Build it, and they will come?
Answer to create your successful SaaS product : )
Welcome to Orange Owl’s newsletter, where we discuss driving growth, branding, positioning, and everything that makes sense in marketing for companies and marketers. Grab a coffee or matcha and let’s get started ☕
By the end of this edition, we’ll explore how the evolving market landscape has elevated the role of Product Marketing Managers (PMMs), the substantial impact they can have on companies, and the key steps organizations should take to leverage PMM capabilities from the start.
Taste is Eating Silicon Valley
The mantra "Software is eating the world" has evolved. In today’s crowded landscape, technical prowess alone no longer ensures market acceptance. Success now hinges on standing out through taste, design, and user experience. Apple and Notion exemplify this by building ecosystems that invite users into their world through compelling stories and branding.
Software companies now compete on aesthetics, intuitive interactions, and emotional connections. Products are seen as expressions of self, making designers and marketers more crucial than ever.
Amid overwhelming choices, the challenge is helping users select the right product. This is where product marketing comes in—bridging the gap between the product and the users by working closely with product management, marketing, sales, and customer success to drive scalable growth and ensure long-term success.
How Product Marketing helps different functions:
Product Management & Product Marketing:
Relationship between product management and product marketing is like a harmonius duet where each voice complements the other. While product manager ships products, product marketers develop go-to-market plans, writing product positioning, and creating sales enablement materials for the successful launch.
Product Marketing & Traditional Marketing:
Traditional marketing focuses on building awareness, acquisition, creating demand on brand level. Product marketers get into each product individually for their success driving activation, adoption, and retention. The culminated efforts of product marketers helps building substance to the overall brand helping marketers to pitch better.
Product Marketing & Sales:
Sales teams focus on maximizing profits, while product marketing aligns with market needs to boost market share. Product marketers helps sales team for creating sales collateral, pitching themes, building new customers training materials, messaging briefs, etc driving sales team for success.
Product marketing places the buyer and product at the core, ensuring products resonate with the target audience, meet their needs, and drive long-term growth.
As the markets are becoming more volatile and competitive, enterprises are increasingly recognizing the critical importance of product marketing and this is validated by comparing revenue with the number of PMMs in a company.
Credits: Mckinsey & Company
Companies in the highest revenue growth quartile maintain a formalized Product Marketing Manager (PMM) function and have a 25-30% higher ratio of PMMs to Product Managers (PMs) compared to those in the lowest quartile. On average, there is one PMM for every 1.6 PMs citing the importance of PMMs over PMs.
CREATING EFFECTIVE PRODUCT MARKETING PROGRAMS
In the traditional product flow, development starts with market research, followed by design, product launch, and marketing to drive sales. Post-launch engagement is often minimal.
Traditional Flow: Market Research → Design & Development → Product Launch → Marketing & Sales → Limited Feedback
In the modern product flow, product marketing is embedded throughout. It aligns the product with market needs from the start, drives ongoing customer engagement post-launch, and collaborates with sales and customer success to refine the product based on user feedback, ensuring a customer-centric approach that fosters long-term success.
Modern Flow: Market Research → Product Marketing Alignment → Development → Launch → Continuous Engagement & Optimization.
This shift underscores that:
Continuous Market Dialogue and Adaptation Drive Success: Products thrive when they evolve based on ongoing market feedback.
Profitability vs. Struggle: Effective product marketing distinguishes profitable, stable companies from cash-strapped SaaS businesses reliant on market conditions.
Case Study: Zendesk’s Product Marketing Success
Zendesk, a prominent cloud-based customer service platform, highlights the impact of strategic product marketing. Between 2017 and 2020, Zendesk experienced stable revenue growth, but initially faced challenges in conveying the value of its diverse offerings.
Revenue Contribution Growth (2017-2020):
41% in the U.S.
29% in EMEA
27% in APAC
45% in other regions
Recognizing opportunities in EMEA and APAC, Zendesk revamped its product marketing approach.
Key Strategies:
Clear Positioning: Zendesk emphasized ease of use and scalability, attracting over 200,000 organizations globally.
Effective Launch Campaigns: By showcasing real-world use cases and success stories, Zendesk built credibility and significantly boosted revenue, reaching a valuation of $17 billion by 2022.
User Engagement Focus: Enhanced onboarding tutorials and in-app guidance improved adoption rates and customer satisfaction, reflected in consistently high support ratings.
Data-driven tactics, Customer success integration, and targeted campaigns drove growth by aligning product messaging, launch strategies, and user engagement with market needs making Zendesk a phenomenal success.
Conclusion
To fully leverage product marketing, organizations should integrate PMMs early in both product development and go-to-market strategies. By positioning PMMs as the bridge between technical teams and customer-facing teams, companies can refine their product offerings, tailor messaging, and ensure smooth market adoption. PMMs not only streamline communication but also provide key insights that help align product features with customer needs and market trends. The PMMs play a crucial role in crafting targeted messaging and engaging diverse stakeholders, driving expansion and solidifying leadership in competitive B2B markets.
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