Product Management vs. Product Marketing - What Is the Difference?

What is product management?

Product management is an organizational function that guides a product through every step of its life cycle — ensuring that the product is delivered within budget, time constraints, and in line with product objectives.

Product managers may work cross-functionally with a variety of teams to bring their product to completion. These cross-functional collaborations often include suppliers and manufacturers to create the product, and marketers to bring their product to potential customers. Product managers need to have an in-depth understanding of their market audience and business plans and strategy in order to develop and manage the strategy for their product. 

Depending on the organization, product managers may also need to have strong technical skills and IT knowledge in order to manage their product effectively.

What is product marketing?

Product marketing is the process of bringing a finished product to market to drive demand and adoption by customers. Product marketing involves creating the product’s image, building its messaging and positioning in the market, actually launching the product, and ensuring that both salespeople and customers understand the appeal of the product.

What are the roles and responsibilities of a product marketing manager?

The role and responsibilities of a product marketer are focused on the successful launch and reception of a product to its market. These responsibilities include:

• Driving awareness of the product
• Creating and building the product’s branding and image
• Establishing the product’s messaging, positioning, and buyer personas
• Researching competitor products
• Creating content (including blog posts, social media copy, videos, etc.) to drive awareness and demand for the product
• Planning and participating in the launch of the product
• Gathering customer insights and feedback on the product 
• Managing the product’s online presence and community
• Converting sales of the product
• Building profit for the organization

What is the difference between product management vs product marketing?

The difference between product management and product marketing is that product management is responsible for creating a product, while marketing is responsible for it going to market. 

Product managers and product marketers have many similar roles. They are both responsible for product launches and both need to work cross-functionally to ensure their product is successful. Both product managers and marketers are concerned with pricing, market research, launch strategy, and planning. But their key areas of focus are different.

Product managers ensure that the product that will eventually go to market is built on schedule and in line with market demand and company objectives. Their KPIs normally focus on the speed to market of new products, customer satisfaction with the product, and the efficiency of the product’s life cycle.

Product marketers, on the other hand, ensure that their product is packaged and displayed effectively so it generates new or recurring revenue for the business. Their KPIs normally focus on market growth and retention of customers. 

Depending on the size of the organization and the type of product, product marketers and product managers will often work very closely together to achieve a successful product launch. Some organizations may have a product manager but no marketer, as their product may not be directly sold to customers. Regardless of your organization or product strategy, it’s important to understand these concepts in their entirety for product success.