Product Marketing Vs Product Management

Have you ever been in a conversation with someone and they say something that makes perfect sense, but you can't remember what it was five minutes later? That's exactly what happens when you try to explain the difference between Product Marketing and Product Management to someone.

 

This is not their fault. There's a reason why the distinction between those two activities isn't as obvious as it should be. Because they both suggest similar things, it's not surprising that many businesses simply combine the two and call it a day. 

 

And it's easy to see why: they both require a thorough understanding of the product as well as the ability to conduct market research. In this blog we will understand how Product Marketing differs from Product Management. 

 

 

Product Management and Product Marketing
 

Product Management

 

Product management is an organizational function that directs every stage of a product's lifecycle, from development to positioning and pricing, by focusing first and foremost on the product and its customers. 

 

Product managers advocate for customers within the organization and ensure the market's voice is heard and heeded in order to build the best possible product.

 

The product management role is concerned with current and future products. They are planning a product launch with the product marketing role, or they are researching to see what the future holds. Let's draw a rectangle around the second and third circles. That is a significant area of responsibility for the product management role.

 

Product Marketing

 

Product marketing is responsible for getting products to market and keeping them there. Product marketers are the customer's overarching voices, messaging masterminds, sales enablers, and adoption accelerators. PMMs are in charge of a variety of deliverables and play an important role in the product life cycle.

 

They're the brains behind making product features appeal to the senses, whether through email marketing, webinars, or other marketing functions, and are some of the world's most accomplished plate spinners, playing a critical role in ensuring products appease the company's target customer.

 

Product marketing managers are concentrating their efforts today. They work to meet the business objectives for current products. They also plan and carry out the next product's go-to-market strategy (or new versions of existing products).

 

Product Manager and Product Marketing Manager

 

Who is a Product Manager?

 

A product manager is in charge of the entire product. A product manager's responsibilities often include owning the product's strategy, developing and maintaining the product roadmap, and communicating the roadmap to the development team to ensure the product is built as planned.

 

The Challenges of the Product Manager's Role:

 

• Communication with a wide range of stakeholders, including business, user, and technical stakeholders 

 

• Understanding how to select user feedback in order to avoid becoming a "waiter" and diluting the product vision: This is the 'build trap' (a book by Melissa Perri) into which poor product vision PMs frequently fall – they simply don't know what they want to build.

 

• Understanding technical terminology and requirements, as well as the technical limitations of the technology used in products

 

• Excellent organizational and communication abilities, as well as the ability to work under pressure.

 

Who is a Product Marketing Manager?

 

The primary responsibility of a product marketing manager is to communicate the value of the product to the market. The responsibilities of a product marketing manager may include training the sales force on how to sell the product, creating marketing materials that communicate product features, and developing marketing campaigns and tools to attract new prospects and customers.

 

Of course, this is in a fictitious company where these roles are clearly defined and do not overlap in any way. But you don't work for a fictitious company and never will.

 

The Challenges of the Product Marketer's Role :

 

• It is still necessary to be quite technical in order to use, for example, product analytics tools to understand why certain features are not widely adopted.

 

• PMs must write short and snappy copy for users in-app, and writing UX microcopy is a significant challenge.

 

• It is integral to keep in mind what product experiences would encourage users to use feature X more frequently?

 

• Complete product knowledge

 

• They must be analytical and goal-oriented, as their role will be highly performance-oriented: Improve product usage metrics, for example: increase new user activation by 20% in three months.

 

Also Read | What is Service Marketing?

 

Should Product Managers and Product Marketing Managers be the same?

 

If these two roles are so complementary, you might wonder if they can be performed by the same person. It is possible you can find a superhuman who does not require sleep. However, we don't recommend it.

 

The titles Product Manager and Product Marketing Manager appear to be synonymous, even though they each serve distinct roles in the product development and sales processes. More specifically, each of these roles necessitates a substantial workload.

 

If one person attempted to perform the duties of both a product manager and a product marketing manager at the same time, the following would be just a sample of that person's workload:

 

• Compiling all market data

 

• Creating detailed user, customer, and buyer personas

 

• Creating product pricing structures and strategies

 

• Developing and overseeing the product roadmap

 

• Keeping track of the product backlog

 

• Taking into account all internal and external stakeholder feedback on features and priorities.

 

• Conducting win/loss analysis

 

• Competitive research

 

• Customer surveys must be implemented and then analyzed.

 

• Managing the development of sales and marketing tools

 

• In collaboration with the public relations team (or an outside firm)

 

• Collaboration with a public relations firm.

