ProductMarketing.com

Some Thoughts on Roles and Responsibilities — On Product Management

To be honest, I’ve struggled with roles, responsibilities and differentiation. I often think we fixate on titles and ownership versus roles and action. In The Strategic Role of Product Management, Steve Johnson states; “Titles are meaningless; actions are meaningful.”

via onproductmanagement.net

Ah, I love being quoted! Holland offers a new look at roles and responsibilities plus a quick tool to help you align activities with titles.

My son is almost famous!

Lift Off into space and navigate your rocket through dangerous obstacles along the way. Create a path of destruction as you shoot through dust, ice, space junk, and an unknown substance called deathonium.

via itunes.apple.com

The (free) Lift Off app features music written and produced at my son's recording studio at www.alpinered.com

(The album is also great!)

It's an interesting approach for promoting a new album, don't you think?

Posted via email from Steve Johnson on product management

Two Secrets to writing copy for today's customers | Revenue Journal

It can't be any of these things, though, if you don't know who you are writing to. Guessing who that person is just doesn't work. They can see your big fat assumptions about them from a mile away. They know that you are actually clueless about what really matters to them. So they ignore you.

via revenuejournal.com

If you're writing to someone you don't know, you're wasting your time. Whether writing about products you want to build or products that you have built, product managers and product marketing managers need personal knowledge of their buyer & user personas.

Posted via email from Steve Johnson on product management

On Thought Leadership

I'm often asked: "How do you get started with thought leadership?"

Thought leadership is my favorite marketing activity. However, thought leadership is not the result of random "thoughts" but of informed commentary. Yet I fear that many execs and marketers advocate "deep thoughts" in isolation.

To be a thought leader, you should analyze data and reveal how the data can be used to help make decisions. Informed opinion based on and supported by research. That's thought leadership!

My daughter has started a company focused on home schooling. She's interviewing a new person each week and getting incredible insights but she's also reading published research--like the just-published US census data --and adapting the information to help her customers. "You are not alone; 3 million children in the USA are being home schooled."

My friend Alan is gathering loads of information about why vendors really win and lose deals. He's so busy doing win/loss analysis for buyers that he hasn't yet had time to write articles or ebooks. Yet. But he will. Wouldn't you love to know how often price is truly an issue? And how often the customer cares about the "sales relationship?" So far it appears that sales people rarely know the real reasons people do and do not buy.

How can you exhibit your thought leadership? Blogs and ebooks are obvious choices but you don't have to start there. Build a list of your favorite blogs (using something like Google Reader) and add commentary on posts that speak to you. Start reading and participating in discussion forums such as those on LinkedIn and Quora. Monitor Twitter and retweet the items you find interesting.

If you want to start a blog, check out Posterous. It's easy to setup and use, so you can focus on what you want to say instead of how to format it. Many ebooks are really a collection of strong blog posts so you'll want to tag your posts by category. My series of four or five blog posts on pricing might make a good article or ebook.

The key is this. Thought leadership requires informed opinion supported by research. It's also a community activity. Find a community, participate in it, add your thoughts. Agree (or disagree) and explain why. As you find your voice, more formal methods such as blogs and ebooks will become obvious.

Video Thursday: If ad agencies planned kids' birthday parties

This is an excellent example of using video to spread your marketing message. A little tongue-in-cheek and fairly humorous. Obviously, the ad firm doesn't take themselves too seriously. Nice.

Posted via email from Steve Johnson on product management

Photos as Web Content (Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox)

Our eyetracking studies have documented a dramatic gap in how users approach website images:

• Some types of pictures are completely ignored. This is typically the case for big feel-good images that are purely decorative.
• Other types of pictures are treated as important content and scrutinized. Photos of products and real people (as opposed to stock photos of models) often fall into this category.

via useit.com

Jakob Nielsen makes a strong case for removing and never again using stock photos. The generic multi-cultural group looking admiringly at a laptop screen isn't just bad marketing, this type of art is actively ignored.

