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PMM Files πŸ—‚οΈ

PMM Files #148 – How To Fight a Feature War, a Rockin’ How It Works, and the World’s Smartest Popup


Read Time: 3.8 minutes

Thanks for reading PMM Files. A newsletter where we share five cool product marketing examples we found last week.

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Example #1 - How to Fight a Feature War

This section on Sybil's website does a great job highlighting how one specific feature, Summaries, is different from other competitors.

They address comparisons head-on saying: β€œBut what about the other guys?”

What follows are three clear points of differentiation:

  • Totally Customizable
  • Auto-adjusted by meeting type
  • Not just another to-do list

No direct competitor call-outs. They focus this section instead on differentiating against the broader category.

​→ Explain your difference, not just capabilities​

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Example #2 - The Smartest Popup in the World

Alia does a great job standing out in one of the most commoditized categories in marketing: popups.

Instead of trying to be cheaper, they position themselves as the smartest pop-up for Shopify.

  • Smarter targeting
  • Automated testing
  • Clear performance gains, like 15%+ opt-in rates

By being bold and specific, Alia does three things:

  1. Narrows the buyer to Shopify merchants
  2. Signals this is for more mature, higher-traffic stores
  3. Reframes pop-ups from a commodity into a performance lever

They don’t hide in a crowded category. They redraw it around a specific ecosystem, customer maturity, and outcome.

​→ Make specificity your differentiator​

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Example #3 - Lead With the Outcome

Bounti does a great job leading with one clear promise and a quantifiable outcome: onboard new hires 2X faster.

You immediately understand what the product does and the benefit you’ll get.

Then they reinforce it with four concrete outcomes:

  • Efficient operations
  • High retention
  • Quality assurance
  • Automated compliance

Nothing fancy here. Just a solid hero section built for clarity.

​→ Make the main thing, the main thing​

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Example #4 - A Rockin' How it Works

Check out these "How it Works" diagrams from Ibanez, a guitar maker that needed a way to explain their pickup switching system on a new series of guitar.

They use two clear visuals to show exactly which pickups are engaged in every switch position and how those combinations turn into ten distinct sounds.

Simple numbers and color coding make it obvious what happens the moment the player moves the selector.

A potentially confusing system, made instantly understandable.

​→ Make your how it works rock!​

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Example #5 - Build the Page Around the Persona

Here's a great example of a persona page.

Right away, you know who it’s for: practice owners. You also immediately see the outcomes that matter most:

  • Automate staff workflows
  • Protect your costs
  • Put patients first

It mirrors the Bounti hero we showed two examples ago. One clear promise, followed by outcome-led pillars.

From there, the page focuses on the features that matter most to this role, using big, clear visuals instead of dense explanations.

A solid template to follow.

​→ Make your product pages personal​


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Founding PMM Jobs

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Some highlights from this week:

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​Find More Founding PMM Jobs ↗️​

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3 More Things

Three articles, posts, or tools you should add to your swipe file.

  1. ​Be More Strategic by Choosing the Right Problems - Tamara Grominsky shares a great framework for sharpening prioritization, and focusing your time on the right things.
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  2. ​Let Your ICP Say No - Joris van Kappen shares a handy ICP framework that helps you focus your GTM by being clear about who you are not for.
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  3. ​Turn Positioning into Copy - Aatir Abdul Rauf breaks down a clear, simple way to translate positioning into messaging and, ultimately, copy.

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What did you think of this week's edition?

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See you next Wednesday!

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P.S.

We work with startups and founding PMMs that are trying to build product marketing from zero. If that sounds like you, here are some ways we can help:

  • ​The Jetpack is a library of templates, playbooks, and examples.
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  • ​The Foundry is a group coaching program for founding PMMs.
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  • Want to sponsor our newsletter? Let's chat!​
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​Jason and Aubrey​
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PMM Files πŸ—‚οΈ

Every week, I share 5 practical product marketing examples. Your weekly dose of PMM inspiration and practical advice in less than 3 minutes.

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