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Influencing without Authority
Influencing without Authority
11 answers
Global Director, Business Strategy and Comms at TripActions
This is a tricky one because you need to prioritize your work and hit your
goals. At the same time, you want to be flexible if new projects come up that
supersede what you’re working on.
There are ways to ensure you arrive at the best decision for the good of the
company. At the end of the day, everyone is working to make the company
successful, and if your teams are functioning well, people will get that. A win
for the company doesn’t always mean a win for you, personally.
The best thing you can do here is communicate and share your goals and what
you’re working on with your manag...more
Product Marketing Director at Eightfold.ai
This is a great question. I have at least a half-dozen executives whose
interests I seek to manage with my workstream. I keep a running list of my main
projects and bring it with me anytime I meet one of these execs. I show my
priority among them which is driven by immovable dates on the calendar (events
and launches) and then by seniority of who is asking for a project. If I get
asked for something new I explicitly push the bottom project, and it is 50/50 if
the ad-hoc request will be withdrawn.
Whenever possible, I design a deliverable or positioning that meets the goals of
several...more
Group Product Marketing Manager at Amplitude
We do this in our team at Veracode! So we actually operate in a SCRUM/Agile fashion, with 2 week sprints. We point all of our work, and plan for an 80% capacity. This ensure we have time to drive ad-hoc requests and return immediate value to the business when they come up. In the event that we don't get ad-hoc requests for this sprint, and we find efficiencies, we bring in stories/work from the next sprint!
VP of Product Marketing at Oyster®
I think a lot of it has to do with a combination of setting expectations and
being realistic that important ad hoc requests will -- not might, but will --
come up.
The most important time to make sure you're in that mindset and proactively
communicating with your manager, team, and stakeholders is during
quarterly/annual planning. Think hard about what your bandwidth will look like
and what you need to do to hold 10-20% in reserve (likely means saying no to a
few projects some folks have asked for). If you don't know how much work goes
into something and you're finding it hard to foreca...more
Director, Product Marketing at DocuSign
That’s always a challenge in a resource-constrained world! My goal is to spend
80% of time on 1-2 big strategic projects, routine launches, process
improvements, and leave 10%-20% of time for ad-hoc requests which I’ll
prioritize based on some combination of interest in problem, development
opportunity, and relationship-building.
During planning, I'll involve my key stakeholders (PM, design, and sales) into
the process and walk them through how much PMM support they can expect. Things
will invariably come up through the quarter, so I keep in mind and communicate
what are must-do's, and ...more
Director of Product Marketing at HoneyBook
Ah, that's the million dollar question. At the beginning of each half we align with the leadership team which features and projects we're going to work on. This helps set expectations. Then I socialize with PMs what PMM is working on, which usually includes other projects besides feature launches. It's important for them to know what else you're working on to set expectations. Having said that, there's always adhoc requests and we either say no, and explain why we don't think supporting that request makes sense strategically, or provide some ammount of support.
Product Marketing at Chan Zuckerberg Initiative | Formerly Udemy
Great question and something I deal with on the daily!
Ad-hoc requests:
* Set expectations: Be clear with the requestor on timelines (why you can't get
to it immediately, etc.) and try to let them know when you can get to it.
* Gauge importance of the request. If it's HIGH priority for your VP, CEO, etc.
or something essential for a key initiative, then quite possibly you'll have
to get to it sooner.
* Ask questions: On top of how important it is, ask how the request will be
utilized, or who it's geared towards. Often the more questions you ask, the
better you can p...more
VP, Product and Growth Marketing at 1Password | Formerly Dropbox, SurveyMonkey, LinkedIn
The quarterly planning process is critical in order to set expectations up-front
about what product marketing can and cannot tackle. Ideally as part of that
process, each PMM leaves a bit of capacity unaccounted for (my goal would be
10-20%). This buffer should accommodate any last-minute emergencies, scope creep
on the priority initiatives, and professional development.
