Have you ever been scrolling the internet, minding your own business, when all of the sudden, an advertisement catches your eye? You’d think you were immune to all ads at this point, but despite your finely tuned internal ad filter, you notice. In fact, you want that thing.
Moments like that might feel like a perfect storm of luck and boredom—but it was anything but chance. That advertisement for that product appearing before your eyes at that moment was the result of long hours of intentional work by product marketers.
To help you better understand the nuances of product marketing, we’ve interviewed various product marketers and marketing managers for their perspectives on what makes product marketing such a unique field.
What is product marketing?
Product marketing is a unique branch of marketing focused directly on what it takes to bring a product (or service) to market. It combines marketing, sales and promotion since product marketers need to know what they are selling, who the product is for, the best way to reach them and the best ways to get the product in their hands.“Product marketing requires you to understand the purpose of your product and how it works but also why people will want it,” says Chris Muller, VP of Money Under 30®. “You have to be able to get inside the head of your customers and understand what they need, then tailor your message to them.”Additionally, product marketers need to have a strong understanding of the products and services they’re competing with and how they are positioning themselves. This can help inform strategies for important factors like distinguishing features, pricing and more.It is this intimate understanding of the product and the competitive landscape that makes product marketers’ work stand out in advertising.
What is a marketing mix?
A marketing mix refers to the set of actions or strategies that promote and refine a product. A product marketer’s job does not end when the product is released. Marketers continue to work with various data points and are constantly striving to refine the story of a product. The most well-known elements of the marketing mix are called “The 4 Ps,” which will lead us directly to our next question.
What are the 4 Ps of marketing?
First introduced by E. Jerome McCarthy in his book Basic Marketing: A Managerial Approach, the 4 Ps of marketing are product, price, place and promotion. While others have built upon and tweaked this framework for their specific needs, this concept remains foundational for developing product marketing strategies. So what do these pillars of product marketing mean in context? Let’s take a closer look.
Product: Define exactly what the product or service is, who it’s for and why they need it. Typically, the product needs to stand out in some way, so the first part of a product marketer’s job is to define what makes their offering so unique and necessary for the consumer.
Price: “How much?” is the first question a consumer will ask, even if they’ve been convinced of the value of the product. Product marketers need to consider all the elements of price: supply costs, competition, appropriate times for discounts and more. This factor will also need to consider the competitive niche being targeted—an extremely low-cost product being advertised as upscale or luxurious is likely to cause friction.
