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Grant Shirk

AMA: Cisco Meraki Head of Product Marketing, Grant Shirk on Industry Product Marketing

August 16 @ 9:00AM PST
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Cisco Meraki Head of Product Marketing, Grant Shirk on Industry Product Marketing
Top Questions
Grant Shirk
Grant Shirk
Cisco Head of Product Marketing, Cisco Campus Network ExperiencesAugust 16
This one depends on company stage and maturity of the market.  At Cisco, we're incredibly mature, and I'm very fortunate to work alongside Sophia Danvers and her amazing Audience Marketing team. They eat industry intel for breakfast and turn it into not just persona insights, but messaging, co......Read More
428 Views
3 requests
What are key certifications or courses to become a product marketing manager?
I'm a digital marketing specialist looking to transition to product marketing
Grant Shirk
Grant Shirk
Cisco Head of Product Marketing, Cisco Campus Network ExperiencesAugust 16
I'm a little biased here, but I don't believe that there are courses or certifications that are a prerequisite or requirement to jumping into product marketing. If you haven't done any marketing before, or worked alongside a good marketing team, Pragmatic Marketing by the Pragmatic Institute is a......Read More
794 Views
2 requests
Grant Shirk
Grant Shirk
Cisco Head of Product Marketing, Cisco Campus Network ExperiencesAugust 17
I recommend holding shared KPIs across PMM - the classics: Qualified Pipeline, Win Rates, Opportunity Velocity/Duration. Looking at how your industry marketing investments are improving your sales effectiveness overall.  Secondary metrics could be growth of bookings and sales in a target or pr......Read More
427 Views
3 requests
Grant Shirk
Grant Shirk
Cisco Head of Product Marketing, Cisco Campus Network ExperiencesAugust 16
A "head of role" is a very different focus. Before we can talk about standing out in the interview, I think it's important to define what a leader in marketing can and should be.  Rule #1.#1. You are no longer a marketer. Not really. Your real focus is twofold: building the team, and strengthe......Read More
936 Views
2 requests
Grant Shirk
Grant Shirk
Cisco Head of Product Marketing, Cisco Campus Network ExperiencesAugust 17
A shorter answer here, but I think there's a pretty straightforward way to measure sales enablement overall. Ideally, this is driven by the sales enablement team, and you're fueling their succces: Key metrics to measure sales enablement: 1. Rep ramp - How long does it take new reps to onboar......Read More
550 Views
1 request
Grant Shirk
Grant Shirk
Cisco Head of Product Marketing, Cisco Campus Network ExperiencesAugust 16
I'm not certain if you mean category management in the retail/B2C space or the category management specific to sourcing and procurement. Either way, I don't think I'd rule someone out on this alone, but they are very different skillsets. While great PMMs come from all walks of life and all bac......Read More
489 Views
3 requests
Grant Shirk
Grant Shirk
Cisco Head of Product Marketing, Cisco Campus Network ExperiencesAugust 16
I love these big questions. What strikes me is there seems to be an underlying tension in several of the questions about industry vs. product marketing. Just like any two teams in marketing, there are superpowers of each that when combined together make a much stronger team.  Paging Indy Sen -......Read More
705 Views
7 requests
Grant Shirk
Grant Shirk
Cisco Head of Product Marketing, Cisco Campus Network ExperiencesAugust 17
As a PMM, revenue is a trailing metric and the one you have the least control over. If there aren't existing quotas set by industry (and this is rare), this is likely to be unsuccessful. Instead, go back to the core KPIs for PMM: Opportunity creation (count), Qualified pipeline ($), and win ra......Read More
393 Views
2 requests
Grant Shirk
Grant Shirk
Cisco Head of Product Marketing, Cisco Campus Network ExperiencesAugust 16
Internal evangelism and industry expertise.  Yes, you need all the core PMM skills. You might even need to be a stronger writer and positioner than the core PMM. But if your sole goal is to help grow your share in a specific industry or set of industries, you're going to have to: * Sell hard......Read More
559 Views
5 requests
Grant Shirk
Grant Shirk
Cisco Head of Product Marketing, Cisco Campus Network ExperiencesAugust 16
This one all depends on the product, market, and customers. If you're an industry-specific solution and just getting started in market, taking an industry bent first will help you differentiate against the horizontal plays. Being able to tell a credible "insider story" and keep the team focused o......Read More
487 Views
5 requests
Grant Shirk
Grant Shirk
Cisco Head of Product Marketing, Cisco Campus Network ExperiencesAugust 17
This is a really tough one. First and foremost, it's important to separate PM and PMM. They need to be parallel, not dependent, organizations to effectively function. You need them to have the freedom to call BS on each other, work through differing opinions, and emerge with a stronger view of th......Read More
450 Views
1 request
Grant Shirk
Grant Shirk
Cisco Head of Product Marketing, Cisco Campus Network ExperiencesAugust 16
Unfortunately, I really haven't. Find people who've worked places where you see great industry expertise. Talk to them. Talk to customers.  Read Crossing the Chasm. Again.  Ooh, fun one. Alex and the Sharebird team are telling me that there's a 300-character minimum answer. Now we get to pick......Read More
474 Views
3 requests
Grant Shirk
Grant Shirk
Cisco Head of Product Marketing, Cisco Campus Network ExperiencesAugust 16
The pressure's on for this one. Feels like this is the kind of topic first chapters in business books are devoted to.  A successful GTM is hard to describe in detail. Every business, customer, product, team, and marketplace are different and the right path through can vary widely. And the deta......Read More
996 Views
2 requests
Grant Shirk
Grant Shirk
Cisco Head of Product Marketing, Cisco Campus Network ExperiencesAugust 16
Other than everyone?  Product and UX - To highlight industry-specific opportunities for roadmap or positoning Sales - To help them drive better discovery, solution positioning, and credibility with a customer PMM - To pressure test messaging and inherit the best, most compelling value props ......Read More
894 Views
2 requests
How do your industry PMMs collaborate with product- or sales segment-focused PMMs?
I'm the first product marketer focused on GTM strategy for our platform to a specific industry when the rest of the team owns specific product(s) and/or sales segment.
Grant Shirk
Grant Shirk
Cisco Head of Product Marketing, Cisco Campus Network ExperiencesAugust 16
There are two questions here, and I'll address both. One answer is much shorter than the other. How do we collaborate across industry and core PMM? Constantly. At Meraki, we do have an Audiences team focused on both industry and a few specific LOB personas. The give and take is pretty regular.......Read More
891 Views
4 requests