What are the key skills and tools for product marketing in the digital age?

What's not mentioned here is understanding your *product* as well. It's great to understand your audience's needs, but you also need to be the expert on the capabilities of your offering. In some Sales & Marketing settings, you need to be the most "technical" or product-savvy person in the room -- and in some R&D conversations, you need to represent empathy for the user and their needs. It's a hybrid role. In the words of Google's PMM teams: "Know the user. Know the magic. Connect the two"

In today's digital era, being a pro at product marketing is more about understanding people than using fancy marketing tricks. It's all about getting into the minds of your customers. Where do they hang out? What do they like or dislike? How do they think? Once you've got the lowdown on your target audience, you can use any marketing skills in your toolkit to sell your product like a champ. So, basically, knowing what makes your customers tick is the secret sauce to rocking it in the digital marketing game.

Product marketing in today's digital world is a blend of art and science. It's about truly understanding your audience, which means diving deep into data analytics and empathizing with their problems. But numbers alone don't cut it... you've got to tell a captivating story that resonates. Tools like HubSpot help automate, but the magic is in the message. SEO ensures your product gets seen, but genuine engagement comes from authentic narratives. Connection people, it's all about the CONNECTION. The world's flashy enough, with AI more than ever, and we've stopped really engaging with our prospects. Wrapping up, the digital realm is always shifting - staying curious and adaptable is the name of the game! ?? #DigitalMarketing #StayCurious

I think the magic is about that “AHA” moment to put in the message or headline of an ad, when consumers realize how the product can make a change in their life. And that can come from consumer insight or by really knowing the product, so you can convey this top benefit, which consumers would maybe never thought about before.

Storytelling: Crafting compelling narratives to resonate with target audiences. Customer Empathy: Understanding customer needs, pain points, and motivations. Cross-Functional Collaboration: Working effectively with teams like product, sales, and creative. Tools: Marketing Automation Platforms (e.g., Marketo, Pardot): Streamlining and optimizing marketing processes. Analytics Tools (e.g., Google Analytics, Mixpanel): Measuring campaign performance and customer behavior. Content Management Systems (e.g., WordPress, Drupal): Creating and managing digital content. Social Media Management Tools (e.g., Hootsuite, Sprout Social): Managing social media presence and engagement.

Creating 1 strategic message for all teams and channels to anchor on can create a consistent story for your audience. Often times, we're told that we need to align our message, channel, and audience but that can leave variances in the story. So the first step I take in leading a GTM team is to ensure we're all clear on the single strategic message that will inform the messaging across channels.

While I appreciate the need to understand your product and position it well within your market, oftentimes I find that companies focus way too much on their own company and product – even if it's communicating value propositions and benefits over features. This is the equivalent of a "company selfie". In a crowded market, no one cares about your company –?they care about the pain points that you can help fix for them. Thus, I'm a big believer in buyer journey decision frameworks. The key is to understand what messages are required for a prospect at that person's particular stage of the buying process to bring them to the next stage. I've written more about it here - https://www.revoptica.com/blog//how-to-develop-a-buyer-journey-framework

100% facts. Telling the story of the "why", "How" and truly being able to give the consumer the perspective of the need is the opportunity for brands to be able to be a part of the consumers lives. This is true in focusing in key channels as you tell your story.

You need to reduce the mental distance between the customer and your product or service. When they are using your offerings, where are they? Is there someone else with them while they use it? How are they using it? What were they doing before and after making use of what you provide? You want to paint this picture as clearly as possible so the customer isn’t filling in the gaps with their imagination more than they have to.

One thing I would like to highlight is the role of conducting thorough market research on product fitment(in case of a new launch) and identifying its relevance for the audiences it intends to target(relevant for an existing product as well). As a marketer - you are the custodian of the budget and also responsible for the success of the product and its adoption. There's a huge potential in the research data to lead your way in the right direction, if done correctly.

The question I'll ask is: What is the consumer journey look like? Are you planning 6 months, 12 months or 18 months ahead? As you plan out the GTM/Consumer Journey, this gives you within brand the opportunity to cross collaborate with each function in making sure you all are connected, agree upon your promotions, launch events, etc....I call it the Category Alignment meeting (CAM)

You win or lose based on your ability to reach your audience where you won’t be ad-blocked, scrolled past, spam-filed, filtered, and otherwise ignored or bypassed. Ideally, your product is embedded as organically as possible into the content your target customer wants to consume (why influencer marketing has succeeded).

KPI is such an ambiguous direction for many brands. Please note: that the traditional KPI's are still important such as Margins, AOV, Traffic, Conversion Rates, Revenue, EBITA, Sales, etc...but I'll ask another question. Dependent on the brand - what is truly important? Brand recognition? How do you measure cool? This will really depend on you as the brand.

Product marketing in the digital age emphasizes content-based strategies. Consumers seek valuable content over traditional ads, building trust and brand recognition. Understanding customer journeys through omnichannel approaches ensures a seamless experience, optimizing content for different stages. Measuring ROI is easier with online analytics and attribution modeling. In summary, digital-age product marketing focuses on content, customer journeys, and ROI, adapting to changing consumer behaviors for success.

One key thing not mentioned is that a PMM has to be an expert collaborator. Why? Because the PMM doesn't do anything alone. He must work across functions and organizations to successfully drive the desired outcome. This means he must clearly define the goals, he must know how use his influence to partner and work cross-functionally, he must be able to manage extended teams without direct authority, he must understand the other teams and their deliverables, and he must project manage all the various parallel work streams that come together to ensure product marketing success. Product marketing is effectively an overlay to many other functions, so being able to collaborate is a key requirement to ensure product marketing success.

In addition to the mentioned skills and tools, effective product marketing in the digital age also involves understanding consumer behavior, storytelling, content creation, A/B testing, and staying updated on emerging technologies. Building a strong online presence, leveraging influencers, and optimizing for mobile experiences are also critical factors.

Regardless of product marketing technology, strategy, and or execution the number one consideration never changes… empathy regarding the client. Understanding and aligning with client needs, and problem solving needs to be the number one factor for any product or solution marketing activities.

I would also add that finding where you target audience lives online is key! I knew a business who struggled showcasing her product out through Facebook and Instagram lives. Her marketing was strategic, and consistent but not hitting her correct audience. A switch to YouTube with the same messaging, same product gained her a million views in under 4 months. Find your audience, be consistent, and have a plan!