Ask the AG Expert: Product Marketing with Caroline Hoban, Consultant

AG Consulting Partners promotes a collaborative and stewarding approach when it comes to cultivating expertise and sharing knowledge. Our next series of articles will showcase members of the AGCP team, how they used their expertise to provide a specific client solution, and advice they would provide to anyone interested in their area of consulting.

Caroline Hoban is a Consultant at AGCP and specializes in Product Marketing. In her current role, Caroline is supporting a team of product marketing managers for one of our Global Technology clients and has had the opportunity to develop the marketing strategy to scale the reach of her client’s product.

What was the key issue you needed to solve for?

I am supporting a team whose focus is on developing a marketing strategy for a line of relatively new products. As this suite of products is still somewhat in its infancy, there is room for growth in the marketing strategy needed to keep up with the pace of growth. This is a common challenge in product marketing for new products and marketers need to prepare to scale and grow their marketing efforts as the product becomes more successful.  Since the program is still in its infancy, I have had the opportunity to get creative in my approach to marketing these products and leverage my unique skills to support the client.

How did you solve that issue and what was the result?

We have developed a variety of campaigns to help promote the product line. Additionally, we have built a large suite of marketing assets for the client’s partners to use in their own marketing activities. We have developed a core set of pillars that guide messaging throughout our go-to-market strategy. In all our campaigns and marketing material, we ensure that we tie closely back to these pillars to keep messaging consistent and concise.  These efforts have allowed us to scale quickly and establish the product as a market leader in our industry.

Is there any advice you could share related to your expertise?

Prior to this project, I had an interest in product marketing, but had limited experience. My role has fostered the growth of my product marketing skills and I would advise anyone with an interest in product marketing to seek opportunities to explore this field and do not be afraid to just dive in.

As an expert, I have three tips for getting started with product marketing:

1. A key element of product marketing is knowing your audience. Understanding what they like, and dislike will ensure that you are creating content that will resonate with them and they will want to engage with.
2. We all interact with product marketing daily from a consumer perspective. As a product marketer, I like to take note of things I see as a consumer that I like or dislike. Noting what elements I like, such as contrast, audio, video, text orientation, type of advertisement, etc., helps me to build a toolkit of ideas for what might work best in my own product marketing.
3. Don’t be afraid to ask others for feedback. Marketing can often be interpreted differently by other individuals. Asking for feedback allows you to test this content with a different perspective and can only help to build better assets.

At AG Consulting Partners, we believe in taking care of our people first to enable them to bring their best to every client project. Our employees embrace the entrepreneurial spirit and embody our core values: transparency, stewardship, and intention. Founded in 2009, and headquartered in the Greater Seattle area, AG Consulting Partners is recognized as one of Inc 5000 and Puget Sound Business Journal’s fastest growing private companies.