AMA: Airtable Senior Director, Portfolio & Engagement Product Marketing, Christy Roach on Developing Your Product Marketing Career
October 8 @ 10:00AM PT
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What is the best path for someone to break into Product Marketing for someone who is not fresh out of college?
I have 6 years of work experience across different functions (strategy and innovation consulting, budget management, product, marketing) and an MBA with concentrations in marketing and strategy. I have applied to both entry-level and mid-level roles and have been told that I am too senior for the junior roles and too junior for the mid-level roles. Any advice?
AssemblyAI CMO • 6y
There are two things I think you can do to help you here. One is stupidly easy, one is harder. Let’s start with the hard one first: You might need to readjust your compen...
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AssemblyAI CMO • 6y
Everyone’s definition of soft and hard skills differs, but here are the nine skills that I think are the most important for a product marketer to have. I've used these sk...
8172 Views
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AssemblyAI CMO • 6y
The most important thing to keep in mind is this: having the product marketing title doesn’t automatically mean you get to influence the roadmap. You have to put in the w...
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AssemblyAI CMO • 6y
It’s hard to pinpoint “typical” because product marketing is a field that sets you up for a few different paths depending on what you want to do. Being a product marketer...
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AssemblyAI CMO • 6y
Great question! I've been lucky to work at a wide range of companies and while each was satisfying and challenging in their own way, I've definitely figured out what work...
2957 Views
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AssemblyAI CMO • 6y
I think the first question to ask yourself is, do you actually want to be an executive? After that, you should also ask yourself what an “executive” means to you. It turn...
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AssemblyAI CMO • 6y
Some of the best product marketers I know started in sales roles, but it can be hard to make the jump from sales into marketing. As a salesperson, you know first hand how...
2568 Views
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AssemblyAI CMO • 6y
This is a hard jump to make! Not to sound like a broken record, but the first step is communicating with your manager to let them know that you want to move into manageme...
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How do product marketers make sure they're learning enough varied skills to be a well-rounded professional when scope is an issue?
i.e. working at a large company with minimal scope, focusing on sales enablement but knowing you need experience on the product launch side, other marketing teams covering responsibilities, etc.
AssemblyAI CMO • 6y
This is a great question! I know lots of product marketers who worry that in getting more specialized they’re missing out on the opportunity to get that broad skillset. I...
2561 Views
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AssemblyAI CMO • 6y
I answered this in this answer around soft and hard skills but if I were to pick my top, universally important skills for a PMM they would be: Messaging and positioning C...
2771 Views
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AssemblyAI CMO • 6y
You very rarely will start your marketing career as a PMM, so you should look for roles that help you learn a lot about the business and the customer and give you opportu...
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AssemblyAI CMO • 6y
This has changed a ton as my career has progressed and continues to evolve as I get better at my job. What I measure myself on today is very different than what I’ll meas...
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How do you typically go about finding new PMMs for your team? Is it mostly recruitment based or do you search within your network?
I'm trying to break into a PMM role after 5 years of performance marketing and branding (1 of which was in a MM role with a heavy product focus).
I'm unsure if I should spend more time networking or cold applying here in the Bay Area.
AssemblyAI CMO • 6y
As a hiring manager, I try to balance referrals and recommendations within my network with candidates who apply directly to an open role from our careers page or job site...
2515 Views
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AssemblyAI CMO • 6y
Ah, it's hard to pick just one! If you'll make me, I'd say messaging and positioning. Every PMM needs it, it's a hard skill to build, and it will take you far. I recommen...
2307 Views
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