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Date: June 26, 2025
Time: 4:00pm BST
Location: Online

AI isn’t just a buzzword - it’s reshaping how product marketers work, plan, and connect.

Join us for a live session with Scott Baker, CMO and VP of IBM Infrastructure Portfolio Product Marketing, as he explores how AI-powered digital assistants are transforming the PMM landscape—from driving smarter decisions to scaling customer interactions.

With decades of experience in product marketing and tech innovation, Scott will dive into the practical side of AI, offering real-world examples and strategies you can apply right away.

In this session, you’ll discover:

🤖 The different types of digital assistants and their impact on PMM
🛠️ How to integrate AI tools into your strategy without the overwhelm
📊 Metrics that matter: How to measure success and iterate with confidence

Whether you’re experimenting with AI or ready to scale, this session will help you unlock its full potential in your product marketing workflow.

Meet the speaker:

Scott Baker, CMO and VP of IBM Infrastructure Portfolio Product Marketing, IBM

Scott is a technology solutions obsessed executive with a proven ability to design and execute profitable business and marketing plans, and top skills in marketing operations, data science (structured and unstructured data analysis), AI/ML modeling, marketing operations, product marketing and management, storytelling, creative design, and much more. Empathetic leader known for building and accelerating dynamic and highly-effective teams in fast-paced and technology-focused markets. Creative storyteller who bridges art and science to create best-in-class digital and physical marketing plans, brand narratives, and competitively differentiated messaging, all based on a direct-to-consumer mindset.

Expertise and Skill Areas
▪ Digital and Traditional Marketing
▪ Brand Strategy and Positioning
▪ Advanced Data Analytics (Marketing Performance, Sales Pipeline, etc.)
▪ New Product Launches and On-going Product Releases
▪ Lifecycle Marketing including Acquisition, Retention, Reactivation
▪ Development of High Performing Matrixed Teams

As product marketers, we obsess over small tweaks that can make or break user adoption – button copy, onboarding flows, call-to-action color choices. But what if the biggest lever we’re overlooking isn’t how we phrase the choice, but which option we silently make the default?

A new study published in the Journal of Marketing Research – “The Golden Halo of Defaults in Simple Choices” by Sullivan, Breslav, and Huettel – challenges long-held assumptions about how defaults work.

It doesn't just confirm the influence of defaults; it pinpoints how they exert that influence, when they fail, and why some defaults are far more effective than others.

I have unconsciously been using these strategies with many companies, and continue to use them as CEO at Caribou Strategic. Here I’ll break down what every product marketing leader needs to know – and how we can put these findings to work.

Key insight: defaults don’t work because they’re easy – they work because we perceive them as better

Most of us assume defaults work through laziness: users just stick with the preselected option to avoid effort. But Sullivan et al. found something deeper at play. Through a mix of eye-tracking studies, online experiments, and drift diffusion modeling, they discovered that defaults change how people perceive value.

The research team coined this phenomenon the “golden halo” effect. In short, assigning an option as the default subtly boosts its perceived value, even when there’s no difference in effort, no framing, and no rationale provided. 

People don’t just accept the default – they like it more.

For product marketers, this unlocks a powerful new layer of influence. We’re not just guiding users toward action – we’re reshaping their preferences.

Application one: Design default states that align with user goals

One of the most surprising findings was that defaults only work when they align with the user’s existing goals. Defaults that conflicted with users’ motivations – like assigning a healthy snack as default to someone with a taste-first mindset – didn’t nudge behavior much.

Takeaway for PMMs:

• Don’t just push your desired outcome as the default.
• Match your default to the dominant user intent at that moment.
• If your user is exploration-driven, default to “Show me everything.” If they’re ROI-minded, default to “Quick wins first.”

Just because you can set something as the default doesn’t mean you should.

Application two: Use defaults to reframe preference, not just speed conversion

The traditional heuristic view said that defaults speed decisions by reducing cognitive load. But this research showed the opposite – defaults often led to longer decision times and more deliberate consideration.

Why? Because the default option is seen as a kind of recommendation. Users give it more attention, and in turn, more perceived value.

For PMMs, this means:

• Default = implicit endorsement.
• A default plan, feature, or filter isn’t just easier to choose – it’s seen as better.
• Want to push a bundled offer or high-retention feature? Make it the default.

But do so with care, because users are interpreting your default as a signal of what you think is best for them.

Application three: Don’t confuse visual prominence with default effect

One of the most practical implications of the study: the power of the default didn’t come from visual salience.

In a control test, when one option was highlighted visually but not called a default, it had no effect. Only when users were told something was pre-selected (even by an algorithm) did the golden halo emerge.

So for us:

• Highlighting a CTA isn’t the same as preselecting it.
• The copy “pre-selected for you” or “recommended” carries more psychological weight than bold fonts or colored buttons.

Smart product marketing = aligning visual design with implied endorsement.

Application four: Defaults are most effective in low-preference, high-ambiguity choices

The “halo” was strongest when users didn’t have a strong prior preference – essentially when they were unsure.

This aligns perfectly with what product marketers encounter in:

• Pricing tier selection
• Feature onboarding
• Registration opt-ins (e.g., “Subscribe to updates”)

So the next time you’re A/B testing default opt-ins or usage nudges, ask yourself: Where is the user undecided? That’s your high-leverage zone for default design.

Application five: Be careful with frictionless defaults – they might backfire

Another layer to the study: defaults that required zero action (e.g., pre-ticked checkboxes) weren’t always effective. When defaults were too easy to accept, especially when users had strong preferences, they triggered skepticism.

This is a valuable watch-out for PMMs working on:

• Subscription auto-renewals
• Cross-sell pop-ups
• Consent flows (like GDPR)

Users don’t like feeling tricked. The golden halo only works when users believe the default is a smart choice, not a sneaky one.

TL;DR for PMMs: When defaults work (and when they don’t)

The study identified four key conditions for effective default usage:

So, what should product marketers do next?

