What would you say are the top 3 - 5 areas a Product Marketing Manager should always be focused on that can make the biggest impact at a growing start-up?

Product Marketing can end up being a catch-all in terms of responsibilities.

Answer

6 Answers

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Lauren Barraco

Inscribe VP, Marketing • 5y

I'll start by saying that there are two major variables on this one: 1) what the organization needs - this can be very different depending on size of the company, stage of growth, etc. and 2) the reporting structure of the PMM team - do you report to the CTO or CPO? Or do you report to the CMO? Depending on the answers to the questions above, your top 3-5 areas may vary. But in general, I think it's safe to say that your top list should include some form of the following: Messaging / positionin ...Read More

2,076 Views
Christiana Franson

Dropbox VP, Head of Product Marketing • 4y
Totally agree with this comment. The response varies a little based on the stage of the business and GTM motion (e.g. self-serve vs sales-lead). That said, I think the top areas would be (in no particular order)
1. Messaging and positioning
2. New product introduction (launches)
3. A core set of field-facing materials (e.g. Pitch Deck)
Other honorable mentions for me might include:
- Sales enablement / training
- Demo flow and script
- Product adoption and engagement
- Pricing and packaging
- Competitive
1,305 Views
Christine Sotelo-Dag

Close Head of Product Marketing • 5y

This question resonates deeply. The biggest way to have an impact as a product marketer is to align your initiatives to focus on bringing to life the voice of the market internally and the voice of the product externally. The top 4 ways to do this are: Customer & Market Insight: Be the subject matter expert. Know your customers and market. Product Strategy: partner closely with product to bring market insight as input into product strategy and roadmapping.Positioning & Messaging: develop ...Read More

905 Views
Mike Berger

Ex-VP, Product Marketing @ ClickUp, SurveyMonkey, Gainsight, Marketo | Formerly Momentive, Gainsight, Marketo • 4y

Here's what is top of mind for me as it relates to making a big impact in a startup environment: Understanding of the customer - not just a surface level understanding of the customer, but a deep understanding of customers incuding their pains and motivations. This is knowledge that no one can take away from you, and it is highly valued across many functions. The answer to the question of "Why now?" - many startups fail, or fail to grow quickly, because they can't clearly convey why customers sh ...Read More

630 Views
Leandro Margulis

Prove Head of Product • 4y

I would say that providing the voice of the customer and the voice of the marker to the product manager so we can build products that resonate with our audience is key. I would also say that providing the appropriate messaging and positioing for our products to go to marker is critical. In order to do so, we need to understand the competitive landscape well.

438 Views
Julien Sauvage

Clari VP, Brand, Content and Product Marketing • 4y

Well, you need to have an impact on your company's big strategic priorities. Easier said than done, right? So I'd look at your company OKRs or top priorities and align the 3-5 focus areas to that. Need an example? - if your company mostly cares about awareness then work on Category programs ( Category creation, Thought Leadership, AR, PR) to optimize DLs, views, mentions, Share of Voice etc. - If your CEO and CMO care about pipe first, then work on PMM programs and campaigns that will influenced ...Read More

667 Views