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Amanda Groves

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

May 10 @ 10:00AM PST
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Crossbeam Senior Director Product Marketing, Amanda Groves on Establishing Product Marketing
Top Questions
How can one know that their product marketing function is a strategically valuable program?
Amanda Groves
Amanda Groves
Crossbeam Senior Director Product Marketing • May 11
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 you......Read More
535 Views
1 request
How do you measure the ROI of a product marketing function?
Amanda Groves
Amanda Groves
Crossbeam Senior Director Product Marketing • May 11
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 organ......Read More
378 Views
2 requests
What PMM team sizes and roles have you seen in relation to overall company and sales size, or other markers.
Amanda Groves
Amanda Groves
Crossbeam Senior Director Product Marketing • May 11
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 partrid......Read More
400 Views
1 request
How does product marketing differ between a small and large company?
Amanda Groves
Amanda Groves
Crossbeam Senior Director Product Marketing • May 11
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......Read More
421 Views
2 requests
You're the new PMM for a B2B SaaS company that has 40 people and is starting to scale. What should you aim to do in your first month and your first quarter?
Amanda Groves
Amanda Groves
Crossbeam Senior Director Product Marketing • May 11
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 ......Read More
477 Views
1 request
What is your 30-60-90 day plan when you go into an org with the intention of setting up Product Marketing function for the first time?
Amanda Groves
Amanda Groves
Crossbeam Senior Director Product Marketing • May 11
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 ......Read More
383 Views
3 requests
What are the challenges one should be aware of when setting up a new PMM function inside the org? How can one overcome them -- any tips?
Amanda Groves
Amanda Groves
Crossbeam Senior Director Product Marketing • May 11
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......Read More
583 Views
1 request
If you had to pick 3 measures to help track the impact of product marketing over time, what would they be and why?
Amanda Groves
Amanda Groves
Crossbeam Senior Director Product Marketing • May 11
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 ......Read More
349 Views
3 requests
With respect to mergers and acquisitions, what are the steps and priorities you take to integrate the newly acquired product into your overall product marketing strategy?
Amanda Groves
Amanda Groves
Crossbeam Senior Director Product Marketing • May 11
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......Read More
382 Views
1 request
How long do you think you should wait, as the very first Head of PMM, before you hire your first team member?
Amanda Groves
Amanda Groves
Crossbeam Senior Director Product Marketing • May 11
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 mar......Read More
422 Views
1 request
How do you manage the transition from being the sole person responsible for product marketing activities to now having someone else who can share the burden?
One of the biggest changes when managing people and a team is handing off the responsibility to others. This is tough to do when you're so used to handling everything yourself. Any tips or suggestions on how to best make that transition?
Amanda Groves
Amanda Groves
Crossbeam Senior Director Product Marketing • May 11
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 i......Read More
361 Views
3 requests
At what point in building out your PMM team does it make sense to think about moving from a horizontal org chart to a vertical one? What factors do you consider when making the decision to grow horizontally vs. vertically?
Amanda Groves
Amanda Groves
Crossbeam Senior Director Product Marketing • May 11
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 manag......Read More
364 Views
3 requests
When establishing the PMM function in an org, how can you manage expectations and change perception if leadership (CEO, Founder, CMO) have a different interpretation of the role?
Amanda Groves
Amanda Groves
Crossbeam Senior Director Product Marketing • May 11
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 ......Read More
392 Views
4 requests
What functional work do you prioritize as a PMM? Anything you should NOT focus on initially?
Amanda Groves
Amanda Groves
Crossbeam Senior Director Product Marketing • May 11
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 prioriti......Read More
377 Views
3 requests
How should Product Marketers work with Growth marketers in terms of KPIs, boundaries, north star metrics, activities?
Amanda Groves
Amanda Groves
Crossbeam Senior Director Product Marketing • May 11
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 ......Read More
495 Views
3 requests