1. Audit your product defaults: Where are you nudging without clarity? Are defaults working for or against user intent?
2. Frame your defaults smartly: “We’ve preselected this based on your usage” will outperform “default.”
3. Run behavior-focused tests: Instead of just measuring conversion, track satisfaction and retention for default vs. non-default users.
4. Educate your stakeholders: Many designers and PMs still think defaults work by speeding things up. Share this research to shift that mindset.
5. Make room for opt-outs: Empowered users convert and churn less. Defaults should guide, not force.

Final thought: Defaults aren’t passive. They’re persuasive.

If you’ve treated defaults as the lazy choice, it’s time to rethink. This research shows they’re a powerful tool for shaping perception, not just behavior.

As PMMs, we don’t need to trick users into compliance – we can guide them with confidence. And when we use defaults the right way, we’re not just optimizing UX. We’re building trust.

Most content calendars are driven by assumptions.

Marketers, we all know the drill. We chase trending SEO keywords, build around the latest sales ask, or follow gut instincts. Sometimes it works. Sometimes, it doesn’t. And the cost is high: wasted content, missed engagement, and misaligned messaging.

But what if your content strategy didn’t rely on assumptions at all?

That’s where voice of the customer (VoC) data comes in. And no, we’re not talking about one-off quotes or NPS scores, although these are helpful too.

We’re talking about structured, scaled, searchable VoC as a data set. A data set that gives you a full, nuanced picture of what your customers care about, how they talk, and what’s standing in the way of their success.

When you tap into VoC data at scale, your content becomes more focused, timely, and impactful. Here's how:

1. Effective prioritization: Let data drive the roadmap

One of the biggest struggles in content strategy is knowing what to work on first. Everyone has a request: sales, product, customer success. But what’s actually going to move the needle?

VoC data helps you prioritize with confidence.

By analyzing themes across all your sales and customer facing calls, support tickets, or customer interviews, you can:

• Identify which pain points, objections, and questions come up most frequently
• Understand where deals are getting stuck, and what content could help
• See which gaps are hurting conversion or customer success

This means the content you produce is tied to the topics that touch the most deals, not just the loudest voices.

Bonus: It builds trust with sales when you show you’re solving the issues they’re hearing every day.

2. Better language: Say what your customers are actually saying

Even the most well-written content can fall flat if it’s not in the customer’s voice.

Without VoC: You launch a new product and run through your usual checklist of content (landing page, explainer, blog post, etc.), hoping it resonates.

With VoC: You shape your messaging around the exact pains, phrases, and needs your customers have already expressed.

When you use your customers’ language, they feel heard. And they respond.

VoC helps you:

• Capture customer phrasing that beats generic copy every time
• Position products in a way that aligns with what people are already looking for
• Turn transcripts and call summaries into headlines, H1s, and CTAs that connect

Identifying what your customers are saying at scale makes this even more powerful. The voice of one customer describing their needs is insightful.

Hearing multiple customers express their needs in the same way is game changing. Use customer’s own words to position your products and messaging.

3. Real-time relevance: Be proactive, not reactive

If your content strategy depends on waiting for feedback from sales, you’re always behind.

Sound familiar?

• You're chasing down a rep for a great customer success story
• You're asking what objections are coming up on calls
• You're trying to validate a new feature with anecdotal input

VoC data gives you this in real time.

AI-powered tools surface success stories, objections, feature requests, and questions as soon as they come up without needing a meeting, Slack message, or follow-up.

That means your content and messaging doesn’t fall behind current buyer needs or behavior. It means you can bring a customer win to sales for approval versus the other way around.

It means you can tackle new product questions and challenges as soon as they arise. Voice of customer data allows marketers to move fast and respond to what is happening today, not last week.

Voice of the customer reporting template | Download

Turn customer feedback into action. Use this voice of the customer reporting template to drive growth, retention, and alignment.

Product Marketing AllianceAmelia Wilson

4. More complete insights: Fill in the gaps other tools miss

Tools like Google Analytics, SEMrush, or CRM dashboards show you what’s happening – page visits, clicks, win/loss rates. But they rarely show you why it’s happening.

VoC fills in the blanks.

This data fills in the nuance behind objections (“Is it price, or is it value?”), details around feature requests (“is this actually a nice-to-have or a game changer?”), and the stories and sentiments that numbers alone can’t capture.

When you break VoC down into structured insights (like frequency of mention, stage of funnel, content coverage) you can:

• Augment data from other tools to understand the why
• Spot the real friction points
• Know where you’re supported by content (and where you aren’t)
• Translate those insights into action, fast

Content strategy needs better inputs

Content teams aren’t short on ideas. But when they’re short on signal, it can mean ineffective content, slow execution, and poorly aligned messaging.

Voice of customer data is one of the richest inputs available to a marketer. And with the right tools, this voice of customer can come to life in your content.

Listening at scale isn’t a luxury anymore. It’s a strategic imperative. And the smartest marketers? They’re not guessing. They’re listening.

For product marketing managers in B2B SaaS, few questions are as constant – or as complex – as this one:

Should we focus more on launching… or adopting?

The truth? We need both. But in many organizations, the balance tips heavily toward launching. We chase momentum, newsworthiness, a race with competitors, and internal validation – sometimes at the expense of sustained product usage and long-term growth.

In this blog post, I’ll explore why adoption is the silent growth lever, what pitfalls to avoid in over-indexing on launches, and how smart PMMs are balancing both using tiering, playbooks, and measurement.

The hidden cost of launches: Fatigue, noise, and misalignment

Launches are undeniably exciting. They bring teams together, generate buzz, and make your roadmap visible. But if every launch gets the same fanfare, they start to lose impact. Worse, they can create noise for both internal teams and customers.

Ask yourself (and your team):

• Are we launching more than our audience can absorb?
• Are we properly measuring success beyond launch day (e.g., actual product adoption, not just pageviews)?
• Are CS, sales, and marketing getting overwhelmed by launch comms and enablement?

