Here's how you can make strategic decisions in product marketing.

Afortunadamente he podido colaborar en empresas de diferentes tamaños y desarrollar marcas/productos desde cero tanto en empresas de consumo como de tecnología. La información, análisis y comprensión del mercado es piedra angular en toda la vida del producto. Entender hacia donde se dirige el consumidor en sus preferencias, gustos y necesidades y como tú producto y estrategia cubre todo ello. Sin duda es la clave para que tengas éxito en tu estrategia.

Strong GTM strategies are formed by looking at the market context in relation to the custom problem. What macro level disruptions are putting pressure on your target customer and how can you address the problem in a way that is differentiated from your competitors. The first demonstrates that you understand the larger shifts affecting the industry, the second shows your empathy to the customer's daily experience in context of the broader market, and the third gets specific in providing your pov in solving the problem.

One place to do valuable marketing research is from your sales team. They are first line contacts to customers and the competition. Unfortunately many marketing teams do not include salespeople in their marketing research. As a sales manager I have had many heated discussions with marketing departments that guide product development in the wrong direction.

Analyze Competitors: 1-Identify your direct and indirect competitors. 2- Evaluate their strengths, weaknesses, positioning, and strategies to find gaps and opportunities for differentiation

Based on my extensive experience as a marketing manager and consultant across various industries, I have found that market analysis and marketing intelligence are critical components for developing a successful product marketing strategy. Creating a great market analysis for new marketing products involves several key steps: 1. Define Objectives and Scope 2. Conduct Industry Research 3. Identify Target Market 4. Analyze Competitors 5. Gather Customer Insights 6. Evaluate Market Demand 7. Assess Market Trends and Opportunities 8. SWOT Analysis 9. Develop a Go-to-Market Strategy 10. Monitor and Adjust

Value propositions really only work if you're engaged with the right customers. One of our guiding principles is a selective customer approach. We stay in our lane and never want to be all things to all people. Be spectacular at what you are good at and seek out customers who value what you have to offer, by way of solutions and design prowess. If we hear the word "cost' 4 times in our first call we politely back out or price how we normally would knowing they'll never bite, today. The latter being geared towards a customer who we feel may eventually figure out cheaper isn't always the best route and we find the business intriguing and offering challenges we can solve to. That takes feel as much as luck.

Time and time again, I have worked with product managers who confuse product features as value proposition. The way to move your product managers away from the features that excite them the most from their launch is to keep drilling down with “so, what?” For example: “It’s 300% faster! Make sure that’s in the ad!” My response: So what? Why does this matter? I found more times than not that just by asking this question a few times, you will arrive at a compelling value proposition that can be used in marketing campaigns that drive demand. A true value proposition solves the universal question, “what’s in it for them/me?” The clearer this is, the more decisive the buying journey.

Once you have identified your ideal client and their emotional hot button around your industry then you have to address THAT. No one cares about your features or even our product. They are looking to solve a problem. When you articulate that problem better than they can...They know you have a solution.

La innovación en lo que haces, propones y desarrollas enfocados en los gustos y necesidades de tu consumidor o cliente. Serán siempre bien aceptados como una propuesta de valor en los mercados. Es difícil diferenciarse en mercados tan competidos pero siempre hay una oportunidad si construyes un equipo que esté pensando en esta parte como parte fundamental de tu estrategia. Y hay diferentes propuestas de valor. Algunas son las que van directo hasta el consumidor y hay otras que van a tus partners para que también ellos te ayuden a crear caminos para llegar más fácil al usuario final.

Make Data-Driven Decisions: Convert the identified pain points and gaps into solutions. Prioritize features and messaging that resonate with your target audience and address their needs. *Look for the market pain points and see what consumers are not getting and create 5-10 ideal consumer persona profiles* -> helps building value proposition and product fit hypothesis.

In my experience, a powerful positioning strategy goes beyond messaging. It's about aligning your product's core value with customer needs and weaving that narrative into every touchpoint. Consider Dove's focus on promoting real beauty standards. By consistently reflecting this positioning across marketing campaigns, product development, and social media engagement, Dove empowers women and builds a loyal customer base. It is imperative to Conduct customer journey mapping to identify key touchpoints. Conduct customer workshops using the Value Proposition Canvas to collaboratively define your product's core value and translate it into a positioning statement that resonates with your target audience.

Here’s how you can effectively leverage positioning to drive success: Begin by thoroughly researching your target market. Identify key customer segments, their needs, and preferences. Understanding your market allows you to tailor your positioning strategy to resonate with the right audience. Study your competitors' positioning and their strengths and weaknesses. This analysis will help you identify gaps in the market that you can exploit and areas where you can differentiate your product. Clearly articulate what makes your product unique and why customers should choose it over competitors.

