Product Marketing and Pricing: An Introduction
6 tips for getting started, plus highlights from 'Monetizing Innovation'
One of the greyer areas of a product marketer’s world is pricing - and what our role should be in shaping it. Sometimes we’re asked for input. Other times we’re pulled in at the last minute to draft a go-to-market plan for new-look pricing that’s launching next week. And at some companies, product marketing is even asked to own pricing outright.
At the very least, we’re usually brought into the never-ending debate over which team should own pricing.
For me, though, pricing is a bit like that Patek Philippe tagline: no one ever truly owns it. Whether you’re a PMM, a product manager, or even a Head of Pricing, you’re really just driving the conversation forward, before a committee makes the decision. Pricing is one of those topics, like your company homepage, where everyone has an opinion. And when it’s a sensitive call, there’s a good chance it’ll actually be your CEO who makes the final decision.
I’ve been fortunate to get hands-on experience with pricing several times over the years. My view is that while product marketing might not be the best team to own pricing, we play a critical role in making it successful - and we should be involved from the very beginning of any pricing work.
Because the way PMMs solve problems is the way pricing should be approached: understand the customer, get a full view of the market, and find the most compelling and clear way to package it up and tell the story.
Here are a few tips I’ve picked up along the way for any PMM tackling pricing for the first time:
1. Pricing isn’t a product
Don’t treat new pricing like a product launch. It shouldn’t be buried as if it were bad news, but it doesn’t need a big, flashy announcement either. It needs to be handled with care and precision - usually with testing, a staggered rollout, and validation. You don’t need the full marketing suite a product launch requires, but your customer communications must be simple, relatable, and incredibly clear.
2. Don’t go rogue
I normally advocate for differentiation. When everyone zigs, you should zag. But the one thing you shouldn’t innovate on (for the sake of differentiation alone) is pricing structure. If the market is used to paying per seat or per transaction, don’t introduce a model customers won’t understand. Make it easy for prospects to evaluate you versus the alternatives.
3. Use value-based frameworks early
For early-stage businesses, it’s unrealistic to wait for a mountain of usage data before making pricing decisions. Value-based frameworks like Van Westendorp or Gabor-Granger, along with basic elasticity analysis, give you quick, relatively data-light ways to get customer insights and gauge willingness to pay. What’s more, PMMs are well-placed to lead this kind of research.
4. Plan your grandfathering strategy
When you change pricing for a product, don’t forget your current customers. Grandfathering (keeping them on their original plan, or offering them a premium migration experience) is a critical component. Product marketing can play a key role here, ensuring you deliver the best possible customer experience and clear communication when introducing changes.
5. Think global with localisation and currency
Many businesses now sell globally from the get-go, yet localisation and currency strategy is often overlooked when new pricing is being worked on. PMMs can help ensure pricing is adjusted thoughtfully by market, reflecting local expectations and purchasing power.
6. If you can, work with an expert
Just like product marketing, pricing is a craft with its own best practices. Working with a pricing specialist is one of the most justifiable reasons to bring a consultancy into your company. Simon-Kucher is probably the best in the business. They’re expensive, but you’ll learn so much in the process.
Tips from Monetizing Innovation
And if you can’t afford to work with them, Simon-Kucher’s book Monetizing Innovation is a must-read. It’s one I return to every time I work on pricing. (Not an ad, I promise, I just really rate it.) Here are a few of my favourite takeaways.
Start with pricing insights, not product
A classic product development trap is building something everyone on the team thinks is amazing, only to find no one is willing to pay for it.
Monetizing Innovation rethinks the process: price before you build. Engage customers early to understand their willingness to pay, and use that to guide what you build - and what you don’t.
PMMs can make sure the customer perspective, and their willingness to pay, is factored in from the outset.
Segment and design with pricing in mind
Pricing and segmentation go hand in hand. Understand which segments value which features, and tailor both product and price accordingly. That means stripping away low-value features that add unnecessary cost, and doubling down on what your highest-value segments care about.
Research willingness to pay properly
PMMs are also well placed to lead this kind of research. Techniques include:
Contingent valuation surveys: asking directly what customers would pay in different scenarios.
Paired comparisons: seeing which option they prefer at which price.
Conjoint analysis: uncovering the relative value of individual features.
The key is to avoid guessing, and to avoid defaulting to cost-plus or competitor-matching approaches.
Pricing work is never finished
Finally, pricing isn’t something you get to “complete.” Markets shift. Competitors change. Customer expectations evolve. Monetizing Innovation reminds us to treat pricing as a living part of your go-to-market strategy. Something you test, iterate, and refine over time.
It’s worth putting a process in place for continuous testing:
Monitor metrics like conversion rate, average revenue per user, churn, and deal velocity.
Run experiments, such as A/B tests or region-specific pilots, on pricing tiers or discounts.
Revisit customer feedback and competitive benchmarks regularly.
Treat pricing as an ongoing programme of learning, not a one-off project.
As PMMs, we may not always own pricing. But we can absolutely raise the quality of internal conversations and processes - grounding them in customer insight, competitive awareness, and strategic thinking.
Good luck. And let me know how you get on!
The Product Marketer is a London-based consultancy working with ambitious companies to unlock their growth potential through world-class product marketing. Get in touch to discuss working together.