What specific areas of roadmap influence do you think product marketing can help the most with?

tl:dr: Both and then some.  It is as important for product marketers to be involve in the inception stage as it is when taking new feature/product to market. Features that are built in vacuum seldom stick or give your product a market advantage. Product marketers input is key to how roadmap is prioritized based on customer need, value delivered, competitive advantage gained or $$$ unblocked in deals, or $$$ unlocked in TAM. Being involved in the inception stage also gives the product marketer a ...Read More

Bringing in information about trends in the market, what competitors are doing, and the most important thing - USER FEEDBACK! I have learned over the years that the best way to get any sort of buy-in for roadmap planning is to come armed with real evidence. This includes existing user anecdotes but it also definitely includes higher-level trends you are seeing in the market. I think PMMs should be utilized as more than just marketers, we should be experts on our users, their needs, and the clima ...Read More

This answer really depends on the partnership between PM and PMM at your organization. Are you the type of company where PM and PMM are partners? Or are you the type of organization where both groups operate in different silos? If there is a strong partnership, then the PMM should be just as valuable a team member to the PM as their Designer or Engineer. Strong PMMs bring the voice of the market – the positioning, messaging, insights from win/loss, voice of the field, and insights from winning/f ...Read More

I have seen it go both ways. It really depends on the relative strength of the product and product marketing teams. Product marketing, though, is probably the best positioned part of the business to be a voice for segments of the market and the future customers that don't already have a voice in your business. It's the customers who aren't prospects yet, the markets you haven't entered. In my experience there are plenty of voices speaking for bug fixes and feature enhancements for existing produ ...Read More

The answer has a lot to do with how you and your PM work together. Ultimately, much of the PM<>PMM relationship comes down to what you each agree to own- it's different for every group. It's a relationship that requires a lot of influence without control. The more trust and rapport you have built, the better your work will be.  If you and your PM don't see eye-to-eye, or they feel a lot of ownership over the roadmap and aren't open to influence -> Focusing on message strategy and GTM (s ...Read More

Okay, real talk - this is THE question that determines whether PMMs feel like strategic partners or just the folks who execute launches, right? I've been in roles where PMs basically said "here's what we built, make it sound cool" and others where I was genuinely shaping what got built. The difference is night and day for job satisfaction. Here's where PMM influence is most powerful on roadmaps: 1. Market Timing & Sequencing "We need X feature to compete for enterprise deals next quarter" "B ...Read More

I think both, though the latter (naming, branding, messaging, etc) seems to be the default for most PMMs. If PMMs want to partake in the beginning of the cycle—what's actually being built, they need to bring new data—not just personal opinions. Product managers have a product vision that aligns with the company mission, incredibly deep market grounding, a keen understanding of what's actually possible given engineering resource, and (hopefully) a clear understanding of product usage. They have s ...Read More

In terms of roadmap, one area where I've seen PMM historically drive a ton of value is through market and competitive insights. By bringing insights from the market, competitive landscape, buyers, and/or analysts, PMM can ensure that product has considered all inputs when they build their roadmap.  Here is a deck we've used internally to help build collaboration between PM & PMM. If you're still struggling with being brought in too late, my advice is to focus on 1-2 deliverables that could r ...Read More

Product marketers should leave there stamp outside and inside the product. What I mean is that traditional marketing always takes place outside of the product i.e. sales enablement, blogs, technical demos, tools etc . Now with the advent of SaaS PMMs can market inside the product as well. By having a pulse on the customers end to end journey PMM can shine a light on where the experience can be improved by highlighting moments that matter. PMM should also co-own consumption targets like MAU and D ...Read More

For product marketing to be most helpful, the more “upstream” you can get involved the better. This means partnering with product from the earliest stages—when whitespace opportunities are being identified and market opportunities (not just marketing opportunities) are being explored. PMM can offer a lot: Strategic guidance on what to build by bringing in market insights, competitive analysis, and customer feedback. PMM can also lead or partner on research initiatives to uncover customer pain po ...Read More