Steve Johnson on product management

Personal observations on technology, music, sci-fi, and other topics.
About Me

Product management evangelist and guitar player.

Read my company blog at www.productmarketing.com

My Other Sites
TwitterBuzzLinkedInBlogger
Contributors
Tags
Archive
2012 (9)
2011 (162)
2010 (283)
2009 (15)
Filed under

product marketing

See all posts on posterous with this tag »
 

Fatal Mistakes Boards & VP Sales Will Make In 2012 Planning

For companies selling products worth less than $100,000-$250,000, the old school strategy of hiring more feet-on-the-street to drive revenue growth is failing more often. Or just fails.

via peaksalesrecruiting.com

An excellent post by Aaron Ross of Pebblestorm. Salespeople do not cause customer acquisition growth, they fulfill it; product marketing causes new customer acquisition and sales fulfills it. 

If you're asking for sales people to do prospecting instead of follow-up on hot leads, then product marketing isn't doing its job. Check out Ross' advice to see if this new mindset will work for your company.

Filed under  //  product marketing  
Posted by Steve Johnson 
 

Friday fun: Let local teams localize

Do you market your products in multiple countries? If so, you need to have marketers in the local region to tailor your message in their language.

Japan is rather (in)famous for using English phrases that don't mean what they think they mean... if you know what I mean.

Nokia-fail

Source: http://www.engrish.com/

To work with other countries, first get your positioning right... in your own language. Send the result to your marketing counterparts in each country and have them tailor the message for their market. A phone conversation is probably worthwhile so you can ensure that they understand what you're saying and you understand what they're saying. Keep confirming until you're sure that you've communicated both directions.

For international product teams, positioning documents with collaboration is the best way to connoct poopie.

Filed under  //  product marketing  
Posted by Steve Johnson 
 

Does Your Site Say “Keep Out”?

My sites break a lot of rules. Someone pointed out that, although I push my clients to design sites with high contrasting fonts on a light background, our new media agency site is designed with a dark background and light fonts… much more difficult to read. Other friends have pointed out that it also doesn’t fit on a small resolution laptop.

I know.

The truth is, I don’t want to attract visitors with netbooks or older laptops. I want to get attention from people with huge resolutions. I don’t want to attract companies who won’t upgrade from Internet Explorer 6. I don’t even want people to read my site. I want them to browse it and wonder whether or not I can help them… and have them click through on a web form.

If you disagree, you’re not my prospect.

via marketingtechblog.com

Good marketing execution should DISqualify those who cannot buy. Sales people qualify; marketing people disqualify. Those of us in marketing need to remember that it's not about impressions and number of leads, it's about impressions and leads from people who can buy our products. In my old team, once we started thinking about getting qualified leads, we stopped doing giveaways that generated tons of unqualified cardscans and focused on disqualifying leads. Our sales team was delighted to get a short stack of only good leads.

What about your web site? Is it attracting the wrong people? It's fine for the unqualified to download your white papers and read your articles but you shouldn't bother to gather a lot of information unless the inquiry has the potential to buy. Social media experts agree that you should give away your thought-leading content, knowing that the qualified buyers will return to you when they're ready to buy.

Filed under  //  product marketing  
Posted by Steve Johnson 
 

Launch Clinic: Habitats of the Product Marketing Manager

Those with the job title of ‘Product Marketing Manager’ live in a variety of organizational habitats. There are four that I see as recurring themes, each with its own challenges and opportunities. If you were to get a product marketing manager from one of each of these habitats to sit down and discuss their roles, they’d be amazed at how different they really are (even when their job descriptions are remarkably similar).

via launchclinic.com

Titles are a mess. My pal David has identified 4 different roles for those with the title of product marketing manager. I've been at least three of them.

Filed under  //  product marketing  
Posted by Steve Johnson 
 

Friday fun: If you don't want an iPhone 4...

... don't buy it.

Let's all sing along.

Filed under  //  product marketing  
Posted by Steve Johnson 
 

Please Stop Generic Enterprise Marketing!

In my mind, product marketing should be called market producting. That would in one stroke fix most of the issues in B2B marketing, most of which stems from the thought that we are taking a product and marketing it, rather then finding a market and building a product for it.
via testdrivenmarketing.com

Nick has nailed the essence of outside-in marketing: start with the market and then select the product. (Or perhaps build a market; find a product for it.)

I'll be adding his blog to my reader.

Filed under  //  product marketing  
Posted by Steve Johnson 
 

More on Switch

Want people to switch from <old product> to <your product>? Create a strategy that encompasses development, marketing, sales, and implementation. 
Tivo_b_720x300
This Tivo banner ad is great but it fails to solve the fundamental problem with TiVo: implementation. In my experience, TiVo is better than anything the cable companies offer but it is (or appears to be) harder to implement. Call the cable folks, convince them that you know that they offer TiVo functionality in their junk DVR, beg them for a cablecard (they're required by law to provide it), wait a bunch, explain it all again to someone else, and then install it all yourself. 
Or, call the cable company, say "yes I want a DVR" and they'll send you a ready-to-use system. Gad, that is easy.
Yes, TiVo is better but you gotta work for it.

Filed under  //  product marketing  
Posted by Steve Johnson 
 

Move from TypePad to Posterous

Since we've launched new tools to switch to Posterous, they have been very vocal in their demands to be next.  We're responding today by allowing all TypePad users, regardless of subscription level, to move their blogs and comments to Posterous using our new switching tools.  
via blog.posterous.com

The SWITCH campaign continues. Posterous started by switching from the freebie sites and now they're gunning for Typepad. Is Wordpress next?

What are you doing to help your customers get off and on to your ?

Filed under  //  product marketing  
Posted by Steve Johnson 
 

Alas, another white paper I won't read

The white paper sounded really interesting but I'll never know. When I reached the download page:

Screen_shot_2010-07-01_at_8

This isn't "tell us who you are." This is "how many ways can we spam you?"

Filed under  //  product marketing  
Posted by Steve Johnson