Product marketing is a complex, multifaceted process. It requires market research to determine customer wants and needs, constant communication with product design, development, and marketing teams, and a multitude of decisions throughout production and product launch. With everything — and everyone involved — the need for a qualified product marketing team is clear, but a good team has more to offer than execution.
Perspective
Everyone thinks differently, and no two people approach a project the same way. For a diverse perspective, a team is always more valuable than an individual. Diverse thought is essential for a marketing strategy that appeals to a broad range of your target market, and a team of people from diverse backgrounds possesses a variety of experiences from which to draw. A broader perspective helps marketing teams avoid mistakes and make a more significant impact on a larger market share.
A professional product marketing manager (PMM) can work with the marketing department to create a team that reflects the most inclusive market share, and a product manager’s (PM) involvement with product design, development, and production can bring unique, well-rounded insight, and bridge gaps in knowledge and understanding between disparate teams. It’s a PM’s role to provide the PMM with the necessary support and information to ensure accurate marketing materials that best exemplify a product’s features and the problems they resolve for consumers. A broad perspective on the marketing team is thus balanced by working with a PM whose perspective is anchored to the product itself.
Scope
When a choir holds a note for a long time, it’s making a single unified sound, but here’s the secret: The whole choir isn’t holding the note simultaneously. Singers can pause to breathe, and the choir’s result is consistent without putting too much pressure on its individual members. Successful teams work in much the same way.
Successful product marketing teams can cover the whole scope of a campaign without overburdening a single marketing professional. One person cannot possibly be as productive as an entire team in which the work is evenly distributed. Product marketing projects are more efficiently completed when a team is engaged to manage the scope and cover any gaps arising from individual members’ other responsibilities.
Balance
A well-balanced product marketing team cannot be overworked or underutilized. It’s composed of marketing professionals with a variety of talents and skill sets equipped to produce the best results, cover all the bases, overcome any obstacles, and appeal to the broadest possible consumer market. A balanced team also allows its members the opportunity to engage with new perspectives, learn from one another, and grow into more well-rounded product marketing professionals. With the inclusion of the product’s PM, a talented team can also connect with the product from its initial inception.
A solid product marketing team can mean the difference between a successful product launch and one that falls flat. Any group of people can complete a list of tasks, but a good team creates a broader perspective, widens the scope, and balances the work to produce the best possible results.