As a rule, I don’t encourage the habit of accommodating ad-hoc requests. It’s a
slippery slope that leads directly into product marketing “peanut-buttering” and
being perceived as a “ticket-taking” service organization, so...more
Head (VP) of Global Enablement at Benchling
So I use sprint planning for business. When it works well and we're compliant, it works beautifully. Here, we break our work into two week sprints and continously prune backlogs and review ad hoc requests. We also try to allocate 'white space" within the two week sprints for things that may pop up as needed. And we also have things like V2MOMs at Salesforce along with strategy / alignment decks that ensure we are marching towards the big uber goals.
VP Product Marketing at AppFolio
There are many answers to this question depending on how large your team is, how
much budget you have, etc.
Some pointers:
* Get clear on your goals for your product marketing team (even if it's just
you) and how they ladder to the business goals.
* Build an annual plan. It's surprising how much you can get done in a year.
It's also surprising how little you sometimes achieve in a week. By having an
annual plan you can chip away at your long-term goals whenever time allows.
* Take an honest look at the value of the outputs you produce. What can you
stop doing? Ask the r...more
Senior Director Product Marketing at Fivetran
We work with our PM team to create a quarterly roadmap. This helps us align with them on the major releases that are happening, discovery work we need to do, and align on key activities to influence growth.
We also then do a big marketing team-wide planning every quarter to ensure that, for example, those big product releases are also on Content & Demand Generation's calendar.
We then have a ticketing system where folks can input requests. We review these on a bi-weekly basis to see if someone has bandwidth to support.
1 answer
VP Product Marketing at AppFolio
We're actually in the middle of a project like that. For major launches with
large cross-functional teams, there is a point of transition when you, as you
say "pivot towards a stance of execution". Some thoughts on how to prepare for
that point and then make the transition. I'm putting this is sequence mentally
on the fly, you be the judge of how robust or not that is ;-)
1. Get clear on the objective of the project and how it ties into the overall
strategy. The why and the what. I like "Good strategy, bad strategy" as a
framework
2. Get broad input from all relevant stakeholders...more
1 answer
VP Product Marketing at AppFolio
That's a great question and actually my answer to some of the other questions
asked today. The way to influence without authority is to build credibility and
trust. My thoights on how to do that overlap with many of my other answers but
here they are in summary:
* Get to know your colleagues and their priorities. Help them achieve those
priorities regardless of whether they ask for help.
* Be transparent about your objectives, motivations, weaknesses, etc.
* Be yourself. Have your work persona be as authentically you as you're
comfortable with.
* Don't take yourself too seriousl...more
7 answers
Head of Talent Acquisition, Strategy & Operations at Asana
You are 100% correct that the hardest part of a PMMs job is managing without
authority. Often, PMMs rely on shared resources or centralized teams to get
their job done. I have found three things work really well in managing without
authority. They are all hard and take time, but they are effective.
First, invest the time in building a relationship with your cross functional
partners. If someone knows you and likes you, they are going to be much more
open to any feedback you have. They are also much more likely to prioritize your
requests.
Second, create a shared vision for success. Every ...more
Director, PMM - Support & Platform at Intercom
I believe that the ability to build relationships with stakeholders and
influence others is key to being a successful PMM. As you've noted in your
question, due to the nature of our role PMMs are often drivers of very
cross-functional projects, which involves co-ordinating peers and potentially
people more senior than you too.
Really, it comes down to all the classic relationship-building things:
* Build trust - spend time with the people you need to influence (and not just
when you need something!), be helpful and reliable, do what you say you will,
ask for their input and feedb...more
Head of Portfolio & Engagement Product Marketing at Airtable
You’re right that as PMMs it’s often impossible for us to get our work done
without work from another team, often multiple other teams. Part of my advice
for doing this well is a critique of the way you’ve worded your question. I
don’t see myself, or my team, as “managing” people who don’t report to me. We’re
partnering with them. We should have shared goals, a shared vision for what
we’re trying to accomplish, and equal motivation to get it done. If we don’t,
that team is just doing a favor for the product marketing org and that work will
get quickly deprioritized if something more pressin...more
VP, Product and Growth Marketing at 1Password | Formerly Dropbox, SurveyMonkey, LinkedIn
Product marketers often end up in the position of “dotted line”
managers/stakeholders for many functions — design, writing, research (to name a
few). What’s worked for me in the past is two-fold:
* Influence: For every function that feels like a “dotted line”, it’s important
to build a close relationship with the leaders for those functions. This
relationship enables you to freely exchange ideas, maintain alignment on
priorities, operate efficiently, and set expectations between teams. If
things between us go sideways, a strong relationship feels less like an
escalation an...more
Head (VP) of Global Enablement at Benchling
It starts with aligning on common goals - what I find people get lost is in the "how" we get there. In business, we can all agree on goals that are like motherhood and apple pie - like revenue or cost savings. Hard to argue with those. Once you get aligned on that, then start with understanding what the recommended path is to get there. It could be what you're pitching or it could be something else. As long as you stay grounded in the shared goal, the rest is a lot easier, in my opinion.