The cost of launch fatigue is real, and it can distract from the steady, strategic work of driving actual product usage.

Adoption: The silent growth lever

While launches create awareness, product adoption and ‘habit’ drive retention, expansion, and advocacy. Yet many organizations don’t treat adoption as a core GTM discipline – until the churn rate starts to increase. 

My best advice? Don’t let your churn numbers kick off your product adoption strategy; instead, proactively balance product adoption from early stages.

Here are key questions to reflect on when building a product adoption strategy.

• Are we providing feature education to customers after launch?
• Are we equipping CS and sales with the right assets and narratives to drive usage? Or do we just provide enablement on new launches?
• Do we track lagging indicators like time-to-value, feature activation rates, first-time users, returning users, or breadth and depth of usage?

Adoption work isn’t flashy, but it compounds. It's often the fastest and steadiest route to retention.

6 best practices to balance launches and adoption

Here’s a practical playbook to help PMMs find the balance – and drive growth through both motion types.

1. Tier your launches 🎯

Not every product update deserves the same level of effort. A tiered launch framework ensures you scale your involvement based on impact.

Example tiering system:

2. Adoption playbooks 🧭 

Launch day is just the start. The real work begins after, when users need to make your product part of their routine. Adoption is a long game that stretches from day two all the way through renewal (or churn).

To keep users engaged beyond launch hype, you need smart campaigns and plays that nudge, guide, and remind them why your product matters for the long term, not just at kickoff.

Here are some practical ways to make adoption stick:

• Nudge series: Targeted emails for inactive users of high-value features
• CS plays: Talk tracks and one-pagers for QBRs or success calls
• Webinars: E.g., “3 ways power users use [Feature X]”. Bring a real customer advocate
• In-product communications: Highlight new workflows or advanced use cases
• Lifecycle marketing: Trigger emails based on tenure and product actions taken or not taken (E.g., Day five: “You haven’t completed your onboarding tasks, and why it matters…”)

3. Success metrics for adoption 📊 

What you measure is what gets your attention. To boost adoption, you need to track both leading and lagging indicators. By keeping an eye on the right metrics, you can spot what’s working, what needs tweaking, and where to focus your energy for the biggest impact.

Here are the key numbers to watch:

• Feature MAUs
• Time to first value (TTFV)
• Percentage of customers using feature X
• First-time and returning users
• Retention correlated with feature usage
• Customer maturity score

Partner with CS ops and product teams to surface this data in dashboards. Use it to inform both adoption campaigns and roadmap prioritization. Tools like Pendo or Pigment can be extremely helpful.

4. Evergreen customer education and enablement ♻️ 

Not every feature needs a campaign. Some just need to be discoverable, useful, and reinforced over time.

Your evergreen toolkit:

• Onboarding flows
• Lifecycle emails (e.g., “Feature X you might’ve missed”)
• Self-serve demos and video walkthroughs
• In-product guides
• CS enablement playbooks

5. Customer voice integration 🎤

Nothing drives adoption like hearing from another customer who’s winning with the product.

Ways to bring customer voice into your GTM:

• 60-sec success videos featuring real workflows
• Mini case studies embedded in feature launches or QBR decks
• Webinars where customers articulate how the product helps them achieve their business goals
• Testimonials and screenshots in nurture emails and product docs

6. Quarterly GTM planning and advisory boards 🧠

The smartest PMM teams plan their adoption and launch efforts every quarter, making sure they line up with company goals. Using a simple GTM scorecard can help you figure out what to tackle first.

Also consider creating a solutions advisory board – a curated group of engaged customers who preview your roadmap, provide feedback, and help shape your messaging.

• Monthly or quarterly cadence
• Focused on specific solution areas
• Great source of customer proof and pilot users
• Can be virtual and much less expensive than traditional customer advisory boards

Final thoughts 👇

You don’t have to choose between launching and adopting – but you do have to prioritize.

Launches create momentum. Adoption creates growth. To win, PMMs should orchestrate both with practical frameworks, tools to scale, and cross-functional alignment.

Ready to rebalance your GTM efforts?

If you want more real-world GTM insights like this, feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn. Let’s keep the conversation going.

About the author

Cris Thome is a PMA Ambassador and Global B2B SaaS Product Marketing Leader with deep expertise in go-to-market strategy and background in retention and lifecycle marketing.

She has led GTM expansion efforts across North America and Europe in MarTech, HR Tech, and Multi-Location Marketing.

It’s simple, really: Brand performance indicators matter because they show how well your brand is connecting with people and building loyalty. 

Keeping an eye on them helps you tweak your strategies and make smarter moves to grow your brand and drive sales.

Here are the top brand performance indicators you can use to measure your brand. 

What is brand marketing? Examples inside

Discover the power of brand marketing and how it can elevate your product strategy. This article explores the key principles of effective brand building and how to seamlessly integrate it with product marketing for maximum impact.

Product Marketing AllianceCharley Gale

10 key brand performance indicators

1) Brand awareness 

Brand awareness is a foundational brand metric that tells you how familiar people are with your brand, whether they recognize your name, logo, or product category. For product marketers, it’s an essential starting point in brand tracking efforts. After all, consumers can’t consider or buy what they don’t know exists. 

Awareness is often measured through surveys or digital indicators like search volume, website traffic, or social media impressions. It’s also useful to look at top-of-mind awareness, where respondents name your brand first in a category – that's a sign of strong brand presence. 

To calculate, marketers typically use the percentage of people who recognize your brand in a survey or track shifts in search trends over time. Segmenting this data by audience, geography, or channel can give more actionable insights.

Segment sentiment audit checklist | Download your template

Know what resonates, fix what doesn’t, and create a seamless customer journey.

Product Marketing AllianceAmelia Wilson

2) Brand recall 

Brand recall takes awareness a step further. It measures whether consumers can remember your brand without being prompted. It’s one of the more valuable brand measurement tools for evaluating how strongly your brand is positioned in consumers’ minds. 

