What Is Product Marketing?

When people first hear the term “product marketing,” they may believe it sounds redundant. After all, the goal of marketing lies in convincing people to buy a particular product or service.

However, product marketing refers to a particular form of marketing expertise. Those who specialize in this form of promotion can help transform how businesses approach their target audiences. A big reason that new products fail lies in companies’ lack of preparation and misunderstanding of their products' purpose. Product marketers help to change that.

With product marketing, brands focus exclusively on how to market a particular product. They will examine the messaging they want to nurture with this particular item or service and the unique role they want it to fill for customers.

Knowing how to use product marketing effectively can help businesses bring their products to market more smoothly and enhance their ability to reach their targeted customers.

We want to provide you with an introduction and overview of this unique form of marketing, empowering you to bring these benefits to your organization and teams so that you can propel your business forward.

Product marketing: Key concepts and benefits

Product marketing helps to take the products or services that your company creates and then position them for customers. This controls the messaging surrounding what you sell, helping to articulate ideas that will resonate with customers, and empowering your company to bring in potential buyers.

Not only do product marketers help to draft language and study how to make products appealing and stand out to customers, but they also help to ensure that the rest of the marketing team and customers know how this product will benefit them.

Product marketers encompass jobs that overlap a few areas within the company. They will work with marketing teams to help them broadcast the right messages about the product and how it can work. They also sit down with the sales team to guide their conversations with potential customers.

Depending on the organization, they might even work with product development and customer success teams to help them understand consumer demands and how the organization can continue to meet those expectations.

Think of product marketers as experts in a particular product, guiding others at the company to promote and sell the product. They understand what customers want to see within the industry, and use language that brings those desires and the company’s offerings together.

How product marketing can help your business

Product marketing enhances the ability of the organization to sell its products and align with customer needs. When product marketers work with the other branches of the marketing and sales teams, they can increase conversions and position the company for strong growth rates.

Here are the chief benefits that businesses can experience when they work with experienced product marketers:

• Provide an improved understanding of the target audience: Since product marketers focus on analyzing customer patterns and what buyers want to see, they help brands better align their messaging with consumer demands.
• Inform marketing efforts throughout the company: Product marketers will also work with others to improve their understanding of the products. This allows everyone, from marketing to customer service, to understand the benefits of the product and how it will help customers so that they can target their needs appropriately.
• Focus on providing long-term customer value: Product marketers work to understand the messaging for products and regularly use analysis to understand the market need and customer development. This empowers them to meet the needs of customers throughout their life cycle, building loyalty and solving concrete pain points.
• Drive demand for the products sold: With their understanding of customer needs and how to create products and messaging that lands well, product marketers can boost the drive to purchase. By working with people throughout the company, including the customer service team, they can also ensure that customers have a positive experience and become loyal to the brand, which drives future purchases.

What product marketers do

To provide organizations with these benefits, product marketers will generally perform a wide range of jobs and tasks within an organization. Their work will bring them into cooperation with people across multiple teams to ensure that the product will best meet consumer needs.

Although the precise duties of a product marketer may vary depending on the needs of an individual company, these six duties will provide you with a solid overview of the general expectations of these professionals.

Analyze customer needs and industry gaps

Product marketers will use careful market analysis and a close examination of current customer trends to better understand what people want to see from their industry.

They will use this information to grasp the pain points of the target customers and contribute to the development of buyer personas for the marketing team. Their insight into what customers want to see will help the brand better meet those needs moving forward.

Draft messaging that aligns the products with demand

Armed with their insight into the needs of target consumers, product marketers will also work on drafting messaging that communicates the value of particular products or services and how they solve precise pain points for the customers.

Enhance marketing and sales strategies

The messaging and buyer personas that the product marketers produce will also enhance the marketing and sales teams’ ability to engage with their customers and produce the sales desired. They will help the rest of the organization communicate the brand’s value through effective marketing language and conversations with leads so that customers can see how their product can help them succeed.

Product marketers will ensure that those involved in the marketing and sales teams understand the product, its uses, and how it fits into the overall needs of the buyer.

Research and analyze competitors and the industry

Product marketers will also use their research and analytical skills to study what industry competitors offer. They will examine everything from the targeted price points to potential gaps in the products or services.

By better understanding how others in the industry serve the targeted customers, businesses can position themselves uniquely in their niche, helping customers see what sets them apart from other products or services. They will know what to emphasize and how to differentiate themselves to enhance their appeal.

Manage product launches and adoption

A product launch and the adoption of a new product by customers can be a perilous time for organizations. They want to ensure that the product fits into the right position in the industry, solving a customer need and drawing them to the business.

The product marketer will use their understanding of the industry and competitors to guide new products. They’ll help ensure that the product has the right framing that customers will respond to, which will differentiate them from competitors.

Perform research to guide new feature and product creation

Growing businesses understand that they need to continually look for product improvements and even launch new products to fill customer needs.

Product marketers help to keep their finger on industry changes. Their research will let organizations know about the needs of customers and how they’ve changed and adapted. This empowers the company to remain at the forefront of the industry, creating new features for their products or even launching new products to fill those needs and build a strong customer base.

Product marketers can work effectively with product developers to help them understand product differentiation and need. This maximizes the use of resources and builds the brand’s reputation.

Product marketing expertise on demand

Product marketers can perform outstanding services for their organizations. Their ability to understand customer needs and then shape the product or service offering to meet those needs can help brands sell their products and engage customers.

When you find an experienced product marketer, they can enhance your entire customer life cycle, from developing and launching products to customer satisfaction and building loyalty. However, you don’t have to go through traditional hiring means to find them.

At Upwork, we have an extensive, global pool of independent product marketers who have the expertise needed to help your organization thrive. They can help you understand your market and craft messaging that your customers will respond to. Learn more at Upwork.com.