Product Marketing Inside Out

1. Product Marketing,   Inside and Out Hana Abaza   Head of Marketing, Shopify Plus @hanaabaza

3. Revenue in Millions 0 175 350 525 700 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

4. Gross Merchandising Volume in Billions 0 7.5 15 22.5 30 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

5. 4000+ Total number of Shopify Employees 60% Started after me (!) Shopify By The Numbers

6. 600K+ Number of Shopify Merchants 175+ Countries around the world Shopify By The Numbers

9. Starting from scratch #dreamjob

10. Hana’s Checklist Demand People Budget

14. Challenges: Chasing the firehose Low hanging fruit  Pent up demand for marketing Sales was getting “creative" All the things changed Plus was diﬀerent

16. Challenges: Chasing the firehose Low hanging fruit Pent up demand for marketing Sales was getting “creative" All the things changed Plus was diﬀerent

20. Self-serve No Touch More like B2C One decision maker High Touch Longer sales cycle Multiple touch points Multiple decision makers

21. The job of marketing is diﬀerent

22. The job of product marketing is diﬀerent

23. Product Marketing didn’t exist

24. What the f&*k is product marketing?

26. “Product marketing is the process of promoting and selling a product to an audience. It includes assessing customer needs, customer type, and geographic area.” - Wikipedia

27. “7 P’s of marketing: Product, Pricing, People, Place Promotion, Process, Physical environment.” - A Marketing Professor

28. How is “product marketing” diﬀerent from “marketing- marketing?

29. Product marketing uncovers and conceptualizes what we’re building and for whom…

30. …then figures out how to sell it

31. • What are we building? • Who is it for? • How do we talk about it? • How do we go-to-market? Define and Operationalize the Context

32. How & When to Invest in Product Marketing

33. It’s about size and complexity

34. 🤔 What does that really mean?

35. PRODUCT MARKETING   AS A ROLE PRODUCT MARKETING   AS A FUNCTION PRODUCT MARKETING   AS A CONCEPT PRODUCT MARKETING   AS A ROLE Small Simple Complex Large Adapted from First Round Capital SizeofCompany Complexity of product/feature/market/landscape

36. What exactly is the job?

37. pragmaticmarketing.com

38. What Product Marketers Do FOUNDATIONAL Positioning, Messaging, Segments, Personas   (Output: assets, sales deck,   product pages, website etc.) CAMPAIGNS Product/feature launches (GTM)   Product Adoption/Growth Customer Marketing RESEARCH & INSIGHTS Win / Loss Analysis Competitive Landscape Market Perception ENABLEMENT Internal Resources Education  Feedback Loops

43. Great product marketing   fuels growth, enables teams and helps build product

44. Great product marketing is cross-functional

45. Customer Facing Teams Product Marketing

46. Customer Facing Teams Product Marketing That’s Product Marketing!

47. Bad product marketing   can kill your company

48. How do you know if your product marketing is bad? 1. prospects don’t get/believe the value 2. employees don’t explain it well 3. the marketing stuff isn’t working

49. Back to Basics 1. positioning 2. messaging 3. go-to-market

50. Positioning

51. How do we position   Shopify Plus?

52. But, what exactly is   positioning?

53. April Dunford CEO, Ambient Strategy Marketing is about making it easy for people to find, evaluate and buy your products. Positioning is figuring out what your product is in the first place. “

54. Marketing can polish a turd. Positioning can turn turds into fertilizer. “ April Dunford CEO, Ambient Strategy

55. How do people think about your product?

63. Positioning isn’t something you make up. It’s something you uncover by looking at the right inputs.

64. Inputs Internal teams Customers Lost customers (win/loss) Product usage Website data Campaign data Market insights

65. WHAT IS IT? Plain language.   No jargon. WHO IS IT FOR? Be as specific as   possible. WHAT CATEGORY? New vs. established. Frame of reference. HOW ARE YOU DIFFERENT?   Be honest. WHY SHOULD I CARE? What’s in it for me?   Benefits and value. ALTERNATIVES? Status Quo, Competitors, Frenemies

66. WHAT IS IT? Plain language.   No jargon. WHO IS IT FOR? Be as specific as   possible. WHAT CATEGORY? New vs. established. Frame of reference. HOW ARE YOU DIFFERENT?   Be honest. WHY SHOULD I CARE? What’s in it for me?   Benefits and value. ALTERNATIVES? Status Quo, Competitors, Frenemies

67. WHAT IS IT? Plain language.   No jargon. WHO IS IT FOR? Be as specific as   possible. WHAT CATEGORY? New vs. established. Frame of reference. HOW ARE YOU DIFFERENT?   Be honest. WHY SHOULD I CARE? What’s in it for me?   Benefits and value. ALTERNATIVES? Status Quo, Competitors, Frenemies Product Price Brand

68. You can also diﬀerentiate on experience

70. Hana’s checklist Same price Same quality Same effort to assemble Same number of f-bombs dropped during assembly

74. Messaging

75. How do people talk about your product?

76. Messaging and branding is an expression of positioning It should be clear but allow for room to customize/localize to the audiences

77. This is the “why” — what’s the guiding narrative? Secondary Message Secondary Message Secondary Message Secondary Message Expand upon key messaging. Why does this matter?

