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Monty Wolper

AMA: Vimeo Senior Director of Product Marketing, Monty Wolper on Influencing the Product Roadmap

February 15 @ 10:00AM PST
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Vimeo Senior Director of Product Marketing, Monty Wolper on Influencing the Product Roadmap
Top Questions
How do product marketers lead a product launch when roadmaps and priorities are constantly changing?
There is a lack of alignment at my company and our teams act in silos. Consequently, my roadmap and goals seem to change on a weekly if not bi-weekly basis because marketing keeps getting pulled in different directions. There needs to be some sort of roadmap and role that aligns sales with product, but I'm not sure if that should come from product marketing or not. I want to initiate this conversation, but I don't know if it's overstepping my role or not. Advice here?
Monty Wolper
Monty Wolper
The New York Times Executive Director, Head of Product Marketing • February 16
While the impact of shifts in company strategy and product roadmaps can materialize in similar ways day-to-day, the altitude at which they need to be addressed differs. In both cases, however, you’ll need to understand what’s at the root of the change. Most companies I’ve worked at set long-term ......Read More
506 Views
4 requests
In terms of empowering your sales and success teams to get customers and prospects excited about upcoming features, how do you help them present the roadmap? Does product marketing create a roadmap deck that then gets shared out to the team?
Monty Wolper
Monty Wolper
The New York Times Executive Director, Head of Product Marketing • February 16
Ideally, any roadmap shared with your sales team would be owned and presented by PMM. The sales team doesn’t just need to understand when a product will be released, but when they’ll be enabled to sell it effectively. PMMs can leverage release timelines to craft a market-ready roadmap based on th......Read More
500 Views
2 requests
Do you do a product launch pre-mortem with your internal stakeholders before a product launch and if so, who do you include and what is your process for running it?
Monty Wolper
Monty Wolper
The New York Times Executive Director, Head of Product Marketing • February 16
In my experience, this is something we’ve done for Level 1 or Level 2 launches that involve dozens of stakeholders across various functions. The goal for these pre-mortems is really to anticipate pitfalls and increase project success, whether that’s simply by eliminating the fear around negative ......Read More
363 Views
2 requests
How do you develop a voice of customer (VOC) program when there is only an ad-hoc feedback process in place?
Monty Wolper
Monty Wolper
The New York Times Executive Director, Head of Product Marketing • February 16
A strong VOC program has the potential to illuminate customer priorities before they become challenges, so consistency and accessibility are key. A few suggestions: * Dedicate a certain amount of your team’s time to this program, even if it’s as simple as committing to 1 customer interview o......Read More
2466 Views
3 requests
How do you influence product roadmap as a product marketer.
This is an interview question we get all the time
Monty Wolper
Monty Wolper
The New York Times Executive Director, Head of Product Marketing • February 16
The first step here is often the most easily overlooked: understand the product team’s goals, so you can figure out how to position and prioritize your projects in a mutually beneficial way. Secondly, you’ll want to level set on the company strategy before honing in on the product roadmap in a pa......Read More
766 Views
4 requests
What criteria is evaluated before determining if a request or idea is submitted to product? When it is submitted, what is the prioritization process?
Monty Wolper
Monty Wolper
The New York Times Executive Director, Head of Product Marketing • February 16
When evaluating what products to prioritize, you’ll want to consider several factors: 1. Mission Alignment: Does this addition to the product portfolio support the company’s mission, and what you’re trying to accomplish? 2. Opportunity Size: What’s the TAM? Will this product expand the add......Read More
723 Views
5 requests
How can you prove to hiring managers in the interview process that you can hit the ground running as someone transitioning to product marketing?
My background is in account management and client services. I'm nervous that I'll be asked questions that I don't have direct experience to answer. Anyway to answer questions based on my transferable skills to prove that I'm not a hiring risk?
Monty Wolper
Monty Wolper
The New York Times Executive Director, Head of Product Marketing • February 16
As someone who didn’t start her career in product marketing and has since supported several internal transfers into PMM for perspective sharing and career growth, this question is near and dear to my heart. I can honestly say that some of the best PMMs I’ve hired and worked with have had very div......Read More
461 Views
4 requests
With respect to mergers and acquisitions, what are the steps and priorities you take to integrate the newly acquired product into your overall product marketing strategy?
Monty Wolper
Monty Wolper
The New York Times Executive Director, Head of Product Marketing • February 16
I’m so glad to have been asked this question, because I’ve been fortunate enough to lead teams through acquisitions at almost every company I’ve worked at. In order to effectively integrate the newly acquired company into yours, you’ll need to understand what drove the acquisition: was it a strat......Read More
478 Views
2 requests