For example, if someone is asked to name a brand of bottled water and says “Evian” without being shown any list, that’s successful recall. Marketers typically measure this through unaided survey questions. 

A simple way to calculate it is: (number of respondents who mention your brand ÷ total number of respondents) × 100. 

Improving recall often comes down to consistent branding, strong visuals, and emotionally resonant messaging that makes your brand stand out.

3) Brand perception 

Brand perception reflects how your target audience feels about your brand, whether they see it as trustworthy, innovative, affordable, or perhaps outdated. This is where brand sentiment comes into play. 

It's a vital brand metric because it captures the emotional response your brand evokes. Product marketers can use perception data to compare current sentiment against their desired positioning. 

This is typically measured through surveys, focus groups, and social listening tools that analyze tone and keywords in online conversations.

While it’s harder to quantify than other metrics, perception scores or sentiment distributions (positive/neutral/negative) can be tracked over time to spot shifts. 

Regular brand tracking of perception helps marketers proactively manage reputation and pivot messaging when needed.

4) Customer satisfaction (CSAT) 

Customer satisfaction, or CSAT, measures how pleased customers are with a specific experience or interaction – usually right after a purchase or customer service contact. It’s a key piece of brand health, though somewhat short-term in nature. 

Product marketers benefit from this metric because it provides immediate feedback on how well the product is delivering value. It’s often measured via a survey question like, “How satisfied were you with your experience today?” on a 1–5 scale. 

To calculate: (number of satisfied customers ÷ total responses) × 100. 

It’s worth noting that CSAT alone doesn’t paint the full picture – pairing it with retention or NPS can give a deeper view of overall customer sentiment.

5) Net promoter score (NPS) 

NPS is a widely used brand measurement metric that gauges customer loyalty by asking, “How likely are you to recommend our product or service to a friend or colleague?” 

Respondents rate from 0–10 and are classified as Promoters (9–10), Passives (7–8), or Detractors (0–6). 

NPS is calculated by subtracting the percentage of Detractors from the percentage of Promoters. It’s more than a number – it’s a pulse check on brand sentiment and customer experience. 

For product marketers, high NPS signals strong advocacy, which often leads to organic growth. The real magic happens when you follow up with qualitative questions to learn why people gave their scores, uncovering key insights that drive product or messaging improvements.

6) Brand loyalty

Brand loyalty measures how often customers repeatedly choose your brand over competitors. It’s a critical metric for understanding long-term customer relationships and predicting revenue consistency. 

Product marketers often monitor loyalty by looking at repeat purchase rates, customer lifetime value (CLV), or renewal rates. 

The basic formula is: (number of repeat customers ÷ total customers) × 100. 

However, loyalty isn’t just about frequency – it’s about emotional connection and perceived value. Marketers should consider running loyalty surveys or analyzing churn data to identify what’s keeping customers engaged or what might be pushing them away.

7) Market share 

Market share tells you what portion of total category sales your brand owns, making it a vital high-level brand measurement metric. It reflects not just your performance, but how you're faring against the competition. 

To calculate: (your brand’s total sales ÷ total market sales) × 100. Product marketers often track market share as part of broader brand tracking efforts to understand whether growth is coming from customer acquisition or category expansion. 

Keep in mind that market share doesn’t always tell the full story – especially in fast-changing industries. Complementing this data with customer feedback and brand sentiment gives you a more complete picture of your standing in the market.

8) Purchase intent 

Purchase intent measures how likely a customer is to buy your product in the near future. It's an important forward-looking metric that can guide campaign planning, product launches, and forecasting. 

Typically, it’s assessed via surveys asking, “How likely are you to purchase [brand/product] in the next 30 days?” 

You can calculate intent strength by dividing the number of respondents who answer “likely” or “very likely” by the total number of responses, then multiplying by 100. 

While high intent is a good sign, product marketers should cross-reference it with behavioral data like cart activity, pricing feedback, or funnel drop-off points to understand what might still be blocking conversion.

9) Social media engagement 

Social media engagement reflects how actively people are interacting with your brand on platforms like Instagram, X (Twitter), LinkedIn, or TikTok. It’s a great real-time brand tracking tool to measure brand sentiment, content resonance, and campaign impact. 

Engagement includes likes, comments, shares, mentions, and saves. A simple formula is: (total engagements ÷ total followers) × 100. 

However, not all interactions carry equal weight. High-quality engagement, like positive mentions or influencer interactions, can signal strong brand health and a deeper connection. 

Use sentiment analysis tools to dig into the why behind the engagement and uncover how your audience really feels.

10) Share of voice (SOV) 

Share of voice is a strategic brand measurement metric that tracks how much of the conversation your brand owns compared to competitors. It can apply to media coverage, social chatter, or paid ad impressions. 

Calculated as (your brand’s mentions or impressions ÷ total mentions in your category) × 100, SOV is often used alongside market share to assess excess share of voice – a key predictor of future growth. 

Product marketers should monitor this regularly as part of their brand tracking routine. 

Keep in mind, though, that not all mentions are good ones; SOV needs to be balanced with sentiment analysis to ensure you're not just being talked about, but talked about positively.

How these brand metrics interconnect

While each brand metric on its own provides a valuable signal, the real power lies in how they work together to tell a complete story. Brand tracking isn’t about watching a single number in isolation, it’s about seeing patterns and relationships that help you make smarter decisions.

For example, imagine you’re seeing high brand awareness but low purchase intent. That disconnect might suggest your messaging is grabbing attention but not converting interest into desire, maybe the product positioning isn’t quite right, or the value proposition isn’t clear. 

On the flip side, if you have strong NPS but declining market share, that might indicate a passionate but too-narrow user base. In that case, it’s time to expand your reach without alienating loyal customers.

