Let’s dive in.<\/p>\n
What does product management include?<\/h2>\n
Product management<\/a> is responsible for all aspects of product development throughout the product lifecycle.<\/p>\n Product managers<\/a> need to identify needs and opportunities, evaluate ideas, set a long-term strategy, develop product roadmaps<\/a>, prioritize features, define product releases, analyze progress<\/a> and report on it, manage stakeholder expectations, and ultimately deliver a product that brings value to customers.<\/p>\n That’s a lot, right?<\/p>\n So what are the best resources to help you get the job done?<\/p>\n This article is divided into sections to cover a curated list of different types of resources:<\/p>\n Let’s start with five must-have tools<\/a> that you will need during your first 90 days as a product manager.<\/p>\n Often overlooked, tracking product usage data<\/a> and driving adoption<\/a> is an essential part of the product management process.<\/p>\n You’re not building a product just for the sake of building it. You need to build something users want to use.<\/p>\n An adoption tool like Userpilot <\/a>will help you understand how users engage with your product through product usage analytics, then use the data to:<\/p>\n Collecting user feedback in-app using micro-surveys will get you instant feedback on how users feel about a feature or entire product.<\/p>\n Add more data with heatmaps and user session recordings to uncover UX problems and improve user experience in product.<\/p>\n Have you tried Hotjar?<\/p>\n Not many tools offer prioritization and road mapping altogether. That’s why airfocus should definitely be on your list.<\/p>\n With a wide range of prioritization templates that you can customize with your own cost and value drivers, airfocus will calculate your priorities so you can get started right away.<\/p>\n Once prioritization is in place, you can create your roadmap in just a few minutes using their simple drag and drop UI.<\/p>\n Product managers are familiar with the benefits of adding collaboration (e.g. the success of collaboration-first products like Figma, Notion, Canva and Airtable) but struggle to deliver an experience that aligns with the standards they hold for their core experience.<\/p>\n That\u2019s where Cord comes in.<\/p>\n PMs save their teams months of research, design, development, testing, and iterating by using Cord\u2019s APIs to add features like live chat, multiple cursors, annotations, and more.<\/p>\n No product can be properly built with a good understanding of the customer journey. Combine that with user story mapping and user personas and that’s where the iteration of the product begins.<\/p>\n With multiple templates to get you started, UXPressia is just the tool.<\/p>\n Reports, statistics, and product benchmarks<\/a> are valuable sources of raw data about the trends in the industry.<\/p>\n The State of SaaS Onboarding<\/a> is a comprehensive report on current trends in the field.<\/p>\n Having used and analyzed 1200 SaaS products, we produced an in-depth analysis of how onboarding practices<\/a> are implemented across the industry.<\/p>\n In their report<\/a>, Mixpanel uses the data from users to analyze product performance in reach, activation<\/a>, engagement, <\/a>and retention <\/a>across four industries (Finance, Media, eCommerce, and SaaS).<\/p>\n The aim is to identify the trends and practices that distinguish average products from excellent ones.<\/p>\n The 2021 NPS Benchmarks report<\/a> compiled by Satmetrix gives you insights into Net Promoter Scores<\/a> across 23 industries.<\/p>\n It is based on responses from 65,000 users and over 220 brands and lets you see how your SaaS compares to your competitors.<\/p>\n Openview is a US-based market capital company specializing in product-led growth<\/a> and supporting SaaS companies during the expansion stage.<\/p>\n The Expansion Saas Benchmarks 2020<\/a> ”was designed specifically to enable operators to compare themselves against their exact peers across the metrics that matter most in a SaaS business.”<\/em><\/p>\n Apart from this report, their website is a host to other useful reports which can help you make informed product development decisions.<\/p>\n Attending conferences and events, be it virtual or in real life, is one of the best ways to catch up on the latest trends and develop your network.<\/p>\n Powered by Userpilot, the Product Drive Conference<\/a> is a great opportunity to learn about product marketing<\/a>, growth, analytics<\/a>, operations, <\/a>and leadership.<\/p>\n The two-day event is a chance to listen to 20+ speakers from industry-leading organizations. The event is free to attend!<\/p>\n The hugely popular free Product Folks events<\/a> cover a range of subjects from marketing<\/a>, through analytics<\/a>, through product growth, through product strategy<\/a>.