WRITTEN BY Erica Foster, Senior CONSULTANT at Fluvio
Devon O’Rourke (Fluvio’s Founder) and I gave a talk on this topic at the 2023 PMA Summit in Denver, you can watch it here.
The punchline is: there is no definitive framework or guide for measuring the success of product marketing. The reality is that most product marketing success metrics are influenced by the actions of other functions, so it’s almost always a proxy and never directly attributed to product marketing.
Which begs the question: how can we measure success purely from a product marketing perspective?
Measuring Success: Tying Product Marketing to Revenue
The most recent State of Product Marketing Leadership Report highlights how leaders tie product marketing to revenue. The report finds that annual recurring revenue, product adoption, and monthly recurring revenue top the list of OKRs linking product marketing to revenue.
At Fluvio, we work with a broad spectrum of products and industries, and we’ve seen that the methods clients use to connect revenue to product marketing vary a lot.
Some examples of how clients are tying PMM to revenue are:
Persona success tied to leads generated of that persona
Sales enablement program success tied to closed deals
Product launch success tied to Feature Adoption metrics like MAU / DAU
Success Metrics Across Different Organizations
The success metrics for product marketing can differ based on the organization's structure and the type of business model it operates within. For instance, if product marketing is part of a product team, metrics related to product adoption or usage metrics might be prioritized. On the other hand, if product marketing falls under the marketing team, success metrics may focus more on sales or channel marketing.
Similarly, success looks different in B2C vs. B2B organizations. In our experience, B2B organizations often find it easier to show and articulate the value of their product marketing efforts compared to B2C organizations.
Aligning with Stakeholder OKRs
Here’s another look at the State of Product Marketing Leadership Report. It focuses on the OKRs that leaders use to measure team performance, with win rates and leads influenced by PMM content coming out on top.
Win rates – we can measure our influence on sales win rates by analyzing data from sales and marketing teams. This could include information about closed deals, lost deals, reasons for wins and losses, customer feedback, lead sources, and engagement with product marketing content.
Lead influence by PMM content is tough – one way to measure this is through gated content, which offers some potential for attribution. We could also look at things like downloads and, if the sales team uses specific types of content within their sales cycle, attempt to correlate downloads to content use. This approach is a bit like piecing together a puzzle, but it's a start. We need to get creative when thinking about how product marketing is influencing leads.
Linking the work of PMMs with stakeholder OKRs is a big deal. We often see this when our clients ask us to establish go-to-market processes – our role there isn't just creating the process, but also getting everyone on board and excited about the journey.
Being Strategic and Less Reactive
There’s no perfect answer to the question of how to be more strategic and less reactive as a PMM within a company. Often, it boils down to company culture and having the right people onboard. In some companies, product marketing is highly valued and given a seat at the table – often when someone in the C-suite has a background in product marketing or has had a positive experience with product marketing teams. However, we've also worked with some outwardly successful companies that don't share this view.
It’s important to align with the executive team, document, road show, and track metrics to bring people along for the ride and show how product marketing contributes to success based on the needs and structure of your organization.
When our clients ask us about performance measurement, we always tell them to look at what their business cares about over the next year. There are likely one or two big things product marketing teams can align with – let's concentrate on those macro priorities.
Ask yourself, what are the top priority areas for the business?
Go-to-market?
Win rates
Conversion rate
Analyst coverage/position
Sales enablement and effectiveness?
Asset utilization
Average deal size
Deal cycles
Win/Loss ratio
Top of funnel marketing?
Campaign performance
Site traffic
MQLs and SQLs
Product adoption?
Feature adoption
Churn rate
Measuring the success of product marketing is a complex task due to its multifaceted nature and the influence of other functions within the organization. However, by tying product marketing to revenue, aligning with stakeholder OKRs, and adopting a strategic mindset, product marketing professionals can play a pivotal role in propelling growth and achieving organizational objectives.
Ultimately, success lies in understanding the needs of the organization, collaborating with key stakeholders, and showcasing the value of product marketing in driving revenue and overall success.