Want someone to scrutinize your content? Surround it with meaningful photos of real people and products. The generic stuff just doesn't work.

(Take a look at your web site. You may need to forward this to your own marketing team.)

Please don't contact us

Your website is a great way of getting product information to your clients. Or is it? How much does your website generate awareness and product visibility? How easy is it to find relevant information?

Suppose a blogger or journalist wanted to write about your product or service. Could they?

In his new ebook, Real-Time: How Marketing & PR at Speed Drives Measurable Success, David Meerman Scott attempted to contact the Fortune 100 and here's what he found:

• Only 26 of the Fortune 100 have an email address for general media inquiries.
• 10 offered only phone numbers.
• 1 offered only a "contact us" form.
• And when contacted, only 28 responded in any way.

Product marketing managers and marketing professionals spend time and money on programs to generate awareness and leads. But why bother? It seems that only 28% actually want to hear from customers.

Many companies are still living in a one-way world. They promote; you buy. But for today's buyers, there are multiple steps between awareness and contract. A typical buyer wants to learn more about your company. They check Facebook and Twitter and blogs long before they engage with a sales person.

What is the social networking world saying about you and your product? If you're not there, someone else is leading the conversation.

What's the ROI on social media? Learn more in Real-Time: How Marketing & PR at Speed Drives Measurable Success

 

Aligning strategy to execution

Marketers have always struggled to connect programs with a measurable result, particularly return on investment (ROI).

http://socialmediatoday.com/jeremy-victor/177723/where-world-b2b-social-media-roi

Perhaps it's hard to calculate the value of social media because of company restrictions.

http://dilbert.com/2010-09-13/

And perhaps it's hard to align programs with strategy since it's sometimes hard to know what your strategy actually is! The goals of "Grow revenues by 20%" and "Be #1" don't really tell you anything meaningful. 

How are you aligning strategy and execution? 

For help in aligning product management with strategy, see http://www.pragmaticmarketing.com/seminars/pragmatic-roadmapping

For help in aligning product marketing with strategy, see http://www.pragmaticmarketing.com/seminars/effective-product-marketing

Posted via email from Steve Johnson on product management

Launch Clinic: Habitats of the Product Marketing Manager

Those with the job title of ‘Product Marketing Manager’ live in a variety of organizational habitats. There are four that I see as recurring themes, each with its own challenges and opportunities. If you were to get a product marketing manager from one of each of these habitats to sit down and discuss their roles, they’d be amazed at how different they really are (even when their job descriptions are remarkably similar).

via launchclinic.com

Titles are a mess. My pal David has identified 4 different roles for those with the title of product marketing manager. I've been at least three of them.

Posted via email from Steve Johnson on product management

For your next launch meeting

Need help with your next launch? Check out http://pragmaticmarketing.typepad.com/launchclinic/ and http://www.pragmaticmarketing.com/seminars/product-launch-essentials

Posted via email from Steve Johnson on product management

Please Stop Generic Enterprise Marketing!

In my mind, product marketing should be called market producting. That would in one stroke fix most of the issues in B2B marketing, most of which stems from the thought that we are taking a product and marketing it, rather then finding a market and building a product for it.

via testdrivenmarketing.com

Nick has nailed the essence of outside-in marketing: start with the market and then select the product. (Or perhaps build a market; find a product for it.)

I'll be adding his blog to my reader.

Posted via email from Steve Johnson on product management

More on Switch

Want people to switch from <old product> to <your product>? Create a strategy that encompasses development, marketing, sales, and implementation. 

This Tivo banner ad is great but it fails to solve the fundamental problem with TiVo: implementation. In my experience, TiVo is better than anything the cable companies offer but it is (or appears to be) harder to implement. Call the cable folks, convince them that you know that they offer TiVo functionality in their junk DVR, beg them for a cablecard (they're required by law to provide it), wait a bunch, explain it all again to someone else, and then install it all yourself. 

Or, call the cable company, say "yes I want a DVR" and they'll send you a ready-to-use system. Gad, that is easy.

