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Scaling your product marketing strategy as you build your product.

Early product marketing strategy is critical for a sustained growth roadmap. It should evolve along with the product and should be consistent with the roadmap

September 30, 2023 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

Hello Readers👋

Welcome to your free weekly edition of my newsletter. Every week I write on a key product marketing topic. I deep dive into the concepts and frameworks which will help you learn product marketing concepts and grow in your career.

In this weeks newsletter I deep dive into why scaling a product marketing campaign along with your product roadmap is critical.In the highly dynamic environment of startups, not having a initial product marketing strategy can be detrimental to the success of a GTM campaign

Introduction 

Back in 2012,I joined an early stage startup which had beta tested their product and was working on product market fit. As the first PMM, I was tasked with framing the go-to-market strategy and defining the roadmap to achieve their growth target in the coming months.

Working at a startup exposed me to an uncertain and dynamic environment, with a lot of moving parts and quick pivots.

Being a lean organisation, everyone collaborated to frame the ideal customer profile, segment the addressable market, and validate the initial messaging and positioning in relation to our competitors. This led to the creation of a confident brand voice.

Within a few years, the initial foundation enabled the fragile organisation to scale rapidly and pivot seamlessly at the right time.

Why is PMM foundational work so critical for startup growth?

Post the “idea stage” along with the product roadmap, the next big challenge for a startup is to execute a successful “Go to Market” strategy. Along with crafting the initial messaging and positioning framework, go to market strategy is the most critical factor for growth. Once the product is released, the playing field is the market being fought for by multiple challengers

Therefore the moment a startup invests in a product manager, they should simultaneously invest in a product marketing manager. Developing a product function should not be done in isolation to a product management function. 

Why starting early with a PMM can be a strategic investment?

I strongly believe that the presence of a product marketing manager results in a more effective product roadmap. The earlier a PMM starts working with internal stakeholders, like sales, digital and marketing function and customer success, the more effective the outcome at every stage of the customer journey. 

Having an early product marketing manager will help in setting up the initial marketing strategy, deepen product knowledge and build the foundation for the long term strategy.

PMM role becomes critical when startups need to pivot without affecting the overall roadmap

It is a very common phenomenon that startups need to pivot at some stage. They need to realign their priorities based on user needs and market dynamics, the role of a PMM becomes very critical depending on what stage the startup is, product marketing managers will have to manage multiple responsibilities. For example at the beta stage, a PMM could experiment with  the messaging, positioning and the user research program, whereas if the startup has active customers, a PMM may also craft email templates, use cases and enablement kits and manage consumer facing assets, like website, landing page, product page, product guide, blogs etc

Designing an initial SOP to deal with such a situation could be handy and may list all the elements that a PMM needs to focus on and based on the stage of growth, they pick and choose what to prioritise and what to leave out.

Impact of PMM on the initial flywheel.

For a early stage startup I see the below core areas a PMM can make and impact

  • Idea validation

  • Product marketing fit

  • Acquiring early adopters

  • Designing your product strategy with a market first approach

A PMM role is an “outside-in” role and a PMM is responsible for critical user and market insights to support the business strategy.

  • As PMM if you are looking to work in an early stage startup, you will be expected to navigate a lot of ambiguity as well as uncertainty. Understanding how to navigate such an environment will set you up for success. 

  • The initial flywheel can set up the foundation for designing a strong and effective go to market strategy which can build on the initial growth foundation to drive sustained growth.

Dropbox's Early Product Marketing Strategy:

Referral Program: Dropbox implemented a referral program where both the referrer and the referee received extra storage space for free. This strategy was inspired by PayPal's early referral incentives and proved to be highly effective for Dropbox.

Demo Video: Before they became widely known, Dropbox released a simple demo video targeting the tech community on Digg. The video was quirky and included easter eggs for the tech-savvy audience. It went viral, resulting in a significant increase in beta waiting list sign-ups.

Simplicity: Dropbox's value proposition was clear and simple: "Your files, anywhere." This resonated with many users who were tired of carrying USB drives or emailing files to themselves.

Beta Access: Dropbox created a sense of exclusivity by offering limited beta access. Users had to sign up to be on a waiting list, which created anticipation and buzz.

Intuitive Product: While this is more product development than marketing, the fact that Dropbox's product was user-friendly and just worked made word-of-mouth marketing extremely effective.

Integrations: Dropbox focused on integrations with other popular tools and platforms, making it more versatile and increasing its appeal to a broader audience.

This early product marketing strategy, combined with a product that met a clear market need, helped Dropbox grow rapidly and become the multi-billion dollar company it is today.

Crafting your 30-60-90 day plan as the first product marketing manager

For every startup product marketing manager, it is critical to start with a plan to get settled in their role in any startup. Startup environment is dynamic and filled with uncertainties hence it is critical to have a map out a first three months plan to ensure documentations, and process driven approach.

Marketer's Mindset Moment: The art of critical listening

A PMM is expected to perform a critical role in driving user growth. They are expected to have a core competency to perform in a dynamic and ambiguous environment.

I have worked in both startups and larger corporations, and in my experience I feel a PMM should have the critical listening ability.

PMM is responsible for market and user insights to craft a compelling product marketing strategy. A critical listening ability will enable them to soak in a lot of information from both internal and external sources, and filter without any biases. This will help them implement a practical and effective product marketing strategy. 

In conclusion

In startups, a Product Marketing Manager (PMM) is pivotal for sustainable growth. Their early involvement ensures product alignment with market needs, enhancing the roadmap. As seen with Dropbox, strategic product marketing can drive immense success. For startups, investing in a skilled PMM is investing in future success, steering through growth stages effectively.

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