Positioning is especially important in the hospitality industry. Here are some examples on how some hotels effectively position their product and marketing mix. Luxury positioning emphasise high-end quality and exclusivity, targeting affluent customers seeking premium experiences. Examples of five-star hotels like Four Seasons, Waldorf Astoria or Ritz-Carlton. Value positioning focus on affordability and convenience, appealing to budget-conscious travelers. Examples of budget-friendly hotels like Harris or Ibis budget. While innovation positioning uses cutting-edge technology, modern design, and unique experiences. Examples would be boutique hotels like The Pod Hotel or citizenM. #hotels #hospitality #positioning

It's all about strategic thinking and strategic listening, involving approaches that go beyond conventional thinking. The key is to first understand and love your product, and then to understand your customers needs and aspirations.

Strong positioning strategy for a product or service demands alignment to customer's expressed needs and what they care about. It's often easy to go to the list of all the things we believe to be great about what we have created or offer, but ultimately what your customer cares about needs to be the center of how solid positioning is crafted. Simply put, it's not about you. To do this effectively, it's important to regularly go through customer empathy mapping exercises, have conversations with them to identify pain points in their terms, develop a strong understanding of the competition in the space, and identify the truly unique ways your offering stands apart (reminder: this isn't your list of features).

User journey maps, consumer profile makers and persona builders are some of the great tools to identify most used channel of your ideal consumer which aids in building a robust marketing strategy. There are indeed many free templates and tools available online, such as Semrush for buyer personas. Creating your own interactive tool in Excel can also be a great way to customize the process and track your findings.

Simple rule: if you pitch a completely new product, don't change other variables like channel, geography, marketing-mix, organisation. margin-model, etc. Try one variable first (the new product) and see if it sells.

Eu como especialista de canais de comunicação, tenho em mente que o canal vai diretamente do posicionamento que você deseja abordar e qual o público deseja atingir. Hoje para atingir o público com precisão, anúncios de produtos são o melhor caminho, pois se trata de uma estratégia segmentada para falar com o seu público, regionalmente, etariamente e também nos costumes. O ideal seria fazer uma régua de crm via redes sociais, capturar leads e e-mails e inserir o cliente neste funil de vendas, sem que ele perceba que está sendo convertido para compra. O caminho seria Rede social, via perfil de publico desejado, e-mail e geolocalização, deste modo, aquece os leads e converte o seu publico a consumir seu produto, devido a criação necessidade.

Right selection of channels plays a vital role in leveraging the success of product marketing. As a product marketeer, you need to find out the most active channels for your target audience - whether it's online or offline.

Feedback is a vital tool for personal and organizational growth. It provides the insights needed for continuous improvement, enhances customer and employee satisfaction, informs decision-making, and ensures quality. By fostering a culture that values and acts on feedback, businesses and individuals can achieve greater success and maintain a competitive edge.

Being a brand director of a big brand tought me a few lessons: - continuous tracking is a must -> we collect (brand) data every week (100 responses/week) and analyze them monthly - these days there are online tools that save money and time, almost every company can afford them, i.e. tracking is accessible to anyone, who is willing to put in the effort - campaigns are tracked according to media type (offline, online) and after all data is collected we do PIR (post-implementation review) together with relevant stakeholders (sales, product) to evaluate the results and exchange lessons learned - list of action points/key take-aways are a handy way to keep track of the follow up actions or learnings

Harnessing customer feedback as our North Star, we meticulously gather insights from diverse channels. Employing advanced analytics, we discern nuanced trends and prioritize actionable areas for enhancement. Seamlessly integrating these insights, our agile teams refine both product development and marketing strategies. Transparency reigns as we communicate impactful changes to our valued clientele, fostering trust and loyalty. Our relentless commitment to monitoring performance metrics ensures continuous refinement and optimization, driving us ever closer to excellence. This elite approach not only keeps us ahead but sets the benchmark for industry standards, reaffirming our position as leaders in product marketing mastery.

La retroalimentación en el marketing de productos es vital porque actúa como un sistema de navegación para la empresa, permitiendo ajustes precisos y oportunos en la estrategia de marketing. Recoger y analizar datos de diversas fuentes, como interacciones con clientes y resultados de ventas, proporciona una visión clara de la efectividad de las tácticas actuales. Esta información es invaluable para optimizar el enfoque de marketing, asegurando que la empresa se mantenga dinámica, adaptativa y alineada con las expectativas del mercado. En resumen, la retroalimentación es el pulso que mantiene a la estrategia de marketing viva y resonante con las necesidades cambiantes de los consumidores.

