AMA: Clari Former VP of Product Marketing, Hila Segal on Developing Your Product Marketing Career

Advancing to a director level can happen as an individual contributor when the scope of the role is expanded, and more responsibility is given to you—for example, leading product marketing for a product line or multiple product lines. You can also step into a people manager role. No matter what path you choose, transitioning into a director role means graduating from product marketing execution into designing a strategic product marketing roadmap that aligns with company goals and the needs of t ...Read More

Today, there are so many fantastic resources and community groups, certainly more than when I started as a pmm. So I'll focus my answer on other ways you can continue to grow professionally: Find a mentor. Identify a product marketer who's further on in their career than you and ask them to be your mentor. It doesn't have to be someone you know or have worked with in the past. Reach out and explain what you are trying to accomplish and what pmm skills you are looking to develop. Ideally, you wan ...Read More

Strong PMMs are good writers, know their product inside and out, experts of the competitive landscape, messaging geniuses and storytellers, BFFs with the sales team, GTM architects and excellent project managers. I like to think about a good PMM as a: A psychologist who can develop a deep understanding of the fears, aspirations, hopes, and dreams of buyers and target personas. An explorer seeking to learn more, discover more, and do more; bringing curiosity and some risk taking to product messag ...Read More

The role of a product marketer is very different in every company. Still, I believe you shape up the position in your organization - the strengths, interests, and passions you bring with you can expand the role beyond its initial job description. Whether you're a PMM at a global enterprise with thousands of employees or part of a lean and mean marketing team at a fast-growing start-up, you have to control your own destiny.  The vast majority of learning and development happens not in formal trai ...Read More

Switching companies as part of your PMM journey is a good thing (if you're not jumping around too much). It will give you a broader perspective on different GTM channels, business models, org structures, sales processes, etc. You just need to make sure you are growing and acquiring new skills with every role. Even if you're making lateral moves, seek out new areas of responsibilities and more opportunities to do things you've never done before - maybe take on analyst relations or build the compe ...Read More

Start by writing down your career goals. Answer questions like: What experiences are you looking to get in the next phase of your career, and why? Why do you think this is the right role, time, and environment to deliver on those experiences? What things have you done in your past that give you confidence in your ability to perform in this role? What challenges do you foresee? What are your expectations from management? Use this career development framework to have a conversation with your manag ...Read More

Building diverse working relationships with different stakeholders across the organization is one of the most critical secret powers of a successful product marketer. Doing that not only gives you access to information and knowledge, but it will also help you collaborate more effectively on major projects. Here are the tops internal relationships you need to master: Product managers - think about this relationship like a true marriage, and your children are the products you bring to market toget ...Read More