Product Manager vs Product Marketer
There is often confusion distinguishing between a product manager and a product marketing manager abbreviated as PMs and PMMs especially in organizations which have multiple product lines and business units and interchangeably use the titles. However, when closely examined, the two roles come with their own set of responsibilities. There is a misconception that product marketers take over after a product is ready which isn’t true, their role begins much earlier during the product development process. To better understand the two roles, it’s vital to briefly explain what a product manager and product marketing manager does.
Who is a Product Manager?
A product manager is in charge of setting a product’s vision and formulating the product roadmap, identifying customer challenges and areas to target as well as defining features that should be built. In addition, PMs have a detailed understanding of the market, competing products as well as existing technologies. Product managers also collaborate with all stakeholders involved in the product development process and ensures their roles perfectly align with the product strategy. They work closely with designers, software engineers, QA as well as analysts to ensure the development process is in line with customer needs and requests. PMs also constantly advocate for the needs of the end-users and shape the experiences of customers using the products.
Who is a Product Marketing Manager?
Product marketing is a function that works towards getting products to the market and ensuring they remain there. Product marketers are experts in messaging, sales advocates and adoption accelerators. PMMs are tasked with coming up with a coherent marketing strategy for the product as well as shape communication and product positioning. In addition, product marketing managers lead product demos and presentations, empower their sales teams and, boost their marketing capacity by spotlighting specific product features. In their role, product marketing managers (PMMs) take time to explain product features using customer-facing messaging platforms and set up marketing campaigns to boost demand. Lastly, product marketing managers empower marketing teams such as sales support, account management and customer success.
Difference between a Product Manager and Product Marketing Manager
Strategy
A product manager sets the product vision and determines the goals and initiatives that will enable the team accomplish a vision. Gaining a deep understanding of user’s needs, PMs are required to formulate a clear strategy to ensure product development teams makes sound decisions. On the other hand, a product marketing manager utilizes a product strategy including the incorporated marketing strategy to put forward the go-to-market strategy. PMMs need to prepare the groundwork for delivering a new product and its features bearing in mind the goal is to successfully reach out to the intended market.
Roadmaps
While the product manager births a product roadmap which dictates the direction and plan for executing the project, a product marketing works with the go-to-market roadmap which specifies timelines cross-functional teams require to deliver results. Go-to-market plan is formed based on a product’s roadmap.
Customers
From a customer perspective, the product manager is concerned with understanding the needs of users and what they’d want to achieve from using the product. Their role requires acquiring feedback from would-be clients, their current challenges and which features they would want included in the future products. A product marketing manager seeks to understand user buying characteristics including what clients need to know about a product in order to make a purchase. PMMs give demos and presentations to clients and translate technical jargon into powerful marketing messages that resonate with target audiences.
Cross-functional Teams
A product manager works as an advocate of both the product and users which requires them to work closely with various cross-functional teams acting as the representative between stakeholders and teams tasked with executing the project. As the go-to-market leader, the product marketing manager sees to it that both internal as well as customer-facing teams best highlight a product’s technical benefits. They ensure marketing teams come up with strategic messaging, train sales and support teams as well as ensure websites are updated accordingly before the next product launches into the market. Working as a product expert for marketing teammates, the PMM also tracks metrics and reports any market changes.
