Synerzip Webinar March 25, 2014

1. What Lean Brings to
Product Marketing
Management
by Cindy F. Solomon, CPM, CPMM
Global Product Management Talk
Startup Product
March 25, 2014
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com

2. Cindy F. Solomon, CPM, CPMM
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
•Host, Global Product Management Talk
•Founder, Startup Product movement for product excellence
•Contributing author: ProdBOK,
Product Management And Marketing Body of Knowledge and
42 Rules Product Marketing #13 Emulate Twitter
•20 years of web development, services, consulting & software product
marketing and management at Apple, Vadem, NetObjects and start-ups in
Silicon Valley.
www.linkedin.com/in/cfsolomon/
www.synerzip.com

3. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
1. What is Lean Product Marketing?
2. Distinctions between Product Marketing
Management And Product Management
3. How is Product Marketing Management currently
handled?
4. Move from Strategic View to Tactical implementation
5. Example of Lean Content Marketing Implementation
www.synerzip.com

4. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
The ability to learn faster than
your competitors may be the
only sustainable competitive
advantage.
Arie de Geus
http://amzn.to/1hUX4fd
www.synerzip.com
The Living Company

5. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
What is Running Lean?
•Speed, learning & focus
•Testing a vision by measuring how
customers behave
•Engaging customers throughout the
development process
•Product and market validation done in
parallel using short iterations
http://amzn.to/1fbBbpP
www.synerzip.com

6. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
http://bit.ly/1fUZTdx
www.synerzip.com

7. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com www.synerzip.com
Lean Principles
http://bit.ly/1ptVrI8

8. Value at every step
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
www.synerzip.com

9. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com www.synerzip.com
View of Product
UX QA
Sales
Dev Marketing
Support
Customer
smells
something
grey

10. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
The goal and focus for any Product
Marketing team is to conceive,
develop, deliver, penetrate and end-
of-life the most successful product(s)
within its niche with successful
repeat performances again and
again.
-Peter Buscemi
http://bit.ly/1oWyvml
www.synerzip.com
Goal of Product Marketing

11. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
Strategic Product Marketing
Product marketing management plays a
critical role in successfully driving products
into the marketplace by understanding the
current market environment and developing
strategy to drive customer awareness of the
benefits of adopting products and solutions.
- Cindy F. Solomon
Product Marketing Management Manifest 2010
http://bit.ly/1jnqEPK
www.synerzip.com

12. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
http://bit.ly/1oWyvml
www.synerzip.com

13. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com www.synerzip.com
Product Marketing Activities
• Strategic
– Market problems, win/loss analysis, distinctive competence , market definition,
distribution, product portfolio, business plan, pricing, buy/build/partner, product
profitability
• Technical
– Competitive landscape, technology assessment, product roadmap, innovation, user
personas, requirements, use scenarios, status dashboard
• Marketing
– Positioning, buying process, buyer persona, marketing plan, customer acquisition,
customer retention, program effectiveness, launch plan, thought leadership, lead
generation, referrals & references
• Sales
– Sales enablement, sales tools, sales process, collateral, channel training, presentations &
demos, special calls, event support, channel support

14. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
Focusing on where the product is in its
lifecycle enables a conversation that
brings us all together on what will serve
the product most to arrive at
product/market fit, sustain growth and
generate revenue streams.
Startup Product
www.synerzip.com
Cross Functional View

15. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
http://bit.ly/1guBJg0
www.synerzip.com
Defining Product

16. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
www.synerzip.com
Donald Norman mapped
lifecycle of products
why good products can fail…

17. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
Lifecycle of Products
“In its early days, a technology cannot meet all the needs
of its customers.
Early adopters need the technology and they are willing to
suffer inconvenience to get it.
With time, the technology matures, offering better
performance and higher reliability.
When the technology exceeds the basic needs of most of its
customers, there is a major change in customer behavior.
Emotional reaction, pride of ownership, and pleasurability all
can become major selling points.”
Donald Norman
The Invisible Computer
www.synerzip.com

18. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
http://bit.ly/1kYBida
www.synerzip.com
Product Growth Cycle

19. Product Management Lifecycle
1. Conceive
2. Plan
3. Develop
4. Qualify
5. Launch
6. Deliver
7. Retire
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
www.synerzip.com