78. This is the “why” — what’s the guiding narrative? Secondary Message Secondary Message Secondary Message Secondary Message Expand upon key messaging. Why does this matter? Proof points

79. This is the “why” — what’s the guiding narrative? Secondary Message Secondary Message Secondary Message Secondary Message Expand upon key messaging. Why does this matter? Proof points Product Story

80. This is the “why” — what’s the guiding narrative? Secondary Message Secondary Message Secondary Message Secondary Message Expand upon key messaging. Why does this matter? Proof points Product Story “Big C” Content

81. For example, Shopify Plus   looks like this…

82. Your customers are ready for the future of commerce. Are you? Grow bigger,   faster Sell where your customers are, and where they will be Choose better software   (as a service) Stop worrying,   start selling Partners, not Vendors Focus on your business, not your website. Let Shopify Plus power your store while you focus on driving growth, boosting revenue and making customers happy. Commerce is changing fast and you need a platform that will change with it. Sell on social, mobile, in marketplaces, IRL - or anywhere else! Shopify Plus lets you be where your customers are now - and where they will be tomorrow. Leverage the benefits of a SaaS solution without losing the ability to customize and scale your business. Execute with speed and agility while we do the heavy (IT) lifting. There’s a lot to worry about when growing a business - your store crashing shouldn’t be one of them. We cater to the world's biggest brands, processing billions of dollars in sales without batting an eyelash. You’ll have an army of people behind you including a dedicated Merchant Success Manager, launch partners and access to a world-class app and partner ecosystem to grow your business.

83. Your customers are ready for the future of commerce. Are you? Grow bigger,   faster Sell where your customers are, and where they will be Choose better software   (as a service) Stop worrying,   start selling Partners, not Vendors Proof points Product Story “Big C” Content

84. Both will (and should) evolve over time. Market changes, feedback loops, competitive landscape, product evolution

86. These people self-educate. Historical search terms?

87. Content, tactics and channels change. Need case studies, proof, validation.

88. 2010

89. 2017

90. Does your product? Save time Save money Make money

91. So does everything else

92. Macro Benefit Too abstract Lots of “same-ness” Becomes meaningless

93. Macro Benefit Feature / function Too abstract Lots of “same-ness” Becomes meaningless Misses the “why” Company centric, not customer centric

94. Macro Benefit Feature / function Too abstract Lots of “same-ness” Becomes meaningless Misses the “why” Company centric, not customer centric The Space Between

95. Macro Benefit Feature / function Too abstract Lots of “same-ness” Becomes meaningless Misses the “why” Company centric, not customer centric The Space Between benefit + why it matters + how you help

96. Go-To-Market

97. Here’s what most marketers do

99. Product managers put a product on the shelf and product marketers get it oﬀ the shelf

100. Product managers put a product on the shelf and product marketers get it oﬀ the shelf

101. PHASES BUILD PLANNING GTM KICK-OFF PRE-LAUNCH What happens? Work with product teams to give and get insights and context Who is it for? What problem are we really solving? What are the goals? How do we talk about it? What kind of launch is it? Contributors and stakeholders to create a detailed plan: Distribution, PR, messaging, creative, enablement assets etc Internal communications to customer facing teams pre-launch Who is involved? Product Team Product Marketing Product Marketing Product Team Marketing Sales Customer Success Support Enablement Product Teams Marketing Sales Customer Success Support Enablement Product Teams What’s the output? Feedback loop Foundation for GTM plan and objectives/targets GTM Brief Training and education

102. PHASES BUILD PLANNING GTM KICK-OFF PRE-LAUNCH What happens? Work with product teams to give and get insights and context Who is it for? What problem are we really solving? What are the goals? How do we talk about it? What kind of launch is it? Contributors and stakeholders to create a detailed plan: Distribution, PR, messaging, creative, enablement assets etc Internal communications to customer facing teams pre-launch Who is involved? Product Team Product Marketing Product Marketing Product Team Marketing Sales Customer Success Support Enablement Product Teams Marketing Sales Customer Success Support Enablement Product Teams What’s the output? Feedback loop Foundation for GTM plan and objectives/targets GTM Brief Training and education

103. PHASES BUILD PLANNING GTM KICK-OFF PRE-LAUNCH What happens? Work with product teams to give and get insights and context Who is it for? What problem are we really solving? What are the goals? How do we talk about it? What kind of launch is it? Contributors and stakeholders to create a detailed plan: Distribution, PR, messaging, creative, enablement assets etc Internal communications to customer facing teams pre-launch Who is involved? Product Team Product Marketing Product Marketing Product Team Marketing Sales Customer Success Support Enablement Product Teams Marketing Sales Customer Success Support Enablement Product Teams What’s the output? Feedback loop Foundation for GTM plan and objectives/targets GTM Brief Training and education Go-To-Market

106. Launch the thing!

107. Channel Activations • Segmented Email • Paid campaign • Search • Social • Blog • Case Studies Objective Primary • Lead Gen • Installs Secondary • Engagement • Shares

108. • Value Prop & Key Messages • Platform Story Deck (+talk track) • Personas • Market Insights • Competitive Insights & Positioning • Case Study • Customer Videos • Product Videos • Content and Resources • Objection handling Platform Toolkit Platform Story Deck Merchant Personas Platform Brochure

109. Channel Activations • Segmented Email • Paid campaign • Search • Social • Blog • Case Studies Objective Primary • Lead Gen • Installs Secondary • Engagement • Shares What else can we do?

110. Channel Activations • Segmented Email • Paid campaign • Search • Social • Blog • Case Studies • Partner engagement Objective Primary • Lead Gen • Installs Secondary • Engagement • Shares What have we learned?

111. Launch is over… now what?

112. Product Growth: Rinse & Repeat Target Metrics: installs, usage, etc  Is growth baked into the product experience? Seasonal opportunities to drive adoption? Tripwires that signal readiness? What insights can be fed into product dev?

117. Product growth might be a good place to start

118. Build a Foundation

119. There’s a lot more to product marketing

120. pragmaticmarketing.com

121. Back to Basics 1. positioning 2. messaging 3. go-to-market

123. @hanaabaza

Product Marketing Inside Out

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