Product marketing is a critical function for any business, and leveraging quantitative and qualitative data is crucial in every step of the product marketing journey. However, setting up processes to collect, handle, and analyze data to make product marketing truly data-driven can be challenging for many companies.
SBS (ex-Sopra Banking Software) recently hosted a panel session that delved into how to unlock product marketing’s true potential through the use of data. During the session, Maya Lawrence, Deputy Head of Product Marketing at SBS (ex-Sopra Banking Software), Lucie Casamitjana, Head of Product Marketing at Skello, and Aditi Trivedi, Product Marketing Manager at Revolut, discussed how they use data in various stages of product marketing.
The importance of data collaboration
According to Maya, data is essential across multiple functions, affecting not only the consultancy arm’s advice to customers but also the delivery of their SaaS products. She explained that SBS (ex-Sopra Banking Software)’s product marketing team utilizes data in the go-to-market process to execute and measure the impact of delivery.
Maya also highlighted the importance of leveraging data in the early stages of this process, as it provides a solid foundation for subsequent marketing efforts. “Our product marketers utilize data in the go-to-market process to both execute and measure the impact of delivery,” Maya said.
“While other departments use different data collection methods, these are shared across the board to maximize everyone’s effectiveness. This unique approach helps us leverage the synergy generated by all teams using data in different ways,” she added.
Skello, an online scheduling and personnel management company that focuses on B2B2C, also has a unique business model, according to Lucie. Instead of a specific team owning data, she said the company’s entire product team is empowered with data and uses tools such as Luca, which allows them to provide clean, structured data for analysis.
Skello’s approach to product marketing involves continuous market intelligence, data-backed decision-making, customer-centric analysis, and adaptive messaging, all aimed at competitive positioning.
It is a similar scenario at global neobank Revolut, which grapples with large amounts of data, according to Aditi. Revolut’s product marketing decisions rely heavily on data, and a business case backs every initiative, she added. She highlighted their unique approach to product development, where data supports the company’s every feature, UI/UX update and research.
Utilizing customer feedback is also vital at Revolut, such as social listening tools and support chats, to continually improve their product marketing efforts. “We have UI researchers gathering qualitative data from customer interactions. Interestingly, many customers are fans of our product and provide valuable insights,” Aditi said.
Market research and analysis
The panelists also shared their experiences in market research and analysis, highlighting the importance of leveraging quantitative and qualitative data to make product marketing truly data-driven. They also emphasized the importance of understanding the competitive landscape to identify differentiators and position themselves in the market.
At SBS (ex-Sopra Banking Software), Maya said the product marketing process has three stages: strategizing, understanding the addressable market and potential product-market fit and understanding the competitive landscape. “Data from our analysts and marketing intelligence team is invaluable in the early stages of the process, providing a solid foundation for subsequent marketing efforts,” she said.
Skello also conducts win-loss analysis to understand how customers perceive the company. The findings are then crossed with quantitative data, such as win rate and churn rate, to extract valuable insights to “feed our product strategy and help create battle cards for sales,” Lucie said.
How data helps pricing
Making decisions in the pricing stage depends on numerous factors that require teams to leverage different datasets.
When it comes to pricing, Maya said that SBS (ex-Sopra Banking Software) collects data from various sources, considering their existing pricing structure as the suite merged different products. With multiple products bundled or sold separately, pricing determination is complex, and SBS (ex-Sopra Banking Software) has to consider API-based pricing for some products.
It is a different process at Revolut, a B2C company, with Aditi explaining that pricing is controlled by a separate team comprising the global business and finance teams who conduct a comprehensive analysis. With multiple products bundled or sold separately, data collection and pricing determination were complex. “We had to go beyond the ‘pay as you grow’ model, considering API-based pricing for some products,” she said.
Revolut’s holistic approach included feedback from pre-sales and sales teams about region-specific prices, competitor pricing, and rates for different tiers of financial institutions.
Hence, expert consultation is essential. Data from surveys, pre-sales teams, or other teams on SaaS cost set-up is crucial, while it is vital to have a team to consolidate this data and determine the pricing to ensure profitability.
Product marketing managers and North Star Metric
The panel also discussed measuring the impact of product marketing managers (PMMs) on a company’s North Star Metric (NSM).
Lucie explained that Skello is structured into impact teams, and each “product squad” has a distinct goal, or North Star Metric, that directly impacts the company’s business. She noted that it was essential to identify opportunities to improve their North Star Metric by exploring data, measuring costs and impact, and verifying their decisions using internal data. “We use both qualitative and quantitative data; the former for exploration and hypothesis creation, the latter to confirm those hypotheses and reduce uncertainty for prioritization or success analysis,” she said.
Product Marketing Managers are an integral part of this journey, and their role is to influence the North Star Metric, which could be the basket size, Net Promoter Score (NPS), or churn rate, for example. However, the NSM suggests that everybody strives toward a single goal, such as profitability or revenue, and attributing these outcomes solely to PMMs is challenging, according to Maya.
PMMs at Revolut, meanwhile, have key performance indicators clearly defined each quarter, while the impact of campaigns is also used to track the team’s progress. “A common campaign we run involves offering a free trial of our paid subscription, which typically costs £7 to £8 per month. Within 24 hours of launching such a campaign, Revolut can see how many customers have joined,” according to Aditi.
In summary, the panel found that it is essential for product marketing experts to unlock their full potential by using data. By incorporating both quantitative and qualitative data at different stages of product marketing, they can make informed decisions to enhance the go-to-market process and achieve their company’s objectives.
Don’t miss out on the upcoming Product Marketing Summit in Paris on March 26th, as Lucie, Aditi, Anastasiia, and Vincent Pronier, Vice President & Global Head of Product Marketing at SBS (ex-Sopra Banking Software), will share further insights on various topics in the product marketing domain.