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Linda Sonne-Harrison
President, Giant Stride Marketing Group
About
My clients call me a "Product Marketing Black Belt." At Giant Stride Marketing Group, I work with B2B software companies from scrappy startups to established market leaders. I enjoy getting up to speed on new technologies and helping my clients lo......more
Content
Linda Sonne-Harrison
Giant Stride Marketing Group President • September 10
Congratulations on considering a career in product marketing. I "carried a bag" (literally) and it was an invaluable experience. The good news is that you have a ton of useful knowledge: customer needs, your customers' buying groups and personas, their buying process, and more. You probably ha......Read More
899 Views
Linda Sonne-Harrison
Giant Stride Marketing Group President • September 3
I use different templates depending on the company, nature of the product, and relative importance of the launch (see related question on this topic), but the elements I would include: * List of new features, with SHORT descriptions that include functional capabilities as well as business va......Read More
882 Views
Linda Sonne-Harrison
Giant Stride Marketing Group President • September 16
Glad that you're already planning to 1:1's. Taking the time to understand your stakeholders' perspectives is an important first step in building trust. I don't have a standard list of questions. I come in with observations (what I learned prior to engaging with my client or from previous stakehol......Read More
853 Views
Linda Sonne-Harrison
Giant Stride Marketing Group President • January 25
I have found that customers are more willing to share their experiences in win-loss interviews than you might think. The keys are to: * Make it clear that you're not going to sell them. Make sure that the outreach doesn't sound like another outbound email. * Position yourself as neutrally ......Read More
797 Views
Linda Sonne-Harrison
Giant Stride Marketing Group President • February 14
I'm not sure what "academic" frameworks exist for competitive analysis, but I have worked with dozens of companies and haven't seen a lot of variation in how they approach competitive work. There are three distinct workstreams: 1. Competitive analysis: Building an accurate understanding of how ......Read More
579 Views
Linda Sonne-Harrison
Giant Stride Marketing Group President • September 29
The first step is executive alignment. When I start an engagement with a client, I do a thorough messaging audit including internal stakeholders, customers, and sometimes analysts. I analyze my findings, present them to the key stakeholders, and get their buy-in before beginning the actual messag......Read More
455 Views
Linda Sonne-Harrison
Giant Stride Marketing Group President • September 20
This sounds like a classic case of product family positioning, where you would define a common positioning for what makes Shopify unique across both products. And then absolutely, you would do separate competitive positioning for each product edition based on the needs of the customers it serves ......Read More
408 Views
Linda Sonne-Harrison
Giant Stride Marketing Group President • September 9
Good question! Over my career, I have seen release cycles shrink a lot and fewer and fewer requests for datasheets! My advice: 1. Minimize the number of "sources of truth." If you can get away with just having a web page, do it. If you need printed collateral, what about a piece that explains......Read More
353 Views
Linda Sonne-Harrison
Giant Stride Marketing Group President • September 20
Pricing–and ownership of pricing–is often a loaded topic for companies. My view is that product marketing, not product management, should own pricing. (Of course I am biased because I am a product marketer!) Why? Product management’s primary focus should be on the vision for the product. Product ......Read More
351 Views
Linda Sonne-Harrison
Giant Stride Marketing Group President • September 1
There’s no single career path that leads to a product marketing position. In B2B SaaS companies, I have seen successful transitions to product marketing from product management, sales engineering, consulting, corporate marketing, consumer brand management, and customer success. I have also seen f......Read More
335 Views
Credentials & Highlights
President at Giant Stride Marketing Group
Knows About Establishing Product Marketing, Product Marketing Soft and Hard Skills, Product Marke......more