AMA: VGS Senior Director Product Marketing, Khyati Srivastava on Influencing the Product Roadmap

I would focus on research and revenue, which can be highly interrelated. Consider a situation where one or more large strategic customers have indicated a preference for a new product or feature or change to an existing one. Tying your customer insights to incremental or potential lost revenue will strengthen your case. I just launched a new product that delivers multiple products through a single API. The key insight? Delayed delivery due to multiple API integrations was causing a delay in recognized revenue. If customers can't go live as quickly as they prefer, they can lose interest or turn to a competitor. My recommendation (and experience): To influence the product roadmap, tie your recommendation to a customer need that impacts revenue.

Most significant product launches are time-bound. Key factors can vary from: * The typical match with a product's Beta or GA launch * Size and impact of the launch: priority, secondary, or tertiary * Being part of a broader PR or company strategy, like an announcement at a large event or conference * Providing an update at a Board meeting or top analyst briefing, or * Even meeting a key customer's expectation. They have a timeline, key steps across channels, internal and external go-live, and success measurement with a feedback loop. On the other hand, product exploration should be ongoing. Gathering insights can be done through: * Following competitive moves via LinkedIn posts, website updates, or PR * Identifying customer pain points through routine interactions and QBRs * Listening to and participating in Sales and Customer Success pipeline calls and * Tracking industry news via key publications, regulatory bodies, and influencers A product marketing launch timeline involves committing to a key internal or external event, usually in partnership with the Product team. Product exploration should be part of a daily routine as a product marketer, as well as weekly check-ins with your PM partners.

Leveraging competitive intelligence deeply enhances your credibility in Product Roadmap conversations. However, competitors and the operating environment could also evolve and change. For example: * Your key competitor could pivot to a different product focus area. * Your company could move to a different segment, e.g. B2B vs B2C or Enterprise vs Mid-market. * Your industry or regulatory body could shift and change to a new direction. * New competitors could move into your space. While it is key to follow competitive moves via LinkedIn posts, website updates, or PR, it is as important to assess your key competitors continually. Signs of a shift could be who your prospects cite in key deal conversations, with example impacts being who you compare with as key competitors on LinkedIn and consider for Google ads and search campaigns.

As a Product Marketer, Product and Sales are my key partners. I ensure we continually strengthen our partnership with: * Weekly check-ins * Adding them in the feedback loop for key new marketing materials * Getting their insights on key customer conversations * Sharing and discussing key competitor moves and industry developments Doing this regularly makes roadmap conversations organic and ongoing, over becoming a formal cadence. This also ensures strong cross-functional relationships and offers more opportunities to ensure the roadmap continually reflects evolving customer needs.

This is a critical topic and can distinguish between your organization being comparative and innovative. However, there are a few important caveats for both: * If customer feedback comes from a key customer, consider whether it is a common concern among multiple customers, a logical evolution of your current product, a fit with your target set, and could be a competitive moat. * For an innovation opportunity, always assess if it fits your customers and company strategy today and where you would like to evolve in the future. If yes, apply the same criteria as in the bullet above. This will help ensure that an innovation opportunity truly moves you forward over being exciting only because it is new and exciting.

If the Product team is more established, or if there are other barriers like language or geography, or the culture hasn't historically included PM/PMM engagement, establishing a relationship becomes more critical. This could take different forms, such as: * Weekly check-ins * Adding them in the feedback loop for key new marketing materials * Getting their insights on key customer conversations * Sharing and discussing key competitor moves and industry developments * Meeting in person when possible * Providing training on PM vs PMM scope and responsibilities Building a relationship across the Product org, engaging your leadership to ensure cross-functional goal alignment, and tying customer feedback to revenue potential when possible are all key to deepening engagement and increasing receptivity to your ideas.

If the Product team has typically worked in silos, is more established, or if there are other barriers like language or geography, establishing a relationship becomes more critical. This could take different forms, such as: * Weekly check-ins * Adding them in the feedback loop for key new marketing materials * Getting their insights on key customer conversations * Sharing and discussing key competitor moves and industry developments * Meeting in person when possible Building a relationship up and down the Product org, engaging your leadership to ensure cross-functional goal alignment, and tying customer feedback to revenue potential when possible are all key to deepening engagement and increasing receptivity to your ideas.

Enterprise organizations tend to be more distributed than startups, with much larger teams and more defined areas of responsibilities. It's critical to both understand scope and responsibility areas as well as consistently establish relationships. Example ways of achieving this include: * Weekly check-ins * Adding them in the feedback loop for key new marketing materials * Getting their insights on key customer conversations * Sharing and discussing key competitor moves and industry developments * Meeting in person when possible * Providing training on PM vs PMM scope and responsibilities Building a relationship across the Product organization, engaging your leadership to ensure cross-functional goal alignment, and tying customer feedback to revenue potential when possible are all key to deepening engagement and increasing receptivity to your ideas.