Had a blast emceeing the PMM Summit this week in Toronto!
Here's a quick recap of my takeaways from each of the sessions 👇
Huge thanks to Product Marketing Alliance, the amazing speakers, and everyone who came out to represent the incredible #productmarketing talent we have here in Canada. 💪
1️⃣
Buying is hard. That’s why 40% of deals end in no decision. Your pitch shouldn’t be a generic harbor tour of features. Give your buyers a unique perspective on the market and help them understand and navigate the alternatives. Give them a guide, not a sales pitch.
2️⃣
Be a strategic powerhouse in your company by helping others understand your market, competitive landscape, customer segmentation, and differentiation. Focus your limited resources on work that can have the biggest impact.
3️⃣
Looking to test and validate your positioning? Listen to customers. Leverage your advisory board, create product feedback loops, A/B test your campaigns. Use different digital channels as opportunities to test in different environments.
4️⃣
Learn how to manage change. Have empathy for others — change affects everyone differently. When making decisions, be clear on what’s changing, who’s impacted, the options, and the pros and cons of each. Write things down!
5️⃣
Overcome shiny new release syndrome and break through the noise by packaging related features into one release with a common value driver theme. You can do this with existing features too.
6️⃣
Need to build a foundation of competitive knowledge? Find internal experts you can tap for information and market context. Partner with your sales org as a valuable source of competitive insights.
7️⃣
Entering a new region? Where do you place your bets? Use
and focus on somewhere you can provide unique value. “Want to get a seat at the table? Weasel your way in and spread your elbows.”
8️⃣
Looking to make your next career move? Each company has different tradeoffs to consider. Know what’s most important to you and lean into the discomfort of stretching. It’s in those moments you find the greatest growth.
9️⃣
Try a tiered release framework that focuses more on the customer. It's based on two simple variables: Business Value — to what extent does a new release drive revenue and profit? Customer Value — to what extent does it drive impact for the customer?
🔟
Don’t forget, go-to-market is not a one-person job. It relies on many people across your company. Over-communicate. Be strategic about how you show up across the organization and add value.
1️⃣1️⃣
Segment based on the shared needs of your buyers, not demographics. Aim to understand their pains, problems, and motivations. This approach is far more focused on the customer and how your solution can provide value.
See you next year ✌️