Principle #1
Product Marketing Managers are, and always should be, customer-centric. We value the voice of the customer, and are proud to advocate for their wants, needs, and pain points. It’s our responsibility to make them feel heard, so always find time to speak to your customers.
Put your customer at the heart of everything that you do.
With research, ensure you get a blend of both quantitative and qualitative insights to cover all bases and provide the best possible solutions to their problems.
Also, with your team, be your customers’ internal representative, and always bring these insights to the table. Consistently remind your internal stakeholders the importance of customer intelligence. They are the most important part of your business, after all.
Lauren Culbertson, Co-Founder and CEO at LoopVOC, says:
“Great product marketers have an unbreakable connection with their customers and the markets they serve. Without deeply understanding customer needs, we as product marketers lose our ability to influence strategic decisions around product, pricing and positioning. We become a supporting role, and product marketing is meant to be so much more than that.
“The best product marketers know who their customers are, what they want, what they need, and how to bring those desired solutions to market. They know how to use data to turn hypotheses into concrete, indisputable insights. They refuse to take orders, and earn a seat at the table with a track record of driving measurable growth. None of this can be achieved without a relentless focus on what our customers need from us.”