Similarly, brand sentiment and brand perception go hand-in-hand: if your social media engagement is high but sentiment is skewing negative, your brand might be in the spotlight for the wrong reasons. That insight should prompt a closer look at what’s being said and how to shift the narrative.

In short, these metrics are like different dials on the same dashboard. One might spike while another dips, and it’s your job as a product marketer to figure out why. Tracking them holistically helps you identify not just symptoms, but root causes. That’s when brand measurement becomes truly strategic.

Recommended tools for brand tracking and measurement

To keep tabs on these metrics consistently and effectively, you’ll want to lean on a solid toolkit. Here are a few tried-and-true platforms that product marketers often turn to for brand tracking:

1. Brandwatch – Great for tracking brand sentiment, share of voice, and social media engagement across channels. It also offers powerful visualizations to map trends over time.

2. Qualtrics – Ideal for running brand perception, CSAT, and NPS surveys. It’s robust, customizable, and integrates well with CRMs and customer journey tools.

3. Sprout Social or Hootsuite – These platforms help you monitor brand engagement, track mentions, and analyze social sentiment in real time. They also make scheduling and reporting easy.

4. Google Trends – Useful for monitoring brand awareness based on search interest over time. It's free and can be an early indicator of shifting market interest.

5. SurveyMonkey or Typeform – Great for running simple, cost-effective brand recall, perception, or loyalty surveys. Their UX is clean and easy for customers to respond to.

6. HubSpot or Salesforce – If you’re already using a CRM, many of these platforms offer built-in tools for measuring loyalty, retention, and even NPS, tying brand health directly to business performance.

The key is consistency. Pick the tools that best fit your brand’s maturity and goals, then commit to tracking over time. That’s how product marketers build a truly data-informed brand strategy.

Final thoughts

At the end of the day, brand performance isn’t just about numbers, it’s about understanding how your brand lives in the minds and hearts of your customers. For product marketers, the real value of brand tracking and brand measurement lies in turning these metrics into action. 

The key is to treat these indicators not as static scores, but as a living pulse of your brand. The more consistently you track and respond to them, the more effectively you can grow a brand that not only performs, but lasts.

When we think about personalization, Spotify’s usually the first example that comes to mind. 

Now, I’m a bit of a Swiftie. Taylor Swift consistently tops my Wrapped. With my wedding coming up next month, I’ve been digging through my playlists for songs to include in the big day. 

But there’s a twist: my mom uses my Spotify account too. So, alongside Taylor, I’m being recommended Sheena Easton, a surprising amount of Robbie Williams, and even Rasputin by Boney M (honestly, that one might make the final cut).

It’s a useful reminder that personalization can be powerful… or a little off. When it goes wrong, it’s usually because the data isn’t quite right. But when it works, it creates magical, memorable moments for users. 

When personalization goes too far, it gets weird fast. There’s a big difference between “my barista remembers my order” and “my barista shows up at my house with it.”

So, I’m here to help you get personalization right and make users feel understood, not watched. Here’s a taste of what we’ll cover:

• Why personalization matters and who should own it
• The data and tools you need for effective personalization. 
• The best channels for product marketing personalization.
• A few experiments you can try yourself.

Let’s get into it.

Why personalization matters (and who should own it)

First, let’s talk about why personalization is worth your time – and who’s responsible for making it happen.

The case for personalization is pretty clear. According to a report by Twilio Segment, 89% of marketing decision-makers say it’s essential to their success over the next three years. With third-party cookies on their way out, 78% of businesses say first-party data is now their most valuable personalization resource. Plus, McKinsey found that 71% of customers now expect personalized experiences.

In short, people want a better experience, and we’ve got the tools and data to deliver it.

But here’s the catch: no one’s really sure whose job it is. Product marketing looks to growth teams for the data. Growth teams point to ops. Marketing shrugs and tries to figure it out. We've seen this play out on our team, and it’s a common pattern.

The result? Personalization ends up in a weird limbo. That means missed opportunities to make users feel seen, understood, and supported.

But here’s the thing – product marketers are in the perfect position to own this. We understand the product, the messaging, and the customer journey. Personalization doesn’t have to live somewhere else. It can and should start with us.

The data, tools, and channels you need for effective personalization

So let’s get into the nuts and bolts – what do you need to start personalizing your product marketing? It all comes down to three things: 

1. Your who
2. Your where
3. Your how

First up: the who. This is all about your data – and the good news is, you probably already have a lot of it. Your CRM is packed with first-party data that tells you who your users are. 

You can also layer in third-party tools like Clearbit or Vector to identify who’s browsing your site and what they’re interested in. This combo helps you understand not just who you’re speaking to, but what you should be saying.

Next, the where. These are your personalization channels, and it can feel like you’ve got a whole bucket of options to pick from. So, where do you even begin? 

I find it helpful to think about it in terms of behavioral data versus known data. For example, if you put a billboard up on the street, you’re speaking to someone totally anonymous. You have no idea if they’re your target audience. 

However, if someone’s already a customer, and you know their role, you can get really intentional with your messaging. That’s the sweet spot – where personalization shines without crossing into creepy territory. 

So, we’re going to focus on four key channels that sit in that zone: 

1. Your website
2. In-app experiences
3. Email
4. Interactive demos 

These are places where the user already knows you, and there’s a mutual understanding that allows for a more tailored experience.

To make this work, you’ll need the right tools for each channel. For in-app messaging, we use Chameleon (yes, I’m using our own product!). For email, we use Customer.io. On the website side, tools like Statamic and Mutiny help tailor content dynamically. Each one plays a role in meeting users where they are with content that actually feels relevant.

Finally, let’s talk about the how. This is how you track whether what you're doing is actually working. Attribution tools and analytics platforms are key here. For us, that’s tools like Mixpanel and DreamData. They help close the loop – showing you how your efforts are performing, what’s resonating, and what to tweak next.

By the end of this article, you’ll see how it all connects. Data flows in a loop, feeding your channels and insights, without needing constant hands-on attention. That’s the beauty of doing this right.