Head of Marketing at Persona
Like most cross-functional work, the most important thing is to build trust and
establish shared goals early on. Instead of delegating work, involve them in
your process, provide them with proper context, and agree on timelines where
applicable. They will be much more motivated to help if they have the same
context and can be part of the journey. When giving feedback, make sure to
provide the why and take a step back when necessary to ground your discussions
around objectives, guardrails, and who should be the decision maker for what.
There are going to be scenarios where you and your count...more
VP Product Marketing at AppFolio
You will need to win their respect and trust. To do that you need to...
* know your stuff
* be humble
* give ample positive feedback
* understand their agenda and help them advance it
* take personal responsibility for everything that goes wrong, and emphasize
the team contribution over your own for everything that went right
* criticize in private, while using "I" instead of "You" statements but be
unmistakably clear in your feedback. Don't leave room for ambiguity and
always criticize the work, not the person)
* don't take yourself too seriously
* be ready to admit mist...more
3 answers
Head (VP) of Global Enablement at Benchling
What a great question. One thing I do in almost all my teams is run them in
agile sprints - they can be two weeks, three weeks, or monthly depending on the
speed of business. As part of this, one thing I ask my teams to do (and they
have the autonomy to also not do this if it's a busy time) is to build in
"whitespace" - basically planning for the unplanned. This allows them to have
some cushion room in their plans to absorb changes as it's impossible to plan
for everything in the world. Additionally, I build in fun during the quarters
for people to make sure not only do we bond as a team bu...more
VP, Product and Growth Marketing at 1Password | Formerly Dropbox, SurveyMonkey, LinkedIn
I completely agree that PMMs are highly cross-functional and often broadly
scoped. The common trap I’ve seen us fall into is that of “peanut-buttering”,
spreading ourselves thin over a broad range of projects. This is the slippery
slope that leads to burnout quickly. The 3 things I do to combat this are:
1. Increase delegation: Especially at companies in earlier stages of growth, it
is typical for product marketing to take on more than they should because other
areas of marketing may not have the resourcing or because processes are
undefined and product marketing has to figure it out as th...more
VP Product Marketing at AppFolio
* Set boundaries and clear expectations with the various stakeholders you work
with. Don't commit to crazy timelines. If a crazy timeline is unavoidable,
communicate what you will have to trade off.
* Create a culture of trust with your team by being your authentic self, being
a good listener, and always having your team's back.
* Build frameworks and processes and communicate them across the org. Follow
your process. Build systems for yourself so you don't reinvent the wheel too
often.
* Understand each individual team member. Who are they? What drives them? What
are...more
5 answers
Head of Marketing at Woven
Product is comprised of people. And so it should be clear upfront that you need
to start with a foundation of trust with the people in product. Take them out to
coffee. Ask about what motivates them personally. What do they want to
accomplish? Who do they read/follow for inspiration and growth?
OK, let's assume you've built trust by listening. Now make yourself helpful to
them as a conduit to information and outside sources that help inform them.
Frame your job in terms of informing product about what's going on outside the
company and in sales/marketing. Note that this is informing, not...more
CEO at Product School
The real first question you should be asking yourself is how can you empathize
with product. Just as with your role and other PMM roles, Product Managers and
members of the product team are swamped with suggestions, demands, and
interjections regarding how they should go about improving their processes. This
can be draining and frustrating.
Once you are able to level with your PM and their team, this is your foot in the
door to communicating ideas more effectively. You should also note that when you
are influencing a person, manipulation won't work - rather you will have to
communicate ...more
Director of Product Marketing at Quizlet | Formerly Udemy
Other than the things already mentioned throughout my answers (relationship building, offering to facilitate planning sessions, etc.), I would also try to show them your own marketing calendar/roadmap.
