Product Marketing must report to the CEO

Product Marketers are having a moment. So much of a moment, McKinsey, founded in 1926, wrote an article about the role. And after reading that article, I realized we really should have a talk about where product marketing should sit in a tech org.

So in this moment, I’d like to suggest a new way to think about product marketing and the reporting structure.

In my 15 years of experience, I have reported into both Marketing and Product. I have benefitted from certain aspects within each of the functions, but I have also been hamstrung by the same aspects.

The most frequent question behind “Do you have a launch checklist?” (the cringiest of questions) is “Where should product marketing sit?”.

For most people asking and answering the question, there are only two options: Marketing or Product. 

Infuriatingly, the exchange will go something like this:

Question asker: Where is the best place for product marketing, Marketing or Product?

Product Marketer: It depends.

• What stage is the company?

• Who do you sell to?

• Is the company sales-led, marketing-led, or product-led, or do you have a PLG motion?

Question asker: [blank stare]

Product Marketer: I need more information to best answer your question.

Or if you are me, the answer is: neither.

Doesn’t matter the stage, motion, or who you sell to. These options simply do not allow the Product Marketer to address problems in the business without ruffling a lot of feathers and rocking a lot of boats. 

👉️ Get strategic product marketing advisory from Maureen at Grow that SaaS. Book your free strategy call now.

The Role of Product Marketing

We could debate the many reasons why Product Marketers have only these two options, but I am going to go with the most obvious answer: the name. Product, Marketer. 

Why put thought behind where this critical function should sit when the name tells you everything you need to know?

Before we get into the pros and cons of reporting structure, let’s review the role of the Product Marketer. This article isn’t meant to tear down Product or Marketing.

In fact, this article aims to more clearly define the roles and responsibilities to function more effectively together. 

I will spare you the long list of responsibilities, but I will outline the major categories where product marketing should, no, needs to lead. 

Understanding the market: market research, competitive analysis, buyer persona development, messaging and positioning

Reaching the market: Go-to-market strategy (don’t confuse this with selling - it goes beyond the act of selling), sales enablement, content creation, demand generation (think segmentation and ABM, not the full job of a demand gen marketer)

Product Lifecycle management: Product launch, adoption and usage, customer feedback, win/loss analysis, pricing & packaging

Aligning the organization: Influencing product management, marketing, sales, and customer success to rally around specific goals and objectives related to a launch (product, pricing, new messaging, etc) and release (product adoption, customer advocacy).

All of these activities are used to effectively launch, grow, and sustain successful products in the market.

To effectively achieve a goal, a product marketer needs to have a seat at the table where key business decisions are being made - like new pricing and packaging or changes to the current model, entering new markets/regions, or the decision to verticalize.  

Can you think of one other role in the organization with a scope this wide that is not in the C-suite? Right, neither can I.

In a SaaS organization, there will always be overlap of responsibilities - it is the nature of the business since everything is interrelated and interdependent.

Have a broken or less than optimal process upstream and that problem will show up later downstream. 

The role of Product Marketer is strategic and tactical. It’s big picture and excruciatingly detailed. It’s the best job in tech, and one of the most thankless jobs in tech - and you can read about it in every job description. 

But, I digress. Let’s get onto the pros and cons.

The pros of reporting to Product

If you are a SaaS company that sells to developers, architects, security, product managers, or support type personas, indeed product marketing could report through this department. As a Product Marketer, you would have access to:

• Early development discussions 

• Roadmap planning & prioritization

• Deeper product knowledge (although all good Product Marketers should make this priority #1 no matter where they sit)

• Stronger collaboration with the Product team 

These are all very good things as they can position the Product Marketer to have more influence over the roadmap with insights from the market.

You could think of the Product Marketer as the business partner to the product team, advising and making recommendations based on external and internal data. 

The cons of reporting to Product

While the pros of reporting to Product are seductive, there are some real disadvantages that can creep in if you aren’t vigilant. These include:

• Becoming too internally focused and centering talk tracks and marketing on technical details leaving the buyer to make assumptions (or more likely, find answers from your competitor)

• Limited exposure to marketing strategies

• Potential conflict with marketing priorities 

• Challenges in getting marketing resources

• Difficulty measuring marketing impact

• Risk of overlooking brand building (usually because you’ve become too internally focused)

• The rise of the “technical” product marketer (I have yet to meet a product marketer that cannot explain how the software works)

To reach the market, Product Marketers must have the alignment and resource support of marketing to be successful. 

And because it is so difficult to get the resources, Product Marketers may be required to take on additional tasks unrelated to their core responsibilities leading to burnout and slowing down all current projects.

So this must mean that product marketing should report to Marketing, right?

Well, hold on. Let’s look at the pros and cons before we make a decision.

The pros of reporting to Marketing

On the surface, it would make sense that product marketing sits on the marketing team - it has the verb “marketing” built in.

But if you look at the four responsibility categories above, reaching the market is the category of activities that most closely align with the function of marketing.

