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Scaling a product marketing team at a fast-grow...

Scaling a product marketing team at a fast-growing startup

Diana covers the evolution of the product marketing team at Segment as it grew from 10 to 400 people.

Diana shares how she built out the team, changed their focus, added team members, and delineated their responsibilities over time

Product Marketing Alliance

January 21, 2020
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  1. Presented by Diana Smith Head of Product Marketing at Scaling

    PMM at a High-Growth Startup Adapt or Die
  2. I’m your host Diana Smith Head of Product Marketing at

    Segment Tweet me @DianaHSmith @sf_haiku Email me [email protected] Or check out Segment segment.com Shameless plug for our data conference next week: synapse.segment.com
  3. FIND THE GAP KNOW THY CUSTOMER LOVE YOURSELF Lessons in

    scaling product marketing AT A HIGH-GROWTH STARTUP
  4. 1. What work isn’t getting done? 2. What are your

    top challenges as an organization? Find the gap TOP CONSIDERATIONS
  5. USER ACQUISITION • Messaging & positioning • Educational content •

    Volume of customer stories NEW PRODUCT REVENUE • Market insights for product roadmap • Product launches • Activation & retention SALES EFFECTIVENESS • Onboarding & collateral • Deep customer stories • Objection handling Some options for focus COMPANY PROBLEMS AND POTENTIAL FOCUS AREAS
  6. Series A Series B OUR GROWTH PATH Gap Product development

    Key metric Signup > paid Marketers 1-3 Salespeople 1-10 PMs 0.-0.5 Employees 4-50 Gap Content / education Key metric New sign ups Marketers 3-10-5 Salespeople 10-30 PMs 0.5-5 Employees 50-150
  7. Series C Series D OUR GROWTH PATH Gap New products

    Key metric NRR Marketers 5-20 Salespeople 30-90 PMs 5-12 Employees 150-375 Gap Sales effectiveness Key metric ARR/AE Marketers 20-30 Salespeople 90-130 PMs 12-18 Employees 375-475
  8. Know thy customer BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE This curiosity will

    help you • Build resonant messaging • Influence the product roadmap • Develop effective campaigns
  9. Tools at your disposal USE EXISTING DATA SETS TO GET

    A JUMP START 1. Customer interviews 2. NPS analysis 3. Market and customer surveys 4. Win/loss analysis 5. Salesforce product requests 6. Competitive analysis 7. Top requests from sales and success leads 8. Analyst calls
  10. Synthesize! HELP YOUR TEAM IDENTIFY WHAT TO DO NEXT Sample

    syntheses • Top requested product features by customer segment • Top concerns to address from NPS feedback • Top competitive gaps where we lose deals • Top objections to train sales on handling IF EVERYTHING IS IMPORTANT, NOTHING IS IMPORTANT.
  11. WATCH FOR ORPHANS NO ORG STRUCTURE IS PERFECT Love your

    lanky, awkward teenage self EMBRACE THE DUMPSTER-FIRE OF HIGH GROWTH, WITH GUARD RAILS GIVE CLEAR OWNERSHIP
  12. Give clear ownership to the most important things THEN DOCUMENT

    YOUR ORPHANS SERIES A #ALLOFTHETHINGS MARKETER 1 • Messaging • Demand Gen • Product Launches • Case Studies Orphans • Anything that’s not completely on fire SERIES B LIGHT SPECIALIZATION PMM 1 • Features 2 & 3 • Competitive Intel PMM 2 • Features 1 & 4 • Sales Content Needs Orphans • Features 5 & 6 • PR & AR SERIES C ALMOST TO A MATRIX PMM 1 • Product Area A • Customer Persona 1 PMM 2 • Product Area B • Industry Campaign PMM 3 • Product Area C • Conference Content Orphans • Customer Persona 2
  13. • You can never do all of the things that

    would be high-impact. That’s the burden and joy of high-growth. • Even when you’re underwater and need a life raft, don’t rush your hires. Pink flags will likely turn into red flags later. Lessons learned the hard way YOU WON’T ALWAYS HAVE EVERYTHING UNDER CONTROL. THAT’S OKAY. DO ALL THE THINGS YOU CAN NEVER DO ALL THE THINGS
  14. You’ll likely agonize over your org structure SPOILER: PERFECTION IS

    A MYTH • Here’s a secret: There is no perfect organizational structure (by product, by segment, a matrix). • Each one has pros and cons. • Align based on burning needs. BY PRODUCT LINE • Pros: Roadmap influence • Cons: Cross-product stories BY CUSTOMER SEGMENT • Pros: Aligned with sales/customer- focused • Cons: Lack of product influence MATRIX (GTM + PRODUCT) • Pros: Great coverage across PMM responsibilities • Cons: Lower quality execution/doubling up resources
  15. Focus where there are gaps in your company. Then communicate

    your focus. Know your customer better than anything else. This is how you add value. Some areas will grow faster than others. You’ll never cover it all. That’s why this is fun. Adapt or die @DianaHSmith SCALING PMM AT A HIGH-GROWTH STARTUP
  16. Thank you! Diana Smith Product Marketing @DianaHSmith Scaling PMM at

    a High-Growth Startup THIS HAS BEEN AN EPISODE OF