Product marketing is the process of promoting and selling a product to an audience. When compared to product management, product marketing deals with more outbound marketing or customer-facing tasks. If you are considering a career in product marketing, this session will give you a good idea of what you're getting yourself into and how you can be a success in your role.
About Carole Gunst and Rodan Zadeh
Carole Gunst is Marketing Director at Attunity, a data management software company. She is a Boston-based marketer who has handled product marketing for technology companies ranging in size from boot-strapped ventures to major corporations.
Rodan Zadeh is Strategy and Marketing Leader
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So, You Want to be a Product Marketer? Here's How (ProductCamp Boston 2016)
1. SO, YOU WANT TO BE A
PRODUCT MARKETER?
HERE'S HOW.
Carole Gunst & Rodan Zadeh for
ProductCamp
2. Carole Gunst, Product Marketer
Education:
B.A., Journalism
M.A., Marketing
Career Path:
Started as a marketing assistant
Volunteered for every assignment possible
Got my own product and took it through a few
lifecycles
Took on more responsibility and people
management
Changed companies a few times
Am now a marketing director at a software company
3. Rodan Zadeh, Tech Marketer
Education:
B.S., Electrical Engineering and IT
M.S., Technology (from MIT!)
Career Path:
Worked in product marketing at Lucent
Worked in product marketing and services
marketing at EMC
Worked in product marketing at Attunity
4. What does product marketing
do?
Performs market research to gain insight
into customers, the marketplace and the
competition
Develops messaging and positioning for
products
Runs marketing programs that drive demand
Enables sales to sell the product
Evangelizes the product to analysts, press,
industry experts, partners, and prospects
5. What are the requirements?
Bachelor’s in business or marketing
Strong written communication skills
Willingness to travel
People skills to interact with staff, colleagues
and cross-functional teams, and third parties
Presentation experience
Understanding of the product
6. Product Marketing v. Management
Outward facing
Aligns messaging with
market demands
Delivers value
props/messaging to
sales, marketing and
support teams
Closely aligned with
sales and product
management
Inward facing
Aligns product
requirements with
market demands
Delivers technical
aspects of the product to
product marketing
Closely aligned with
development team and
product marketing
Product Marketing Product Management
7. Product Marketing v. Sales
Aligns products and
messaging with market
demands
Delivers value
props/messaging to
sales, marketing and
support teams
Closely aligned with
sales and product
management
Sell what “is on the
truck”
Develops close
relationships with
customers
Overcomes objections
Negotiates pricing
Closely aligned with
product marketing and
channel
Product Marketing Sales
9. How do you become one?
Research job descriptions to figure out the
education and experience requirements
Find people who already are product
marketers and look at their education,
experience and career
Network with product marketing managers at
your office, industry events or through friends.
Ask for advice or mentoring
10. Carole Gunst
Carole “at” Gunst.com
@cgunst
Rodan Zadeh
RodanZ “at” Gmail.com
@rodanz
Any questions? Let us know.
Notes de l'éditeur
A product marketer is responsible for the outbound marketing activities for product(s) as opposed to a product manager who focuses more on inbound marketing activities.
The division of responsibilities between product marketing and product management is going to vary by company, but this is a typical breakdown.
The division of responsibilities between product marketing and sales is going to vary by company, but this is a typical breakdown.
According to Glassdoor.com, the average product marketing salary is around $110K with Boston offering just under the national average.