Personalizing your website (without online backlash)

Let’s start with website personalization – one of the best places for product marketers to make an impact. 

It’s already a high-engagement channel, and chances are, you’re already involved in creating the content for it. Think: homepages, use case pages, customer stories – this is your turf.

Get a behind-the-scenes view into what your peers are prioritizing, struggling with, and celebrating – all backed by data and direct quotes from real product marketers.

Already a member? Skip the form – download your copy instantly.

What’s inside?

We surveyed and spoke with hundreds of product marketers to uncover the shifts, struggles, and stand-out wins shaping the discipline in 2025.

This year’s report includes:

📊 Exclusive benchmarks on team sizes, budgets, and KPIs

🔁 A year-over-year look at how PMM priorities have evolved

📣 Insights into how PMMs are sharpening positioning, messaging, and launches

🧩 Where product marketers sit in the org – and who they actually work with daily

🔮 Predictions for what’s next (and how to stay ahead)

Highlights you won’t want to miss:

• “Product-first” mindsets are on the rise – 41% of companies now lead with product, up from 31% in 2024.
  
• 44.3% of PMM teams are still just 1-2 people, proving small teams can drive big outcomes.
  
• PMMs continue to be the org's glue: 88.8% work closely with product, and 81% with marketing.
  
• Generating revenue is becoming a more common KPI, now tracking at 53.2%.
  
• Budgets remain modest, but 30.7% reported increased investment in PMM this year.

Get the report now

No fluff. No filler. Just the most comprehensive look at the state of product marketing in 2025.

Your manager can have the biggest impact on you, both personally and professionally. 

Poor leaders foster a culture of uncertainty, leaving employees in a constant state of dread, anticipating unpredictable bad news. Great leaders, on the other hand, focus on transparency and keeping their teams informed through difficult times.

I’ve experienced both kinds of leadership, and I’ve mentored many professionals navigating these dynamics. This article will help you learn how to “manage up” and take control of your career, regardless of who your manager is.

Recognising the traits of a bad manager

As someone who has managed and mentored many PMMs, my philosophy is that I'm passionate about elevating and professionalizing product marketing.

If those I mentor, manage, or support excel beyond me, that's a reward in itself. As Leonardo da Vinci said, "Poor is the teacher whose student does not surpass him." However, not every manager has the same mindset, which can sometimes be detrimental to those they manage.

With this being said, let’s identify the types of bad managers and how to handle them.

1. The Hip Shooter

This is the classic “narcissistic” manager who’s completely unprepared to lead people. Often promoted due to the Peter Principle, they follow instructions robotically and obsess over process over outcomes.

Common traits:

• Lack of empathy: One PMM received a Friday 5 PM Teams message, “We need to talk,” with a 1:1 set for Monday. The manager later forgot what they wanted to discuss, ruining the employee’s weekend for nothing.
• Self-centeredness: They always volunteer themselves for high-profile trips and hoard opportunities.
• Shifting goalposts: Even when you deliver exactly what was asked, they change expectations retroactively.
• Micromanagement: They obsess over formatting (e.g., ®/™ symbols), delaying simple tasks by weeks.
• Overreactive to feedback: One manager wrongly reprimanded a team member based on a misunderstood comment from a peer, which wasn’t even a complaint.
• Comparisons: They pit employees against each other. During appraisals, they compare you to peers.
• Defensiveness and denial: One PMM was screamed at for simply asking about the work-from-home policy.
• Insecurity: They fear being “out of the loop” and resist delegation.
• Gaslighting: They use manipulation to make employees question their sanity – “You’re too sensitive,” “Are you sure that happened?”

Impact: These behaviours erode confidence. One mentee, once confident and capable, ended up doubting herself so much that she stopped giving 100%, knowing her work would just be rewritten.

How to manage the Hip Shooter:

• Exploit their bandwidth: CC them on everything until they ask you to stop.
• Over-communicate: Weekly emails – Monday (plans), Wednesday (roadblocks), Friday (updates).
• Clarify in writing: After meetings, send a summary email and state, “If I don’t hear back, I’ll assume I’m on the right track.”
• Push back on gaslighting: Ask for evidence of any “feedback” or challenge unfair claims.
• Call out emotional invalidation: If told “you’re too sensitive,” respond that feelings are valid and personal.
• Confront – if safe: Toxic managers hate confrontation. One PMM described their manager ending a meeting abruptly when their behaviour was challenged.

Lessons in alignment and the power of collaboration

Join Nitin Kartik and Amit Alagh as they share insights on the importance of collaboration between product management and product marketing.

Product Marketing AllianceCharley Gale

2. The Owner/Founder manager

These leaders live and breathe the business. They expect the same commitment from everyone, often at the cost of personal boundaries.

Common traits:

• Sends harsh emails late at night or on weekends.
• Encourages a culture of gossip and surveillance.
• Disrespects personal time and micromanages logistics for convenience. E.g., one manager booked flights from Luton (convenient for him), extending a trip for their report without notice and disrupting the employee’s personal life.

How to manage the Owner/Founder:

• Set boundaries: Going above and beyond is fine occasionally, but not daily.
• Speak up: Many owner/founders lack self-awareness. Let them know what’s bothering you.
• Focus on their priorities: If their focus is H1 goals, don’t divert the conversation to office parties.
• Time your communications wisely: Learn to read their moods before making requests.

3. The “I Don’t Like Conflict” manager

These people-pleasers are often out of their depth. They avoid difficult conversations and cling to motivational clichés like “Don’t bring me problems, bring me solutions.”

Common traits:

• Avoid conflict to maintain popularity.
• Quote business books without applying them.
• Get distracted by shiny new hires.
• Have emotional outbursts in meetings without self-awareness.