Share what you think your goals will be and ask to compare it to the rough product roadmap. Start by asking questions and sparking discussion. As you gain rapport and trust with your product teammates, they'll be more likely to bring you in at early stages, knowing that you are there to be a partner rather than an antagonist.
VP, Product and Growth Marketing at 1Password | Formerly Dropbox, SurveyMonkey, LinkedIn
First off, don’t expect it to happen quickly or by brute force. Gaining
influence requires trust which can only be built over time. Start with a few
small wins to establish credibility. For example, market or customer insights
presented at the right time in the product development cycle can be hugely
influential. Showing the value of PMM is far more powerful than telling product
why they should partner with PMM.
Also important is how you partner with product. Leading with curiosity will
build empathy with your product team and will allow you to better position your
input for them to receiv...more
VP Product Marketing at AppFolio
See my answer to a similar question on this page. You'll need to build trust and rapport with them and you do this by knowing your stuff, bringing unique insights, and having a well thought out perspective on key industry challenges. You keep overdelivering until your PM counterparts understand the value you bring to the table. If after a long period of serious investment on your part they still don't see the light, crumple your self-doubt into a tiny ball, toss it away, and find a new employer that values your PMM skills ;-)
6 answers
Head of Product Marketing at Benchling | Formerly ExactTarget (Salesforce Marketing Cloud), Zendesk, Slack, Salesforce
Such an interesting question because I actually think it doesn't change that
much. My last role was a company that was ~150 employees, Zendesk is now ~3,000
I think. In both companies, my biggest stakeholders were:
* CEO
* Head of Product
* CMO
* Head of Sales
Often it feels like the job of product marketing at the stakeholder level is to
help translate between these people and their teams to keep everyone aligned. If
the product marketing leadership in your team has a seat at the table with these
executives it's much easier to be effective and strategic vs tactical and
execution focu...more
Senior Product Marketing Manager at Square
This is an awesome question and one that I've thought a ton about as we've
scaled. I touched on this a bit in another answer (“When thinking about adding
new talent to your team - how do you structure focus areas?”) but will reiterate
and expand here.
As our company has scaled, I don’t think it’s necessarily the case that our key
stakeholders as a Product Marketing team have changed, per se—rather, I think of
it more along the lines that our key partners in supporting those stakeholders
have evolved. Meaning: on a macro level our key stakeholders still remain:
* Product management: sup...more
VP, Product and Growth Marketing at 1Password | Formerly Dropbox, SurveyMonkey, LinkedIn
I can only speak to the change from ~1000 → 3000+. As a company grows, the
number of stakeholders grows along with it. That shouldn’t be a surprise. What
I’ve also learned is that as the number of stakeholders increase, so does the
importance of collaboration skills, role clarity, and decision-making processes:
* Collaboration skills: With more people to align with, product marketers need
to be especially flexible, picking the right battles to fight and letting
things go that may not be worth the effort.
* Role clarity: As mentioned in some of my other answers, its important for
...more
Vice President, Marketing at Glassdoor
I’m not certain the stakeholders and leverage have changed much in my experience
with different company sizes, although resources clearly do. As you grow from
startup to tween/teen and mature, the stakeholders diversify with the added
resources that come from business growth. Sophia and I have generally watched
pmm move from an individual contributor -- plugged in to a growth team, leading
basic sales enablement, and driving core positioning through product -- to an
enabler, helping other teams do their work better, and ensuring a single voice
across touchpoints. In startup and sometimes tw...more
Head of Marketing, Google Maps Platform at Google
The short answer is that there are more, and the desires each stakeholder has
become more specific!
Essentially, as companies grow they have the opportunity to bring in more
specialized talent. This could be teams in finance that are focused on products,
specialized support organizations, strategy teams, program teams, or any number
of others. The benefit is that you often have more hands on deck to ensure the
success of a product. The downside is often coordination cost, and when it comes
to product marketing that cost can be high.
