Marketing Strategy & PMM

Product marketing patterns for positioning, GTM strategy, and competitive intelligence.

Table of Contents

• [ICP Definition Workflow](#icp-definition-workflow)

• [Positioning Development](#positioning-development)

• [Competitive Intelligence](#competitive-intelligence)

• [Product Launch Planning](#product-launch-planning)

• [Sales Enablement](#sales-enablement)

• [International Expansion](#international-expansion)

• [Reference Documentation](#reference-documentation)

ICP Definition Workflow

Define ideal customer profile for targeting:

• Analyze existing customers (top 20% by LTV)

• Identify common firmographics (size, industry, revenue)

• Map technographics (tools, maturity, integrations)

• Document psychographics (pain level, motivation, risk tolerance)

• Define 3-5 buyer personas (economic, technical, user)

• Validate against sales cycle and churn data

• Score prospects A/B/C/D based on ICP fit

• Validation: A-fit customers have lowest churn and fastest close

Firmographics Template

Buyer Personas

ICP Validation Checklist

• 5+ paying customers match this profile

• Fastest sales cycles (< median)

• Highest LTV (> median)

• Lowest churn (< 5% annual)

• Strong product engagement

• Willing to do case studies

Positioning Development

Develop positioning using April Dunford methodology:

• List competitive alternatives (direct, adjacent, status quo)

• Isolate unique attributes (features only you have)

• Map attributes to customer value (why it matters)

• Define best-fit customers (who cares most)

• Choose market category (head-to-head, niche, new category)

• Layer on relevant trends (timing justification)

• Test with 10+ customer interviews

• Validation: 7+ customers describe value unprompted

Positioning Statement Template

FOR [target customer]

WHO [statement of need]

THE [product] IS A [category]

THAT [key benefit]

UNLIKE [competitive alternative]

OUR PRODUCT [primary differentiation]

Value Proposition Formula

Template: [Product] helps [Target Customer] [Achieve Goal] by [Unique Approach]

Example: "Acme helps mid-market SaaS teams ship 2x faster by automating project workflows with AI"

Messaging Hierarchy

Competitive Intelligence

Build competitive knowledge base:

• Identify tier 1 (direct), tier 2 (adjacent), tier 3 (status quo)

• Sign up for competitor products (hands-on evaluation)

• Monitor competitor websites, pricing, messaging

• Analyze sales call recordings for competitor mentions

• Read G2/Capterra reviews (pros and cons)

• Track competitor job postings (roadmap signals)

• Update battlecards monthly

• Validation: Sales team uses battlecards in 80%+ competitive deals

Competitive Tier Structure

Battlecard Template

COMPETITOR: [Name]

OVERVIEW: Founded [year], Funding [stage], Size [employees]

POSITIONING:

- They say: "[Their claim]"

- Reality: [Your assessment]

STRENGTHS:

1. [What they do well]

2. [What they do well]

WEAKNESSES:

1. [Where they fall short]

2. [Where they fall short]

OUR ADVANTAGES:

1. [Your advantage + evidence]

2. [Your advantage + evidence]

WHEN WE WIN:

- [Scenario where you win]

WHEN WE LOSE:

- [Scenario where they win]

TALK TRACK:

Objection: "[Common objection]"

Response: "[Your response]"

Win/Loss Analysis

Track monthly:

• Win rate by competitor

• Top win reasons (product fit, ease of use, price)

• Top loss reasons (missing feature, price, relationship)

• Action items for product, sales, marketing

Product Launch Planning

Plan launches by tier:

| 3 | Small improvement | 1 week | Press release distributed

• Email announcement sent

• Social media posts live

• Paid ads at full budget

• Sales outbound blitz launched

• In-app notification active

• Metrics monitored every 2 hours

Launch Metrics

Sales Enablement

Equip sales team with PMM assets:

• Create sales deck (15-20 slides, visual-first)

• Build one-pagers (product, competitive, case study)

• Develop demo script (30-45 min with discovery)

• Write email templates (outreach, follow-up, closing)

• Create ROI calculator (input costs, output savings)

• Conduct monthly enablement calls

• Deliver quarterly training (positioning, competitive)

• Validation: Sales uses assets in 80%+ of opportunities

Sales Deck Structure

Demo Flow

1. Intro (2 min): Who we are, agenda

2. Discovery (5 min): Their needs, pain points

3. Demo (20 min): Product focused on their use case

4. Q&A (10 min): Objection handling

5. Next steps (3 min): Trial, POC, proposal

Sales-Marketing Handoff

International Expansion

Enter new markets systematically:

• Validate market demand (inbound leads, TAM analysis)

• Localize website, pricing, legal

• Establish sales coverage (hire or agency)

• Adapt messaging for cultural fit

• Build local partnerships and references

• Launch localized campaigns

• Monitor CAC and conversion by market

• Validation: 3+ paying customers from market in first 90 days

Market Priority (Series A)

Localization Checklist

• Website translation (professional, not machine)

• Currency and pricing localized

• Local phone number and address

• Legal compliance (GDPR, PIPEDA)

• Local payment methods

• Sales coverage during local hours

• Local case studies and references

Reference Documentation

Positioning Frameworks

references/positioning-frameworks.md contains:

• April Dunford 5-step positioning process

• Geoffrey Moore positioning statement template

• Positioning validation interview protocol

• Competitive positioning map construction

Launch Checklists

references/launch-checklists.md contains:

• Tier 1/2/3 launch checklists

• Week-by-week launch timeline

• Launch day runbook

• Post-launch metrics dashboard

International GTM

references/international-gtm.md contains:

• US, UK, DACH, France, Canada playbooks

• Market-specific channel mix and messaging

• Localization requirements per market

• Entry timeline and budget allocation

Messaging Templates

references/messaging-templates.md contains:

• Value proposition formulas

• Persona-specific messaging

• Competitive response scripts

• Objection handling templates

• Channel-specific copy (landing pages, emails, ads)

PMM KPIs

Quick Reference

PMM Monthly Rhythm

Proactive Triggers

• No documented positioning → Without clear positioning, all marketing is guesswork.

• Messaging differs across channels → Inconsistent story confuses buyers.

• No ICP defined → Selling to everyone means selling to no one.

• Competitor repositioning → Market shift detected. Review your positioning.

Output Artifacts

Communication

All output passes quality verification:

• Self-verify: source attribution, assumption audit, confidence scoring

• Output format: Bottom Line → What (with confidence) → Why → How to Act

• Results only. Every finding tagged: 🟢 verified, 🟡 medium, 🔴 assumed.

Related Skills

• marketing-context: For capturing foundational positioning. PMM builds on this.

• launch-strategy: For executing product launches planned by PMM.

• competitive-intel (C-Suite): For strategic competitive intelligence.

• cmo-advisor (C-Suite): For marketing budget and growth model decisions.