AMA: Crossbeam Senior Director Product Marketing, Amanda Groves on Establishing Product Marketing

The best part of being in product marketing is sharing the burden - there's always something to do in the messy middle ;) I think a simple and pragmatic way to share the load is adopting a framework like the Eisenhower Matrix to help prioritize and delegate efficiently. The Eisenhower Matrix is a productivity, prioritization, and time-management framework designed to help professionals prioritize a list of tasks or agenda items by first categorizing those items according to their urgency and importance. This approach consists of drawing a four-box square with an x-axis labeled Urgent and Not Urgent, and the y-axis labeled Important and Not Important. Then, group the items on your list into one of the four boxes, with the Urgent-and-Important box in the upper left requiring your immediate action. Here's what I mean: * First Quadrant (upper left): urgent and important * These items are important and require your attention at once - DO THEM * Second Quadrant (upper right): important but not urgent * These are essential items that require more time - DECIDE ON THEM * Third Quadrant (lower left): not important, but urgent * These are are rogue pop-ups that require immediate attention but are not urgent - DELEGATE THEM * Fourth Quadrant (lower right): neither important nor urgent * These items are a tax on you and your teams time - DELETE THEM If you made it this far, the TL;DR is to prioritize a productivity framework and get comfortable with delegating (third bullet) and saying no. Protect your Yes's by Saying No.

Great question! My advice would be to remember the product stage is likely quite different than your existing product. For the new product, prioritize product market fit PMM tasks during the initial integration roll out. Steps to do this: * Conduct a TAM analysis with products like Crossbeam to understand overlapping base and eligible customers for GTM. * Conduct listening tours to understand target audience and personas. * Build new personas and train + enable the team on target audience. * Use tiering calculators like this one to prioritize launch activities as integration nears general availability * Walk through GTM product development process with new stakeholders and establish roles and collaborative motions. * Set up slack channels or collaborative spaces like Notion to ensure teams are aligned and set up for success * Align on shared goals that ladder up to company OKRs and present to leadership * Celebrate! Remember the Mona Lisa principle (coined at Miro) if the finished piece isn't something you're willing to put your name on, don't ship it.

Great question! In my career I've held product marketing roles at bootstrapped startups with less than 20 employees all the way to Series E companies with 1.5k plus employees. While I haven't been on the super, super XL enterprise side of PMM land, I think these are the big deltas between working in small and large organizations: 1. Small but mighty means you'll have more ownership, coverage, and impact. At smaller companies, you'll likely be managing many spinning plates at once across core competencies like: pricing, packaging, positioning, launches, customer & lifecycle marketing, competitive intelligence all while balancing high-volume shipping environments. Embrace the proximity you have to impact + leadership and revel in the learning density presented within these organizations. 2. Larger organizations may rely on PMM for enterprise support such as sales enablement, pitch decks, and ABM support. Larger organizations may also present the opportunity to go deep in a specific part of product marketing like pricing specialization, launches, or own a specific product line. TL;DR: If you want to specialize I suggest exploring PMM at a larger organization. If you want to cut your teeth on everything, go small and embrace the ride!

Here's how I typically tackle the first 30-60-90 days for establishing PMM: First 30 - Listening tours + product/data downloads * Shadow sales demos, listen to customer calls on Chorus or Gong, watch Fullstory sessions and marinate in any and all of the data you can find * Get your hands on the product, get so comfortable with it you can give a demo * Start market research, understand your TAM (total addressable market) and personas First 60 - Assess, Align and Establish * Assess orgs needs + company goals and individual departments * Establish product development process and align on GTM (go to market) process with product leadership * Understand ICP (ideal customer profile) First 90 - Wins and Plans * Act on any quick wins and present plans for PMM department build * Identify the red (gaps) and plans for optimization * Balance tackling low hanging fruit and longer-term wins * Leverage Notion as your command center for templates, org design and team wiki

