Product marketing is at the intersection of many teams in a product company. The work of a product marketer supports the wider product team, sales, marketing, executive stakeholders, and most of all, buyers. It’s for this reason product marketers tend to play a quarterback role, says Kimberly Biddings, VP of Product at BIO-key International. As Kim knows from experience, they’re responsible for not just knowing a product in and out—they have to translate its selling points for others to use. Join Kim and Tina to hear more about the opportunities product marketers can bring to your growing organization.

Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter to see the latest in Better Product, a show part of the Better Product Community powered by Innovatemap. The community is the connection point for product leaders & practitioners to learn and share what it takes to design, build, market, and sell better products. Learn more at betterproduct.community.

Takeaways:  

• Product marketing starts from the second there’s a business idea. 
• Growing a business without product marketing is like driving a car without direction: aimless and unpredictable. 
• There’s more than one way to be a product marketer. 

Things To Listen For: 

• [0:30] Icebreaker: Who is on your dream interview list (aside from the amazing guests we talked to for Unlock Product Marketing)? 

• [2:00] Why did we create this series?

• [4:00] Introducing today's guest, Kimberly Biddings of BIO-key International

• [6:00] Takeaway: there are different kinds of product marketers, not just one

• [7:00] Intro to Kimberly Biddings and her cybersecurity product marketing career

• [8:30] How Tina and Kim met with product marketing and brand work through Innovatemap

• [10:00] In the beginning, many people did product marketing in marketing roles

• [10:30] What is a regional product manager? And why teams still need PMM advocates.

• [12:00] What are the jobs to be done by product marketing?

• [14:00] Product marketers are like company quarterbacks

• [15:00] If you need product marketing from day one, why is it typically one of the last roles to be hired?

• [16:00] The seven stages of product marketing as a company scales

• [18:30] You have to market yourself as a product marketer so people understand it

• [21:00] Find bite-sized ways to inject product marketing strategy into your interactions

• [27:30] Product marketing’s first question: does anyone actually care about this?

• [29:00] Don’t start with the what, start with the why

• [31:00] Always consider “who are you talking to?” and “what are you saying?”

• [38:00] Be your product manager’s best friend

One of the fundamental strategies product marketers must lead is positioning. It’s what determines how you’ll talk about your product, your company, and your brand as you scale. So why do so many people get it wrong? Catherine Spence, VP of Global Marketing at Microblink, joins Leanna to share her best lessons on brand and product positioning, from leading marketing at an international company to her own startup, Pomello. If you’re looking to stay in your comfort zone, this isn’t the episode for you. Catherine shows us why we need to use our positioning to pick a fight and take a stand, especially in B2B SaaS. 

Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter to see the latest in Better Product, a show part of the Better Product Community powered by Innovatemap. The community is the connection point for product leaders & practitioners to learn and share what it takes to design, build, market, and sell better products. Learn more at betterproduct.community. 

Takeaways: 

• Positioning gives you focus. You can’t be everything to everyone. 
• Product positioning should make you think. 
• Brand positioning should make you feel. 
• Don’t prioritize brand positioning until you have product-market fit. 

Things To Listen For: 

• [2:00] Icebreaker: If you had to write an autobiography and name it after one of your guilty pleasures, what would you call it? 
• [3:00] What’s the difference between brand positioning and product positioning? How do marketers and PMMs work together to define it? 
• [7:00] Introducing Catherine Spence and her role at Microblink 

• [9:00] PMM is the intersection of product, marketing, and sales
• [11:00] The ask of product marketing is simple. But it’s difficult to do well. 
• [12:00] How Microblink thinks about brand positioning vs. product positioning when marketing AI when the world isn’t familiar with it yet
• [13:00] The deceiving similarities between product positioning and brand positioning, and what unites them at the core 
• [14:00] Brand positioning should be internal and external 
• [15:00] How do brand positioning and product positioning work together?
• [16:00] All positioning should reflect your vision and who you want to be in the world. When are you willing to walk away? 
• [19:00] Why B2B product marketers and marketers need to position products that “pick a fight and take a stand” for their products
• [22:30] Clear positioning doesn’t just make sense. It makes dollars. 
• [23:00] When is the best time to focus on brand positioning?
• [26:00] Use your vision statement to anchor your brand positioning 
• [28:00] The role of employer brand in positioning 
• [36:00] The future of PMM: how do we find great product marketers?

In today’s world, building a great product isn’t enough. You have to master your go-to-market strategy by telling a story that will leave a lasting impression on your audience. Product marketing gets you there, according to long-time product marketer and Costanoa Ventures partner Martina Lauchengco. 

Martina is the author of the latest book from the esteemed Silicon Valley Product Group, LOVED: How to Rethink Marketing for Tech Products. Alongside Tina and Leanna, she explores how her career start as a product manager equipped her with the product curiosity and technical competence needed to thrive when marketing digital products. She shows us today how to think about product marketing as the discipline it is and how companies should be leveraging it if they want their product to be recognized and adopted. 

Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter to see the latest in Better Product, a show part of the Better Product Community powered by Innovatemap. The community is the connection point for product leaders & practitioners to learn and share what it takes to design, build, market, and sell better products. Learn more at betterproduct.community.

• Product marketing tells the world why your product matters and why it’s distinct from something similar. 
• Product marketers must be genuinely interested in what products do and why the product exists to make it meaningful for the market.

• [0:30] Introducing our guest hosts, Innovatemap’s Tina Hafer and Leanna Adeola
• [2:00] Why did we create the Unlock Product Marketing series?
• [3:00] Icebreaker: If you had the time to write a book, what would it be about?
• [4:00] Previewing our conversation with Martina Lauchengco
• [10:30] An introduction to Martina Lauchengco, starting her career in product management at Microsoft, and the evolution of product marketing
• [15:00] Why Martina wrote LOVED: companies need a template for PMM
• [15:30] Product marketing’s evolution: it’s now a discipline central to organizations
• [16:30] Introducing Martina’s four fundamental roles of product marketing:
  • Ambassador — product marketers connect customer and market insights 
  • Strategist — product marketers direct a product’s go-to-market 
  • Storyteller — product marketers shape perceptions of product
  • Evangelist — product marketers empower others in your company to represent and share the product 
• [17:30] “You do not need the title ‘product marketer’ to be driving forward the most important product marketing”
• [18:30] In early-stage companies, founders tend to lead product marketing
• [19:00] Growth requires using product marketing to shape markets
• [20:00] The importance of product curiosity and technical competence
• [25:30] Why good product marketers share many qualities with good product managers
• [29:00] Data is essential to finding your product marketing focus, especially as you enter your growth stage as a company
• [30:00] There’s never just one obstacle to growth, and PMMs give us the high-level perspective we need to see where problems intersect