential for our team to be good PMMs. For any product, even those that are less technical, knowing what the job to be done is and how the product offering does that job is a strong starting point. Every product conversation starts with what I call 20ish questions that generally focus on the following categories:  Job to be done (who, what, why)  Product accessibility (how do they use it, what li ...Read More

The best feedback we can get as PMMs is critical feedback. I firmly believe that our messaging should constantly be refined based on changing market conditions, competitor releases, or customer needs. If we're getting feedback that our messaging isn't landing, then it's a great opportunity to dig into the "why" it isn't working – but that certainly doesn't mean you have to agree or make changes.  There will always be times when leaders push changes from the top, and we need to respond, but an es ...Read More

This question suggests PMF or an offering that can solve the (or some of the) challenges both segments face. If that's the case, read on.  If that's not the case – stop – do not pass go, and do not collect $200.  Every business wants to be seen as enterprise-grade/ready/insert-your-word-here. That's why early-stage companies often focus heavily on landing big logos with low margins; it's no more complicated than saying: "If Company X trusts us, you should, too". For my money, I'd focus on landin ...Read More

Get in front of customers any chance you have! I will rarely say no to an ask to present a roadmap, speak at an event, support a pitch, or join a voice of customer session. This gives me opportunities to hear their concerns/desires and subtly test messaging. I might swap out a standard pitch deck for a draft I'm working on, or ask leading questions to test out new messaging – all of these insights don't just validate our messaging, but help us to refine and improve our messaging.  Additionally, ...Read More

No one likes being marketed at, but, when done well, we typically don't mind being marketed to. Generally speaking, we've found there's far more nuance to this dichotomy than simply drawing a line between audiences. I've also noticed many companies shift away from the divided messaging approach (i.e., dedicated landing pages for developers or non-developers) toward a single page that speaks to both features and values. Since we can't reasonably control 100% of who lands on a given piece of conte ...Read More

A former marketing leader I worked with always emphasized the need to "market your marketing". It takes time, is often the last thing I want to do after spending months working on a deliverable (or entire Bill of Materials), but it's arguably the most important thing we do.  Since our messaging is often most consumable in the form of customer-facing slides, we often start with a canonical pitch deck (that is maintained in our enablement hub), demo, and website.  From there, it's a hub-and-spoke ...Read More