In 2023, a promising AdTech startup raised $20M to revolutionize mobile attribution. Twelve months later, they pivoted to CRM tools. What happened? Their product worked—but no one understood it. This isn’t just a failure of engineering or sales. It’s a product marketing breakdown.
Their secret post-mortem finding? “We built what engineers wanted, not what marketers needed to hear.”
This story repeats itself across our industry. In AdTech, where products are increasingly commoditized and buyers are overwhelmed, how you communicate value isn’t just important, it’s existential.
Why Product Marketing Makes or Breaks AdTech Companies
AdTech faces a perfect storm of communication challenges:
- Technical Complexity: DSPs, SSPs, PMPs, our industry runs on acronyms that mean nothing to time-pressed CMOs.
- Shifting Privacy Landscape: Every platform update (iOS17, Privacy Sandbox) requires re-educating buyers.
- Performance Pressure: When every dollar is scrutinized, vague value propositions get cut first.
The result? Most of AdTech buyers delay purchases due to unclear differentiation.
The Core Problem
Product marketers in AdTech face a unique challenge:
- Engineers build for technical benchmarks (latency, fill rates)
- Marketers sell business outcomes (ROAS, retention lifts)
- Customers just want solutions (“Why won’t my users come back?”)
When messaging doesn’t bridge these gaps, even brilliant products fail.
3 Ways AdTech PMMs Can Fix This (With Real Examples)
1. Translate Features Into Outcomes
Bad: “Our SDK reduces latency by 300ms”
Good: “Recapture 22% more abandoning users before they churn”
2. Segment By Pain Points, Not Verticals
AdTech’s old playbook: “Here’s how gaming apps use our product.”
Better: Group customers by behavioural needs:
- “You’re struggling with Day 30 retention” → Case study: How to double LTV
- “You’re overspending on low-quality traffic” → Whitepaper: CPI vs. ROAS benchmarks
3. Arm Sales With ‘Why Now’ Stories
Competitors all claim “better targeting.” Differentiation requires context:
- “Last month, iOS 17.4 broke your retargeting segments. Here’s how we adapt.”
- “Google’s Privacy Sandbox will force you to find new data sources by Q3.”
In Conclusion
Great AdTech products solve math problems. Great product marketing solves human problems.
- The CMO’s fear of wasted spend
- The UA manager’s pressure to hit ROAS
- The product team’s need for clean data
When we bridge these gaps, we don’t just sell better—we transform markets.