Implement regular surveys, focus groups, and feedback sessions to capture valuable insights. In my experience, creating a structured feedback loop allowed us to pivot quickly and make data-driven decisions. For example, during a product launch, we set up weekly feedback meetings with the sales team to understand customer responses and adjust our strategies accordingly. This approach not only improved our product positioning but also increased customer satisfaction.

Un día escuché una gran frase que me ha ayudado en todos los proyectos que he podido realizar, si la llevas a cabo estoy seguro que te quitarás muchos dolores de cabeza en el futuro y te desarrollará tu parte estratégica y tu parte de detalle. "Un líder debe tener la capacidad de trabajar para que no se tengan problemas y errores en ninguna estrategia y en ningún proyecto. Pero un gran líder debe de saber cambiar inmediatamente cuando ve un riesgo inminente y debe saber que paso dar para que no se repita el riesgo"

When making a big decision, I’ve found a pre-mortem to be useful. Coined by psychologist Gary Klein and popularized by behavioral economist Daniel Kahneman, premortem is a technique that works as follows. Imagine that you’ve made the big decision about a launch or other marketing initiative and executed the plan. Now imagine this was an utter failure and write a brief account of that failure. This exercise can uncover your blind spots and assess risks. It gives team members the freedom to call out concerns in a constructive manner without seeming too pessimistic. Finally, it sensitizes the team to recognize early signs of trouble and reverse the decision if necessary.

Managing risk is integral to my strategic decision-making. When planning product marketing strategies, I identify potential risks and develop contingency plans. Whether it's changes in market trends, new competitors, or shifts in customer behavior, being prepared to pivot and adapt is crucial. My proactive approach to risk management ensures resilience and effective navigation of unexpected situations. By anticipating challenges and having backup plans, I maintain robust strategies and ensure my product continues to thrive despite market fluctuations. This preparation enhances success and mitigates the risk of failure.

Gerenciar riscos é como ter planos B, C e D. Num mercado tão volátil onde diariamente temos novos consumidores entrantes assim como novos fornecedores, ter planos pensados, aceleram uma arremetida de modo que não haja parada da “aeronave”. Saber pilotar novas rotas deve ser parte integrante desde o lançamento inicial.

Risk is inherent in any product release, whether from a startup or a behemoth in the industry. Inviting conversations that are uncomfortable in a productive space can help identify areas of opportunity for the product. An overly positive product and sales culture, one that believes it cannot or will not fail, is often the one most steeped in risky behaviors - and the one most shocked when a major risk develops seemingly overnight. - Build internal challenger boards. Open, safe dialogue spaces to be “devil’s advocate” for or against the product’s future. - Build external feedback loops that are the responsibility of customer service and product support teams. - Prepare a communication plan to navigate through pivots.

Consider who else needs to be involved. You will ultimately want to validate internally and externally to understand if there's adequate investment, market readiness, customer & business value, and system agility to manage any required change.

Make data-driven decisions & optimize your product marketing strategy with - 1. S.M.A.R.T. Success Metrics: >Specific: Clearly define what you want to achieve with your marketing strategy. >Measurable: Metrics should be quantifiable & trackable. >Achievable: Set realistic goals (challenging but attainable). >Relevant: Ensure the metrics align with your overall business objectives. >Time-Bound: Set deadlines. 2. Early Sign Identification: > Do not wait for the entire year to see whether the strategy worked or not. >Identify early signs of success and assign measurable metrics to it > Monitor in every 3-4 weeks or customize it as per your product roadmap.

Few things are more strategic than critical portfolio decisions. The product managers are in a position to influence in that area (if you are in product management and you don’t influence portfolio decisions directly or indirectly, think if your role and responsibilities are well defined) With that said, consider this broadly. Strategy contributions go beyond innovative products aiming to be the next start. The right life cycle management decisions for your cows are essential strategic decisions. As well as being diligent retiring the dogs in your portfolio! Innovation and transformation are the fancy parts of strategy, but don’t get blinded by them! Initiatives to keep a healthy core portfolio are key for the company sustainable growth.

- Utilize market research, customer feedback, and performance metrics to gather actionable insights. This data-driven approach helps in identifying trends, understanding customer needs, and making informed decisions. - Involve cross-functional teams from sales, customer service, and product development in the decision-making process. Collaborative planning ensures diverse perspectives, aligns goals across departments, and creates well-rounded strategies.

Just an example how to put it all together here in the Philippines: Imagine you're marketing a fitness app. Filipinos are known to be health-conscious but may be price-conscious too. You could: - Partner with Filipino fitness YouTubers to review your app. - Offer a free trial period with affordable subscription options. - Develop workout routines specifically designed for Filipino preferences (e.g., incorporating home-based exercises or routines suitable for the hot climate). - Use Filipino in your app interface and marketing materials.