We’re in the business of building scalable content programs for b2b brands. To do it well for any client, we need to first understand their product marketing position. A lot of startups work out these details early on… and a lot of startups don’t.
We created a product marketing survey to assist content marketers in either position. Copy and customize the product marketing survey for yourself.
In this blog, we’ll explain how to use the template. But first let’s explore the relationship between product marketing and content marketing.
Content marketing vs product marketing
These are distinct – and intertwined – marketing roles.
Product marketing is concerned with identifying where a product fits within the broader market. Product marketers identify the ideal customer for a product, as well as the key messaging pillars that a brand will use to connect with those customers. They craft go-to-market strategy for new features and products, and they build strategies for how to reach the target audience with high quality, on-message content.
Content marketing is concerned with generating leads for a product through the creation of compelling blogs, tutorials, social posts, video, etc. Content marketers identify the formats, platforms, and messages that resonate most with a target audience. They plan, create, and distribute content to that end.
In other words: product marketing is concerned with pinpointing the elements of a product’s appeal and building the strategy for how to bring that appeal to the market while content marketing is concerned executing on the content that makes that strategy visible and accessible to all potential customers. Content marketing also typically extends beyond product, to things like crafting thought leadership content strategies and supporting brand narratives.
Product marketing is the foundation of content marketing
Product marketing provides the foundation for all other marketing departments. Product marketers are responsible for determining elements like:
✅ Ideal customer
✅ Product category
✅ Essential features
✅ Differentiators
With all of this data collected in a single source of truth, every marketer and creative on staff can experiment and iterate while also staying aligned with each other. Content marketers are a great example…
Content marketers expand on the product marketer’s work
With product marketing data in hand, the content marketing team explores questions like…
✅ What topics are our ideal customers interested in?
✅ How are they seeking out information online?
✅ Which content formats are most valuable for them?
✅ How can we best guide their learning journey?
Once those questions are answered, the content marketing leader can start scheduling new content. As they assign it to writers, the product marketing data will come in handy again.
Creatives need that fundamental knowledge in order to craft any content that embodies a brand’s unique perspective and value.
Template: Product marketing survey
Make a copy for yourself and customize it however you please.
The product marketing survey is a way to consolidate all of the crucial product marketing data in a shareable document. It lays the foundation for any new marketing partnership – in-house or contracted.
Ideally, this is for marketers who have already figured out the details of their product marketing. However, if you’re a one-person marketing team looking to define your product position, you can use this document to start hashing out the details of that plan.
Use this template to build a content strategy
Each field in this survey has its own unique influence on a content campaign. For example…
- Ideal customer profile. This is the guiding light for any marketer, of course. The life of your ideal customer will inform the topics, formats, channels, and language use for every piece.
- Top 3 brand competitors. Competitor analysis is an early step in content strategy creation. We need to understand what topics your competitors are talking about, how they’re talking about them – and any opportunities that they’ve overlooked.
- Differentiators. These are the details that give shape to any product discussion, whether you’re presenting instructional guides for users or creating comparison pages that pit you against competing brands.
- Your brand’s value proposition. The value proposition is a distillation of your brand’s point-of-view. It can guide the narrative angle for any piece of content: the problems that you aim to solve, the analysis that you apply, the solutions you offer – even the jokes you make.
- Product use cases. Ideally, you’re designing content that helps your audience solve problems. Use cases are a way in to that discussion. Use cases often generate search traffic as well.
- Product features + benefits. At ércule, we’re big believers in product-led content. When you have specific product features to highlight you can more precisely integrate them to content.
Use this template to delegate marketing tasks
Once you’ve got the survey filled out you can deliver a copy to everyone involved in the content marketing workflow. It’s especially useful as an onboarding tool for new hires and contractors.
You might use it with any of the following marketing partners:
- Early go-to-market hires. When hiring a variety of GTM roles, shared vision is crucial. This document keeps everyone aligned in terms of core messaging and identity.
- Freelance writers. Insightful content requires a distinct point of view. The product market survey delivers all of the touchstones that a writer needs to approach craft distinct narratives for any topic and write through the brand’s critical lens.
- In-house GPT. The quality of GPT output depends highly on the quality of its input and guidance. When it’s fed pointed product marketing info, the AI is working with more specific narrative confines and direction.
- Agencies. Lead gen, SEO, paid search, content creation… You hire agencies (like ours) for their strategic acumen – not necessarily their expertise in your industry. The product marketing survey provides the context they need to tailor their services for your brand.
We’re partial to the last one, of course. It’s the reason why we created this survey in the first place.
Product marketing and content at ércule
At ércule, we help dev-led companies build content marketing strategies that they can scale. No matter what stage of growth you’re in, the fundamentals remain the same. It starts with a thorough understanding of your product’s position.
Our agency partners come from the world of product marketing. We love helping clients refine their product position. It’s a fun, strategic exercise for us but also – and most importantly – it lays that critical foundation for a successful content marketing program.
Looking to solve a product position puzzle for your own content team? Drop us a line. We love to talk shop. Want more content marketing tips and templates like this? Subscribe to our newsletter
