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How to Rethink Marketing for Tech Products

Wiley, 2022 more...


Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Applicable
  • Background
  • Concrete Examples

Recommendation

Tech companies need to go beyond product/market fit – they need to bring products to market strategically: the role of product marketing. In this valuable guide, veteran product marketer Martina Lauchengco offers specific, comprehensive approaches for planning product go-to-market, covering knowledge development, external and internal partnering, branding, evangelism, and more. Lauchengco also outlines the various roles of product marketers within the organization and offers insights into product marketing as a career. This is the third entry in Silicon Valley Product Group’s popular series for tech leaders. 

Summary

Product marketing is the foundation of marketing tech products.

To gain market traction, tech companies need a good product – but that’s not enough: You also need strong product marketing. Product marketers use strategic marketing to shape market perceptions and thereby promote product adoption. The size and complexity of product landscapes today make it imperative that every tech company stake out a clear position and coordinate its go-to-market (GTM) activities with care – the role of product marketing.

By applying strategy and product insights, the product marketing function provides a foundation for the GTM effort as a whole. Product marketing generates product collateral, enables sales and handles launches, but the function does much more, and its purpose transcends these specific tasks. Tech companies rely on product marketing to help them ensure market fit, reach user goals and lead their category. Product marketing takes place even in companies where no single person holds the title of product marketer.

The story of Pocket illustrates the purpose and power of product marketing. In its early days, Pocket – then called Read It Later – was competing against...

About the Author

Costanoa Ventures partner Martina Lauchengco is a product marketing partner with SVPG (Silicon Valley Product Group) and a UC Berkeley lecturer in the engineering graduate program.