You can stay on top of things by being proactive in und...more
VP Product Marketing at AppFolio
Regardless of the size of the organization, there will always be a marketing and
a product leader. They are your critical partners. Even in very large
organizations with a matrix structure, you will still typically have these
leadership roles for each business segment. As the organization grows the
founder or CEO will be further removed from day-to-day operations and you're
less likely to work with them. At AppFolio we are ca. 1600 people at the moment
and key stakeholders I connect frequently with are:
* Product VP
* Marketing VP
* Sales VP
* The various business segment leaders
* VP...more
6 answers
Head of Product Marketing at Scale AI
If approached with those terms, I would be wary too. For example, imagine PMs
coming to you and told you that they wanted to influence the marketing roadmap.
If you heard this, I’d imagine you’d tell them politely to go to hell. What do
they know about marketing? What do you know about building a product? Can’t be
that hard?
The core challenge denoted above is actually the relationship between PM and
PMM. It’s not “not being able to influence the product roadmap."
Think about what you’re trying to achieve together. You aren’t trying to
influence the product roadmap for the sake of influ...more
Group Product Marketing Manager at Amplitude
A quick win you can do, to gain trust - is ask from your PM for a list of
features that are on the roadmap or consideration for the roadmap, that do not
have engineers working on yet. Take those features, and use whichever your
favorite feature prioritization method is, and conduct some customer/market
survey based research to provide a feature importance report back to your PM. I
can promise you that your PMs are hungry for as much data to make an informed
decision, if you can come back with information that the market cares about
"these features" the most, and that for "these features the...more
Director of PMM at Ironclad
First, you have to take up your Product Manager's mantle, meaning you have to
share his/her commitment to making the product successful according to some set
of agreed upon metrics. (If you can't agree upon metrics, you've got a different
problem.)
At Ironclad, PMM is responsible for tying products to revenue. There are two
primary ways we influence the roadmap:
* Category creation and positionining. Playing out the product story that the
market needs to hear in order to accept our category definition
* Demonstrating increase in sales velocity or win rate. Isolating the set of
f...more
Director of PMM at Ironclad
First, you have to take up your Product Manager's mantle, meaning you have to
share his/her commitment to making the product successful according to some set
of agreed upon metrics. (If you can't agree upon metrics, you've got a different
problem.)
At Ironclad, PMM is responsible for tying products to revenue. There are two
primary ways we influence the roadmap:
* Category creation and positionining. Playing out the product story that the
market needs to hear in order to accept our category definition
* Demonstrating increase in sales velocity or win rate. Isolating the set of
f...more
Director of PMM at Ironclad
(Hot take?) I, too, am wary when product marketers' stated/primary motive is to
"influence the roadmap" b/c influencing the roadmap is just a means to an end;
it's not the end itself. (This is perhaps a slim bone to pick, but in my
experience, genuine collaborative intent makes all the difference b/w a
trusting/productive partnership vs. a guarded/challenging one.) Once there is
right intent, you can influence the roadmap by becoming the absolute authority
in the world (yes, I said world) in your market, customer, and story.
A few key things to get right:
(1) Aligning on success metrics. ...more
Director of PMM at Ironclad
(Hot take?) I, too, am wary when product marketers' stated/primary motive is to
"influence the roadmap" b/c influencing the roadmap is just a means to an end;
it's not the end itself. (This is perhaps a slim bone to pick, but in my
experience, genuine collaborative intent makes all the difference b/w a
trusting/productive partnership vs. a guarded/challenging one.) Once there is
right intent, you can influence the roadmap by becoming the absolute authority
in the world (yes, I said world) in your market, customer, and story.
