At Intercom, we believe that the best products are designed with the market in mind. This belief is why some of our earliest marketing hires were dedicated product marketers and why we’ve always ensured they have significant input within the company.
Industry-wide, product marketing varies greatly, and many product marketing managers (PMMs) sometimes feel underappreciated. Only a small percentage of PMMs feel that other teams fully comprehend their role. However, it’s encouraging to see more startups hiring PMMs early on, recognizing the importance of good positioning and product-market fit from the beginning.
When I joined Intercom five years ago, I was delighted to see how closely product marketing worked with both product and sales teams. Over the years, as we’ve grown, our collaboration has only strengthened, driven by leaders like Ali Biggs and by expanding our team. These close relationships have consistently led to better outcomes for our clients and our internal teams.
Our approach to product marketing is comprehensive, involving PMMs in every stage of the product lifecycle:
1. Customer and Marketing Insight: We deeply understand our customers, competitors, and the market, ensuring we represent the market’s voice internally.
2. Product Strategy: We collaborate with the product team to shape the product strategy and roadmap, addressing gaps and seizing opportunities.
3. Positioning and Messaging: We craft messaging that resonates with our target audience.
4. Go-to-Market Strategy: We define strategies for introducing and promoting our products, coordinating with sales and marketing teams for execution.
This holistic approach means we’re involved from the beginning of product development through to market launch and beyond, ensuring a cohesive customer experience.
Balancing launch activities with other strategic work can be challenging, but it’s crucial. At Intercom, we’ve evolved our team to ensure adequate focus on both launch-related tasks and deeper strategic work such as developing go-to-market strategies and managing customer advisory boards.
Building strong relationships across teams is essential. Each PMM at Intercom works closely with specific product managers, building deep expertise in their areas and facilitating smooth collaboration. Additionally, we maintain strong connections with our sales and marketing teams to ensure coherent messaging and effective support.
We’re also committed to nurturing our team’s talent and ambition. Providing clear career progression paths is a priority. Whether team members aspire to move into management or aim for senior individual contributor roles, we create opportunities for growth and development.
As Intercom has grown, we’ve refined our strategies and messaging to target different customer segments and verticals. Our role in product launches has evolved, allowing us to focus on strategic initiatives while our broader marketing team crafts and executes integrated campaigns.
Our journey has been exciting and adaptive, with a focus on bringing nuanced, targeted, and creative marketing solutions to our diverse audience.
If you’re a passionate product marketer excited by our approach, we’d love to hear from you. We’re expanding our team in San Francisco and hiring PMMs at all levels. Feel free to reach out with any questions.