What is a Product Marketing Manager? Job Description and Salary Your research and development team has been working on a new product for months and putting valuable resources into its design and manufacturing. They’ve carefully researched the market and the problem they intend to solve. They’ve brainstormed and planned out the best possible product, and then meticulously crafted it before testing its functionality to make sure that it does indeed do what it was meant to do. You are convinced that this is the best addition to the world since chocolate. With an amazing product ready to go to market, there’s only one question left in your mind. How are you going to announce your product and get it in front of potential customers, i.e. the people who will actually buy it? For this step of the process (and ideally since the very beginning of research and development), you’ve got a product marketing manager ready to take the next step with your new creation. Without marketing, your product (no matter how amazing it is), will never be found by the customers whose problem it would solve. This could lead to lackluster sales, a financial failure, and potential customers who are still suffering from their original problem. From that perspective, you can see how valuable good product marketing managers are. Let’s learn more about this pertinent role. What is a product marketing manager? You may be wondering, what is a product marketing manager (PMM) and how essential are they to...

The Simplest Answer to, "What Is Product Marketing?" Pop quiz: If you had to define product marketing right now, what would you say? A lot of folks have difficulty answering this question, but it's not your fault. Although product marketing is a prominent department across both B2B and B2C companies, it's pretty hard to find a good definition of it anywhere — even on Google. What makes it especially difficult is that it's one of the few job functions that touches product, marketing, and sales. It all comes down to knowing the target customer and testing to find ways to learn more about them and how best to interact with them. Product marketing doesn't stop once the product has gone to market (if it did, well, product marketers at a one-product company wouldn't have much to do after the product's launch). The process of marketing a product as the final step is to ensure the right people are aware of the product. Those people who know how to use it, according to the needs and feedback of customers are being listened to over the product's lifecycle. Let's talk about where to start in product marketing and what other aspects of your business can support this product as it grows. A good way to begin brainstorming your campaign is through implementing inbound marketing methodology into your strategic plan. We mentioned before that product marketing is continual, and your approach should be the same. Inbound marketing is a strategy that...

The Ultimate Guide to Product Marketing in 2021 During the 1950s, Volkswagen sold a bus. Although now considered a classic vehicle, the bus remains an icon for the car company decades later. The cool part? Volkswagen announced their new VW Bus — it’s electric and features sleek, modern styling. Volkswagen’s marketing for the vehicle is eye-catching, unique, and fun, and it complements the original “hippie” vibe the company was once known for. Image Source Volkswagen also released a TV commercial for the bus that’s clever, minimalist, and on-brand. It introduces the new vehicle with the song The Sound of Silence playing in the background (hint: electric cars are silent) and ends with a short message on the screen for viewers to read: “Introducing a new era of electric driving.” This sentiment touches on the fact Volkswagen is contributing to society’s interest in electric, eco-friendly vehicles. It also relates to this being a new era for the bus. So, who works on this type of marketing? Who helps create content that excites consumers about new and updated products, like the Volkswagen bus? Who encourages consumers to buy? Product marketers. What makes product marketing unique? How is it different from conventional marketing? Let's unpack the differences. Product Marketing vs. Conventional Marketing Product marketing is strategic whereas conventional marketing is all-encompassing. Product marketing is considered a component of conventional marketing. In fact, if you look at the seven Ps of marketing, you’ll see product marketing is one...

How Benefit Segmentation Will Take Your Marketing Campaigns to the Next Level If you're a fan of HubSpot's Inbound Marketing Methodology, you probably understand the importance of customer success. In fact, 70% of businesses with growing revenue prioritize customer success as "very important." So, if you want your business to succeed you must make sure your customers do, too. By doing so, you can stack the odds in your favor, ensuring the leads you’re passing to your sales team are a good fit for your business through benefit segmentation. In this post, we'll go over what benefit segmentation is, why you should use it, and where it can be seen in the real world. Why should you do benefit segmentation? Benefit segmentation will help you gain a better understanding of the different needs of your customer base in addition to the following: 1. Benefit segmentation makes it easier for sales reps to convert leads into customers. That's because your marketing campaigns will attract customers who are better suited for your product or service. Since the campaigns are targeted to the people who need your business the most, your sales team should have an easier time closing deals. 2. Marketers and salespeople can use benefit segmentation to engage customers. By identifying the key value that your business provides, your team will create more compelling marketing campaigns and sales pitches. They'll know exactly how to differentiate your product or service to make it attractive to your target audience. 3....

5 Things Gen Z Will Spend Money On & Why Marketers Need to Care With a purchasing power of more than $143 billion, Gen Z is expected to shake up the retail industry. Although many in Gen Z are earning their first paychecks, entering college, or just joining the workforce, studies show that the generation shops and spends money much differently than its millennial predecessor. While millennials and past generations were more loyal to brands, Gen Z is more interested in buying products that will give them the best value based on their price. Gen Zers also admits to being more impulsive in their shopping habits than older generations. A Breakdown of Generation Z’s Spending Habits When it comes to the total share of spending, Gen Z accounts for an estimated five percent in the U.S., according to Afterpay’s 2021 Next Gen Index. However, that number is expected to grow 10% by 2030, as most will be entering the workforce. With every age group, generation Z’s spending habits declined at the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak. However, the Afterpay report reveals that Gen Z recovered faster than older generations. So what are they doing right now? Well, they’re shopping more online. A 2021 Consumer Culture Report by 5WPR found that Gen Z is now spending 43 minutes more per on online shopping than they did before the COVID-19 outbreak. They (77%) say online shopping allows them to discover products from new or small companies they wouldn’t find in person....