A few key things to get right:
(1) Aligning on success met...more
Director of Product Management, Speech and Video AI at Cisco
This is an interesting topic since I have worn both hats - product manager and
product marketing, in case of formal multi-product solutions with SKUs -- I wore
all-in-one hat. Most recently at BabbleLabs as well - it was all-in-one. My
learnings from these experiences if I had a product marketer -- here's what I
would have appreciated
1) Thorough research on the market /industry segment including data that helps
us assess the business opportunity, pricing and packaging vis-a-vis competition
or lack there off
2) In some companies - when they have PMs with more technical background,
Produ...more
VP, Product and Growth Marketing at 1Password | Formerly Dropbox, SurveyMonkey, LinkedIn
Of course Product Managers are wary. They don’t know what “influencing the
product roadmap” might mean and everything about it signals a loss of their
control and autonomy. It’s important to reframe the situation to minimize the
ambiguity and negative stigma associated with it. Product Management and Product
Marketing should not be a “them versus us” relationship. Instead, it’s a “we”
relationship where we share the same goal of making sure the product roadmap
meets the needs of the customer and business. By taking the focus off one
function trying to control the other and putting the focus...more
VP Product Marketing at AppFolio
You need to earn your seat at the table by repeatedly bringing fresh insights and a distinct point of view to the table. To influence product strategy and the roadmap you need to take a broader view of your market and the customers than your friends on the product management team. Invest in a deep understanding of your customers, your competitors, and the market at large. If you do this well your product counterparts will start to understand and appreciate the value you bring.
7 answers
PMO at TikTok
If product marketing is embedded within product, what that usually tells me is
that marketing is a secondary function to product. If you're operating within a
product-led organization, the cadence of the business will be determined by
product leadership and the roadmap they set. That said, marketing can certainly
influence it, but it's a shared service to product. When product marketing
reports into marketing leadership, that's usually a signal that marketing is a
leading function at the executive table in which case there's more a balance
between marketing and product co-creating or design...more
VP of Growth at Verifiable
Our PMM team currently rolls up under the Marketing practice, which rolls up
into the Customer Org (Customer Success/Support, People Science, Marketing).
This means Sales reports up through another org, as does Product - and each has
their own set of key objectives/priorities. As the question here alludes, sure
this can play a factor in easily influencing product roadmap (never an easy task
no matter where you sit).
However, I've found the best way to influence the roadmap is by first, by
building relationships with PMs and finding ways to support them early in their
shaping/scoping proc...more
Vice President of Product Marketing at HackerOne
The PMM team at HackerOne reports in Marketing. PM's purpose in the universe is to build the right product by translating customer needs into products they can't live without. PMMs role is to translate these products into value propositions that move customers to action and help influence the product roadmap.
Group Product Manager at Zendesk
You would assume that being in the product organization would allow a PMM more
influence. However, I’ve actually found the opposite to be the case.
For a brief period of time at Zendesk, Product Marketing reported into the
product org. This let us foster very close relationships with our product
counterparts. We would go to all their meetings, offsites, planning sessions,
etc. and be joined at the hip when it came to launching features. As a junior
Product Marketer this experience can be intoxicating. The compromise you make
though is that it’s the Product Managers that are the ultimate...more
VP, Product and Growth Marketing at 1Password | Formerly Dropbox, SurveyMonkey, LinkedIn
There are pros and cons to any PMM reporting structure, with no perfect
solution. My experience has mostly been with a PMM team that reports into a
marketing leader and doesn’t report into product. In this case, an intentional
effort needs to be put toward building bridges across teams. All levels of the
product and marketing organization need to implement and exhibit a culture of
collaboration that minimizes silos between groups. What might this look like?
* At the top: Marketing and product leaders co-presenting in one another’s team
meetings to show where and how the teams are comin...more
Head of Consumer Product Marketing at Nextdoor
From my experience, it's less about product marketing's placement in the org
chart and more about product marketing's relationship with product and cross
functional teams. I've been in orgs where PMM reports into product as well as
others where PMM reports into marketing and have found that our ability to
influence the roadmap is more dependent on the value that product marketing
brings to the table and having a seat at the table rather than your reporting
structure. A product marketer that has clearly demonstrated value and is
considered a part of the core team will be brought along in the...more
VP Product Marketing at AppFolio
I have led product marketing teams that reported into marketing and others that
reported into product. I've been reorganized from one to the other twice. I
don't find it makes all that much of a difference. You'll need to work harder to
build strong relationships with the "other" team. Your responsibilities should
be the same. Regardless of where you sit in the organization, you need to build
deep rapport with both the product and the marketing leader. Building a string
relationship with the product leader can be somewhat easier if you're on the
product side but being in marketing makes go-...more
9 answers
Group Manager, Engagement & Retention Campaigns at Adobe
Quick answer: Data. Bring them snippets of real customer conversations or data
points that they haven't seen from customer interviews, surveys, CSAT, NPS,
customer service feedback - you name it. This will show the value of talking to
customers, and will leave them wanting more.
