And a product manager is a marketing specialist.
This definition is obvious to people who studied marketing in college. But it’s not always clear to those who came to product management from a technical background.
As someone who came up through the technical ranks, I long believed that «marketing» was limited to finding promotion channels, communicating a product’s value to users, and selling goods — whether physical or digital, it didn’t much matter. But that understanding of marketing is very, very far from the truth.
Though it’s hard to argue that these are precisely the kinds of tasks handled by specialists at digital companies who are commonly called marketers (Marketing Manager — MM) or even product marketers (Product Marketing Manager — PMM).
The funny thing is that half a century ago, the widely renowned Philip Kotler was already writing about the confusion between «marketing» and «sales and advertising.» Here’s what he says in his book Principles of Marketing:
What does the term «marketing» really mean? Most people mistakenly equate marketing with selling and advertising. Many are surprised to learn that selling is not even the most important part of marketing. Selling is only the tip of the marketing iceberg — and not the most critical part at that. If the marketer does a good job on other aspects of marketing — identifying consumer needs, developing suitable products, pricing them appropriately, and establishing an effective distribution system — those products will sell easily.
And a second quote:
The core activities of marketing include: product development; research; establishing communication; pricing; and providing service to users.
So, fellow product managers — in Kotler’s terminology, we are «marketing specialists,» while our colleagues in marketing are «sales (promotion) specialists.» Just don’t tell them that, though, or they might get upset and take offense — and then you’ll be left selling your own product all by yourself.