In today’s fast changing and competitive B2B markets, integrated product and go-to-market strategies are table stakes for growth. You don’t have time to develop a product for one target market only to have sales and marketing speak to a different user and/or buyer.
Act Now Before The Gap Between Product Management And Product Marketing Widens
Friction between product management and portfolio marketing is a long-standing reality. Differing goals, communication styles, and priorities widen the gap between the two functions. Product management focuses on immediate deliverables, disrupting portfolio marketing’s longer-term planning and quest for consistency. Furthermore, agile development and its faster product release cycles have worsened this situation, putting strain on organization’s ability to develop products that meet market needs and resonate deeply with the target audience. With the increasing pace of development, the gap will only widen unless leaders act now. The costs are too high: the unfortunate outcomes of misalignment include duplication of efforts, missed steps in the process, offerings that fail to launch on time and on budget, confusing messaging and poor business results.
The answer: Close the gap between product management and portfolio marketing. By tapping into the natural synergy across teams, businesses can ensure their offerings’ value propositions and messaging are cohesive and continually optimized for evolving customer needs and fast-changing market dynamics. Here’s a vision for maximizing customer and business value through the combined strength and insights from product management and portfolio marketing.
Forge A Productive Alliance
To unlock sustainable growth and customer value, executives must recognize the power of product management and portfolio marketing working together. This alliance is essential for driving the organization towards more successful growth strategies. When these functions collaborate effectively, they can:
- Develop a unified understanding of market dynamics and customer needs: By integrating buyer and user needs, product management and portfolio marketing can create a comprehensive view of the market, leading to more informed product and go-to-market strategies.
- Prioritize business opportunities: Aligning on the best market opportunities ensures that resources are focused on initiatives that matter most to business growth.
- Align product and go-to-market strategies: Co-creating the growth strategy helps break down functional siloes and ensures that product and go-to-market strategies are symbiotic, supporting corporate goals.
Leaders Must Drive Change
Alignment between product management and portfolio marketing will enable increased customer and business value. To achieve this, leaders must:
- Establish market and customer insights: Develop a common understanding of customer needs and market insights to inform the product roadmap and messaging.
- Set unified vision and goals: Ensure both functions work towards shared business goals, particularly around revenue and retention.
- Empower each other: Clarify roles and responsibilities, enabling joint goal setting and autonomy in decision-making. Encourage experimentation and collaborative approaches to problem-solving.
- Create collaborative processes: Implement joint planning sessions, integrated workflows, and clear handoffs to promote clarity and open communication.
A close partnership between product management and portfolio marketing provides a deeper understanding of customer needs, better strategic decisions, and compelling execution. By establishing market insights, unified goals, mutual empowerment, and collaborative processes, organizations can maximize customer and business value. This synergy will be crucial for navigating the complexities of technological innovation and ever-evolving customer expectations in 2025 and beyond.
For recommended next steps on forging an alliance between product management and portfolio marketing, read our report here. We are here to help. Forrester clients can request an inquiry or guidance session with myself or other analysts here.
