What is Product Marketing? How and when do you invest in it? What do product marketers do?

1. Hana Abaza,
Head of Marketing, Shopify Plus
@hanaabaza
PRODUCT MARKETING
WHAT, WHEN & HOW

2. What the f&*k is
product marketing?

4. “Product marketing is the process of promoting and
selling a product to an audience. It includes assessing
customer needs, customer type, and geographic area.”
- Wikipedia

5. “7 P’s of marketing: Product, Pricing, People, Place
Promotion, Process, Physical environment.”
- A Marketing Professor

6. How is “product marketing”
different from “marketing-
marketing?

7. Different ways to look at it
(questions, product, funnel and
functions)

8. Who are we
building it for?
What are we
building?
How to we “go-
to-market”?
How do we
talk about it?
Product
Engineering
Customer facing
teams
Marketing
Sales
Product
Marketing

9. Customer
Facing Teams
Product Marketing

10. Customer
Facing Teams
Product Marketing
That’s Product
Marketing!

11. Great product marketers
help build product

12. Problem/
Scoping
Build
Launch
(“Go-To-Market”) Adoption
Product
Growth
Product Teams Marketing/Sales Teams ?

13. Problem/
Scoping
Build
Launch
(“Go-To-Market”) Adoption
Product
Growth
Product Teams Marketing/Sales Teams ?
Product Teams
Product Marketing
Go To Market Team Product Growth

14. Problem/
Scoping
Build
Launch
(“Go-To-Market”) Adoption
Product
Growth
Product Teams Marketing/Sales Teams ?
Product Teams
Product Marketing
Go To Market Team Product Growth

15. Great product marketing
fuels growth

16. CLOSE
CONVERT
ATTRACT

17. lead generation, content
marketing, SEO, paid campaigns,
email marketing
CLOSE
CONVERT
ATTRACT

18. conversion optimization, landing
pages, marketing automation,
lead scoring
lead generation, content
marketing, SEO, paid campaigns,
email marketing
CLOSE
CONVERT
ATTRACT

19. conversion optimization, landing
pages, marketing automation,
lead scoring
lead generation, content
marketing, SEO, paid campaigns,
email marketing
positioning, personas, messaging, sales
enablement, collateral, case studies,
customer feedback, market insights
CLOSE
CONVERT
ATTRACT

20. positioning, personas, messaging, sales
enablement, collateral, case studies,
customer feedback, market insights
CLOSE
PRODUCT MARKETING!

21. conversion optimization, landing
pages, marketing automation,
lead scoring
lead generation, content
marketing, SEO, paid campaigns,
email marketing
positioning, personas, messaging, sales
enablement, collateral, case studies,
customer feedback, market insights
CLOSE
CONVERT
ATTRACT

22. Great product marketers
enable everyone

23. (EVERYTHING)
ENABLEMENT
Operationalize strategy
Internal communications
Education & training
Arm your teams
- Sales assets
- Content
- Resources

24. Bad product marketing
can kill your company

25. 1. people don’t understand what you do
2. your employees don’t know how to explain it
3. none of the marketing stuff is working
How do you know if
it’s bad?

26. FROM STARTUP TO SCALE UP
HOW AND WHEN TO INVEST IN PRODUCT
MARKETING

27. It’s about size and
complexity

28. 🤔
What does that really
mean?

29. PRODUCT MARKETING
AS A ROLE
PRODUCT MARKETING
AS A FUNCTION
PRODUCT MARKETING
AS A CONCEPT
PRODUCT MARKETING
AS A ROLE
Small
Simple Complex
Large
Adapted from First Round Capital
SizeofCompany
Complexity of product/feature/market/landscape

31. THE JOB
Ongoing strategic initiatives and
tactical execution.

32. pragmaticmarketing.com

33. STRATEGIC vs. TACTICAL

34. pragmaticmarketing.com

35. But, what exactly is
positioning?

36. April Dunford
CEO, Sprintly
Marketing is about making it easy for people to
find, evaluate and buy your products.
Positioning is figuring out what your product is
in the first place.
“

