Product Management vs Product Marketing – how are they different?

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Product management and product marketing are like two peas in a pod, except one is responsible for the growth and development of a product, and the other is responsible for making it look good. Think of it this way – product management is like the chef, cooking up a storm in the kitchen, understanding customer needs, and prioritizing features. Meanwhile, product marketing is like the server, presenting the dish to the customer with a side of witty messaging and a sprinkle of market research. Mixing up the roles is like putting the chef in charge of serving the food – sure, they might be able to do it, but it’s not their area of expertise, and things might get messy. So, let’s make sure we have a skilled chef and a charismatic server, so our dish (a.k.a. product) can be a smashing success!

Product management is about building products that customers want to buy. They’re responsible for setting strategy, managing teams and making sure that all stakeholders are aligned on what needs to get done. Product managers work closely with designers, engineers and other stakeholders throughout the entire development process; they also communicate frequently with salespeople who can help them make sure they’re building something people want to buy!


Product marketers take responsibility for promoting those products once they’re built–and this is where things get interesting: while both roles focus on communicating value propositions through content marketing efforts such as blog posts or social media posts (or even ads), there’s one major difference between them: Product marketers tend not only talk about what their company offers but also why someone should care about it in comparison with competitors’ offerings; whereas product managers focus more heavily on just explaining what makes their own offering unique without necessarily explaining why others aren’t good enough either

Product Management

Product Management is the process of managing the development and growth of a product. It’s a role that requires you to be able to understand what customers want, how they will use your product and how it can be improved.
The responsibilities of Product Managers include:

  • Defining the vision for the product or service. This includes deciding what features should be included in each release, as well as setting priorities for those features based on feedback from customers or other stakeholders (e.g., sales).
  • Leading cross-functional teams that include designers, developers, marketers etc., so they can build out these products/services effectively according to their plans.
  • Gathering feedback from customers during various stages of development (e.g., beta testing) so they can improve upon their ideas before launching them publicly

Product Marketing

Product Marketing is the process of creating and distributing content that helps you acquire new customers, retain existing ones, and increase revenue.
The goal of product marketing is to drive revenue by increasing awareness of your product or service in the market. The skills required include:

  • Creativity – You need to be able to create interesting content that engages people in a way that makes them want to learn more about your product or service.
  • Communication – You need to be able to communicate effectively with other members of your team so that they understand what you’re trying to achieve with each piece of content (and why).

Similarities between Product Management and Product Marketing

There are many similarities between product management and product marketing. Both roles focus on the strategic alignment of products with customer needs, market research, data-driven decisions and customer focus. They work together to ensure that a company’s products are relevant in the marketplace.
The main difference between product management and product marketing is that while both teams focus on the same goal–to create a successful product–they approach it from different angles. Product managers tend to be more technical in nature while marketers have more of an understanding of how customers think about products or services they use every day (or don’t use).

Differences between Product Management and Product Marketing

  • Responsibilities
    Product management and product marketing are both responsible for the overall success of a product. However, the two roles have very different areas of focus. Product managers are tasked with understanding customer needs, determining how best to meet those needs, and making sure that the team builds out a product that does so effectively. They’re also responsible for managing timelines and budgets as well as making sure that everyone on their team is working toward common goals. In contrast, marketers work more closely with customers–they’re responsible for creating messaging around products (and sometimes even developing them) so they can attract more users than competitors do in their space.
  • Skills required
    Product managers need strong analytical skills; they have to be able to process large amounts of data quickly while thinking critically about how best to use it in order to make decisions about what features should go into each iteration of your product line or update cycle.* Organizational structure

How Product Management and Product Marketing Work Together

The product manager is responsible for aligning the product strategy with the organization’s overall goals, understanding customer needs and managing the product launch. The marketing team plays a critical role in helping you deliver on these tasks by creating an effective messaging strategy that resonates with your target audience.
The following are some examples of ways that product management and marketing work together:

  • Aligning Product Strategy: Marketing helps you define your company’s vision, mission and value proposition so that it aligns with what customers want or need from you. This includes developing messaging around those themes so potential customers understand why they should buy from you instead of another company offering similar products or services.
  • Understanding Customer Needs: Marketing provides insights into what problems customers face when using existing solutions (or lack thereof) available on the market today – whether those solutions are offered by competitors or not! This information can be used by Product Management teams to prioritize feature development based on user feedback rather than just intuition alone.”

Product Management Tools

Product management tools are essential to a successful product. They help you organize your ideas, prioritize them and communicate them to other people involved in the project.
Here are some of the most common ones:

  • Roadmaps – A roadmap is a high-level view of what you want to achieve with your product over time. It’s usually presented as an interactive timeline where each milestone represents one major release or iteration (e.g., version 1).
  • Feature planning – This helps you decide which features should be included in each release based on their importance, viability and feasibility (i.e., whether they can be built).
  • Product backlogs – A product backlog contains all work items that need doing but haven’t yet been prioritized; it organizes these items into categories such as “must do” vs “nice-to-have”. You can use this tool when deciding which tasks should be included in upcoming releases or iterations so that no important tasks are forgotten about due to time constraints or lack thereof!

Product Marketing Tools

Product marketing tools are essential for crafting an effective marketing strategy that resonates with potential customers. These tools can help marketers understand the competitive landscape, identify gaps in the market, and develop messaging that differentiates their product from others in the space. Here are some of the most common product marketing tools:

  • Competitive Analysis: This involves researching and analyzing your competitors’ products, pricing strategies, marketing messages, and overall market positioning. By understanding what your competitors are doing, you can develop a strategy that sets your product apart and appeals to potential customers.
  • Market Research: This involves gathering insights into your target audience, including their needs,, and behaviors can this information create targeted messaging and campaigns that resonate with your audience and drive sales.
  • Pricing Strategies: Determining the right price for your product can be a challenge. Product marketers use pricing strategies such as cost-plus, value-based, and competition-based pricing to set prices that are competitive and profitable.
  • Messaging and Positioning: Crafting compelling messaging that resonates with your audience is key to successful product marketing. This involves developing a unique value proposition that sets your product apart from competitors and communicating that value proposition in a way that is clear and compelling.

Product marketing tools help product marketers better understand their audience, competition, and market trends, allowing them to create effective marketing campaigns that drive sales and growth for their product.

So, which one is ‘better’? 

None, really. As you can see, the differences between product management and product marketing are significant, and they are simply different. The two roles play an important part in the process of developing a product, but they have distinct responsibilities that must be understood by everyone involved. Which one you choose depends on what you want to do. 


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Masters of Science in Product Management | Carnegie Mellon University



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