<\/p>\n The workshops and masterclasses are delivered and facilitated by some of the best product leaders, so you are sure to pick up a thing or two.<\/p>\n ProductCon organizes some of the largest product management conferences<\/a>. They take place four times a year, and host speakers from industry giants like Google, Slack, Mets, or AirBnB.<\/p>\n You can register to view the live stream and access the presentations online for free. If you’d rather attend in person, the ticket prices start at $149.<\/p>\n Podcasts are a great way of developing your product management knowledge while on the go and without having to dedicate specific time for learning.<\/p>\n Product Heroes<\/a> is a series of interviews with product entrepreneurs and leaders delivered by Userpilot.<\/p>\n The events are live so you can ask questions, or listen to the recordings to catch up in your free time.<\/p>\n In their Product for Product<\/a> podcast, Moshe and Matt, both accomplished product managers, focus on product management tools.<\/p>\n The podcast offers insights into solutions that will help you with road mapping<\/a>, analytics<\/a>, productivity, and many more.<\/p>\n This is Product Management<\/a>, hosted by Mike Fishbein, a digital marketing guru, covers a range of topics related to product growth.<\/p>\n It can help develop both hard and soft skills needed as a product manager.<\/p>\n The podcasts from the Product Experience<\/a> host speakers from across the product industry and deals with all the subjects a product manager (or a product owner) may find useful.<\/p>\n The podcast<\/a> is based on interviews with product professionals like product managers, product owners<\/a>, development team leaders, and other stakeholders involved in product development, and gives you a chance to look at the processes from different vantage points.<\/p>\n This Product to Product<\/a> podcast is powered by Roadmunk.<\/p>\n It hosts product experts from some big-name companies like Amazon or Uber. The podcast is in its 8th season, each of them devoted to a different aspect of product growth.<\/p>\n When it comes to product management resources, blogs are high up there. They cover pretty much every aspect of the role and offer a wealth of knowledge in easily digestible chunks.<\/p>\n Userpilot<\/a> releases high-quality articles with actionable content. They cover topics such as onboarding<\/a>, product marketing<\/a>, analytics<\/a>, tools<\/a> to name just a few.<\/p>\n You will find pretty much everything you need, not only in your first 90 days on the job but way beyond that.<\/p>\n ProductLed is a global community of SaaS professionals.<\/p>\n Their blog<\/a> is one of the ways to realize their mission, which is sharing best practices and supporting entrepreneurs in their pursuit of product-led growth.<\/p>\n The community supports Product Managers with training, certification, networking opportunities, and job opportunities.<\/p>\n The blog<\/a> contains a lot of PM-related content which is going to benefit both aspiring PMs and old guns.<\/p>\n The Product Folks is a repository of various product management-related resources<\/a> hosted by other services.<\/p>\n What is great about it is that it’s curated, and contains some of the best and most useful content.<\/p>\n If you have time for a bit more extensive reading, there are great books on product management.<\/p>\n Here’s a selection of a few classics.<\/p>\n This best-seller by Teresa Torres is a very practical guide on how to set your product teams on a path of continuous product discovery.<\/p>\n No self-respecting product manager can afford to miss it!<\/p>\n The main focus of the book by Ramli John and Wes Bush, the execs at ProductLed Growth, is on user retention strategies<\/a>.<\/p>\n It demonstrates how to win your users’ attention, help them adopt the product quickly<\/a> and keep them engaged<\/a>, and ultimately – increase your revenue.<\/p>\n The key message of Escaping the Trap<\/em> is that what really matters is not the features that you develop but the value that you deliver to your customers.<\/p>\n The book will help you refine your strategy, processes, and culture so that you are in a better position to deliver value to your users.<\/p>\n Marty Cagan is considered a product management guru, and Inspired <\/em>has the status of the bible of product management.<\/p>\n\n
Best product management tools to add to your toolkit<\/h2>\n
Product usage and adoption tools – Userpilot<\/a><\/u><\/h2>\n
![](\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/Userpilot-dashboard-onboarding-customer-success-platform_bc51e98eb23cbf235eb4a5e4c3b6a22a_800.png)
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User survey tool – Hotjar<\/a><\/u><\/h2>\n
![](\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/hotjar_b08625349d1494ab42bdffa8ba379cd3_800.jpg)
<\/picture><\/figure>\nPrioritization and Roadmapping tool – airfocus<\/a><\/u><\/h2>\n
