Backstage Pass to our Product Team
An insider’s view on how merging product and marketing has led to more strategic insights and better outcomes.
It's not everyday you see a product marketer leading a product team or an organization where product and marketing roles are seamlessly combined. Welcome to our unique setup.
Let me give you a peek behind the curtain!
We are a tight-knit team of product managers, product marketers, and UX designers. We're highly cross-functional, regularly collaborating with various teams across our organization. However, today, I want to share insights into our vertical operations.
Mastering the ability to work across multiple altitudes —from strategic thinking to hands-on execution—is both an art and a critical skill, whether you're in product marketing, management, or design.
The feature trap
When I joined the team a year ago, the focus was primarily on delivery. Ideas were everywhere, coming from various parts of the company and added to a long backlog. As engineering time allowed, each product manager powered through the backlog, moving from one idea to the next. It felt like running the hamster wheel.
The hard truth is that ideas are easy. Solving customer problems and achieving business objectives is hard.
Embracing Change for Growth
It was evident that without a clear strategy or roadmap, merely churning out features led to missed targets and minimal impact.
To evolve, we shifted our focus from mere output to achieving meaningful outcomes, and we started crafting narratives around features to create marketable moments that resonated with our audience. This change wasn't just necessary; it was transformative, allowing us to align our efforts with the overarching business objectives and truly connect with our users.
Tools and Strategies for Success
One instrumental framework we adopted was the opportunity solution tree, which helps pinpoint how best to meet customer and business needs through well-defined product features. This tool is particularly beneficial for product managers and marketers to ensure every release is not just a list of new features but a powerful component of a broader, compelling narrative.
The Art of Building a Product Roadmap
Far from being a mere schedule of releases, our roadmap serves as a strategic vision that aligns with our company’s long-term goals. It details not only what will be delivered but also the expected impact, answering the essential question of "why" these features are important.
This helps us figure out which product features will do the best job of meeting our customers' and business’s needs. This way, we make sure that each new feature is part of a bigger, exciting story.
Why This Matters
For anyone involved in product development, understanding the difference between a feature release and a product launch can be crucial. A launch should tell a story, one that aligns with your customers' needs and your business objectives. It's about making a splash in the market with a narrative that speaks to hearts and minds.
In our journey from a backlog-driven operation to a outcome-oriented mindset, we've learned that adaptability, clear communication, and a relentless focus on outcomes are your best tools for success. By integrating product management, marketing, and UX design, we don’t just build products—we create experiences that matter.