October 3, 2018
by Claire Brenner / October 3, 2018
If somebody asked you to describe marketing, what would you say?
I’d be willing to bet that the majority of non-marketers would say something along the lines of “the process of bringing a product to market.”
While this isn’t necessarily wrong, it’s just scraping the surface of marketing.
However, it is a pretty good start to describing product marketing.
That’s right. When most people think of the word “marketing,” they’re actually thinking of something a bit closer to product marketing.
Product marketing is the stage of marketing that focuses on post-product development efforts. This includes pricing and positioning products, crafting messaging, conducting demonstrations and trade show presentations, creating sales collateral, and more – all focused on the same end-goal of driving demand and sales of your organization’s offering.
If this sounds like something you learned in a Marketing 101 class, you’re probably right. Product marketing focuses heavily on the 4 Ps of Marketing – product, price, place, and promotion.
Your product marketing manager will be the driving force behind these efforts. To do this, they’ll work closely with your product management and sales teams to define your product’s key differentiators and value prop. This will require a deep understanding of your product, as well as comprehensive knowledge of the competitive landscape and your ideal buyer.
With that, they can start to craft your brand’s messaging and develop tactics to drive demand.
The product marketing manager will spearhead the your post-product development marketing efforts. This includes acting as the “voice of the customer” and having a deep understanding of their needs and desires. They will address questions around the product, the target customers, how they will reach those customers, and how to price the product. They also may manage a team of other product marketers.
The product marketing manager will spearhead the your post-product development marketing efforts. This includes acting as the “voice of the customer” and having a deep understanding of their needs and desires. They will address questions around the product, the target customers, how they will reach those customers, and how to price the product. They also may manage a team of other product marketers.
When it comes time for your team to hire a product marketing manager, the below job description can be a helpful starting point. In fact, we invite you to use the template and adapt it to your own organization's needs and requirements. You may also alter this job description for a product marketing specialist.
Are you looking to hire other marketing roles, as well? You can find more job descriptions on our full list of marketing job descriptions.
Not looking to grow your marketing department just yet? We’ve still got you covered! Check out our comprehensive guide to job descriptions.
Title: Product Marketing Manager
Location: Chicago
With more than 400 percent growth since 2015, ACME Corporations is North America’s leading energy provider, with the single largest retail customer base nationwide. Since its founding in 2007, ACME Corporations has strived to meet the highest standards of energy delivery, customer service, and cost efficiency. Our mission is to be the top-tier energy provider while fostering a collaborative, diverse, and inclusive workplace.
ACME Corporation is looking to hire a product marketing manager to be responsible for post-product development marketing efforts. This individual will act as the voice of the customer by addressing questions around our product, determining target customers, how to best reach them, and more. The ideal candidate will collaborate across functions to deliver an effective product marketing strategy to meet the business objectives in the most efficient manner.
For even more help in writing your own product marketing manager job description, we’ve sourced the following examples from three companies looking to hire.
The following examples show organizations that have followed a typical job description structure, but customized it based on their unique needs and expectations.
To see how real employers are writing their product marketing manager job description, check out the examples below!
Yello
Chicago, Illinois
We are the trailblazers in our space and we continually strive to learn and grow, but there is always time to celebrate a colleague's birthday or a recent success. We dress casually, have one of the best views in the city and the whole team sports Apple laptops. Our CEO Jason Weingarten and President Dan Bartfield always have their office doors open. And with opportunities for professional advancement, medical, dental and vision insurance, and a 401K match – Yello has you covered.
San Francisco, California
Twitter is looking for an experienced and impact-oriented Senior Consumer Product Marketing Manager to join the Consumer Marketing Team and help grow adoption of Twitter’s products. We focus on driving the full marketing process from gathering insights from product and consumers, to developing strategies, to executing campaigns, and measuring and optimizing results. Consumer Product Marketing values trust, accuracy, collaboration, and impact. Join us in making Twitter one of the most loved daily experiences for people looking to find out what’s happening.
This role will help drive understanding and awareness of our product offerings by owning consumer insights, competitive analysis, product positioning, naming, objectives and metrics, to overall GTM strategy.
In this cross-functional role, you will collaborate closely with product, consumer insights, engineering, PR, and the in-house creative agency. You’ll translate your deep understanding of Twitter users into inspiring product stories, new ways to engage our audience, and campaigns that deepen consumers’ connection with Twitter.
Tip: Product marketing isn't the right fit for everyone. If you're looking for a career that's more tailored to your interests, consider sports marketing as an option. |
San Francisco, California
Whether you're on a consumer product (like Gmail, Search, Maps, Chrome, Android) or a business product (Google Ads, AdSense, Google Marketing Platform, Analytics), you take part in a complete marketing experience as you lead every facet of the product's journey. From determining positioning, naming, competitive analysis, feature prioritization and external communications, you help shape the voice of the product and help it grow a loyal consumer base. This means you work with a cross-functional team across sales, corporate communications, legal, webmasters, product development, engineering and more. In this role, you'll be involved with product marketing strategy from beginning to end.
By applying to this Product Marketing Manager role at Google, you will be considered for both B2B and B2C marketing opportunities across our marketing organization. Roles are available in, but not limited to, the following groups and product areas: Ads, Brand and Reputation, Acquisition, Go-to-Market, Growth, Partnerships, Google Play, Hardware, Small and Medium Business, Search, Social, Waze and YouTube.
Know the user. Know the magic. Connect the two. At its core, marketing at Google starts with technology and ends with the user, bringing both together in unconventional ways. Our job is to demonstrate how Google's products solve the world's problems-from the everyday to the epic, from the mundane to the monumental. And we approach marketing in a way that only Google can-changing the game, redefining the medium, making the user the priority, and ultimately, letting the technology speak for itself.
At Google, we don’t just accept difference - we celebrate it, we support it, and we thrive on it for the benefit of our employees, our products and our community. Google is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.
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Claire is a former growth marketing team manager at G2. Born and raised in the Chicago area, her brief stint in Ohio (University of Dayton) gave her a new appreciation for deep-dish pizza, but left her well-versed in Cincinnati-style chili and "cities" with a population fewer than 400,000. While not writing, Claire can be found practicing calligraphy, seeking out the best dive bars in Chicago, and planning her next trip. (she/her/hers)
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