marketing-strategy-pmm

SKILL.md

Marketing Strategy & PMM

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

Table of Contents

ICP Definition Workflow

Positioning Development

Competitive Intelligence

Product Launch Planning

Sales Enablement

International Expansion

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

Dimension
Target Range
Rationale

Employees
50-5000
Series A sweet spot

Revenue
$5M-$500M
Budget available

Industry
SaaS, Tech, Services
Product fit

Geography
US, UK, DACH
Market priority

Funding
Seed to Growth
Willing to adopt

Buyer Personas

Persona
Title
Goals
Messaging

Economic Buyer
VP, Director, Head of [Department]
ROI, team productivity, cost reduction
Business outcomes, ROI, case studies

Technical Buyer
Engineer, Architect, Tech Lead
Technical fit, easy integration
Architecture, security, documentation

User/Champion
Manager, Team Lead, Power User
Makes job easier, quick wins
UX, ease of use, time savings

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

Level
Content
Example

Headline
5-7 words
"Ship faster with AI automation"

Subhead
1 sentence
"Automate workflows so teams focus on what matters"

Benefits
3-4 bullets
Speed, quality, collaboration, cost

Features
Supporting evidence
AI automation → 10 hrs/week saved

Proof
Social proof
Customer logos, stats, case studies

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

Tier
Definition
Examples

1
Direct competitor, same category
[Competitor A, B]

2
Adjacent solution, overlapping use case
[Alt Solution C, D]

3
Status quo (what they do today)
Spreadsheets, manual, in-house

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:

Tier
Scope
Prep Time
Budget

1
New product, major feature
6-8 weeks
$50-100k

2
Significant feature, integration
3-4 weeks
$10-25k

3
Small improvement
1 week
<$5k

Tier 1 Launch Workflow

Execute major product launch:

Kickoff meeting with Product, Marketing, Sales, CS

Define goals (pipeline $, MQLs, press coverage)

Develop positioning and messaging

Create sales enablement (deck, demo, battlecard)

Build campaign assets (landing page, emails, ads)

Train sales and CS teams

Execute launch day (press, email, ads, outbound)

Monitor and optimize for 30 days

Validation: Pipeline on track to goal by week 2

Launch Day Checklist

 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

Metric
Leading (Daily)
Lagging (Weekly)

Traffic
Landing page visitors
-

Engagement
Demo requests, signups
Feature adoption %

Pipeline
MQLs generated
SQLs, pipeline $

Revenue
-
Deals closed, revenue

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

Slide
Content

1-2
Title, agenda

3-4
Company intro, problem statement

5-7
Solution, key benefits, demo

8-10
Differentiation, case study, pricing

11-12
Implementation, support, next steps

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

Handoff
Frequency
Content

Weekly sync
30 min
Win/loss, competitive, new assets

Monthly enablement
60 min
Product updates, training

Quarterly review
Half-day
Results, strategy, planning

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)

Market
Timeline
Budget %
Target ARR

US
Months 1-6
50%
$1M

UK
Months 4-9
20%
$500k

DACH
Months 7-12
15%
$300k

France
Months 10-15
10%
$200k

Canada
Months 7-12
5%
$100k

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

Metric
Target
Measurement

Product adoption
>40% in 90 days
Feature usage after launch

Win rate
>30% competitive
Deals won vs. competitors

Sales velocity
-20% YoY
Days from SQL to close

Deal size
+25% YoY
Average contract value

Launch pipeline
3:1 ROMI
Pipeline $ : marketing spend

Quick Reference

PMM Monthly Rhythm

Week
Focus

1
Review metrics, update battlecards

2
Create assets, publish content

3
Support launches, optimize campaigns

4
Monthly report, plan next month

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

When you ask for...
You get...

"Position my product"
Positioning framework (April Dunford method) with output

"GTM strategy"
Go-to-market plan with channels, messaging, and timeline

"Competitive positioning"
Positioning map with competitive gaps and opportunities

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.