Should product marketers be "influencers" or "partners" in product roadmap decisions?

As an influencer you might just share market and customer research, competitive intel, etc. as another input for PM to consider in their own decision making; whereas if you're a true partner, you're discussing and debating with them, as equals, what product roadmap decisions should be and why, where PMs and PMMs bring different inputs and value to the table as equals. Thoughts on being an "influencer" vs. being a "partner" in guiding the product roadmap? Thank you.

Answer

4 Answers

Influencing the Product Roadmap

Abhiroop Basu

Square Product Lead, Payments • 5y

You’ve done an admirable job of describing the differences, however the reality can be a lot more nuanced. There are many situations in which I have felt strongly about adding something to the roadmap and have argued with PMs to get it built. In other instances I’ve played a more supporting role providing data points and customer feedback, all in order to help them make a decision. Good Product Marketers aren't going to be only an "influencer" or a "partner" - they are likely to be both at diffe ...Read More

1,558 Views
Joshua Lory

VMware Senior Director, Blockchain Go To Market | Formerly Accenture, United States Air Force • 5y

If you're doing your job right, both. I believe everything PMM does should end up in the product at some point. Marketing doesn't have to be external or disconnected from the product. If you have this in mind, you can take the vast amounts of knowledge and insights and turn it into your companies’ .next. This means that partnership with Product Management is essential. Being able to synthesize all of the touchpoints for your extended product management team is a key service to your organization. ...Read More

674 Views
Natala Menezes

Dialpad Vice President Product Marketing | Formerly at: GOOG, MSFT, AMZN, SFDC Grammarly + startups • 4y

Ideally, PMMs are influential partners. :)

As PMMs, we represent the voice of the customer in product decisions – because we know our customers and their needs best through the work we do. When you have influence, PM will bring you closer to decision-making. Sometimes this starts as bouncing ideas off you vs formal integration into planning. With trust, I think the ideal scenario is where PMM is integrated into the planning process, just as PM integrates into the launch/GTM process.

426 Views
Amanda Groves

Enable VP of Product Marketing | Formerly Crossbeam, 6sense, JazzHR, Imagine Learning, Appsembler • 2y

It depends on the level of partnership between PMM and PM leaders to start - and how the teams have aligned on the NPI process. To me we absolutely should play both roles, it's not bifurcated as an either / or statement. As a partner, we're expected to influence. If we aren't influencing, we aren't a good partner. Period. Do not take a backseat in these conversations. Influence the roadmap early and often with conviction on what the market / customers need based on qual and quant data - and part ...Read More

379 Views