37. Marketing can polish a turd.
Positioning can turn turds into
fertilizer.
“
April Dunford
CEO, Sprintly

38. How do people think
about your product?

39. CONTEXT…

40. IS EVERYTHING

41. What’s the context that
frames your product?
Price, customers, competition,
brand, channels, message

42. What language do
people use?
How do customers explain your
product? What would they search?

43. WHAT IS IT?
Plain language.
No jargon.
WHO IS IT FOR?
Be as specific as possible.
WHAT CATEGORY?
New vs. established.
Frame of reference.
HOW ARE YOU
DIFFERENT?
Be honest.
WHY SHOULD I CARE?
What’s in it for me?
Benefits and value.
ALTERNATIVES?
Status Quo, Competitors,
Frenemies

44. Messaging is an expression
of positioning
It should be clear but allow for room to
customize/localize to the audiences

45. Both will (and should)
change over time.

47. These people self-educate.
Historical search terms?

48. Content, tactics and channels
change. Need case studies, proof,
validation.

49. 2010

50. 2017

51. This is the “why” — what’s the guiding narrative?
Secondary Message Secondary Message Secondary Message Secondary Message Secondary Message
Expand upon key
messaging. Why does
this matter?
Expand upon key
messaging. Why does
this matter?
Expand upon key
messaging. Why does
this matter?
Expand upon key
messaging. Why does
this matter?
Expand upon key
messaging. Why does
this matter?
Proof Points?
Product Story
Big “C” Content

52. For example, Netflix might
look like this…

53. The best entertainment, straight to your device. We know what you’ll love before you do.
Great Content Straight to Your Device Recommendations Convenience Low Cost
Expand upon key
messaging. Why does
this matter?
Expand upon key
messaging. Why does
this matter?
Expand upon key
messaging. Why does
this matter?
Expand upon key
messaging. Why does
this matter?
Expand upon key
messaging. Why does
this matter?

54. The best entertainment, straight to your device. We know what you’ll love before you do.
Great Content Straight to Your Device Recommendations Convenience Low Cost
Expand upon key
messaging. Why does
this matter?
Expand upon key
messaging. Why does
this matter?
Expand upon key
messaging. Why does
this matter?
Expand upon key
messaging. Why does
this matter?
Expand upon key
messaging. Why does
this matter?
Proof Points:
• Point #1
• Point #2
Proof Points:
• Point #1
• Point #2
Proof Points:
• Point #1
• Point #2
Proof Points:
• Point #1
• Point #2
Proof Points:
• Point #1
• Point #2

55. The best entertainment, straight to your device. We know what you’ll love before you do.
Great Content Straight to Your Device Recommendations Convenience Low Cost
Expand upon key
messaging. Why does
this matter?
Expand upon key
messaging. Why does
this matter?
Expand upon key
messaging. Why does
this matter?
Expand upon key
messaging. Why does
this matter?
Expand upon key
messaging. Why does
this matter?
Proof Points:
• Point #1
• Point #2
Proof Points:
• Point #1
• Point #2
Proof Points:
• Point #1
• Point #2
Proof Points:
• Point #1
• Point #2
Proof Points:
• Point #1
• Point #2
Product Story:
• Point #1
• Point #2
Product Story:
• Point #1
• Point #2
Product Story:
• Point #1
• Point #2
Product Story:
• Point #1
• Point #2
Product Story:
• Point #1
• Point #2

