Director Product Marketing
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The Director of Product Marketing is responsible for the development and directing of the entire Product Marketing Department. The Director of Product Marketing’s role is to synthesize market, consumer, product, and competitive inputs into driving the highest possible revenue for the business.
The role of the Director of Product Marketing involves performing activities such as product pricing, product strategy and analysis, product positioning to target consumers, sales messaging development, competitive analysis, and product differentiation among others. The role of Director is a collaborative role and incorporates some sales enablement activities, for example, creation of sales tools, communication, and training.
The Director of Product Marketing is usually a person with vast experience in product marketing roles with specific expertise in the areas of pricing, positioning, and packaging. He will also be a great communicator, having honed his skills over years of experience and exposure in interactive marketing positions.
The Director of Product Marketing will also understand intimately the details and nuances of his product’s market, buyer personas, and be able to deliver the business results in terms of sales.
Objectives and Responsibilities of the Director of Product Marketing
Leadership/Supervisory Role: First and foremost, the Director of Product Marketing plays the leadership role in the Product Marketing department. The Director of Product Marketing leadsthe product marketing department and collaborating product personnel in developing various product marketing initiatives inclusive of consumer case studies, product videos, website content, and much more.
At this capacity, the Director also plays a role transcending that of a supervisor; he acts as a mentor to the Head of Product Marketing and other key junior product marketing personnel, constantly assisting and guiding them in the performance of their functions upon request. The Director of Product Marketing ensures that the junior product marketing personnel are constantly growing and improving their professional skills; grooming them for occupying his roles and functions in his absence or retirement.
Product Positioning: The Director of Product Marketing is responsible for the product’s positioning and messaging. In doing so the Director endeavors to understand the consumers’ needs and behaviors. This responsibility is pivotal for a product’s market success because it differentiates the product by ensuring that it always stays in line with consumer needs and market trends. In addition to this, product positioning assures the product a competitive edge because the marketing department, spearheaded by the Director, will be able to understand the current competitive situation at all times.
At this capacity, the Director of Product Marketing develops product messaging that is fitting to the consumers’ current mindset and maximizes the strengths of every marketing and communication channel in the process in order to raise product awareness in the market.
Product Launches: The Director of Product Marketing, in conjunction with the Chief Product Officer, is tasked with overseeing the product’s launch. The Director’s objective at this capacity is to ensure a successful andintegrated product launch for the product, new product features, and product solutions. He also has a post-launch obligation of ensuring that the product constantly grows in the market; and that the product is constantly moving from awareness to adoption in new market segments.
Collaboration: The role of the Director of Product Marketing is a collaborative one and he is, therefore, tasked with working with other product directors, product management, and sales teams in the formulation of optimal pricing strategies, models, product education approaches, product solutioncreation, and execution of competitive counter-tactics.This is done with a view of enabling the achievement of the product’s market share targets.
At this capacity, the Director of Product Marketing will also work closely with the Head of Product Marketing and research departments in order to acquire consumer information and consumer feedback. However, the Director may also go out of his way to acquire consumer information from the source by directly reaching out to consumer groups to gain product feedback, better understand market trends, and competitive factors. The acquired insight later influences product pricing, packaging, and development decisions along theproduct’s roadmap.
Analytics: The Director of Product Marketing also plays an analytical role. As the supervisor of the Head of Product Marketing, who also plays an analytical role, he must be highly capable of reviewing, refining, and making recommendations on analyses conducted by his juniors. The Director is responsible for preparation of the final reports, analyses, and findings that are presented to the Chief Product Officer, critical stakeholders, and external partners.
Additionally, the Director of Product Marketing will be needed to conduct his own market analyses that he presents to collaborating product directors during deliberations on product pricing, product messaging, product development, etc that will optimize the product’s sales and business revenue.
Required Qualifications of the Director of Product Marketing
Education: The Director of Product Marketing has to have a Master’s degree, preferably Phd, in Marketing, Advertising, Information Technology, Economics, Business Administration, Engineering, Psychology or any other related field. An equivalent of this educational background in working experience is also acceptable.
Experience: A suitable candidate will have served at least 10 years in a high ranking position in a product marketing department, for example, as a Senior Product Marketing Manager or a Head of Product Marketing. The Director of Product Marketing has to have working experience in the field of marketing,dealing specifically with product positioning, pricing, and packaging.A suitable candidate will also have had vast experience in the creation and execution of highly detailed go-to product market plans.
Analytical Skills: A suitable candidate for the position of Director of Product Marketing will have to demonstrate strong analytical skills, as well as passion for products analysis, completive analysis, and market dynamics. He will need to have a strong ability to synthesize market data and provide solutions even on short notice or constraint deadlines. A suitable candidate will possess a creative ability to craft product messaging that resonates and connects with the diverse demographics of the business’s consumers as well as for the stakeholders to whom he will have to answer to directly for the activities and performances of the product marketing department.
Leadership: As the senior head of the Product Marketing Department, leadership skills are an absolute necessity in the candidate. The Director of Product Marketing has to display and ability to influence and move junior product marketing personnel as well as collaborativepersonnel towards a single unified direction. That is; the Director of Product Management will possess team-building skills that will facilitate achievement ofteam goals.
The Director of Product Marketing will also have an apparent and seasoned business judgment that will earn him the trust and respect of his juniors; he will have a consecutively proven ability to engage in a product and lead it to commercial success. The Director of Product Marketing will also have a people-focused enthusiasm and empathy that will genuinely and positively improve how the junior product marketing personnel perform their functions.
Communication Skills: Being the leader of a department, the Director of Product Marketing will posses excellent communication skills and an ability to ability to present complex material both to technical teams as well as to consumers in a way that relates to each audience. He will also have to interact and deliver reports and presentations to the Chief Product Officer, business stakeholders, junior product marketing personnel, collaborating personnel, and external partners and must, therefore, be in a position to convey messages clearly and concisely to any audience in a manner that they understand and can relate to. The Director of Product Marketing must possess excellent communication skills both in verbal and written form.
Software: The role of Director of Product Marketing involves a great deal of reporting and presenting. For the utmost impact, and to ensure that the information is conveyed to audiences in the best way possible, reports and presentations have to be both verbally and visually engaging. Therefore, to facilitate this, the Director of Product Marketing must show proficiency in the use of computer softwares such Dreamweaver, Visio, Illustrator, Fireworks, and Photoshop.
Ms Office: The Director of Product Marketing must be proficient in Ms Word and the Ms Excel analytical tools. He must also demonstrate expertise in the use of PowerPoint in order to create engaging content for presentations made to the Chief Product Officer, collaborating department personnel, junior product marketing personnel, the business stakeholders, and external partners.
Interpersonal Skills: There are certain interpersonal qualities that will be necessary to make a good Director of Product Marketing. Some of these interpersonal skills are; excellent creative skills that will facilitate the differentiation of the product; must be decisive, iterative and agile; possess an ability to manage multiple projects in a fast paced working environment; be proactive and disciplined in following through withset priorities and programs; display calmness and composure in uncertain and strenuous situations.