How do you break down responsibilities and KPIs between demand generation and product marketing?

My general framework is as follows:

• PMM is likely to bring the best holistic qualitative insights to the table from the work that they're doing
• Demand Generation is likely to bring the best live quantitative data to the table from the work that they're doing

Because of that, it's a give-and-take from a responsibility standpoint. 

• Both PMM and Demand Generation should bring ideas to the table around what can/should be tested
• They should be able to workshop those ideas together for refinement.
• Example 1: Demand Generation sees some program-specific trending that causes them to want to focus on a particular theme. They bring it to PMM for more ideation as PMM can provide useful context/color based on their work. Together they come up with some ideas for testing.
• Example 2: PMM has run a large customer insights study to understand key value props for the product. They bring those findings over to Demand Generation to refine based on program, audience, etc. Together, they come up with some refined ideas for testing.

Decisions on what gets acted on are dependent on who's responsible for the number (this is generally Demand Generation). They're ultimately responsible for deciding, based on impact, when they'll be able to do such a test. However, by refining the ideas together, there's also alignment about importance, etc.

Product marketing focuses on more on product adoption and sales enablement related metrics, as well as content related metrics if they are actively creating content in that org. Product marketers focus on strategy, messaging and are actively involved in product launches.

Demand gen teams are very funnel oriented and drive metrics like MQLs, SQLs, Opps, Pipeline, etc.

That said, they need to be very tightly aligned as product marketing needs to feed into demand gen activities.

Demand Gen and Product Marketing need to work in lockstep, but their responsibilities should be clearly defined so there are no gaps.

I see Product Marketing as the strategic foundation. They own positioning, messaging, and audience segmentation. They’re the ones gathering customer insights, developing solution narratives, and ensuring that we have a compelling story to tell. They also drive product go-to-market (GTM) strategies, which include things like product launch plans, competitive analysis, and sales enablement. If Sales needs a deck, a battle card, or a better way to pitch our platform, Product Marketing owns that.

Demand Gen, on the other hand, takes that foundation and activates it. They’re the ones turning messaging into high-converting campaigns across paid media, email, SEO, ABM, and whatever other channels make sense. If Product Marketing defines the "why" and "what," Demand Gen figures out the "how" and "where”, and the campaign narratives to deliver.

KPIs reflect those differences. Product Marketing is measured on positioning effectiveness, sales enablement adoption, product health (adoption and usage), and market impact. That might mean looking at things like win/loss rates, messaging resonance, product attach, and how well Sales uses the materials they create, or in some cases, how well self-serve/product-led cross-sell motions convert.

Demand Gen, on the other hand, is held accountable for lead generation, pipeline growth, and campaign performance. That means things like MQL/SQL volume, conversion rates, and cost per acquisition (CPA).

The key is that these teams need to be deeply connected. If Product Marketing isn’t aligned with Demand Gen, then you end up with campaigns that don’t resonate. And if Demand Gen isn’t leveraging the insights from Product Marketing, you’re just running ads and hoping for the best. They’re two sides of the same coin, and when they work together, they drive real business impact.

Alignment on responsibilities and KPIs is critical. Personally, I have noticed more crossover between growth marketing and product marketing than between demand generation and product marketing. However, here are some considerations:

Demand generation:

• Responsible for campaigns to generate demand and sometimes is incorrectly referred to as “demand capture”.

• Examples of KPIs: MQLs and sign-ups.

Product marketing:

• Involves positioning, messaging, and product launches.

• Demand generation efforts often amplify product marketing.

• Examples of KPIs: product adoption and customer satisfaction.