To be even more influential, if your product or design team isn’t listening -
make sure your exec team is. Get an executive sponsor who wants to champion the
“voice of the customer” - and leverage their position to promote the customer
insights you’re finding.
It’s really dangerous when a product / eng team...more
Founder at BrainKraft
I agree with Mary. Data. How you package that data, though, really matters. Some people are swayed by facts, some are swayed by process/method, and some are swayed by stories. Know your audience and package your facts accordingly.
VP of Product Marketing at Oyster®
One thing I'd add to Mary's response is what I think is the hardest part of your
question: identifying the questions that matter most to the business. Getting
and using data is critical, but it will fall on deaf ears and undermine your
credibility if you aren't getting the right data at the right time for the right
decision-makers.
How do you identify what data to go get? Look for one of the following:
* Internal disagreements: Are members of the Product team regularly having a
philosophical argument that impacts the direction of the roadmap? For
example, does one camp think user...more
Senior Director Product Marketing at Skedulo
While I agree with Mary's answer ("data") and the other great points that have
been added here, I would caution against taking the exact same approach you
would to influencing product as you would to influencing culture. If data were
sufficient to change culture, the world would look dramatically different.
Culture is theoretically owned in people, HR, operations, and exec leadership.
It's an intangible and can be attached to personality. That's a different
audience and perspective than a group of product managers and engineers. Put
your marketing hat on and adjust your approach accordi...more
Global Head of PMM and Content Marketing, TIDAL at Square
To me, it's about creating a customer-centric culture, not just a "market
research" culture. "Market research" is a bit of a stigmatized term - most of it
is considered not valuable, not actionable, and an expensive "nice-to-have". I'd
encourage you to re-orient around building a habit of listening and talking to
customers - often. What I try to do, very tactically is:
1/ help make the case for "discovery" in roadmaps as an official line item. Make
sure formal product development time accounts for talking to relevant audiences
before anything is built or designed.
2/ i invite product, d...more
GTM Leader | Marketing Author | Career Coach
This is concerning to hear. Unless you have the next Henry Ford on your design
team, this mentality will ultimately lead to a poor product-market fit.
That’s not saying that your design team should not have a voice at all – they
may have a solid product vision and if they are market experts, then they will
have an equally strong understanding of the market’s needs. But that
understanding doesn’t just randomly come to them. It is carefully honed by
having a close pulse on the customer. For instance, there is one particular
product leader at my current company who understands our customers b...more
VP, Product and Growth Marketing at 1Password | Formerly Dropbox, SurveyMonkey, LinkedIn
Market research is the most powerful tool for influencing product. I recommend
applying your marketing skills to your internal stakeholders in the same way you
use them for your externally-facing initiatives. If you have some great market
insights in hand, consider these steps:
1. Understand your internal target audience: Why does product and design
consider themselves as the consumer? Where are the largest differences between
our internal teams and the actual customer? How do internal teams best consume
information?
2. Create a messaging strategy for your insights: What are the key takeaw...more
Director, Retailer Product Marketing at Instacart
It is important for all functions across the company to build empathy for users.
Regardless of your segment, small advisory boards are helpful for this, and can
be set up to feature 10-20 key customers who meet quarterly (or more or less
often) to review roadmaps and provide feedback on either new initiatives or
existing products. The key here is getting leadership buy-in across the exec
team, as they will likely be the main headlines to actually get key customers to
attend these sessions.
Depending on the level of budget you have, getting teams together to go onsite
with customers and a...more
VP Product Marketing at AppFolio
I'd say lead the way. Use a traditional PMM responsibility like refreshing your
buyer personas as a reason to kick off a joint research project and pull in your
partners from the product and design team. Set up customer interviews. Get
outdoors and do a workshop. Have some fun with it. Bribe them with candy and
fizzy drinks :o)
If you can't get buy-in for that, go talk to customers yourself and present a
read-out of what you learned.
Get with the sales and client services team and use them as a proxy for the
customers if there is too much red tape around direct customer interaction.
Co...more