As a product marketing manager, you should never stop learning. This can be through reading industry reports and publications, taking online courses such as <shameless plug>The PMM Playbook e-learning course</shameless plug>, watching videos, listening to podcasts, or reading books. Today, I wanted to give you a few book recommendations that have helped shape my perspective as a product marketer and have helped me immensely in the various aspects of go-to-market strategy. Maybe you can include these books if your New Year’s resolution is to read more books.
Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Technology Projects to Mainstream Customers by Geoffrey A. Moore
This classic marketing book was originally released over three decades ago, but it is still a key read for PMMs in the tech sector who need to transition their products from niche markets to mainstream audiences. Moore introduces the concept of the technology adoption lifecycle, focusing on the critical transition between early adopters and the early majority—often referred to as ‘the chasm’. Understanding this concept helps PMMs develop targeted strategies to create momentum and gain broader market acceptance. PMMs can use insights learned from Crossing the Chasm to tailor marketing and product development strategies that address specific concerns of mainstream customers, such as reliability, compatibility, and ease of use, which are often different from those of early adopters.
The Lean Product Playbook: How to Innovate with Minimum Viable Products and Rapid Customer Feedback by Dan Olsen
The most complete product management book I’ve read. As I’ve mentioned in my blog post about the Product Marketing Manager’s Role in Product Development, it’s a good idea to understand the product development process and the role of a product manager to help elevate your product and your go-to-market strategy. The Lean Product Playbook guides readers through building products that meet customer needs effectively. It emphasizes using Lean Startup principles to iterate product ideas with minimal viable products (MVPs) and gather rapid customer feedback to refine the product efficiently, which is crucial for agile product development. PMMs can leverage the frameworks and methodologies in this book to more effectively collaborate with product teams, ensure market fit, and continuously refine the product based on real user feedback, enhancing both product launch success and ongoing product management.
Loved: How to Rethink Marketing for Tech Products by Martina Lauchengco
Another book that’s tailored to PMMs in the tech industry, Loved offers insights into crafting marketing strategies that make technology products irresistible. It focuses on building products that not only meet market needs but become beloved by users, enhancing brand loyalty and user retention. PMMs can apply principles from Loved to develop deeper marketing narratives that resonate on an emotional level, enhancing brand loyalty and user engagement, which are critical for the long-term success of any tech product.
Obviously Awesome: How to Nail Product Positioning so Customers Get It, Buy It, Love It by April Dunford
The most complete guide to product positioning published, at least as of this writing, which is a key responsibility for PMMs. Obviously Awesome! provides a step-by-step guide to mastering product positioning, helping PMMs clarify and communicate the unique value of their products in crowded markets. Dunford shows readers how positioning is essential for making products understandable, desirable, and differentiated in the eyes of target customers. By adopting Dunford’s positioning techniques, PMMs can enhance how they communicate product benefits across marketing channels, ensuring that messaging cuts through the noise and directly addresses the needs and desires of their ideal customers.
Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen by Donald Miller
A key role that PMMs need to play is as a storyteller for their product and to develop messaging that resonates with their customers. Building a Storybrand teaches PMMs how to clarify their messaging using storytelling principles, making their marketing communications clearer and more engaging. It’s particularly useful for creating compelling narratives that capture customer attention and build strong brand loyalty. This approach learned in Building a Storybrand can help PMMs revolutionize marketing materials and strategies, making them more customer-centric, increasing the effectiveness of communications across all customer touchpoints.
Understanding the mindset of your cross-functional team is important to the role of a PMM. While it’s not required to have this knowledge, I think that having empathy and an understanding of the role and responsibilities of your sales team will help you to better support them. Fanatical Prospecting offers techniques for prospecting and initiating sales conversations, which can help PMMs ensure their strategies align well with sales objectives and tactics. This knowledge also helps PMMs create better sales enablement tools and align their marketing efforts with the techniques that sales teams find most effective, enhancing overall business growth.
This Is Marketing: You Can’t Be Seen Until You Learn to See by Seth Godin
Similar to the Lean Product Playbook and Fanatical Prospecting and its ability to improve a PMM’s understanding of the product and sales team, respectively, This is Marketing will help PMMs to understand the roles of the marketing team. Godin challenges readers to rethink marketing less as a means to push products and more as a way to create genuine connections and solve customer problems. This perspective is vital for PMMs aiming to create marketing that resonates and sustains. PMMs can adopt a more empathetic approach to marketing, focusing on serving the customer and building community, which can lead to more sustainable brand loyalty and product success.
The Lost Art of Listening, Second Edition: How Learning to Listen Can Improve Relationships by Michael P. Nichols
Effective communication is key for PMMs, and this book focuses on enhancing listening skills to improve professional and personal relationships. It teaches PMMs how to truly listen to customers, stakeholders, and team members, fostering better collaborations and more effective customer-oriented strategies. PMMs can improve their ability to gather accurate customer insights, better understand team concerns, and make more informed decisions that align with the needs of both users and business goals.
Captivate: The Science of Succeeding with People by Vanessa Van Edwards
While not specific to product marketing, this book is invaluable for PMMs looking to improve their interpersonal skills. It uses insights from behavioral science to enhance how you engage with others, from customers to colleagues, which is essential for navigating the cross-functional nature of the PMM role. PMMs can use these behavioral insights to better tailor communications and interactions with both internal stakeholders and customers, improving both the efficacy of marketing strategies and the cohesiveness of cross-functional team efforts.
As you can see, my focus on these book recommendations is not only to improve your skills as a product marketing manager but to make you a complete PMM. Each of these books offers valuable insights and practical advice that can help you as a PMM to excel in your roles by refining your strategy, enhancing communication, and understanding how to better meet the needs of customers and collaborate with the members of your cross-functional GTM team.