Ooo I love this question, the three things I'd prioritize tracking overtime are 1) Reactivations * This is 100% within our team's ability to improve and acts as a force multiplier for every department. More active customers? Mores potential revenue. More innovation opportunities. More use cases to support. 2) Product sign-ups * Given most PMM orgs start at the bottom of the funnel - product sign-ups are a primary conversion lever to continuously manage and optimize for. Similar to reactivations, this metric is a force multiplier that adds more to the proverbial pile. 3) Expansion revenue * Land and expand. Land and expand. Land and expand. This is where PMM gets really fun and exciting. You have converted the account (product sign-up), gotten them activated (reactivations) now expand their usage with upselling/upgrading to advanced feature sets. These are three proven metrics that ladder up to revenue and keep teams focused on the right priorities.

I think the switch from horizontal to vertical org charts depends on a few key factors: * Product scope * Do you have multiple products where a vertical play is needed to support company goals? * Team maturity * Do you have people leaders on the squad who are ready to manage ICS? * Company stage * Do you need to specialize to support certain business goals and opportunities?

I would try an establish common ground early and often. Ask yourself these questions: * What guiding principles do you need to establish between your role and senior leadership to be successful? * What latitude do you need to be successful? * What core philosophies do you need alignment on to be successful? Once of you a sense of the above, set rules of engagement with leadership so you're aligned on needs. This comes before outcomes - establish your relationship and rapport. Once that's in place, discuss expectations for what good looks like but map back to company needs. Present your ideas in a way that ladders into company OKRs and outcomes. I also suggest always finding the red or areas for opportunity and socialization this with senior leadership early and often. This will establish your credibility and built trust which is the most important part of your day to day!

This is a great question and certainly varies by industry. In the tech landscape I've seen: * Series E with a team of 30 product marketers * Series C with a team of 8 product marketers * Series B with a team of 3 product marketers * Series A and Seed with 1 product marketer and a partridge in a pear tree :) The delta really lies within GTM motion. Are you a PLG company? You'll likely be more PMM heavy versus Sales-Led company where PMM is not taxed so heavily.

Great question. I would tackle the PMM foundations first: * Personas * ICP * Messaging Hierarchy * Launch process with product * Sales enablement needs * Relationships internally and externally * VoC work What NOT to focus on? * Items that don't map to company goals or priorities * Shiny objects * High-budget/glossy requests I think the hardest part of being in PMM is prioritizing given we sit at the intersection of so many business lines - so make sure you keep guardrails on the most impactful tasks and map to outcomes. We are strategic players not a service desk!

There's two ways you can think about this: Qualitatively: Use quarterly pulse surveys to do a temp check on cross-functional department needs and efficacy of existing programs. My favorite questions to ask sales teams is: * What slide deck are you updating the most? * This indicates your most valuable asset that you should be paying attention to * What material do you wish there was more of? Less of? * This will help identify what's being used and what's being left on the editing room floor. Quantitatively: Anchor programs to key value metrics like: * Reactivations * Revenue * Product sign-ups * and track performance QoQ so you understand impact. By balancing quant and qual metrics you'll be able to gauge your strategic impact and where you should be leaning in (or out).

I think this really depends on business stage and company needs. If you are in the 0-1 phase, you can likely handle the department in single player mode while bets are still manifesting. The 0 to 1 phase involves inventing something new, testing hypotheses, taking contrarian bets, soliciting market feedback, and developing products which address a validated market need. The subsequent phase of a business, i.e. going from 1 to 10, requires attention to a different set of tasks. Its success relies more heavily on activities such as customer management, business development, recruiting, implementation of processes and controls, automation, distribution, partnerships. This is where you'll want to go deep on building a horizontal team as it requires a different set of skills, but more importantly, a different set of interests.