56. The best entertainment, straight to your device. We know what you’ll love before you do.
Great Content Straight to Your Device Recommendations Convenience Low Cost
Expand upon key
messaging. Why does
this matter?
Expand upon key
messaging. Why does
this matter?
Expand upon key
messaging. Why does
this matter?
Expand upon key
messaging. Why does
this matter?
Expand upon key
messaging. Why does
this matter?
Proof Points:
• Point #1
• Point #2
Proof Points:
• Point #1
• Point #2
Proof Points:
• Point #1
• Point #2
Proof Points:
• Point #1
• Point #2
Proof Points:
• Point #1
• Point #2
Product Story:
• Point #1
• Point #2
Product Story:
• Point #1
• Point #2
Product Story:
• Point #1
• Point #2
Product Story:
• Point #1
• Point #2
Product Story:
• Point #1
• Point #2
Content
• Search
• Owned
• Contributed
Content
• Search
• Owned
• Contributed
Content
• Search
• Owned
• Contributed
Content
• Search
• Owned
• Contributed
Content
• Search
• Owned
• Contributed

57. ONGOING vs. ONE TIME

58. ONGOING PRODUCT
MARKETING
Market intelligence
Competitive research
Positioning
Personas
Value prop
Messaging
Customer feedback
Win/Loss analysis
Market segmentation

59. Let’s talk about how we
go-to-market

60. Build
Pre-Launch
Go-to-Market
Launch
Growth
Post-Launch

61. PRODUCT/FEATURE
LAUNCHES
Pre-Launch
Launch
Post-Launch

62. PRODUCT/FEATURE
LAUNCHES
Pre-Launch
Launch
Post-Launch
Spec sheet / brief
Product positioning
Figure out messaging
Market insights
Train internal teams
Create marketing assets
Create sales collateral

63. Product Management
Product reaches a certain
phase of ideation/
completion, triggers
marketing.

64. Brief / Spec Sheet
- name
- value prop (problem/
solution)
- who is it for?
- product description
- plans/pricing
- market insights
- customer examples
- testimonials
- links to resources,
content etc.
Product Management
Product reaches a certain
phase of ideation/
completion, triggers
marketing.

65. Brief / Spec Sheet
- name
- value prop (problem/
solution)
- who is it for?
- product description
- plans/pricing
- market insights
- customer examples
- testimonials
- links to resources,
content etc.
Product Management
Product reaches a certain
phase of ideation/
completion, triggers
marketing.
What kind of launch is this? (go-to-market)
Internal Comms
- Sales team
- Success team
- Support team
- Marketing (content,
email, PR etc.)

66. Brief / Spec Sheet
- name
- value prop (problem/
solution)
- who is it for?
- product description
- plans/pricing
- market insights
- customer examples
- testimonials
- links to resources,
content etc.
Product Management
Product reaches a certain
phase of ideation/
completion, triggers
marketing.
What kind of launch is this? (go-to-market)
Internal Comms
- Sales team
- Success team
- Support team
- Marketing (content,
email, PR etc.)
Tier 1 - Tell the world!
Tier 2 - Tell customers/prospects
Tier 3 - Support docs

67. GTM Brief
- name
- value prop (problem/
solution)
- who is it for?
- product description
- plans/pricing
- market insights
- customer examples
- testimonials
- links to resources,
content etc.
Product Management
Product reaches a
certain phase of
ideation/completion,
triggers marketing.
What kind of launch is this? (go-to-market)
Internal Comms
- Sales team
- Success team
- Support team
- Marketing (content,
email, PR etc.)
Tier 1 - Tell the world!
Tier 2 - Tell customers/prospects
Tier 3 - Support docs
MARKETERS BEST
FRIEND

68. It doesn’t have to be fancy,
but it does have to exist.
Here’s a template.
:)

69. PRODUCT/FEATURE
LAUNCHES
Pre-Launch
Launch
Post-Launch
Campaigns
Landing pages
Email marketing
Channels
Website update
Content marketing
Press release
Re-engage lost deals

70. Let’s talk about we
product growth

71. PRODUCT/FEATURE
LAUNCHES
Pre-Launch
Launch
Post-Launch
Experimentation
Product adoption
Product usage
Customer growth
Qualitative feedback
Quantitative feedback

72. “Product marketing is….?
- New Wikipedia Entry