The Difference Between Product Management and Product Marketing

In the world of Product, the lines between product management and product marketing can often blur, leaving some confused about who does what. For a product to be successful, both are necessary. But is this one person or two? Is it one department or two? If two, where do they sit and to whom do they answer? The answers to those questions will depend on the organization from which the product originates. There is no one model that works everywhere. With that understanding, lets explore the roles of product management and product marketing.

In a nutshell, product marketing managers are masters of promoting existing products and strategizing for upcoming product launches. Conversely, product managers spearhead the conception and delivery of new products and product enhancements, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and market demands.

Along the product life cycle, product management’s responsibility goes the full distance, from before conception to retirement of the product. Product marketing’s responsibility begins just before the product enters the customers’ hands and carries on through end of life. Product marketing also informs product management with market insights that help them conceive and prioritize new product development initiatives.

Product management focuses on the development and life cycle management of a product, including defining the product vision, gathering and prioritizing requirements, and working closely with engineering teams to build the product and make it available to customers. Product management also involves tasks like roadmap planning, feature prioritization and user research.

Product marketing focuses on creating messaging and positioning strategies for products and developing go-to-market plans to ensure the product's success in the market. Product marketing also involves activities such as market research, competitive analysis, pricing strategy, and sales enablement.

Both product management and product marketing are ultimately aimed at satisfying customer needs and solving their problems. They both require a deep understanding of the market, customer pain points, preferences, and behaviors.

While it's possible for one person to handle both product management and product marketing responsibilities, larger or more complex products will likely require more than one person to cover everything that’s needed to successfully build and grow a product. Smaller organizations may need one person who has the ability to handle both roles, but depending on how much product development activity is happening with the product, companies should strive to have the product supported by at least a product manager and a product marketer.

Product marketing and product management are akin to siblings with overlapping traits but unique purposes. If a product manager is also covering the role of product marketing, he or she needs to be mindful of balancing time between the roles as the product development process frequently becomes a vortex into which all of the product manager’s time is pulled. It does little good to create great products if the target market isn’t made aware of their existence or value.

Product management and product marketing represent symbiotic entities within an organization's ecosystem. While their scopes may diverge, their synergy is indispensable for shepherding products from ideation to market prominence.

If you’re in Orange County, CA and would like to join a discussion about the role of product management and how it relates to other roles in your company, OC Product Managers will be hosting a free Peer Solution Workshop at Centercode in Laguna Hills on Wednesday, April 24. Visit ocproductmanagers.org to learn more and register.

If your company is struggling to define roles relating to building, growing and managing products, leave me a note in the chat below or visit Align Product Strategies so we can explore whether we can provide some clarity and direction.

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See also:

The Difference Between Product Management and Project Management

The Difference Between Product Manager and Product Owner