Harsha Kalapala

Competitive positioning is a key component of defining core messaging. If we sit down and come up with copy on how to best describe our offerings, a key step is to compare that against how competitors describe themselves. You’ll likely be hit with an unpleasant surprise that about half your copy ...more

Staying in touch with customers/propsects directly is not an option for product marketers, IMO. There are passive ways to do it by being a listener - listen to sales/CS calls, attend talks by your audience on relevant topics, follow notable people on linkedin and read the content they are posting...more

I am assuming this is sales, account management, or customer success teams. It is an understandable concern - especially in large enterprise situations. There seems to be too much at stake to risk with someone you aren't familiar with. It can also be a factor of company culture - which is unfortu...more

Keep it simple and practical. We use a simple battle card format to pull together the most essential details you need at your fingertips to enable competitive conversations. We host it on Seismic so it is easy to search for keywords and find the battle cards. We also do specific training sessions...more

There are a few types of competitors to think about: Tier 1: Prime Competition - Those who compete for the same dollars for a very similar product. You often end up in feature battles with them and eat each other’s lunch. They look very similar to your offering in the eyes of prospects. They e...more

I dont think we should ever mention competitors directly in our messaging. Sure, you can address it directly in response if a prospect brings them up. But proactively naming competitors puts you in a defensive position and gives them undue attention. This usually doesn't work to our advantage. Yo...more

There are many ways to stay on top of competitive intel. If you have the budget and a clear use case, use a tool like Klue to help gather intel, and disperse it in your existing channels. Other ways I always used are the following: * Use your frontline teams - open up communication channels wit...more

Don’t overcomplicate it. Just find the fastest way to talk to customers. You could set up a formal feedback session with surveys, incentives, and all the jazz - which still gives you biased feedback. Or... you can just hop on an already scheduled customer call TODAY and casually ask customers for...more

Trying to get buy-in over a theoretical outcome is always an uphill battle. I would focus on making meaningful progress by yourself on category design. Ask for forgiveness, not permission. Test things out and gain some traction. And then worry about getting buy-in to do more of what works. It ...more

Short answer - yes. It depends on what you mean by “writing”. The skillset of a best-selling novel writer vs. an effective product marketer is different. Written copy is by far the most powerful way to engage our audience and drive results. In my experience, you can’t get really good at produc...more