AMA: Drift Group Product Marketing Lead, Product & Solutions, Holly Xiao on Product Marketing Career Path
January 12 @ 10:00AM PST
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Drift Group Product Marketing Lead, Product & Solutions, Holly Xiao on Product Marketing Career Path
Top Questions
Any productivity hacks or tools you've found to stay organized and on top of everything going on as a product marketer?
I'm always interested to hear how successful PMMs stay on top of it all.
Holly Xiao
Salesloft Director of Product Marketing • January 12
Where to start! There are so many productivity tools out there. These are my top ones: Asana: The Drift Marketing team uses Asana religiously. And Asana has been my go-to tool for launching products and managing other initiatives at my last three companies. At some point in your career, Asana ......Read More
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Holly Xiao
Salesloft Director of Product Marketing • January 12
Go-to-market strategy and execution is probably one of the most sought-after hard skills for PMM. But a Product Marketing role varies from company to company. When hiring, I start by evaluating two things: 1. What are our business objectives? When writing a job description, I like to work b......Read More
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Holly Xiao
Salesloft Director of Product Marketing • January 12
I love this question! It’s so important to develop transferrable skills even if you aren’t in a PMM role. That proactive attitude goes a long way in interviews since it shows you're a go-getter. And that’s a quality that can’t really be taught. Here are six ways you can develop product marketi......Read More
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Holly Xiao
Salesloft Director of Product Marketing • January 12
This is a tough one because there’s no “correct” answer. Product Marketing varies depending on the industry, company size, and maturity. So evaluate the “right” experiences based on what you want to learn and what you want to accomplish. I’d challenge you to put the title aside and focus more on ......Read More
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Holly Xiao
Salesloft Director of Product Marketing • January 12
My former manager, Christy Roach, taught me the importance of the following skills, which I've applied to my PMM career to date. (Thanks, Christy!) So copying and pasting one of her previous Sharebird answers around this below: Soft skills: * Cross-functional excellence: As a PMM, you have the ......Read More
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When applying to pmm jobs, how important is it to align your past experiences with the new role? (For instance, if you worked in ecommerce, only apply to ecommerce roles.)
I've noticed that when my experience doesn't align exactly, I don't make it past round 2 or round 3 of the interview.
Holly Xiao
Salesloft Director of Product Marketing • January 12
It's common for people to move from one industry to another. If you're in eCommerce right now, don't feel like you have to apply for only eCommerce jobs. At the end of the day, it’s really about how fast you can learn and hit the ground running in a new role. I'm a firm believer that you'll learn......Read More
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Holly Xiao
Salesloft Director of Product Marketing • January 12
In my experience, taking your career into your own hands is key. There will be managers who are great about having career conversations with you, and there will be managers who aren't. Be bold and bring it up on your own. Here’s what you can start doing today: 1. Know your strengths, gaps, ......Read More
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Holly Xiao
Salesloft Director of Product Marketing • January 12
This really depends on what you value and what makes you happy as an individual. When evaluating a company, it's important to take a variety of factors into account. As a visual person, I always list the pros and cons of every company I interview at. By doing this, I can clearly see what trad......Read More
331 Views
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Holly Xiao
Salesloft Director of Product Marketing • January 12
I answered a similar question below so copying my answer here. It’s so important to develop transferrable skills even if you aren’t in a PMM role. That proactive attitude goes a long way in interviews since it shows you're a go-getter. And that’s a quality that can’t really be taught. Here ......Read More
776 Views
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Holly Xiao
Salesloft Director of Product Marketing • January 12
The most important thing I can tell you is that your first job out of college won't define your career forever. So don't be afraid to take risks! Several large companies have associate product marketing manager programs or rotational programs that you can apply for. Make sure you check when ap......Read More
761 Views
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Holly Xiao
Salesloft Director of Product Marketing • January 12
Product Marketing Alliance and Sharedbird have some great resources on this topic. Glassdoor is also helpful sometimes when folks share interview questions they were asked. So I’d take full advantage of them if you haven’t already. I’ve also googled phrases like “PMM interview questions” or “prep......Read More
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Holly Xiao
Salesloft Director of Product Marketing • January 12
Without a ton of context on your role and the product/services you’re representing, I’d say that the most important thing to keep in mind is how you position yourself — and really lean into what sets you apart from other PMMs (e.g your technical skills). There are technical product marketing r......Read More
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Holly Xiao
Salesloft Director of Product Marketing • January 12
I don't think this is critical. But it doesn't hurt to have one if this is something that interests you! For most interview processes, we'll ask for work examples or have a homework assignment. So if you already have an online portfolio linked from your resume, that could save us a step. If......Read More
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Holly Xiao
Salesloft Director of Product Marketing • January 12
I touched on this topic in one of the questions above. That said, I think it’s wise to take a deliberate approach. Otherwise, you're just creating work without getting the output you want. I'd recommend making a list of the core PMM skills hiring managers are looking for. You can find a lot of......Read More
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Holly Xiao
Salesloft Director of Product Marketing • January 12
I may be misinterpreting your question, so feel free to reach out on Linkedin if this doesn't answer it. But two thoughts come to mind: 1. Specialize in 1 or 2 areas of Product Marketing. I mentioned this in one of my answers above — but I'd recommend building "T-shaped" skills. This means hav......Read More
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How realistic is it to get into PMM role from a Brand / Product Manager role? (previous experience in a Consumer Goods company)
My guess is that the skillset is there and it's the industry experience that is lacking. I worked on Product Launches, Pricing, Packaging, Positioning, Analytics, Strategy, User Reasearch, Stakeholder Management etc yet never getting any invites to the interviews. Any tips what to work on?
Holly Xiao
Salesloft Director of Product Marketing • January 12
I think it’s very realistic! As a Brand expert, you know how to tell stories through brand attributes. As for product management, it's more related to product marketing. So you probably work with PMMs a lot and are familiar with the operating rhythms. Based on what you shared, you already have a ......Read More
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