AMA: Eightfold Sr. Director, Product Marketing, Ryan Smith on Product Marketing Career Path

March 8 @ 10:00AM PT

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What do you see as the foundational skill sets and areas of focus for a product marketer? And what are the best ways to establish those skills and competency in those areas?

Ryan Smith•

OutSystems VP, Head of Product Marketing • 3y

The best product marketers put themselves at the center of the 5 Ps: Product, Packaging, Positioning, Promotion, and Place (aka Enablement). On any given day, your work...

1677 Views

2 requests

Scenario — you’ve just landed your first Product Marketing role. What ideas or projects would you try to take on and lead, and what skills do you need to make those projects as successful as possible?

Ryan Smith•

OutSystems VP, Head of Product Marketing • 3y

Get involved in a Product Launch ASAP. Product launches are a great way to get experience with the 5Ps (covered in the first question). The other beautiful thing about ...

1947 Views

2 requests

How have you set yourself up for promotion at a company?

This is in relation to not moving companies for a promotion it’s about how to get promoted at the existing company you are at. Also would love any insights to how establish the organization was in marketing as it relates to promote-ability.

Ryan Smith•

OutSystems VP, Head of Product Marketing • 3y

This is a tricky one and often depends on the philosophy of the company, org and individual leaders. From my experience there are 3 major indicators: - Led a big, cross...

1815 Views

1 request

What do you look for when someone on your team wants to make the move from an individual contributor to a people manager?

Ryan Smith•

OutSystems VP, Head of Product Marketing • 3y

This is hard to quantify, but for me, it's all about being easy to work with and a great collaborator. Cross-functional collaboration is inherent to product marketing le...

1799 Views

2 requests

What team structures have you explored, and which do you recommend?

When building a new PMM team, how would you think about structuring the team when product-alignment isn't a clear cut answer (ie, our platform isn't ready for distinct ownership of feature sets)?

Ryan Smith•

OutSystems VP, Head of Product Marketing • 3y

Two dimensions to think about: product and operational. PMMs need to be aligned to persona solutions. If the product set only has one key buyer there may be opportuniti...

2728 Views

1 request

If you know that Product Marketing is your passion and you eventually want to be a leader of product marketing, how do you continue to grow in your role over time and take on the right experiences?

Ryan Smith•

OutSystems VP, Head of Product Marketing • 3y

Read. Watch. Listen. Consume as much information as possible. Knowledge is power. People listen and follow leaders who have opinions. Opinions are shaped by experiences. ...

722 Views

2 requests

How do you stand out in a pool of product marketing candidates? What kinds of experiences, or which characteristics/traits, do employers care about most?

Ryan Smith•

OutSystems VP, Head of Product Marketing • 3y

A few things: - Highlight business impact as much as possible (ex helped grow ACV by 100% in 1 year) - Highlight product launches - Highlight technical proficiencies (...

2321 Views

2 requests