Yes, TiVo is better but you gotta work for it.

Posted via email from Steve Johnson on product management

Move from TypePad to Posterous

Since we've launched new tools to switch to Posterous, they have been very vocal in their demands to be next.  We're responding today by allowing all TypePad users, regardless of subscription level, to move their blogs and comments to Posterous using our new switching tools.  

via blog.posterous.com

The SWITCH campaign continues. Posterous started by switching from the freebie sites and now they're gunning for Typepad. Is Wordpress next?

What are you doing to help your customers get off and on to your ?

Posted via email from Steve Johnson on product management

Alas, another white paper I won't read

The white paper sounded really interesting but I'll never know. When I reached the download page:

This isn't "tell us who you are." This is "how many ways can we spam you?"

Posted via email from Steve Johnson on product management

37signals Draft for iPad: Simple sketching and sharing

Draft is a straightforward sketch app for iPad.

via 37signals.com

Can you communicate your product idea in fewer than 10 words? Check out this "demo." If only all product messages were so clear. And remember, easy to use is easy to say. Here, a series of pictures makes the point. In this case, you want it or you don't. End of discussion.

Posted via email from Steve Johnson on product management

How much is a good logo worth?

Here's a surprising public spectacle...

Foliovision.com writes:

In January we helped Mark Levison's Agile Pain Relife [sic] consulting make a very successful Typepad to Wordpress transition. Behind the scenes there is a very interesting design case study, we'd like to share.

and later:

Alas, homemade logos are often not as effective at presenting one's brand as a designer version.

Interesting strategy: scorning your customer on your blog. Personally, I think most logos are a waste of money and I'm not too impressed with the work shown here but come on! Scorning your client in public is just wrong. Here's what the client has to say:

Imagine my surprise when I noticed a blog post that mentioned me by name, discussed my business choices and denigrated my own logo. I contacted folivision to raise my concerns but they were dismissed. I would quote Alec’s remarks to me in private, but that would violate my promise above. Suffice it to say I can no longer recommend foliovision since you don’t know whether they will treat your discussions with any confidentiality.

How much is a good logo worth? I dunno. $0.00?

Posted via web from Steve Johnson on product management

Selling vs. Buying

April comments via rocketwatcher.com:

The categories of marketing we’ve used traditionally have been very focused on “selling”.  The big 4 marketing groups-Branding, PR, Communications, and Product Marketing, reflect this inside-out, sales-oriented thinking.  Even at startups traditionally “marketing” has meant communications.  PR was outsourced to an agency and product marketing was assigned to product management where it was generally ignored.  Helping customers buy has not been a major focus for marketing.

Jon adds via spatially relevant:

Sometimes we should be asking why things work, why things don’t work and in general why our buyers are even in the market to better address the needs of the buyer to better position offers and promotions which are actually compelling/valuable.

The "new" marketing discussion is this: instead of trying to sell, let's help people buy. After all, today's customer often know more about the products than the sales people. They need help to configure the right solution.

Buyers don't need to be sold; they need help buying.

Posted via web from Steve Johnson on product management

Friday fun: Gmail Paper

I've always felt uneasy about the whole internet thing. With the help of Gmail Paper, now I'm taking matters back into my own hands, literally.

via mail.google.com

Even when they make a joke, they do it up right. Classy. Google's funny pages (this from 2007) are better executed than many firm's home pages.

Posted via web from Steve Johnson on product management

iPad plus Velcro !!!

iPad + Velcro from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

Posted via email from Steve Johnson on product management

Market messages

I was looking through my inbox earlier, and found several emails from people, who have been hounding me for business.  Not only have they been emailing me too frequently, but the tone of their emails is all about them, them, them.  Here’s what I keep seeing, various people marketing AT me.

via jimsmarketingblog.com

Jim makes a great point. Are your messages about YOUR features or the buyer's PROBLEMS? Are you so busy selling that pushing people away?

Posted via web from Steve Johnson on product management