What is the role of product marketing with product launches in a product led org?
PLG doesnt change the role of PMM. If anything a PMM becomes even more important cause in PLG, you are not training a sales team but your website/landing page to be your leading sales rep.
PMMs need to focus on conveying the value/outcomes message, handle objections, address FAQ on the landing page itself. I like to think of it as "enabling" the landing page as being a key focus for PMM in a product-led org.
In a product-led organization, the role of product marketing is critical to the success of product launches. Product marketers are responsible for developing and executing the go-to-market (GTM) strategy for new products or features, which involves creating messaging and marketing collateral, conducting market research, and working closely with the sales team to ensure that they are equipped to effectively promote and sell the product to customers.
Product marketers are also responsible for driving product adoption and engagement, which involves developing strategies and tactics to encourage customers to try the product, as well as providing support and resources to help customers get the most value out of the product. This can include creating educational content, such as webinars, case studies, or customer success stories, as well as providing training and support to customers and the sales team.
Overall, the role of product marketing in a product-led organization is to ensure that the product is positioned and promoted effectively in the market, and that customers have the tools and support they need to succeed with the product.
In a product-led company, the product is the primary driver of growth and revenue. The "product" is responsible for acquiring and retaining customers, and the company's overall focus is on creating a valuable and engaging product experience.
In this scenario, the role of product marketing is to showcase product capabilities that can be the trigger for user acquisition. This comes to GTM focus, launch messaging, and chosen GMT channels.
Product-led means more self-service UX for activation, engagement, upgrades etc, instead of needing humans to communicate product updates and drive adoption and upsell.
This means:
➡️ PMMs are still key in positioning research, messaging refinement, roadmap planning etc.
↙️ PMMs are less focused on sales-enablement and associated collateral
↗️ PMMs are more responsible for product launches and at-scale / tech-touch communication
Specifically this means the role of Product Marketing includes:
Creating a launch plan (for larger launches) that project manages the activity around the launch, especially across different functions
Identifying the parameters for the target audience/s (e.g. inactive users; at-risk users etc.)
Defining the channels for communication with these audiences (e.g. email, blog post, social, in-app etc.)
Crafting key messaging for each channel
Supporting internal GTM enablement (sales training, updating help docs etc.) as necessary
Beyond this, some tips and suggestions for being successful in this role includes:
🙊 Don't announce everything to everyone!
It is noisy (and so counter-productive) to announce features to users that are not interested/receptive/ready.
For example, ensure any in-app announcements are targeted based on user activity / data, attributes etc. Tools like Chameleon make this easy.
🎯 Personalize the messaging per channel (not just per audience)
Be very clear what the goal of the email announcement is (awarness) vs. the in-app announcement (activation/discovery) and adapt the copy to reflect these goals.
🧧 Offer value first (e.g. via a reverse trial or a content piece)
Apply a product-first approach to the launch as well, by giving users access early or helping them get closer to the aha moment for a new feature/product before trying to upsell or monetize.
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