How Glow Recipe Pivoted From a Curation Site to a Beauty Product Brand Did you know the current U.S. cosmetics market is worth over $95 billion?  With the fast growth of the cosmetics industry, it's become competitive and saturated -- especially for startups.  This industry can be even more challenging to break through when you're trying to sell a product that you're audience might be less familiar with. With this in mind, Glow Recipe, founded by Sarah Lee and Christine Chang, aims to bring U.S. awareness to Korean beauty (or K-beauty) trends, as well as its own lines of natural, fruit-based cosmetic products.  But, before Glow Recipe sold thousands of cosmetic products and built an audience of more than 1 million social media followers, it actually started as a simple product curation site aiming to highlight other K-beauty brands.  In a recent episode of The Shake Up, Alexis Gay and Brianne Kimmel sat down with Co-CEOs Sarah Lee and Chang to learn how they built a well-known beauty brand and positioned their products for the U.S. and other global markets. Below are just a few great highlights from the episode, as well as an audio player so you can listen while you read. Glow Recipe Highlights How and Why Glow Recipe Began With Curation  Gay: It seems to me like through the work of several companies, but particularly Glow Recipe, Americans are increasingly aware of K-beauty and the...

The 6 Stages of the Product Life Cycle When I was 12 years old, I used to look through my older cousin's CD collection, a little confused. I didn't understand the need to have CDs when I could go on iTunes and listen to all my favorite songs. Then, when I was in middle school, I got my first hand-me-down iPod shuffle. This is a great example of the product life cycle (PLC) in action. CDs were in the decline stage while the iPod was in the growth stage. Now, you’ll rarely find a CD in anyone’s music collection unless they’re enthusiasts or want to feel nostalgic for their younger years. No one wants their product to become “obsolete” and reach the end of its product life cycle. Still, it’s important to understand what stage your product is in so you can make better marketing and business decisions. You can mature and grow in the marketplace by agilely responding to changing customer needs, adding new offerings to your lineup, and adopting new tech that keeps you up-to-date in the marketplace. Below, we’ll learn what the life cycle is, take a look at the life cycle stages, and go over a few real-life examples. As marketers, it's important to understand how your tactics and strategies change depending on the stage your product is in. For example, a brand new product will be marketed differently than a well-established, mature product. For the first, the marketing campaigns will focus on raising...

9 Product Category Marketing Examples to Inspire Your Own Stores and websites aren’t a mishmash of products with no discernible organization for a reason. People want a sense of direction and a positive customer experience, even when they are “just browsing.” They also want to know they are in good hands when it comes to the product category they’re exploring — whether that’s kitchen tools, breakfast cereals, or winter coats. Product category marketing helps your brand stand out among related items, so your company’s products wind up in the shopping cart — whether real or virtual. What is a product category? A product category is “a particular group of related products,” according to the Cambridge Dictionary. Your distinct offerings and customer personas should guide the organization and grouping of your product categories. For example, REI Co-Op offers a wide range of outdoor gear. To guide customers, they split their products into interest-based categories, such as running, climbing, and snow sports. For fashion retailers, it makes more sense to organize categories by product type, such as shoes, shirts, and pants. Product category marketing amplifies why a company is the best choice within that group of products. Why should customers opt for your offering rather than your direct competitors? Gaining brand recognition and appreciation across a product category means greater returns for your marketing efforts. When consumers have positive experiences with a specific product category it also builds brand trust, which often expands to other categories through the halo effect....

The Marketer's Guide to Segmentation, Targeting, & Positioning I once heard a new business owner define their target market as … wait for it … “everyone”. *cringe* While it’s nice to believe that everyone would be interested in purchasing your product or service, it’s not wise to define your target market as such. Not only does this definition (or lack thereof) create way more work for you; it also does a disservice to your actual target market — by over-widening your scope, you fail to inform and educate your audience about how your product or service can improve their lives. This is where segmentation, targeting, and positioning come into play. We developed this guide to help you understand how and why you should invest time into better understanding your audience and targeting your marketing. Let’s dive in. At its core, STP helps you to better target your marketing messages and better serve your customer base. The model can also reveal niche markets, uncover new customer or market opportunities, and, ultimately, make your marketing efforts more efficient and cost-effective. STP allows you to take a large, anonymous audience and define how your different products (or different components of the same product) relate to specific consumer segments within that larger audience — thus understanding how to position your product(s) and messaging to grab the attention of each segment. Let’s unpack each part of the segmentation-targeting-positioning model. 1. Segmentation Segmentation refers to the process of dividing your audience into smaller groups...

What is Trading Up, and Why It Matters for Marketers To understand what the term "trading up" means, let's start with a scenario. You wake up early and jog to the Starbucks on the corner of your street. There, you wait in line to order a pumpkin-spiced latte, as you skim emails on your iPhone. Afterwards, you return home, put on your new Lululemon workout apparel, and hop on your Peloton for an at-home workout. In this scenario, you've "traded up" in a variety of consumer categories: including coffee, technology, clothing, and even workout gear. Why, for instance, did you feel the need to head to Starbucks and pay $6 for a drink, as opposed to making a quick pot of coffee in your Keurig? Alternatively, why not purchase workout apparel from Marshalls or Target? (No judgment on any of these decisions: I've made them, too.) Ultimately, trading up refers to a consumer's tendency to pay more for a higher-quality, more expensive product or service from a brand to which they've formed an emotional attachment, and feel a sense of loyalty. But trading up doesn't just refer to a consumer's behavior in the marketplace at-large: it also refers to a consumer's decision to upgrade their product for a newer model with additional features. As a marketer, it's critical you understand the concept "trading up" to discern how you might evoke brand loyalty in a crowded marketplace — or, how you might market a new version of your product to existing...