What Are the 3 Major Areas of Product Management?

What Are the 3 Major Areas of Product Management?

Product management is the process of bringing a product to market successfully in a way to ensure its ongoing success. Product information management can be broken down into three major areas: product discovery, product planning, and product development. Let’s take a closer look at each of these three areas, how they function, and why they are important to product management.

1. Discovery: This phase is focused on determining what products to build.

• Discovery involves identifying market opportunities, understanding customer needs, and conducting market research to gather insights that inform product decisions.

• This stage focuses on understanding the problem that the product is meant to solve and validating its potential market demand.

• Techniques such as customer interviews, surveys, competitive analysis, and user testing are commonly used during the discovery phase.
  
  

2. Product Planning: The second phase of product management is all about determining the overall product roadmap. What products and functionalities will be released when? This stage will lay all of that out. However, while product planning creates a roadmap based on what was uncovered during the discovery phase, this is not a fixed roadmap. Rather it is important to keep this stage an iterative process, incorporating customer feedback and market changes to best guarantee success at launch.

• This stage includes prioritizing features, defining requirements, and creating a timeline for development and release.

• Product managers collaborate with various stakeholders, including engineering, design, marketing, and sales teams, to create a cohesive plan.

• Tools like product roadmaps, feature prioritization matrices, and user story maps are often used in product planning.
  
  

3. Product Development: This is when the product is actually built, tested, and launched.

• This stage requires close collaboration between product managers, designers, engineers, and other cross-functional team members to ensure the product meets the defined requirements and aligns with the product vision.

• Agile methodologies are commonly used in product development to enable iterative and incremental progress.

• Continuous testing and feedback collection are crucial during this stage to validate assumptions and make data-driven decisions.

• In preparation for the product launch, a product manager needs to ensure accurate product information is created and made available to sales and marketing teams to effectively promote the product.

• Product information is often stored in a Product Information Management (PIM) solution.

What Does PIM Include?

A PIM solution is generally an invaluable tool, both for the product manager, and for the entire product management process. A PIM solution will include many vital pieces of product data and information, as well as a host of other functionalities.

PIM will include all relevant product data including descriptions, pricing, features, benefits, dimensions, and more. Some PIM solutions offer additional functionalities. A PIM with built-in Digital Asset Management (DAM) functionality allows the product manager to store product-related digital assets with the product information. This can include product images, owner’s manuals, technical specifications sheets, troubleshooting videos, and installation videos.

How Do I Choose a PIM System?

There are many PIM software examples available on the market today. But in order to find the best PIM solution for your company there are five main questions that you need to address.

What Functionality Do You Need?

• Before selecting a PIM system, identify the specific functionality your business needs. This involves understanding your product data management needs, such as data storage, enrichment, classification, version control, and digital asset management.

• Consider whether you need features like data governance, workflow management, localization capabilities, support for different product types (e.g., simple products, configurable products), or integration with e-commerce platforms.

• Evaluate your current data management processes and identify pain points that a PIM system can address to streamline operations and improve efficiency.

What Other Systems Do You Need to Integrate With?

• Assess the existing software within your organization and determine which systems need to integrate with the PIM solution. This could include e-commerce platforms, ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems, CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software, marketing automation tools, or any other systems where product information is utilized.

• Ensure compatibility and seamless data exchange between the PIM system and other systems to enable data consistency and synchronization across various channels and touchpoints.

How Will the Product Information Be Used?

• Understand different use cases and stakeholders who will interact with the product information. This could include marketing teams creating product catalogs, sales teams accessing up-to-date product details for customer interactions, or e-commerce teams managing product listings.

• Determine channels and formats in which product information will be distributed, such as websites, mobile apps, print catalogs, or third-party marketplaces.

• Consider scalability and flexibility of the PIM system to accommodate future growth and evolving business needs in terms of data volume, product complexity, and distribution channels.

What Type of Budget Is Defined for This Initiative?

• Define a clear budget for implementing a PIM solution, considering both upfront costs and ongoing expenses such as licensing fees, implementation services, training, and maintenance.

• Compare the cost of different PIM solutions based on their features, scalability, customization options, and support services to ensure that the chosen solution provides value for the investment.

• Factor in any potential ROI (Return on Investment) from improved data quality, operational efficiency, reduced time-to-market, and enhanced customer experience when evaluating the budget for implementing a PIM system.

What Is the Timeline for Implementing a Solution?

• Establish a realistic timeline for implementing the PIM solution based on your organization's priorities, resource availability, and project scope.

• Consider factors such as data migration from existing systems, customization requirements, integration with other software, user training, and testing phases when planning the implementation timeline.

• Communicate the implementation timeline to stakeholders and allocate resources accordingly to ensure a smooth transition to the new PIM system without disrupting ongoing business operations.

Many companies find that Lumavate is the best choice for evaluating a new PIM solution because it is an option that offers complete Product Experience Management (PXM) functionality. This allows for the centralization of product data, and includes Digital Asset Management (DAM) functionality to store product-related digital assets, as well as a Digital Experience Platform (DXP) allowing for digital experiences to be built in minutes. Additionally, Lumavate also has text messaging capability and a comprehensive form builder solution that seamlessly integrates to the company’s existing system. 

There are no other PIM software examples with the breadth of functionality of Lumavate. Additionally, Lumavate is often 75 percent more cost-effective than competitive solutions that only offer a fraction of the functionality of Lumavate.

How Much Does a PIM System Cost?

The cost of a PIM system will vary greatly based on which solution you choose, and what functionality it provides. Some solutions base price on the number of SKUs stored in the PIM while others base price on the number of times the product data is used. Lumavate takes a different approach to pricing by offering a comprehensive product experience management (PXM) platform that will let you get started for as little as $499 a month. This creates a solution that is often 75 percent more cost-effective than competitors. And while free PIM software is likely to not be able to meet the product management needs of your company, you don’t have to be held hostage to the pricing scheme of Inriver PIM, Salsify PIM, or Plytix pricing.