How to manage them:

• Appeal to their ego: Ask how they resolved situations to flatter them into helping.
• Document everything: When conflict arises, show your efforts to resolve it and highlight how it affects project delivery.
• Use visual status updates: Create a weekly “traffic light” update system that they can share upwards.
• Call out outbursts gently: Say, “You seem upset – everything okay?” It encourages self-reflection and often leads to an apology.

A proven roadmap for personal and team development

Get a roadmap for personal and team development that’s grounded in real-world experience and proven results.

Product Marketing AllianceAmit Alagh

Traits of a great manager

Now let’s talk about what good managers look like. These are the people who create an environment for growth and trust.

Common traits of great leaders:

• Personal connection: They remember details about your life and celebrate milestones.
• Clear expectations: They set goals and help eliminate roadblocks rather than micromanaging.
• Career development: They actively support your ambitions through courses, projects, or secondments.
• Respect for confidentiality: They don’t compare or gossip.
• Consistent 1:1s: These meetings are focused on you as a person, not just your tasks.
• Fairness: They hear both sides of a story before reacting.
• Respectful feedback: Praise in public, coach in private.
• Transparency: They’re honest about what they can or can’t share.
• Humility: They admit when they’re wrong and apologise – a rare but powerful trait.
• Empowering: They listen more than they speak, and amplify rather than gatekeep.

5 things first-time managers need to know

Unlock 5 things you should know before you embark on your journey as a product marketing manager.

Product Marketing AllianceAyelet Mechany

How can you support your manager?

The relationship goes both ways. Here’s how you can help build a better dynamic:

• Offer feedback: Great managers welcome it.
• Maintain professionalism: Especially at work-related social events.
• Don’t badmouth your manager or peers.
• Be proactive: Let them know if you're struggling.
• Speak your goals: They’re not mind readers. If you want a promotion or a new role, say it.
• Provide heads-up: If you see a “storm” coming, help them prepare.
• Don’t embarrass them: If you’ve broken protocol (e.g., overspending), tell them before finance does.

Evaluating managers during job interviews

When exploring your career trajectory, it’s important to consider what you consider a “good manager” in the wish list of your next role. Some professionals would rather have a great leader than a high salary.

Questions to ask in your interview:

• What’s your management style?
• How often do you meet with your team?
• How do you like to be communicated with?
• How would your direct reports describe you?
• What’s the turnover been like on your team?
• How can your future report support you?

Product marketing job interview questions template

Nail the interview – whether you’re hiring or getting hired in product marketing.

Product Marketing AllianceAmelia Wilson

Final thoughts

Overall, a large part of a great employee/manager relationship involves looking inward – assessing your strengths, acknowledging areas for growth, and being honest about where you stand.

This self-awareness not only builds trust but also empowers more meaningful conversations with your manager.

Together, you can use these insights to create a tailored professional development plan that supports your long-term goals while aligning with the team's broader objectives.

When both parties are invested in growth and communication, the relationship becomes a powerful driver of success.

When you’re launching a new product, clear and timely communication is everything. The product launch communications roadmap template is your go-to resource for aligning internal teams, managing client expectations, and driving go-to-market success – step by strategic step.

Created by Elaina Levenson, Senior Strategist for Ad Product Innovation at Business Insider, this framework breaks down the most crucial communication milestones across the product launch journey.

What is a product launch communications roadmap template?

The product launch communications roadmap template is a strategic tool designed to outline the different phases of communication throughout a product launch. It helps you map out when and how to share key information both internally and externally, depending on product development milestones.

Whether you're teasing a new opportunity, supporting RFPs, or doing a full GTM rollout, this template provides a structured approach to:

• Identifying what can be communicated at each phase
• Ensuring cross-functional alignment
• Prioritizing key clients and sales opportunities
• Supporting the marketing and sales teams with ready-to-use assets

Who is it for?

This template is designed for cross-functional teams involved in the launch of new products, especially those working in:

• Product marketing
• Sales enablement
• Go-to-market strategy

It’s especially useful for organizations navigating multiple stakeholders and needing to streamline their communications during high-stakes product rollouts. 

If you’re coordinating between product management, ad ops, pricing, and sales, this roadmap is your new best friend.

How to use the template

1. Choose your format: Access the Google Slides version or download the PowerPoint file – whatever suits your workflow.
2. Customize for your product: Update the roadmap based on your product’s specific development and launch phases.
3. Align with your teams: Use the template to facilitate conversations between product, marketing, sales, and leadership teams.
4. Communicate confidently: Leverage the roadmap to plan when to share key info with clients, what assets to use, and how to manage expectations throughout the launch cycle.

Don’t guess – launch with confidence, clarity, and consistency.

Download your product launch communications roadmap template

Product launch communications roadmap

Product launch communications roadmap Name of course here

Google Docs

For a brand to stick, it has to start internally. When people understand the purpose behind the message, they share it naturally. That requires clarity, simple tools, and recognition. It does not need to be complex, just consistent.

But you already knew that. For this article, I’ll move away from the classic buy-in techniques you can find on ChatGPT or other well-written blog posts, and focus on the real, tangible challenges I’ve met in several companies I’ve worked for.

Creating a genuine brand: Notes on tone

The brand is the obvious: the logo, the tagline (if any), the colors, the look and feel. But the brand is also the story, the hooks, the messaging, the positioning, the tone. I’ll use this opportunity to highlight that not every software needs to be ‘human’, ‘conversational’, and ‘relatable’.

But brand is also the narrative, the language universe, and the impression people have of the company, not only customers.

While AI is my favorite tool, I have a few non-negotiables. For example, when writing in English, I try to use the kind of words a non-native speaker would use.

It’s pointless to be eloquent and precise if someone from, say, Portugal, has to read it twice to understand it. A global brand speaks to the world, so aim for B2-level language at most. That doesn’t mean ignoring nuance, but you can’t rely on it to carry your message.

Another one is tone. Emojis, jokes, and punctuation like the em dash have very specific audiences. For a joke to land, it has to be very niche, and the people writing them are rarely the target. 