![](\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/airfocus_4fbc03a2334608eee2b2dfac5dab6b2e_800.png)
<\/picture><\/figure>\nCollaboration tool – Cord<\/a><\/u><\/h2>\n
![](\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/cord_925d2633da93f1c4bf0902417fcca69a_800.png)
<\/picture><\/figure>\nStory Mapping tools – UXPressia<\/a><\/u><\/h2>\n
![](\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/user-journey-map2_41e7279bbedba18362555ea80c219ef5_800.png)
<\/picture><\/figure>\nReports, statistics, and product benchmarks<\/h2>\n
The State of SaaS Onboarding<\/h3>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/fe7ee432-2b3d-43f4-ab4e-a94fe27e2ce4_64965fcfe3c2bebbfcdd2d9129aa1f47_800.png)
<\/picture>Mixpanel Product Benchmark Report<\/h3>\n
![\"Mixpanel](\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/b1c6e356-fc84-405b-bafb-c9c36b9a61fb_fe9cb530a3398e309ff3735eff91deed_800.png)
<\/picture>2021 NPS Benchmarks (Satmetrix)<\/h3>\n
![\"Average](\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/f3b0e2f0-e0fe-4a54-b70b-f063c5480178_9d88218bfbd7754df4109223485d84e3_800.png)
<\/picture>Openview Benchmarks and Research<\/h3>\n
![](\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/9dacc5b7-8c0a-461b-84c2-0e7a9aceb8a0_67ede3cd85146165e98b90f7b19e550e_800.png)
<\/picture>Best product management conferences and events<\/h2>\n
Produt Drive Conference<\/h3>\n
![\"Product](\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/7885fee6-7b49-4450-8659-11ecd13455f4_e64f8b82675d694b80c494f24a75e3a6_800.png)
<\/picture>The Product Folks events<\/h3>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/b97c88d0-51f9-4ea6-9571-3399a7ed3b60_dec5c9dae5729866e0d32fe5c1b02be1_800.png)
<\/picture>ProductCon<\/h3>\n
![\"#ProductCon](\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/2b08a49c-598c-4b7b-86ad-bd2f683943fa_a2566d8e83e4211d259725c1d5b6dd26_800.png)
<\/picture>Best podcasts for product people<\/h2>\n
Product Heroes – Live interviews with Leaders in the Product Space<\/h3>\n
![\"Product](\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/deebf4a4-8850-4eed-85c1-6807b8fd0a15_ef4b9549467308728fe31c1718e0a60a_800.png)
<\/picture>Product for Product podcast – Hosted by Moshe Mikanovsky and Matt Greene<\/h3>\n
![\"Product](\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/fff420c4-344f-4bbf-b86c-cd250f7a745e_f37750ff723f956c69ab147fbfff9401_800.png)
<\/picture>This is Product Management\u2014Hosted by Mike Fishbein<\/h3>\n
![\"This](\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/8f2229fe-7494-466f-879f-43791a90596c_92a2aa18b1b9021d349ed157f11f1d71_800.png)
<\/picture>The Product Experience \u2014 Hosted by Lily Smith and Randy Silver<\/h3>\n
![](\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/4d734d62-d78b-4c93-95d1-989cf2729eed_073d8c28002c26fbdeb992b3a27b15ee_800.png)
<\/picture>The Why And The What Product Management Podcast \u2014Hosted by Daniel Kahn<\/h3>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/fed0e4c2-329b-43b0-9042-1c625f5012a9_30fb76db98edce96b866e5fb9568fb9b_800.png)
<\/picture>Product to Product\u2014Various Hosts<\/h3>\n
![\"Product](\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/2c67483d-27c5-46df-820f-8920041568dd_5f945fc2e897a8a2d0e2c97e783a06a7_800.png)
<\/picture>Best blogs for Product Managers<\/h2>\n
Userpilot Blog<\/h3>\n
![\"Userpilot](\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/667abb9e-9084-4cc9-ad52-242db26b7f86_07e720d1277c18b52420ee728687e149_800.png)
<\/picture>Must-read articles<\/h4>\n
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ProductLed Growth Blog<\/h3>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/image_a13a20f1e9a09f34b974ecbe61fd544a_800.png)
<\/picture>Must-read articles<\/h4>\n
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Product Manager HQ blog<\/h3>\n
![\"Product](\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/image_75353f61e417af1ddc14e3d004a1f8eb_800.png)
<\/picture>Must-read articles<\/h4>\n
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The Product Folks<\/h3>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/image_2792eebc3e29bda460bc85721d1c8e74_800.png)
<\/picture>Must-read articles<\/h4>\n
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Best books for Product Managers<\/h2>\n
Continuous Discovery Habits<\/em> by Teresa Torres<\/h3>\n
![\"Continuous](\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/continuous_discovery_habits_800_8f41f576c5109f0903f19a9de0bb89c4_800.jpeg)
<\/picture>Product-Led Onboarding<\/em> by Ramli John and Wes Bush<\/h3>\n
![\"Product-led](\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/product_lead_onboarding_800_c815a3210c5dacfb09658191b58f8392_800.jpeg)
<\/picture>Escaping The Build Trap<\/em> by Melissa Perri<\/h3>\n
![\"Escaping](\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/escaping_the_build_trap_800_d9afee1994cebbd496e52f0d02c794b7_800.jpeg)
<\/picture>Inspired <\/em>by Marty Cagan<\/h3>\n