Let’s run down the advantages here (I bet you can guess them already):

• Stronger alignment with marketing strategies

• Great access to marketing resources

• Greater focus on brand building

• Increased collaboration with marketing specialists

• Ability to see impact of marketing efforts

• Increased opportunities for career growth*

*I would say career growth isn’t a true reflection of the opportunity, it’s more the only option within the constraints of the current org structure playbook, meaning a Product Marketer typically tops out at VP of Product Marketing if you are lucky, or you go the CMO route. 

The benefits here are clear. Product Marketers have access to the activities and resources (people, systems, and budget) to execute strategic plans and be aligned within the Marketing boundaries. 

The cons of reporting to Marketing 

Same as before, you could probably work out the advantages before I listed them, and you can probably work out the disadvantages as well. Yet, I will endeavor:

• Risk of losing focus on product intricacies needed for clarity in messaging

• Potential conflicts between Marketing priorities and product-specific needs

• Challenges in influencing product roadmap because you have the shadow of marketing over you and you aren’t trusted or you are seen as “not technical” (yes this sounds harsh, tell me it hasn’t happened to you)

• Risk of being overwhelmed by marketing tasks and processes

Of course a seasoned product market can do their best to overcome these disadvantages by building relationships and becoming an in-house product expert, just know you may be asked why you are spending so much time with other teams.

By now you can see the tension this creates in an organization when Product or Marketing are the only options for a Product Marketer.

While I have done zero empirical research on the topic, I would hazard a guess from my experience, the reason product marketing isn’t “working” in an organization is precisely because of the reporting structure.

For a Product Marketer to succeed, you need to be all-in with your team - and yes, Product Marketers want to belong to a team.

And to be all-in you must align with the goals and objectives of your team - even if those goals and objectives don’t exactly fit your scope of work. 

The other little discussed result of this either/or reporting structure is the well-being of your product marketing team.

Product Marketers frequently find themselves alone on an island. We feel homeless. 

While we can talk the talk of Product and Marketing, we don’t belong to one or the other and we feel it. 

Where does this leave us? 

I am so glad you asked.

Product Marketers need an org structure where we are not beholden to the goals of one function. Product Marketers need to be most closely aligned with the overall corporate strategies and goals. That place is with the CEO.

Oh, you’re going straight to the top. Don’t you think that’s a little presumptive of you, Product Marketer? 

No. And here’s why.

By using our expertise in market research, product positioning, go-to-market strategies, customer engagement, and communications, Product Marketers are well positioned to act as a strategic advisor to assist the CEO in making informed decisions, drive product success, and achieve long term growth.

Product Marketing needs to be in the room to hear the development of ideas and share guidance, insights, data, and feedback where the go-to-market motions are and aren’t working as smoothly as possible.

When Product Marketing is an independent function, laying out the facts isn’t betraying a team mate, a boss, or a department.

It’s looking to the best interests of the organization.

I am sure some of you are saying this is impossible or I am naive to think this could ever work.

Perhaps, but the value product marketing brings to the organization cannot be filtered up to the CEO and delivered by someone who doesn’t understand the reasons behind the suggestion. 

It’s no fault of your boss - they have their own objectives and goals to hit and why stick their neck out when they aren’t on the same page or can’t answer any follow up questions.

There are some of you who are saying right now as a product marketer they are having meetings with the CEO. Fantastic.

Are they sharing your ideas with Sales, Product, and Marketing? Or has your job now become harder because you have to convince three departments to get on board?

When you look at a Product Marketer's scope of work, to do the job well, there needs to be freedom to structure the job in a different way.

Product Marketers cannot live under the OKRs of a product team or marketing team, we need to be aligned with the overall corporate strategic vision and have the backing of the CEO to execute the job as it needs to be done, not just patch the holes of the current problem and move on to the next thing. 

While I realize this structure is different and that creating this org structure in an existing company is hard, doesn’t mean that it should be put aside.

Some organizations have created a Chief Strategy Officer - this would be an excellent place to land product marketing, and it creates a new career path. 

A CEO who wants to develop sustainable growth for their company should consider having regular conversations with their current product marketing team.

Ask what’s working and what isn’t working for them. 

Ask about their ideas on how to make launches better, how to make targeted campaigns really take off, or how to improve their overall go-to-market motion, and in this case I mean both the product launch and how you sell it.

And most importantly, take action on this information.

Your product marketing team is ready to make it happen. 

Of course, when this brave new world comes into existence, the name “product marketer” no longer fits. The name needs to be more reflective of the scope.

Maybe something like GTM Strategist. Funny enough, I secretly think the Chief Revenue Officer should come from the ranks of product marketing. 

If you’ve ever worked with me, you know I think Product Marketing is the best job out there -it feeds my need to know what's happening in tech, what’s happening in the market, with customers, and internally with processes.

I wouldn’t change my profession for the world. Just the name and the reporting structure.

Let’s have a discussion

Listen to Maureen West on the Spiky Growth podcast where we discuss “Rethinking Product Marketing’s Role in the Tech Org” in more granular detail.