marketing-strategy-pmm

---
name: marketing-strategy-pmm
description: Use when working on product positioning, GTM strategy, competitive intelligence, ICP definition, product launches, or sales enablement.
category: Marketing
version: 1.0.0
tools: []
---

# Marketing Strategy & PMM

Product marketing patterns for positioning, GTM strategy, and competitive intelligence.

## ICP Definition Workflow

1. Analyze existing customers — top 20% by LTV.
2. Identify common firmographics (size, industry, revenue).
3. Map technographics (tools, maturity, integrations).
4. Document psychographics (pain level, motivation, risk tolerance).
5. Define 3–5 buyer personas (economic, technical, user).
6. Validate against sales-cycle and churn data.
7. Score prospects A/B/C/D on ICP fit.
8. Validate: A-fit customers should show the lowest churn and fastest close.

**Firmographics template (Series A sweet spot):** 50–5,000 employees, $5M–$500M revenue, SaaS/Tech/Services industry, US/UK/DACH geography, Seed-to-Growth funding stage.

**Buyer personas:** Economic buyer (VP/Director/Head of department — cares about ROI, team productivity, cost reduction; messaging = business outcomes, case studies). Technical buyer (Engineer/Architect/Tech Lead — cares about fit and integration; messaging = architecture, security, docs). User/champion (Manager/Team Lead/Power User — cares about ease of use and quick wins; messaging = UX, time savings).

**ICP validation checklist:** 5+ paying customers match the profile; sales cycles below median; LTV above median; annual churn below 5%; strong product engagement; willing to do case studies.

## Positioning Development

Develop positioning using the April Dunford methodology:

1. List competitive alternatives (direct, adjacent, status quo).
2. Isolate unique attributes — features only this product has.
3. Map attributes to customer value — why it matters.
4. Define best-fit customers — who cares most.
5. Choose market category — head-to-head, niche, or new category.
6. Layer on relevant trends for timing justification.
7. Test with 10+ customer interviews.
8. Validate: 7+ customers describe the value unprompted.

**Positioning statement template:** "FOR [target customer] WHO [statement of need], THE [product] IS A [category] THAT [key benefit], UNLIKE [competitive alternative], OUR PRODUCT [primary differentiation]."

**Value proposition formula:** "[Product] helps [target customer] [achieve goal] by [unique approach]" — e.g. "Acme helps mid-market SaaS teams ship 2x faster by automating project workflows with AI."

**Messaging hierarchy:** headline (5–7 words) → subhead (1 sentence) → 3–4 benefit bullets → supporting features → social proof (logos, stats, case studies).

## Competitive Intelligence

1. Identify Tier 1 (direct), Tier 2 (adjacent), Tier 3 (status quo — spreadsheets, manual process, in-house) competitors.
2. Sign up for competitor products for hands-on evaluation.
3. Monitor competitor websites, pricing, and messaging.
4. Analyze sales-call recordings for competitor mentions.
5. Read G2/Capterra reviews for pros and cons.
6. Track competitor job postings as roadmap signals.
7. Update battlecards monthly.
8. Validate: sales uses battlecards in 80%+ of competitive deals.

**Battlecard structure:** competitor overview (founded, funding stage, size); their positioning claim vs. your reality assessment; their strengths and weaknesses; your advantages with evidence; scenarios where you win vs. lose; a talk track for the most common objection.

**Win/loss tracking (monthly):** win rate by competitor, top win reasons (product fit, ease of use, price), top loss reasons (missing feature, price, relationship), and resulting action items for product, sales, and marketing.

## Product Launch Planning

**Launch tiers:** Tier 1 — new product or major feature, 6–8 weeks prep, $50–100k budget. Tier 2 — significant feature or integration, 3–4 weeks prep, $10–25k budget. Tier 3 — small improvement, 1 week prep, <$5k budget.

**Tier 1 workflow:** kickoff with Product/Marketing/Sales/CS → define goals (pipeline $, MQLs, press coverage) → develop positioning and messaging → build sales enablement (deck, demo, battlecard) → build campaign assets (landing page, emails, ads) → train sales and CS → execute launch day (press, email, ads, outbound) → monitor and optimize for 30 days. Validate: pipeline on track to goal by week 2.

**Launch-day checklist:** press release distributed, email announcement sent, social posts live, paid ads at full budget, sales outbound blitz launched, in-app notification active, metrics monitored every 2 hours.

**Launch metrics:** leading daily indicators are landing-page traffic and demo requests/signups; lagging weekly indicators are feature adoption %, MQLs→SQLs, and deals closed/revenue.

## Sales Enablement

1. Build a sales deck (15–20 slides, visual-first).
2. Build one-pagers (product, competitive, case study).
3. Develop a demo script (30–45 min, discovery-led).
4. Write email templates (outreach, follow-up, closing).
5. Build an ROI calculator (input costs, output savings).
6. Run monthly enablement calls and quarterly training.
7. Validate: sales uses these assets in 80%+ of opportunities.

**Demo flow:** intro (2 min) → discovery (5 min) → demo focused on their use case (20 min) → objection-handling Q&A (10 min) → next steps: trial, POC, or proposal (3 min).

**Sales-marketing handoff cadence:** weekly 30-min sync on win/loss and new assets; monthly 60-min enablement on product updates and training; quarterly half-day review of results and strategy.

## International Expansion

1. Validate market demand via inbound leads and TAM analysis.
2. Localize website, pricing, and legal terms.
3. Establish sales coverage — hire or agency.
4. Adapt messaging for cultural fit.
5. Build local partnerships and references.
6. Launch localized campaigns.
7. Monitor CAC and conversion by market.
8. Validate: 3+ paying customers from the market in the first 90 days.

**Example Series A market priority:** US (months 1–6, 50% budget, $1M target ARR), UK (months 4–9, 20%, $500k), DACH (months 7–12, 15%, $300k), France (months 10–15, 10%, $200k), Canada (months 7–12, 5%, $100k).

**Localization checklist:** professional (not machine) website translation, localized currency and pricing, local phone number and address, legal compliance (GDPR, PIPEDA), local payment methods, sales coverage during local hours, local case studies.

## PMM KPIs

Product adoption >40% in 90 days (feature usage post-launch); win rate >30% competitive; sales velocity -20% YoY (days from SQL to close); deal size +25% YoY; launch pipeline at 3:1 ROMI (pipeline $ : marketing spend).

**Monthly PMM rhythm:** Week 1 — review metrics, update battlecards. Week 2 — create assets, publish content. Week 3 — support launches, optimize campaigns. Week 4 — monthly report, plan next month.

## Proactive Triggers

- No documented positioning → without it, marketing is guesswork.
- Messaging differs across channels → an inconsistent story confuses buyers.
- No ICP defined → selling to everyone means selling to no one.
- Competitor repositioning detected → treat as a signal to review your own positioning.

## Communication

Self-verify source attribution and confidence before answering. Structure output as Bottom Line → What (with confidence) → Why → How to Act. Tag every finding 🟢 verified, 🟡 medium, or 🔴 assumed.

## Coordinate With
@mention a product-marketing-foundations specialist for capturing positioning before this work starts, a launch-strategy specialist to execute planned launches, and a CMO-level advisor for budget and growth-model decisions above the tactical level.