As a product marketer, your job is to ensure that your product is positioned correctly and that all of your marketing efforts align with your product strategy. To do this, you need to understand your product inside and out, know your target market inside and out, and be up-to-date on the latest marketing trends. Sounds like a lot, right?
Don't worry; I'm here to help. In this blog post, I'll walk you through everything you need to know about product marketing from start to finish.
Part 1: Know Your Product Inside and Out
Before you can start marketing your product, you need to make sure that you understand it inside and out. This means being familiar with all of its features and benefits, as well as its place in the market. To get started, ask yourself the following questions:
What problem does my product solve?
Who is my target market?
What are my product's unique selling points?
What is my competition doing and where?
Answering these questions will give you a solid foundation on which to build your product marketing strategy.
Part 2: Develop a Messaging Framework
Once you have a good understanding of your product and your target market, it's time to start developing your messaging framework. Your messaging framework should include your brand positioning statement and key messages. These two elements will guide all of your future marketing efforts, so it's essential to take the time to develop them thoughtfully.
Your brand positioning statement should briefly describe what your brand stands for and how it differentiates itself from the competition. For example, Apple's brand positioning statement is "Think different." Tesla's brand positioning statement is "The future of electric cars." A good brand positioning statement should be memorable, clear, and concise.
It should also align with your target market and overall business goals.
Your key messages are the specific points you want to communicate about your product or brand. They should be supportable by facts and data, and they should address the needs of your target market. For example, if you're targeting busy moms with young children, one of your key messages might be, "Our product saves time by doing X." Remember that you should have no more than 3-5 key messages, as anything more will start to feel cluttered and confusing. It's also essential to ensure that all of your key messages align with each other and your brand positioning statement—otherwise, you'll end up muddying the waters.
Part 3: Create Compelling content
One of the most critical and challenging aspects of product marketing is creating compelling content that accurately reflects your brand's spirit and the needs of your target market. There are a few different content formats that are particularly well-suited for product marketing purposes:
Whitepapers
Case studies
Product sheets / one-pagers
eBooks
Blog posts (like this one!)
Podcasts
Videos
Infographics
As you're creating content, always keep in mind who you're trying to reach and what kinds of information they need from you. If you can provide value and help them solve their problems, they're much more likely to buy from you.
Summary
Product marketing is a complex but essential process for any company with a new product to launch. By taking the time to understand both your product and target market, develop a robust messaging framework, and create compelling content, you'll be well on your way to nailing product marketing!