Piv? Product Marketing

PMMs don’t fail because they’re bad at their jobs. They fail because they’re stuck in the wrong quadrant. I’ve seen it over and over. Workhorse PMMs who execute flawlessly but don’t have influence, getting let go in tech layoffs… While the yappers, the ones who talk a big game but don’t deliver, somehow survive. ????♀? We can’t afford to be just one or the other. ? Influence without execution fades. ? Execution without influence keeps us stuck in support mode. IMO to be a high-impact PMM we need both. But too many PMMs get stuck in one of these traps: ?? The yapper PMM They’ve got leadership’s ear but struggle to follow through. Big ideas, strong opinions, but execution gaps mean their influence fades fast. ?? The ghost PMM These PMMs feel the most invisible. No influence, no execution power. Always blocked, overlooked, and struggling to prove their value. ?? The workhorse PMM The go-to for execution but never part of strategic conversations. They get stuff done but have no seat at the table, stuck reacting instead of leading. The trick is to aim for a balance: ? The ideal PMM Drives impact, shapes decisions, and executes effectively. Leadership trusts them, cross-functional teams rely on them, and they’re seen as strategic partners. Here are some prompting questions to think about if you don't quite feel like you're in the ideal PMM quadrant: 1. If I left my company today, what would they lose? 2. Am I influencing decisions, or just executing tasks? 3. Do cross-functional teams seek out my input, or do I have to fight to be included? Which quadrant do you think most PMMs are stuck in? My guess would be the workhorse PMM. Comment your guess below. ?? #productmarketing #productmarketer #pmm

There are many organizations out there that are still unsure as to what Product Marketing does...or is meant to do. Ultimately being pigeon-holed into marketing quite often. Richard King breaks it down and we want to share it with you???? ............... Need a partner to help you get started with your own product marketing function? Drop us a DM and let's talk! #pmm #startups #uaetech #sauditech

Do battlecards actually matter? Yes and not exactly. “I’ve booked a meeting with the CISO in 2 days, after trying to get him for weeks. He’s the final decision maker for the biggest deal of the quarter and we just learned he wants to go with Competitor X. I need a battlecard showing why we are better than them.” This scenario or some variant has happened to me numerous times in my career. For the sake of the business, sometimes it is unavoidable that Product and Product Marketing need to drop whatever we are doing and provide the intel needed by Sales. So do we need to create a battlecard? Function matters over form. It’s essential to do the research on Competitor X and arm the salesperson with credible intel for explaining why we are better than the competitor. But many times the intel can consist of 3-5 bullets that act as “kill shots” to turn the situation around, along with a set of “land mines” or topics to be avoided in conversation because the competitor is stronger. Make sure your intel is externally facing! Don’t make it overly complex or share sensitive information. You want the sales person to absorb what you wrote but don’t make it hard for them to interpret it for the customer. Assume whatever you share may be copied and pasted and sent to the customer directly. It can be time consuming to create a full nicely formatted battlecard describing the company’s history, products and services, competitive matrix, etc. These are all nice to haves. It’s a better investment to focus your time and energy on identifying credible intel that is up to date. That’s a key point - most battlecards go out of date within 3-6 months because companies are constantly releasing new features. Outdated battlecards can hurt Sales’s credibility if Sales claims something from a battlecard to a customer that is no longer true. Doing effective competitive research is hard. I’ve talked about public and non-public data sources in past posts, and I have a number of future posts planned for related topics. If you find yourself needing to create battlecards, keep the layout extremely simple to minimize time. If possible, look for ways to automate layout generation. (We are actually working on this very feature!) And here is a short guide on creating battlecards:

Unpopular opinion: some product marketing teams are building for 2020, not 2025. ?? In a world where AI writes copy & features get cloned overnight... the old playbook is dead. Here are 6 shifts that will separate winning PMMs from the pack: ?? Intelligence + Human Touch AI isn't replacing product marketers - it's augmenting them. The winners will blend data-driven insights with human creativity and intuition. ?? Owned Over Rented Smart PMMs are building their own media channels and communities instead of relying solely on rented platforms. Newsletters and owned spaces are becoming the backbone of sustainable growth. ?? Video-First Revolution Short-form demos, interactive experiences, and AR product showcases are replacing traditional marketing collateral. Visual storytelling isn't just nice-to-have - it's becoming a core PMM competency. ?? Brand as Differentiator In an era where features can be replicated overnight, brand is taking center stage. The focus is shifting from building awareness to building belief. ?? Breaking Down Silos GTM is evolving beyond functional handoffs. The walls between product, marketing, and sales are dissolving as companies realize growth requires unity, not separation. ?? IRL > URL As digital channels get noisier, physical experiences are becoming premium touch points. In-person events and customer advisory boards are emerging as key strategic advantages. Agree? Disagree? What changes are you seeing?

Product marketing is the most important function of marketing. (even if you don't have an in-house PMM) - Messaging - Positioning - Buyer Personas - Pricing Strategy - Market Research - Sales Enablement - Competitive Analysis - Product Launch Planning - Cross-functional Collaboration - Value Proposition Development - Product Adoption and Retention - Customer Feedback and Insights If the above isn't dialed in, there's no way anything else in marketing works properly. When the marketing isn't working, it's usually cause the product marketing is off. And when the product marketing is off, it's usually cause of an issue with the product and/or leadership.

Spoken like a true legend! Despite the product #marketing function making strides within organizations, it's still greatly misunderstood. Some great #insights by Maja Voje on the key components of the #productmarketing function. There's usually a lot to juggle at once, from strategy planning, research to initiative deployment. That's why Piv? was created, where you get a 'white-glove' experience depending on your PM needs. DM us for more on how we can work together ???? #startups #tech #smb

What’s keeping founders up at night? 76% of founders are most concerned about go-to-market execution. GTM continues to weigh on founders and this share has increased every year since 2021. This is one of the brilliant insights from the 2024 SaaS Benchmarks Report by Kyle Poyar and the team, which was published today. My key takeaway: GTM strategy is as important as ever. My mission to help more companies cross the chasm and find at least one scalable and predictable way to find customers (= GTM Motion) continues in 2025. Remember:? - Go-to-Market Strategy > Marketing & Sales (there are more elements to consider: market, target customer, product positioning and pricing)?? - Go-to-Market Strategy > Launch (if the launch is “one moment in time, your go-to-market stage is a journey of 3-18 months in which you should find your GTM Motion). My other favorite insights from Kyle’s report:? - Good vs. great SaaS metrics sheet (excellent benchmarks!)?? - Emerging signs of market stabilization (after several years of volatility, public SaaS company growth and retention rates have stabilized) - AI-native & vertical SaaS is outperforming horizontal SaaS - AI pricing is in the experimentation phase - Gross revenue retention improved year-over-year - The majority of founders exercise 3+ days per week Unlock more insights by downloading the report yourself (56 slides). It is free and so useful for your 2025 planning, strategic perspective and all the cool presentations and content pieces you are making. What were your key takeaways?? Do you have some different observations? Let’s discuss.

100% #startups #productmarketing #marketing

Struggling to get through to the people who really matter? Your marketing campaigns can be planned and executed perfectly, but without defining your target buyer personas and tailoring your messaging, you could be missing out on the results you're looking for. We've broken down the steps to building detailed buyer personas through intent data, and mapping buyer journeys so you can have a more refined and sophisticated approach to them. The result? Content that resonates with key decision makers, higher engagement and increased conversion. Read our latest blog to discover more: https://lnkd.in/eYwVYNHt

Words of wisdom by Richard King! #startups #pmm #UAEstartup #Gulfstartup