Loved summary

In the mid-90s, Microsoft Word’s marketing team faced a dilemma. Management had decreed that all Windows products must ship updated versions simultaneously – severely limiting time for new feature development during the so-called word processing “features arms race.”

Their solution? Focus on one seemingly small enhancement: the red wiggle underlining misspelled words in real time, replacing the manual spellcheck process. This wasn’t chosen randomly. Keystroke analysis of actual users revealed that spellchecking was among the most frequently used functions. When it was demonstrated to the press with a clear explanation of why it was developed, the feature received rave reviews, despite the very small change.

Dropbox was already thriving as a file-sharing platform when Julie Herendeen, VP of Global Marketing, wondered whether her team could further improve their product marketing. Initially, they had segmented customers into two broad categories – companies and small businesses – and were marketing effectively to both.

But Herendeen took a crucial step: she sent her marketing team into home offices and office parks to uncover deeper insights. What the team found was revelatory. Many small businesses also needed to interface seamlessly with larger organizations or collaborate on expansive projects. Customers fundamentally valued the ability to work with whomever they wanted, whenever they wanted. Based on these nuanced insights, Dropbox rolled out an entirely new set of key marketing messages that resonated more authentically with their users.

Let’s get down to the nuts and bolts. A deep understanding of your users is fantastic, but it will only get you so far. To really position your product effectively in the market, you need to deploy strategy.

Your secret weapon? The go-to-market engine. This framework orchestrates how your product reaches customers and covers everything from positioning and messaging to pricing and sales enablement. From a product marketing perspective, this engine is what powers your market entry and expansion.

Insights and strategy can only sing when integrated with storytelling. Unfortunately, conventional marketing advice often pushes formulaic positioning statements. You’ve probably seen templates like “For busy professionals who need to stay organized, our product is a productivity app that streamlines task management.” While these templates provide structure, creating a generic positioning statement doesn’t mean you’ve done the real work of positioning.

So what’s the difference? In marketing terms, positioning is your long-term strategy for how your product will occupy a distinctive place in the market and in customers’ minds. Messaging, on the other hand, is the short-term language you use to communicate that position. There’s a dynamic interplay between these two elements that lets you guide your product to the right position or even reposition it when necessary. At its core, positioning starts with knowing the story you want to tell about your product and having the evidence to support it.

You’ve probably heard of Quizlet, the flashcard tool used by everyone from teachers to med students. But here’s something you might not know: For the first ten years of its life, the company didn’t do marketing. Their users did it for them, uploading videos of happy classrooms or mortarboards with “Thanks Quizlet” written on them, all tagged with the Quizlet hashtag. It's the dream: an organic marketing base of evangelical users who recruit others. Your company may not reach Quizlet levels, but all product marketing should aim to identify and leverage those people and outlets who will become your evangelists – whether that’s your user base, press, analysts, investors, social media influencers, or partner marketers. Your job is finding and activating the right mix.

This brings us to the fourth pillar of product marketing: evangelism. Many marketers obsess over perfect taglines or messaging. While these are important, what truly matters is what gets implanted in everyone’s brain, and what they ultimately share – and they won’t repeat your tagline. They’ll remember something about the product experience or the value you’ve created, and that’s what they pass along. The key is ensuring your product and go-to-market strategy make it easy for others to talk about your value.