Natala Menezes

When I started at Grammarly, I did an audit of how PMM mapped to the product organization, our consumer acquisition and growth teams, and our B2B sales teams. The audit revealed that we were significantly understaffed (did I mention we are hiring?) And as a result, PMM was focused on launches more than product strategy and messaging. My first cut of the org chart focused on coverage – ensuring that our product partners had identified partners and that we aligned to the sales org. I also develope ...Read More

Outside of the wonderful PMM work we do at Grammarly (we’re hiring btw), I think Salesforce and Google do an exceptional job with product marketing. Salesforce focuses on the story and the pain they are solving. They are flashy and visionary (particularly in the slow-moving enterprise space). Google differentiates by being product-driven in their narrative, often dialing into the individual product benefits over industry shifts. I think Salesforce stays ahead because of their keen focus on the c ...Read More

Not having clear entry/exit criteria to hit milestones ahead of launch → typically results in a launch delay. Collaborating as a cross-functional team → Team has tension and low trust, slowing the process down and making it less fun! Messaging that is generic → product won’t resonate with customers and typically reduces traction. Crisp messaging that inspires is essential! Lack of alignment across org → Slows down the launch process because approvals don’t stick Product readiness → Delays launch ...Read More

Pricing is both a science and art -- which means in many cases, it is hard to predict if you have hit the right price (high enough to capture maximum value but low enough that you can scale it to a broad customer base). Because of that, it can sometimes feel like pricing is based on the wind, but in reality, it is a careful process! Here’s a step-by-step that has worked for us: Research - Dig into competitive pricing (how are similar products priced, what would the alternatives cost?) and identi ...Read More

I have always loved this quote by Robert Johnson (notably a musician, not a product marketer!):  “Leadership is the ability to influence people and motivate them to do what needs to be done to accomplish a goal, vision or mission.” Those last three parts: goal, vision, and mission, are the keys to influence. Know what you are trying to accomplish (the goal), the vision of where that accomplishment will take you, and the why (the mission).  I always like to have a stack-ranked list of requested f ...Read More

Start with talking to customers to understand how they buy and their decision-making process. If we are working on a quick-turn launch, qualitative research via focus groups is a quick way to get a framework in place and validate product-market fit. With longer timelines, quantitative research can bring depth to user segmentation and buying timelines, and also the competitive landscape. Additionally, it is ideal when user personas are part of the product development process. Then expanding to bu ...Read More

People with a background in writing tend to excel at PMM. The key additional quality is to be a puzzle solver. Are they also technically curious (they like to know how things work) and interested in changing marketings? Do they love to tell stories? So much of being a great PMM is about bringing to life a product -- and then understanding and building a strategy for market success. Sometimes starting in a cross-functional role in content creation or customer support can lead to a PMM role, but t ...Read More

Create a Leadership Team: - Typically composed of the PMM who will lead the launch, define messaging and positioning and rally the org plus the product manager who owns the product and then key stakeholders from PR, Analyst Relations, and GTM / Sales Readiness. Set a timeline: Build a detailed timeline with key launch milestones such as when the product will be ready, executive reviews, the deadline for creative requests, and content creation timelines. Getting clarity on dependencies and the ti ...Read More

Start by defining what you mean by impact: new user acquisition? Product adoption? Market awareness (pr coverage?). With a clear target and success metric, tailor activities to deliver on those goals. My experience has found that PR pops when combined with a customer event or activity (user conference, live-streamed roadshow, or customer event). For customer adoption focusing on multi-channel coverage (in your product + blogs + Twitter + customer testimonials + help content). As for setting the ...Read More