AMA: Atlassian Head of Product Marketing, Ben Rawnsley-Johnson on Building a Product Marketing Team

PMM don't own outcomes the way some other teams like sales (meetings, deals) and engineering (shipped code) - but we do own the pursuit of the metrics that matter, and the alignment of teams that contribute to metrics that span teams - CAC, CLTV etc. Any marketer knows that our value is reflected in the growth and health of the business, even if we don't own that processes end-to-end. Like it or not, we have to measure our success in those terms, but also share some drivers of that outcome. Reve ...Read More

In earlier stage companies, small teams of generalists tend to drive great results with their expansive understanding that comes from being in the weeds of product alignment, customer insight, research, and campaign execution and sales enablement. As the company grows, and progresses into multi-product, that starts to break down as teams get bigger and the work becomes more specialized. Initial Phase (Small Team): Structure: Generalists who handle multiple functions, such as market research, con ...Read More

This one changes a lot depending on the stage of growth the company is in. In terms of the where the biggest leverage comes from, at earlier stages, these lines will blur, and supporting player/coach contributors tends to drive scalable outcomes. At scale, having clear hand-offs and defined roles and responsibilities, and reporting structures that identify accountable teams will help drive outcomes. I tend to think of responsibilities, and structure teams in 3 areas (with lots of healthy overlap ...Read More