What recommendations do you have for influencing the roadmap early?

Here are a few of my approaches to influence product leadership on the product priorities: Work cross-functionally across UX, research, Data Science, Product Operations, Sales, etc. to incorporate everyone's input so Product Marketing's list represents all input and is the source of truth. One of the challenges Product faces is distinguishing signal vs. noise with all the input that comes to them. Product Marketing can take a leadership role to collect, analyze, and synthesize the input to provi ...Read More

Building relationships with the right stakeholders. If you want to have any influence regarding the product roadmap you need to garner respect from the people who already influence it most. The best way to build those relationships is to create consistent touchpoints and check-ins that don't just happen when you want something :) Think about what you can bring to the table, whether it's competitive intel, customer insights, or general brainstorming - you need to give to get. I see many PMMs make ...Read More

In B2B SaaS, the roadmap is an important sales tool. Buyers aren't just buying a tool, they're buying into your company's strategy for the future, and the roadmap you communicate to prospects and customers is the best way to articulate that. I like to work backwards from this, and ask myself, what do we want to communicate about our company through the roadmap? It might be about specific features that make your product better, or potentially new products you're working on. But the most important ...Read More

A Product Marketer can influence the product roadmap by bringing valuable insights to the table and building a trusted relationship with the product team. In terms of insights, great Product Marketers are experts on the market, buying process, and psychology of the buyer. Product Marketers can contribute to product decisions by highlighting relevant findings from Voice of the Customer programs, competitive analysis, sales analysis (e.g. win / loss programs), and market research. Product Marketer ...Read More