Emojis are a clear tell of a millennial behind the keyboard (guilty!). And I know you couldn’t place an em dash to save your life. A well-used one screams ChatGPT. I’m sure we’ll spot more of these signals as time goes on, but after using LLMs daily, I’ve gotten pretty good at spotting the tells.

Leave the (visual) brand police to the marketing team. Advocating for a genuine tone and a truly human-driven narrative will not only drive instant value to the company and your role but will also create a cleaner internet for us all, where we do not have AIs talking to each other and refining our every thought.

Today, Hubspot is a success story. But I don’t envy the team that had to convince everyone internally that publishing high-value posts and giving away free content was the right move. 

At the time, most companies hoarded knowledge, and doing the opposite felt like a threat to the consulting model. But that fear didn’t hold. Companies now need more consulting hours than ever.

The global software consulting market grew from $258.15 billion in 2024 to $277.42 billion in 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of 7.5 percent. It’s expected to reach $436.9 billion by 2029, driven by trends like cybersecurity consulting, remote work solutions, and SaaS models. 

Case study: Creating a language universe and make it stick

I work in the IT industry. And if you, like I used to, think that means developers and code, that’s not it. IT teams are the ones who set up the technical infrastructure for employees, not customers. 

They set up new laptops, force us to reboot our computers even though we swear we already did, and reply to our tickets when we enter the wrong password 800 times. On top of that, they’re often responsible for passing audits like ISO 27001.

The IT industry is still quite green. Many companies are competing in the space, but each has approached the problem from a different angle: employee experience, ticketing systems, asset management, asset monitoring, license management, and many more.

Now, all those tools are starting to converge into a single category. Even giants like Salesforce are entering the market. What used to be a quiet industry, where people stayed in the same role for 10 or 20 years, is now being chased by sales teams.

The narratives are very technical because companies that tried to sound business-oriented were seen as not knowing their craft. Turns out, IT teams hate being sold to as much as the next person. So, how do we apply the playbook that has worked in every other industry? In my opinion, through thought leadership and training.

The company that creates the playbook, pretty much like Hubspot did when they created the inbound playbook for marketers with the sales funnel (and now the sales cycle), is going to win. 

So now we have a company that has been selling successfully in a technical way for 15 years, and here comes product marketing saying we need to sound more business-friendly. Who’s in?

I know you can hear the crickets too.

The challenge now has two parts. First, how do we get the technical teams to buy into the idea that we need a more sophisticated business messaging?

One that helps us build a solid playbook, showing customers what the best IT processes look like instead of just helping them repeat their own. If it didn’t work across a thousand spreadsheets, a software won’t fix it either. 

And second, how do we make that message feel less complex in how we deliver it? Not full of acronyms and explanations on what things “just do,” but clear on what they’re for and how they actually help in real use cases.

It has to sound like a conversation between a manager and their team, not a caricature character from a 2000s rom-com speaking in code jargon.

Has the brand changed? Yes. But it’s not tangible. It’s not a logo change or a new tagline, there’s no new banner for LinkedIn or a new hex code to implement in newsletters from now on. 

It’s that we all have to not only learn, but create a new language entirely. And as product marketers, we are tasked with teaching that language as we make it up. Just like my German teacher told me once, there is no better way to learn than to listen to the same thing 20 times.

Step-by-step guide

Step one: Define the core message

Step one is to define the core message. You need a mantra. Not a full framework, just a few truths you can repeat until people start saying them back. Ask yourself: How would a customer say this? Who needs it? Why? What happens if they don’t fix it?

Step two: Share it with everyone

Step two is to share it with everyone, everywhere, all the time, because clarity takes time, and confusion spreads fast. If we want teams to repeat what matters, we need to build the belief system behind the message. 

That means putting users at the center, not features. It means talking to customers often and using their words, not ours. It means proving ideas with examples, not explanations. A customer’s logo, a quote, or a case study can say more than a paragraph ever will. 

And it means creating one single source of truth. Not one place for competitive info, another for positioning, and a third for everything else. Alignment starts when people know where to look and what to trust.

Step three: Make it stick

Step three is to make it stick. So, how do you do that? Keep it short. One sentence, one goal. You don’t need to explain everything in the copy. The best copy is a hook. It sparks thinking, it doesn’t wrap it up. Use images to signal meaning. 

Use simple words that anyone can understand, ideally at a B2 English level. And please, no LLM copy. People can tell. Especially internally. If it doesn’t sound like us, it won’t land. Do not compromise on this. 

To get this across, I use a few manual but effective channels:

• Monthly sync with every team. They ask questions, we ask questions. A fixed time for both.
• Weekly newsletter with competitive intel. If they read one thing, make it this. It needs to be good.
• Centralized info. Right now, on Klue, and soon on Slack through an integration.
• Slack messages that build the habit. Things like: “Hey team, remember what we talked about the other day? Here’s another piece of that same puzzle.”

Step four: Reward the early adopters

Step four is to reward the early adopters. Every team has someone who gets it first. Make sure they feel seen. Public recognition works. It encourages others to follow and builds momentum without forcing it. You can’t be in every room; create internal advocates who help carry it forward. That’s how alignment spreads.

Convert a geek to business, save the world 

We ran the webinars, held internal office hours, synced with different teams, re-did trainings, updated the collateral (use the Library, people, do not download files on your computer), defended our much shorter, single-goal copy, fought the design team not to use a print screen on every opportunity, and showed up to every meeting with numbers, industry insights, competitive newsletters, and customer quotes.

We pushed. We reminded. We repeated. We did everything we could to influence teams.

Until one day, someone said something in a meeting, and another person cut in to say, “I can’t believe it, I’m gonna sound like the product marketing team, but you’re still talking about something technical, when we should focus on the user.”

And that day, the bells of heaven rang, a tear streamed down my cheek, and I booked a three-week vacation all at once. We made it to product marketing’s invisible hall of fame. We converted a tech geek into a business geek. We got one step closer to internal buy-in.