Growth is very quantitatively focused and product marketing is qualitatively focused. How do you create a shared KPI between both functions?

Finding the best possible KPI to measure the success of a product both qualitatively and quantitatively is incredibly challenging, and very few companies ever get it right. I have found that the OKR process can be a great help in that process. Specifically, if Growth and Product Marketing share the same objective, they can own different Key Results. Here is a made-up example: At Amazon e-commerce, they may look like this.  Goal: To be the first place where prospective buyers search for products ...Read More

First off, I love shared KPIs between departments (particularly between product management and product marketing management)! I’m happy you’re thinking this way. Historically, some organizations did measure product marketing qualitatively. Did XYZ department feel supported by PMM? Or even in a “binary” fashion. Did product marketing launch the product? Did they train sales? Did they help conduct research? Yes or no? Increasingly, though, companies are measuring product marketing more quantitativ ...Read More

Both Product Marketing and Growth Product Marketing should focus on quantitative impact. Both roles should focus on and track revenue, customer acquisition, and retention, including both lapsed customers (those who are still technically using the platform or service but haven't engaged in a certain period) and churn (customers who have left the platform or product). The key performance indicators (KPIs) used will vary based on business goals and objectives. To fully understand the effectiveness ...Read More

There may be times that a product marketer has qualitative goals, but I’d say product marketing (in my experience) has had quantifiable goals more often than not. I think it’s good practice for both growth marketing and product marketing to think critically about how they are driving value to the business that ultimately moves product adoption, user engagement, and subsequently revenue. More tactically, I’ve often seen growth and product marketing create shared goals on user engagement metrics ( ...Read More

I'd leverage your Growth partners to help you show quantitative value of PMM initiatives. Often as PMMs we are the fuel for other parts of a GTM motion: we provide training/enablement so sellers can prospect, navigate, and close deals. We provide thought leadership narratives to help corporate marketing and demand gen teams build awareness and pipeline. We provide market insights so product teams can define a roadmap. As a result, it can be difficult for PMMs to set KPIs that aren't 'output' ori ...Read More

I would disagree that Product Marketing is very qualitatively focused. I think the challenge that PMMs typically have is that they primarily influence or support the teams that drive impact towards specific KPIs. For example, the most typical KPIs are pipeline/revenue if it’s a product that can be purchased or product adoption if it’s free. At the end of the day, both teams care about the user journey and that’s where I would start in creating shared goals.  Identify key metrics that span the en ...Read More