In this episode of The Master Marketer Show, Mike Grinberg interviews Mary Keough, the Head of Marketing at Map My Customers, about product marketing in B2B. They discuss the mindsets, skill sets and tool sets successful product marketers utilize to drive results. Listeners can expect to gain insights on becoming customer-obsessed, conducting customer research, analyzing data to identify ideal customers, developing positioning and messaging, and measuring marketing success.
Key Points:
- Defining product marketing and the evolving discipline of product marketing
- Adopting a customer-obsessed mindset and understanding the jobs customers want to get done
- Conducting qualitative customer research through interviews and analysis
- Analyzing quantitative data like sales funnels and win/loss reports
- Translating insights into product positioning and messaging
- Collaborating with product teams and sales teams
- Using frameworks like Jobs-to-be-Done and Story Brand
- Being consistent and sticking to a marketing strategy
- Achieving a 61% increase in high-intent leads in just 4 months
Unraveling the Mystery of Product Marketing
Product marketing, as Mary explains, is about extracting the value of a product and understanding why customers care about it, what problems it solves, and the value it provides. The ultimate goal of product marketing is to translate this value in a way that attracts more customers and leads to product adoption.
The Role of Customer Insights in Product Marketing
Understanding your customers and their needs is at the core of effective product marketing. Mary emphasizes the value of being customer obsessed, actively listening to and learning from customers on a regular basis.
To gain these insights, Mary suggests sitting in on sales calls, conducting customer interviews, and attending business reviews. These interactions help marketers understand who their customers are, their job functions and titles, and how they think about the product or service. By identifying the problems customers are looking to solve, product marketers can determine the true value of their offering and effectively communicate it to their target audience.
Evolving Role of Product Marketing and Collaboration with Product Management
For early-stage companies, the role of product marketing may be more focused on the product and its buyers. However, as companies grow and mature, brand becomes increasingly important.
Some companies have market development teams that own a particular market and all products serving that market, while others have dedicated product managers responsible for the roadmap, pricing, packaging, and customer targeting. Collaboration between product marketing and product management is essential to align customer needs with the product roadmap and market demands.
Crafting Compelling Value Messaging and Positioning
It’s important to sell the problem and position the product as the solution. By grabbing attention and resonating with potential customers, marketers can effectively communicate the value their product provides.
Mary shares an example of an ad campaign targeting sales reps who dislike using CRM systems. The ad boldly stated, “CRMs suck,” with a confused and angry face, striking a chord with reps who resonated with the frustration of using traditional CRMs. This approach of selling the problem and positioning the product as a solution can be an effective way to capture attention and create a hook.
A BIT MORE ABOUT Mary:
Mary Keough is the Head of Marketing at Map My Customers, a software company focused on field sales. She has 10+ years of B2B marketing experience across various industries. Mary hosts two podcasts: The Purposeful Marketing Podcast and The Field Sales Leadership Guide Podcast.
CONNECT WITH Mary:
CONNECT WITH MIKE & GABY @ PROOFPOINT MARKETING:
- Mike’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikegrinberg/
- Gaby’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabriellaisrael/
- LinkedIn Company Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/company/proofpoint-marketing-llc
- Proofpoint YouTube Channel: http://bit.ly/ProofpointonYouTube
- Proofpoint Marketing Website: www.proofpoint.marketing
