RESEARCH
INFORMATION AND RESOURCES TO DRIVE MEANINGFUL INSIGHTS
Too often, Product Marketers get caught up in the day-to-day and neglect the importance of driving regular insights to guide their decision-making and that of leadership. Product Marketers and teams who infuse strong processes for collecting market and competitive intelligence operate at a higher level and shape the very businesses they work in.
Why It Matters
Performing market and competitive analysis isn't always at the top of the list of exciting projects for Product Marketers. However, the results and cumulative knowledge gains can be energizing for the Product Marketer.
Market and competitive insights fuel smarter decision-making, help to enhance positioning and messaging and can position the Product Marketer as a go-to-resource for critical information on the part of business leaders, Sales and Product Management.
As a Product Marketing Leader, you have to have faith that your Product Marketing Managers to be keeping up on the latest market and competitive trends. However, you also know that doing so is haphazard as different approaches across your team yield different outputs.
Product Marketing leaders need a programmatic approach to market and competitive analysis that standardizes methods used across their teams and combines proven tools to deliver insights that enhance positioning and messaging, improve go-to-market success and ultimately, shape the business.
In the absence of a Product Marketing team, too often, the market and competitive analysis needed in the earliest stages of a launch of a new offering as well as ongoing analysis through the course of the business gets neglected. Significant blind spots inevitably develop.
Product Marketing teams can become one more critical resource for market and competitive insights that provide fresh perspective on the performance of the company's portfolio but more importantly, help to shape future success of that portfolio and fuel smarter decision-making on the part of leaders.
Types of Market and Competitive Analysis
If you want critical insights on why your business really wins or loses opportunities, win/loss analysis is a critical tool in the toolbox. More...
Analyst Research
Analyst reports and analyst engagement are highly valuable in understanding the market landscape your company operates in.
Competitive Analysis
Competitive analysis yields insights through a few different vantage points - category level, company level and offering level.
Talk to ten sellers individually, get ten different perspectives. Tap empirical insights from sellers that go beyond anecdotes. More...
Special Research
Special research entails diving into new areas for opportunities, evaluating industries, and spotting new tech on the horizon.
Resources to Help You - Free to Download
Battle Card Template
Use this Sales Card template for conveying comprehensive information about an offering in a consumable way for Sales teams.
Sales Card Template
Use this Sales Card template for conveying comprehensive information about an offering in a consumable way for Sales teams.
Sales Survey Template
Use this template to create a sales survey for use across your Sales teams to glean empirical insights.
Posts on Market and Competitive Insights
The Problem with Market and Competitive Research
Is It Time for Marketing Teams to Think About Market and Competitive Research in a Different Way? In my experience as a Product Marketer and Product Marketing leader, there’s always the question that floats around, “Who does market and competitive research?” This question comes up…
Using Glassdoor for Competitive Insights
Glassdoor Company Reviews Can Yield a Number of Valuable Insights When Performing Competitive Research Performing competitive research is more an art than a science at times and I’ve found that a lot of Product Marketers aren’t all that good at performing meaningful competitive research. As…
Having a Finger on the Pulse of the Changing Conversation in the Marketplace
Sensing How the Market is Changing in Small and Large Ways is a Sign of a Tuned-in Product Marketer Periodically, there are times when, as a Product Marketer, you can sense a shift in the ‘conversation’ in the market. That’s what I call a change…
“Sales Card” or “Battle Card?”
Product Marketers Often Blur What Should Be a Clear Distinction Between These Two Terms. It’s not uncommon that I hear from Sales and others in the organization including Product Marketers that we need a “Sales Card” or “Battle Card.” “Hey, we really need a battle…
Gaining Real Insights from Sales
Product Marketers need an empirical way to glean insights from Sales teams. You would think that your sales teams would have a very strong bead on customers and prospects in terms of their pains, challenges, desired outcomes and so on. However, this isn’t always the…
The Power of Win/Loss Analysis
If you want critical insights on why your business really wins or loses opportunities, win/loss analysis is a critical tool in the toolbox. Win/Loss Analysis can be a valuable tool for understanding why your organization wins and why it loses on deals. Typical win/loss analysis…