How Does a Product Marketing Consultant Fit in a Marketing Team?

It’s frustrating when a product does not launch as expected, despite the hard work and effort put in by your team. Often, the missing piece is effective collaboration. To drive success, product marketing consultants need to fit seamlessly into your internal teams. 

In fact, companies with a strong culture of collaboration are 20% more likely to be profitable. When consultants integrate well with in-house teams, they bring fresh perspectives and specialized expertise. Ultimately, you can launch products that resonate with customers and drive business growth.

In this blog, we will cover how product marketing consultants collaborate smoothly and explain their role in your team. 

So let's get started! 

What Does a Product Marketing Consultant Do

A product marketing consultant connects the product team with the marketing team. Their job varies by company and project. However, they mainly focus on understanding the product's features, target audience and market competition.

A few of their main responsibilities consist of:

• Helping craft, plan and run digital marketing campaigns that connect with audiences across different platforms.

• Developing go-to-market strategies.

• Suggesting better workflows or innovative ways for reaching and converting consumers. 

• Analyzing market trends and customer behavior.

• Aligning marketing approaches with product development.  

A 2023 report from HubSpot reveals that 43% of marketers find it challenging to establish a coherent product positioning - this is an area where a product marketing consultant shines. 

Fitting into a Marketing Team

Product marketing consultants don't work in silo. Instead, they should be able to connect, align and enhance workflows across different departments. 

Before diving into how product market consultants collaborate with internal teams, let's understand why this is critical. 

Why Collaboration Works Best

• Taps into Existing Knowledge: Internal teams have deep insights about the product and customer base. So, building on their knowledge ensures your work is relevant and impactful.

• Keeps Messaging Consistent: Isolated strategies risk conflicting with the company’s tone or goals. Therefore, collaboration ensures a unified approach.

• Saves Time and Resources: Internal teams are often stretched thin. However, consultants can fill the gaps and bring focus to critical areas without overwhelming the team. 

How to Fit in a Marketing Team

1. Set Clear Goals

First off, start by clearly understanding the company's goals. The best way is by communicating with the product marketing team what are their current challenges and how they want to achieve their long-term goals. 

2. Share your Suggestions 

It's essential to give proper direction to your team rather than overshadowing them. Let's assume, if they are running social ads, you should give suggestions to fine-tune customer personas or explore new ad platforms. 

3. Share Tools and Insights

Provide your team with valuable resources like templates, market research tips and strategies for analyzing the competition. This helps your team keep growing and succeeding long after your collaboration ends. 

4. Respect Their Space

Know when to step in and when to step back. While you might take the lead in strategy creation, leave day-to-day execution to the team unless asked otherwise.

5. Stay Transparent

Regular updates and open communication are key. Hold frequent check-ins and collaborative sessions to ensure everyone stays aligned. 

Tips for Smooth Collaboration Between Your Internal Team and Product Marketing Consultant

After finding your ideal consultant, here's how you can ensure a smooth and successful collaboration:

Lock in Your Project Goals

Before the collaboration starts, define your project’s goals clearly. Ask yourself:

• Where are we now?

• Where do we want to be?

• What’s the timeline to achieve these goals?

When both your internal team and the consultant are aligned on the desired outcomes and deliverables, the project becomes much easier to manage. 

Conduct Regular Performance Check-Ins

Another useful tip is to track the project’s progress. This will help you to: 

• Assess the consultant’s contributions.

• Discuss any roadblocks or new developments.

• Adjust the consultant’s role or the project scope if needed.

With regular performance check-ins, you can maintain an effective collaboration while ensuring both parties stay focused and on track. 

Leverage and Transfer Knowledge

One of the key advantages of hiring a consultant is the expertise they bring. It's better to structure your project to include knowledge-sharing sessions. For example:

• Organize workshops where the consultant can train your team on best practices.

• Hold Q&A sessions to address specific challenges your team faces.

• Encourage documentation of strategies, templates and tools for future use.

Leveraging your expertise, all team members can perform effectively. Ultimately, they can develop the skills needed to enhance product marketing and drive success for the long haul.

A successful collaboration between product marketing consultants and your marketing team ensures your products resonate with customer needs, drives impactful launches, and lays the foundation for sustained business success.