AMA: BILL Sr Director, Product Marketing, Kelly Kipkalov on Product Marketing Skills
December 19 @ 9:00AM PT
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👋 Kelly Kipkalov
Hi all, I'm Kelly Kipkalov, Vice President Product Marketing @ Carta:
• 👋 Based in: San Francisco Bay Area
• 🧠 Top of mind: Writing effective SKO presentations!
• 💬 Ask me about: PMM career paths
• 🍦 Fun fact: My maiden name is Smith. I met my husband in Russia and couldn't wait to get rid of my very generic last name. :)
• 👋 Based in: San Francisco Bay Area
• 🧠 Top of mind: Writing effective SKO presentations!
• 💬 Ask me about: PMM career paths
• 🍦 Fun fact: My maiden name is Smith. I met my husband in Russia and couldn't wait to get rid of my very generic last name. :)
Carta Vice President Product Marketing • 2y
I'm going to answer your question slightly differently. PMMs can acquire skills as they develop in their careers, that's a given. So when I hire PMMs, I'm not just look...
1823 Views
2 requests
Carta Vice President Product Marketing • 2y
I'm not sure the distinction you're making between data-driven vs data-informed but I'm going to say that you should be data driven. There's some narrative about PMM tha...
618 Views
1 request
Carta Vice President Product Marketing • 2y
In our PMM career ladder at BILL we evaluate PMM career progression in the following areas: Ability to uncover market insightsInfluence product strategy and developmentCr...
701 Views
2 requests
Carta Vice President Product Marketing • 2y
My answer to this is that 'it depends' on where you are in your career.If you are early career and just starting as a PMM, I would typically be making a hiring decision s...
555 Views
2 requests
How important are brand marketing skills for product marketers compared to analytical skills?
There is often a huge emphasis on analytical skills, instead of brand marketing skills, when it comes to product marketing job descriptions.
Carta Vice President Product Marketing • 2y
Of all the skill sets I think are important for a product marketer, brand marketing isn't on the top of the list. In fact, it's probably the opposite - particularly in sm...
3373 Views
1 request
How do you recommend working in my soft skills and their importance in the job interview when not directly asked?
I find that interviewers very often focus on the hard skills, but I think it’s the soft skills that can make/break a candidate. I usually try to highlight my soft skills within the context of my “STAR” stories.
Carta Vice President Product Marketing • 2y
Even if you get a very specific product marketing question during an interview, I promise you that your soft skills are still being assessed at the same time. Are you a ...
610 Views
1 request
How do product marketers make sure they're learning enough varied skills to be a well-rounded professional when scope is an issue?
i.e. working at a large company with minimal scope, focusing on sales enablement but knowing you need experience on the product launch side, other marketing teams covering responsibilities, etc.
Carta Vice President Product Marketing • 2y
Such a great question!Sales enablement - although you're right it's a narrow focus - is still very transferable to the more customer facing aspects of customer marketin...
603 Views
3 requests
Carta Vice President Product Marketing • 2y
I'd be happy to have some back and forth on this, but I'm not sure I fully understand the context of the question. Are you writing emails to sales, and if so, what type ...
561 Views
1 request
Carta Vice President Product Marketing • 2y
There's another question I fielded about soft skills, so take a look at that one in the feed. The soft skills I listed there:Clear and confident written and verbal commu...
760 Views
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What advice do you have for recent graduates that want to go straight into product marketing?
Typically, these roles require 3-5 years of experience and/or an MBA. Are there roles we should target instead that will help transition into product marketing? What qualities do you want to see in young professionals that want to land in product marketing?
Carta Vice President Product Marketing • 2y
I've hired people straight out of undergrad, it's possible. Look for entry level titles like product marketing analyst, or specialist...they are out there. BUT, I will ...
1066 Views
1 request
Carta Vice President Product Marketing • 2y
Great messaging isn't as easy as people think! Two things come to mind.First, learn the art of writing a single minded proposition, aka "SMP." If you aren't crystal cle...
506 Views
1 request