Here's how I typically tackle the first 30-60-90 days for establishing PMM: First 30 - Listening tours + product/data downloads * Shadow sales demos, listen to customer calls on Chorus or Gong, watch Fullstory sessions and marinate in any and all of the data you can find * Get your hands on the product, get so comfortable with it you can give a demo * Start market research, understand your TAM (total addressable market) and personas First 60 - Assess, Align and Establish * Assess orgs needs + company goals and individual departments * Establish product development process and align on GTM (go to market) process with product leadership * Understand ICP (ideal customer profile) First 90 - Wins and Plans * Act on any quick wins and present plans for PMM department build * Identify the red (gaps) and plans for optimization * Balance tackling low hanging fruit and longer-term wins * Leverage Notion as your command center for templates, org design and team wiki

Product marketers and growth marketers should work closely together to ensure that their efforts are aligned towards achieving the company's goals. Here are some ways they can work together effectively: 1. Establish shared KPIs: Product marketers and growth marketers should agree on shared KPIs that reflect the company's objectives. For example, they may track metrics such as user acquisition, conversion rates, or revenue. This ensures that both teams are working towards the same goals. 2. Define boundaries: Product marketers and growth marketers should clearly define their respective roles and responsibilities. For example, product marketers may focus on positioning, messaging, and competitive analysis, while growth marketers may focus on acquisition channels, retention, and optimization. This ensures that each team is able to focus on its core strengths without overlapping or interfering with the other. 3. Identify North Star Metrics: Product marketers and growth marketers should identify a North Star Metric, which is a key metric that reflects the success of the company as a whole. This helps ensure that both teams are working towards a shared vision of success. 4. Coordinate activities: Product marketers and growth marketers should coordinate their activities to ensure that they are working towards the same goals. For example, product marketers may create messaging and positioning for a new product launch, while growth marketers may create a marketing campaign to drive awareness and acquisition. By working together, they can ensure that their efforts are complementary and that they are maximizing the impact of their activities. Overall, the key to success for product marketers and growth marketers working together is to ensure that they are aligned in terms of their goals, metrics, and activities. By working together, they can create a powerful force that drives growth and success for the company.

Setting up a new product marketing function can be a challenging but rewarding task. Here are some challenges you should be aware of and some tips for overcoming them: 1. Defining the scope: One of the biggest challenges is defining the scope of the product marketing function. This involves determining what the function will be responsible for, such as positioning, messaging, competitive analysis, sales enablement, etc. It's important to ensure that the scope is well-defined and aligned with the company's goals and objectives. Tip: Work closely with senior leaders to understand their vision for the company and align the product marketing function's scope with that vision. 2. Building the team: Finding the right talent to build the product marketing function can be difficult, especially if the company is new to product marketing. Hiring the right people with the right skills and experience is critical to the success of the function. Tip: Look for people who have experience in product marketing, but who also have a strong understanding of the company's industry and customer base. Consider hiring a mix of senior and junior talent to balance expertise and fresh perspectives. 3. Aligning with other teams: Product marketing functions often work closely with other teams, such as product management, sales, and marketing. It's important to establish strong relationships with these teams and ensure that everyone is aligned in terms of goals and priorities. Tip: Hold regular meetings with other teams to share updates and collaborate on initiatives. Create clear communication channels and ensure that everyone is working towards the same goals. 4. Measuring success: Product marketing functions are often responsible for driving key metrics such as revenue, customer acquisition, and retention. It's important to have a clear understanding of what success looks like and how it will be measured. Tip: Define clear KPIs and track progress regularly. Use data to inform decision-making and adjust strategies as needed. Overall, the key to successfully setting up a new product marketing function is to be patient, adaptable, and open to learning. By building strong relationships, defining clear goals and metrics, and hiring the right talent, you can overcome these challenges and build a successful product marketing function.

This one gets a lawerly response - it depends! I like to use the following: * attach rate as a metric for product adoption * reactivations for product engagement * product sign-ups for conversion * upsell and expansion revenue * NPS for sentiment For example, for a new organization that is trying to find product market fit - if you can attribute product sign-ups to a PMM activity like website optimization or launch program, you'll have a clear and measurable way to show ROI towards a larger company initiative.