 

• Create and deliver sales and support training

 

In most cases, taking on both roles would simply be too much work. And, because a PM/PMM role would represent an excessive workload, some of the tasks listed above — all of which are critical to the product's success — would go uncompleted.

 

Also Read | Product Market Fit

 

 

Difference between Product Marketing and Product Management

 

Product managers and product marketers differ in terms of the following points :

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Product Manager vs Product Marketing Manager

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1. Product management is concerned with understanding customer needs and then using that knowledge to define and deliver products. A product manager understands the market, who their customers are, and how their product can meet those needs. 

 

Product marketing is concerned with defining the product's positioning and value in order to ensure that it meets the needs of target customers, business goals, and main objectives.

 

2. Product marketers collaborate with the product team to define and deliver a value proposition that meets the user's needs. 

 

They collaborate closely with sales and support to better understand user requirements and how the product can meet those requirements.Product marketing also focuses on creating market demand, messaging, and positioning to aid in adoption. 

 

Working closely with the product team, a product manager establishes the vision for what is built. They have complete control over what is built when it is released, and how their backlog of work is prioritized.

 

Product managers are also in charge of creating and managing the roadmap, collaborating with stakeholders to understand business needs and requirements, gathering customer feedback, and ensuring that everything is prioritized based on customer needs.

 

Also Read | Minimum Viable Product

 

 

Product Marketing Manager Vs Product Manager

 

Both positions conduct market research, create plans, collaborate with multiple departments, and deliver on the product vision. Both use similar tools, such as personas, stories, and journey maps. So, what's the distinction between the roles?

 

Product Marketing Manager

 

A product marketing manager comprehends the market and applies that knowledge to bring the product to life and sell it. All marketing communications are built on this product positioning. Some of their primary responsibilities are as follows:

 

1. Market knowledge : Shaped the company's market understanding and approach. This includes gathering intelligence on trends, competitors, and customers, and then using that information to develop and implement marketing programs.

 

2. Positioning : Apply market knowledge, product value, and target customer knowledge to create messaging that explains why this product is the best fit for the customer's needs.

 

3. Narrative : Create product stories that demonstrate the product's value and benefits in marketing and sales communications.

 

4. Launch strategies : Plan and execute product launches to maximize the impact of the launch, collaborate closely with the product, marketing, public relations, sales, and customer-facing teams. 

 

5. Marketing and sales support : Provide training and collateral to help increase deal velocity, win rates, and retention.

 

Product Manager

 

A product manager captures the customer's voice and uses it to create a practical, usable product. They are in charge of the product from conception to the end of its lifecycle, which includes:

 

1. Define and evangelize the vision for the product's direction and how it contributes to the company's goals.

 

2. Market requirements identify opportunities and validate market issues. Create personas to represent the needs of your customers.

 

3. Collect feedback and develop product requirements and specifications. Provide the "who" and the "why," and work with engineering teams to determine the "what" and "how."

 

4. Define your success. Determine the metrics for product success and use them to guide decisions.

 

Similarities between Product Marketing and Product Management

 

Product managers and product marketers both play important roles in the product discovery process

 

1. They must both understand their users' needs, the problems they face, and the market opportunities. They collect and analyze data to better understand their target audience, and then use that knowledge to develop a product vision and strategy. 

 

2. A product manager and a product marketer must also have a thorough understanding of how their products work. They should understand the problems it solves, the features it has, and how to communicate the value it provides.

 

3. They also share a common goal: they both want to create successful products that solve customer problems while meeting business objectives. 

 

4. While their KPIs are different, they both collaborate closely with the product team to ensure the success of their products.

 

5. In terms of necessary skills, both roles necessitate an understanding of the market, customer behavior, user psychology, and how to create products that help people succeed in their lives.

 

6. Both roles are concerned with meeting the needs of their customers and ensuring that the product they are developing is valuable.

 

Also Read | Market Research Analysis

 

Product management and product marketing have many similarities, but there are significant differences. The PM creates and defines new products and features, whereas the PMM focuses on bringing those things to market. 

 

The core skills and qualities required for each role also differ and should be considered before deciding which role is best for you.

 

Product managers and marketers are complementary pieces of the customer success puzzle that is a company. A great product is required for marketing to be successful. If you build a great product, you need a marketing plan and the right messaging to inspire growth. 

 

Product managers and marketers will have similar personalities, but it is critical to focus on the unique strengths and value-adding of each role. Both perspectives are important and necessary for the success of any B2B company.