How do you align internal stakeholders as a product marketer?

Product marketers have to work with a lot of stakeholders! I always recommend two strategies for keeping internal stakeholders aligned—and they both require consistent work. I recommend rigorous documentation and ongoing updates to get stakeholders aligned. Why? Because alignment is a process, not an outcome. Put another way, you can be totally aligned at the beginning of a project and completely misaligned the next week! Rigorous documentation helps develop early alignment. By documenting your ...Read More

I use the following template to align internal stakeholders around a project: PMM Strategy Brief Goal:  What impact are we trying to achieve on our business?(i.e. Awareness, PipeGen, Pipe Acceleration, Pipe Close, Adoption, Cross-Sell, Up-Sell, Increase Competitive Win Rates, Revewals etc.) Be Concise. Projected Impact [S/M/L]: Business Insight:  Why are we doing this? Why Now? What trends are we seeing with prospects or in our customer base that led to us wanting to do this initiative? Program ...Read More

While this will depend on the company culture and existing relationships across stakeholders, there are first principles that I always find helpful.  Crystalize your story and strategy first. Start by mapping out your goals, critical context, and what you need from each stakeholder end to end (with placeholders for inevitable unknowns). The more buttoned up you are, the easier it will be for your stakeholders to help you.  Think from the vantage of each stakeholder you're seeking to build alignm ...Read More

Getting stakeholder alignment is critical for the success of any project or initiative. I think this skill set is even more important to a PMM as a large part of the job is getting teams aligned on the desired outcome and path to achieving your goals. Step 1: Understand who the proper stakeholders are. This may differ with every project. I like to create a project plan at the beginning that includes the RACI model (a model that identifies roles and responsibilities within your project and stands ...Read More

To align internal stakeholders, it is important to identify and understand their needs, goals, and priorities, and to develop a shared vision that meets these goals. Some specific actions I take to achieve this alignment: I try to identify and understand stakeholder needs I develop a shared vision and plan, usually leading to the creation of OKRs I implement the DACI model and advocate for using it I communicate and engage with stakeholders via regular meetings I also regularly share progress on ...Read More

Internal alignment takes time. Here are a few recommendations for getting started and fostering strong relationships for the long term. First - it's important to recognize and write down who your stakeholders are. For Product Marketing this is often Sales, Marketing, Product as primary stakeholders with Implementation, Solution Consultants, Customer Success, and Support playing crucial roles as well. Second - work with each of these groups to understand their world. What KPIs, goals, metrics kee ...Read More