20. AIPMM Product Management Framework
Product Management Product MarketingProduct Management
+ Product Marketing
Product Management
+ Product Marketing
Source: AIPMM © 1998-2014, All Rights Reserved.
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
http://amzn.to/1b5tQs5
www.synerzip.com

21. 1. CONCEIVE
• To Answer – What is missing?
• Is there a market? Opportunity? Need?
• People buy products to get jobs done
• Important to understand trends & needs
better than competitors
• Identify ubiquitous pains & unmet necessities
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
www.synerzip.com

22. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
There is a lifecycle that every
product, startup, idea and
project passes through to be
realized that parallels the
“creative process.”
Cindy F. Solomon, CPM, CPMM
www.synerzip.com

23. http://bit.ly/1h2dMLA
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
www.synerzip.com

24. 2. Plan
To justify: Why Build it?
• Market Requirements Doc (MRD)
• Product Canvas / Business Model Canvas
• One Page Overviews
To justify: What to build?
• Product Requirements Doc (PRD)
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com www.synerzip.com

25. http://amzn.to/1mr6Ew5
www.synerzip.com

26. Positioning Statement
Template
To:
is the one
that
unlike .
(One Target/Persona Type)
(Product/Company Name)
(Category)
(Key Customer Benefit)
(Differentiator)
26
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
http://amzn.to/1mr6Ew5
www.synerzip.com

27. Lean Canvas
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com www.synerzip.com

28. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com www.synerzip.com
http://bit.ly/1lhj89b

29. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
3. Product Development
“Product development is a
process by which an
organization transforms data on
marketing opportunities and
technical possibilities into
information assets for
commercial production.”
- Kim B. Clark and Takahiro Fujimoto
Product Development Performance
www.synerzip.com

30. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
MVP
Minimal Viable Product
“An MVP is about delivering real value to customers
for the purposes of maximizing validated learning.”
- Shardul Mehta
“It requires judgment to figure out, for any given
context, what MVP makes sense.”
- Eric Ries
http://bit.ly/1djE0tP
www.synerzip.com

31. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
3. Develop
Create & Communicate Roadmaps for
stakeholders
To showcase: What is being Built Aligned with
business goals
• Feature and schedule tradeoffs
• Technical feasibility assessments
• Slippage and risks
www.synerzip.com

32. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com www.synerzip.com

33. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
4. Qualify
• Continuous iteration
• Beta testing for real world usage & interest
level
www.synerzip.com

34. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
5. Launch
www.synerzip.com

35. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
http://bit.ly/1h38PlL
www.synerzip.com
Product Marketing Drives Product
Narrative

36. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
http://bit.ly/OSXWs1
www.synerzip.com

37. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
6. Deliver = Market
Contribute value
in every
interaction
http://bit.ly/1oWnoKh
www.synerzip.com

38. Develop Lean Content
• Write less and say more
• Curate
• Analyze Data
• Create fast feedback loops
• Provide on-demand messaging
across platforms
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
www.synerzip.com

39. http://bit.ly/1jy1RnN
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
www.synerzip.com

40. http://bit.ly/1gvmpzz
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
www.synerzip.com

41. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
1. Develop strategies based on dynamics of online search, content
marketing (brand journalism) and social media
2. Create great content that helps answer your target audience’s
questions and solve their problems
3. Publish content on the web and across social media channels
4. Promote content using search engine optimization, permission
based e-marketing and social media
5. Manage, maintain, review, update and archive content on an
ongoing basis
6. Collect, measure and analyze marketing data to assess
engagement, conversion rates, leads and sales
Lean Content Marketing
www.synerzip.com

42. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
http://bit.ly/1nV9FXa
www.synerzip.com

43. Exploit
Visual
Content
http://bit.ly/1gT1MYg
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
www.synerzip.com

44. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
Twitter
www.synerzip.com
• Twitter Is the Leanest Communication
Vehicle
• Twitter is a broadcast medium with no
barrier to entry - anyone who is tuning
into Twitter can pick up anyone else's
signal.

45. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
Why Twitter
www.synerzip.com
“The qualities that make
Twitter seem inane and half-
baked are what make it so
powerful.”
Jonathan Zittrain, Harvard
Law professor, Internet
Expert, Author

46. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
Global Product Management Talk
Tweeted: “Let’s have a twitter chat for product managers!”
Tweet traveled 7400 miles
Designed Socratic Twitter Chat format
Discovered Difficult to tweet & discuss complex issues
Recorded thought leaders via Skype
Became top 10 business podcast on BlogTalkRadio
3 years >100 podcasts >35k listeners/episode
Community: >2000 SF members, >16 locations
Conference: Startup Product Summit (2X SF)
Unconference: Startup Product Open
Trainings: Startup Product Academy
www.synerzip.com

47. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
Power of Twitter Chats
www.synerzip.com
• Enables a parallel threaded discussion
where many people can talk at once
• Every voice is heard and documented
• Watch the conversation
• Identify & reach out to target
market/customers/interests
• Respond to a tweet/conversation on
demand

48. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
Benefits of Twitter Chats
www.synerzip.com
• network
• share knowledge
• increase influence
• showcase thought leadership
• contribute value

49. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
Recommended Tweet Format
“Please Retweet: [article
name] [by @author]
[shortened URL] [optional
comment] [#hashtag]”.
www.synerzip.com

50. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
Anatomy of a Tweet
www.synerzip.com

51. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
Twitter Chat Best Practices
1.Strategize
2.Plan
3.Promote
4.Produce
5.Lean Content Marketing
www.synerzip.com
http://bit.ly/11ZuMfZ

52. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
Twitter Chat Format
Socratic Method
• background content available prior to event
• pre-posted questions provided by speaker for participants
to answer
• participants may answer on their social platform of choice
• time boxed for live discussion
• twitter conversation occurs before, during and after
• enables capturing of educational material with
conversation for on-demand viewing and consumption post
event
www.synerzip.com

53. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
Twitter Chat Best Practices
Post Event
Following Each Twitter Chat
1. Capture tweets on storify
http://storify.com/prodmgmttalk/
2. Post transcript to slideshare
3. Post and repackage content across mediums
beyond Twitter scoop.it
4. Blog
5. Reach out to local participants & meetup!
www.synerzip.com

54. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
Daily Content Promotion Tools
1. storify http://storify.com/prodmgmttalk/
2. slideshare http://www.slideshare.net/CFSolomon/
3. scoop.it http://www.scoop.it/u/startup-product
4. Bufferapp
5. Blog Medium, Tumblr, Wordpress, blogspot
6. Prlog http://startupproduct.com/broadcast-news/
www.synerzip.com

55. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
Special
Discount for
participants!
$75 off code
leanpmm
http://bit.ly/1dATYuo
www.synerzip.com

56. Key Takeaway #1
Contribute
Value
in every interaction
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
www.synerzip.com

57. Key Takeaway #2
ASK
QUESTIONS
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
www.synerzip.com

58. Key Takeaway #3
LISTEN
to what IS & what is NOT
being communicated
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
www.synerzip.com

59. Key Takeaway #4
STRATEGIZE
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
www.synerzip.com

60. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
Content Starts With
Who?
Why?
What?
How?
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
www.synerzip.com

61. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
Thank you for sharing your precious time!
Please connect!
www.linkedin.com/in/cfsolomon/ @cindyfsolomon
Startup Product, movement for product excellence
http://startupproduct.com @startupproduct
Global Product Management Talk, weekly broadcast
@prodmgmttalk
Webcast Digest, daily curated online events
@WebcastDigest
www.synerzip.com

62. www.synerzip.com
Hemant Elhence
hemant@synerzip.com
469.322.0349
Questions?
www.synerzip.com

63. Synerzip in a Nut-shell
1. Software product development partner for small/mid-sized technology
companies
Exclusive focus on small/mid-sized technology companies, typically
venture-backed companies in growth phase
By definition, all Synerzip work is the IP of its respective clients
Deep experience in full SDLC – design, dev, QA/testing,
deployment
2. Dedicated team of high caliber software professionals for each client
Seamlessly extends client’s local team, offering full transparency
Stable teams with very low turn-over
NOT just “staff augmentation”, but provide full mgmt support
3. Actually reduces risk of development/delivery
Experienced team - uses appropriate level of engineering discipline
Practices Agile development – responsive, yet disciplined
4. Reduces cost – dual-shore team, 50% cost advantage
5. Offers long term flexibility – allows (facilitates) taking offshore team
captive – aka “BOT” option
www.synerzip.com

64. Our Clients
www.synerzip.com

65. Call Us for a Free Consultation!
www.synerzip.com
Hemant Elhence
hemant@synerzip.com
469.322.0349
Thanks!
www.synerzip.com