Jon Collins’ Post

We have seen a trend recently of some companies cutting their marketing teams and retaining a handful of generalists. Personally, I see this as short-sighted. So it is refreshing to hear from a senior leader at a high-growth European tech company focused on disruptive technologies who said, "Regionalized product marketing is a job we never knew we needed, but by God, do we need it now" She highlighted the value of having product marketers who can connect the dots between different functions, understand market needs, roadmaps, and package solutions accordingly for customers. Product Marketing was in VERY high demand for technology marketing but as companies have cut back, many seem to have lost sight of the value that product marketing can bring. Hopefully as things pick up we'll start to see change. #techmarketing #productmarketing #marketingleaders

Product Marketing Excellence Means… a Defined Mission and Strategy I encourage everyone to define a mission: What’s the most important focus of your work? Your mission should address this highest priority head on. Take a step back and ask yourself: how does our current workload align to what’s most important? Is the team bogged down in random incongruent requests? Are there lots of fire drills coming from certain stakeholders?   Strategy often requires project prioritization and tradeoffs. For instance, if building a stronger marketing engine will drive engagement and contribute substantively to the company’s revenue growth goals, then that may be a higher priority than revamping sales sheets for products in low demand. Finally, make your mission and strategy compelling enough for your team and stakeholders to get behind it.

I am beyond excited to join Holly Chen and Bei Zhang for a session this Friday (May 3rd) at 9am PST to discuss all things product marketing! RSVP here: https://lnkd.in/gF67j5Fv We’ll get into: What is product marketing and what does a typical week look like? What kind of companies would benefit from product marketing?  What are the main stakeholders for product marketer and how do they typically collaborate together?  How to get started in product marketing and where to learn more about the field? 

When I first started in Product Marketing, I thought highlighting every feature of a product was the key to winning over customers. But as I have grown in my role, I have learned something crucial: people don’t buy features—they buy solutions. As a PMM, I have found more success when I stop focusing on what a product does and start talking about what it can do for the customer. It’s all about shifting from “Look at all these features” to “Here’s how this will solve your problem.” That’s the real value we bring as product marketers: connecting the dots between technology and the customer’s needs.

Product Marketing Excellence Means… Connecting the Team to its Greater Purpose Most product marketers want to feel like they are a part of something vital to the company, if not the industry or some aspect of society. As a manager, share your mission and strategy, tying your team members’ work to that greater purpose. Encourage each team member to help you align their work towards the team’s strategy. While there will always be some fly-in requests, it’s important for the team to feel some control over making progress towards the highest priorities.

Last week's Product Marketing Alliance Summit in Austin was an amazing experience for our team. Our latest blog dives into the heart of product marketing, sharing insights from industry experts and the power of cross-functional collaboration. If you're keen on the latest in PMA, demand generation, and more, this read's for you. #ProductMarketing #PMAsummit #MarketingInsights

Curious what folks currently think about product marketing having its own tech stack in the future. In my experience we've always used what our marketing/sales counterparts have, never anything specialized for the work we do. Competitive platforms like Klue are one example of what could be included. I know Ignition is working on a GTM platform. Do we think this has legs to become an actual stack? Will we get more defined budget for these things, or does our interconnectedness within the company make it too difficult? I'm fully undecided on this. We pull from so many departments and areas it feels difficult unless we become the hub discipline for tech that others latch onto, and I'm not sure I see that happening anytime soon. #productmarketing

#Product and #marketing #timelines don’t necessarily have to be synchronized. "What we've found at @linear is that product and marketing can operate on separate cadences: - The product team focuses on preparing features and facilitating user trials - The marketing team is responsible for crafting messages and disseminating them to the broader audience when it's good time to launch This approach enables both teams to concentrate on their activities without the constant need for timeline coordination. We can encourage the product team to release the initial version as soon as possible for internal use, followed by a private alpha group, then a beta group, or even general availability. The product team retains control over its timelines and isn't constrained by waiting for a collective launch. Marketing can begin crafting messaging as soon as work commences on a project, and at the latest, when it reaches the beta stage. This typically affords them at least window of 2-6 weeks to prepare. Launching simply involves the marketing team disseminating the message at their discretion, rather than waiting for the product team. This approach applies equally well to both large initiatives and smaller projects. We maintain a roadmap for the next 4-6 months, with the product team rolling out each project incrementally. Every quarter or so, we execute a broader marketing push around these features. Then bug fixes and other small changes that go to changelog is just running process where we release things every day as they get ready, and then every 2 weeks someone looks back to see what was released and highlights that in to changelog. It’s simple change but I think frees up lot mental energy in the teams and they feel more in control of their own work." https://lnkd.in/dxeP9iqE

❌ Bad marketing just talks about the product. ✅ Good marketing talks about your customer's problems. What's at the center of this customer-centric approach? --> Product Marketing <-- This is more than just translating features to benefits btw. It's a philosophy that should guide your entire product lifecycle, from ideation to launch and beyond. Product marketing is the driving force behind customer-centric product design, development, and go-to-market strategy. When we do it right? → Products are built with a clear purpose and target audience in mind → Features are prioritized based on customer needs and feedback → Messaging is tailored to address specific pain points and benefits → Sales and customer-facing teams are equipped to have meaningful conversations AKA: Products that don't just sound good on paper, but actually make a real difference in customers' lives. And when you do that, you don't just create better marketing. You create better products, period. h/t Saif on X Love this simple reminder.

So true. Even if all of us define product marketing differently. You don’t want vaporware and you want lots of different content in lots of different media for people to look under the hood the moment they are ready (you better be ready). But you can’t preach at them nonstop about your nice to have tech as cool cool cool but buy buy feature feature feature from your ivory entereprurial tower when it’s not their present reality. Maybe some super high intent leads - but not most folks. You need to connect it to them better than most folks do and make it as nice to have as possible. You CAN lead with value (that is not uber generic ideally) and paint a vision and imagine the impact. But the what the f is this and how does it work ultimately needs to be clear after all your why and trust and community building meets them or the market and workplace as it evolves.