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 in sentiment, perspective, tone, or perception. This is when you have a sense that something is underfoot in how things are done or not done or said or not said in the market. These are bright moments for Product Marketing to take advantage of when you sense them. They are moments when Product Marketing must take the lead to lead the company in the marketplace.

Let me explain what I mean by an example I’ve used in the past and one that I came to appreciate this past week.

Example 1

I’ve been doing Product Marketing in cybersecurity for over eight years. Early on in my time at a well-known Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP), myself and another Product Marketer started to get a sense that something was changing in the marketplace in the conversation around what are referred to as “Advanced Persistent Threats” or “APTs” which is another way of saying cyber threats and the actors behind them that represent the most sophisticated and persistent. The problem was that cybersecurity companies weren’t talking about APTs out of a concern that if they did, they risked some threat actor then targeting their company.

We picked up on a vibe that this was changing and that the ‘conversation’ (or lack of one in this case) was picking up and the company needed to start talking about this sensitive area. We pushed content out ahead of what even our researchers would have been comfortable with at the time. However, we felt so strongly that we needed to be part of this growing conversation that we felt compelled to push the company to talking about it.

It was the right answer. We could argue that we should have done even more sooner as a competitor ended up coming out with a report on APTs that was trailblazing. But we were at least part of the conversation.

Sometimes, you have a finger on the pulse of the market and you can feel the change happening. It’s your job as a Product Marketer to play on that perceived change and get ahead of it.

Example 2

In my industry, there was a time that we, as a company, could mention the words, “Threat Intelligence” and we’d get “oohs” and “ahhhs.” Ears would perk up and our audience would lean forward to hear more. We built up a great reputation for threat intelligence.

Then the years rolled forward and we got to a point where every cybersecurity in our industry was talking about the “threat intelligence” they had. As a result, our own value proposition here was eroded.

It was no secret that this was happening to me or to anyone. The conversation had shifted and the marketplace now looked on suspiciously when a cybersecurity company talked about the great “threat intelligence” they had. And rightfully so as “threat intelligence” became an overused term – much like “Artificial Intelligence” and “Machine Learning” are now.

For us, we really had threat intelligence that was superior to what a lot of companies were doing at the time. However, the market was eroding that value quickly through the claims being made. So, how did we counter this?

I realized it was no longer good enough to say we had threat intelligence. It was no longer good enough to show how we had threat intelligence. We needed to prove how the threat intelligence we formulated had a direct benefit to our customers. By doing so, we could leave the rest of the industry in the dust because few companies could go beyond their claims and really show and even prove that what they were doing had value.

This gets into a principle I believe is very important for Product Marketers to always keep in their minds and think about what stage their differentiation might be in at any given time. This includes thinking about how and when you progress it to based on the conversation taking place.

Tell Me, Show Me, Prove to Me.

There’s a time you can tell someone what you do or the value you provide and they believe you. Then there comes a time when you have to show that same person what you do or the value you provide. And finally, there comes a time when you have to prove what you do AND the value it provides to them.

Example 3

The cybersecurity company I work for now is involved in cloud security. As you can imagine, there is a lot of fast and seismic change happening with the cloud. I could sense a change in how other solutions in the marketplace could alter the perception for how we do some of the services we do. In short, I could see part of what we do as a company eroding in perceived value.

Now, this example is going to be a bit vague because I don’t want to reveal the specifics. However, what I believe the actions we take to move with the changing conversation will help us reestablish a level of differentiation that is currently eroding. And reestablishing that differentiation isn’t about adding new offerings or features. It’s about changing our positioning in a bold way – to question what we’ve been doing, and what others are doing in our industry, and see if we can cut a new path that sets us apart.

Sensing the changing conversation as I describe is something Product Marketers need to get good at over time by paying intense attention. It’s hard to train someone to ‘get it.’ It comes from trying to understand your market, listening to your customers and prospect and their needs, reading articles and pulling in a host of information sources. It’s about thinking about what comes next in terms of evolution in your slice of whatever industry you play in.

And when you have one of those moments where you can sense a change that no one else is picking up on yet, it’s about taking action to capitalize on it as quickly as possible.