AMA: Veeva Systems VP of Product Marketing, Katie Duzan (O'Brien) on Enterprise Product Marketing

I'll start by saying that this isn't always easy. Depending on the industry and company, it can be a much more difficult transition because they can be very different roles. If you're looking to transition to Enterprise, I'd suggest starting with why. Do you love a specific part of your job now that you'll get more of in Enterprise? Focus on roles that include that component that you love -- which could be more upstream or downstream parts of the job. Enterprise product marketing usually (but no ...Read More

In general, the biggest differences are the price of the software, the level of buyer, the length of the sales cycle, and the complexity & sophistication of the sale. With SMB or mid-market software, sales cycles are usually shorter and product marketing tends to be more demand gen-oriented. It's common in these organizations for product marketers to "wear a lot of hats." With enterprise software, the buying decision is usually longer, higher level, and complex. There's a lot more of value-b ...Read More

Techniques vary depending on the scale of launch and product vs feature, the number of sales teams/people, and your overall business model. But, generally: Know your audience -- how will sales make money from this new launch? Help them follow the money and what they care about. Keep it simple -- as a former Head of Sales used to say, training should be "crayon simple." Don't cover all the great features. What are the most important things they need to know? Net it out the takeaway and tell them ...Read More

Ideally you can have a core message house that distills your biggest value points for target personas -- relevant across regions. For example, does everyone care about efficiency or retention? What motivates your target personas to act? Localization stems from that and can either add specificity into one of your message pillars (e.g. regulations) or add a new, unique message. The key is labeling so it's clear. That way, you have a core message that is broadly applicable, but it can also target s ...Read More