These job titles can get confusing at times as organizations tend to use them interchangeably or have considerable overlap in duties.
On paper, however, the roles do have different areas of focus.
Let me use a housing analogy here to explain:
๐ญ- ๐ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ต๐ผ๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐๐ถ๐น๐ฑ & ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐๐ถ๐น๐ฑ ๐ถ๐
They figure out:
๐น what potential residents would like in a home (customer discovery)
๐น draft the blueprint of the house (strategy, roadmap & specs)
๐น elect what part of the house to build first (prioritization)
๐น manage expectations with investors, clients, construction teams (stakeholder management) etc.
2- ๐ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ท๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐๐ฟ๐๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ต๐ผ๐๐๐ฒ
They're responsible for:
๐ธ the "how" & "when" i.e. build the house right & manage expectations on when it'll be ready. (timeline management)
๐ธ taking the blueprint of the house from the Product Manager & drawing out a plan. (project plans)
๐ธ allocating the necessary team of builders, drawing out timelines & monitoring progress like a hawk. (resource management)
๐ธ anticipating & raising red flags well beforehand (risk registers)
๐ธ getting clarity on fuzzy areas & priorities
๐ฏ- ๐ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ drives ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ต๐ผ๐๐๐ฒ'๐ ๐ฒ๐
๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐ฎ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฟ๐
They have a say on the house design/ blueprints but they also:
๐ท coordinate with providers to finalize & install interior fixtures (cross-functional work)
๐ท work with real estate agents to put the house on the market (work with sales/marketing on go-to-market campaigns)
๐ท sort out documentation & house approvals (work with legal, accessibility teams)
๐ท check if the house conforms with neighborhood/municipality rules (cohesion with sister products/suites)
But how are these roles used in practice?
๐ ๐๐ป ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐๐ฝ๐, all three roles are owned & executed by 1 full-stack product manager.
๐ ๐๐ป ๐บ๐ถ๐ฑ-๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐, the Product Manager becomes more strategic while Product owners/ Business Analysts pick up the detailed specifics. Project delivery is either owned by tech leads or dedicated Project Managers.
Product Marketing Managers, primarily responsible for go-to-market & demand generation, often extend their duties to pull off a number of Program Management duties.
๐ ๐๐ป ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐, they may have a Product Manager for each workstream, some Project Managers alongside tech to monitor the overall assembly line & Program Managers to apply the glue between the product stack & other functional areas.