Eventbrite Global Head of Product Marketing, Jameelah Calhoun on Establishing Product Marketing

Jameelah Calhoun

VP, Global Head of Product Marketing

I'm on my 5th year of product marketing in my career, with another 5 years before that in general demand gen at very small companies.  I've had management experience in the past, but not in a Product Marketing role.  Often times in smaller companies, there will be 1 or 2 PMMs, usually in a very flat hierarchy, or a single boss, with no room to really move up a proverbial ladder and into management experience.  So what are ways that I can prepare myself now, so that if the time comes to apply for a Director position (either internally or at another company) that I can be considered even without recent people management experience? Are there any courses for this that are highly regarded in the management arena?

Oftentimes, PMM does not directly execute the campaign but rather provides a foundation or collaterals for sales and marketing to use. How do we calculate our percentage of contribution to the final results?

I'm curious if you've observed the impact of adding a PMM to smaller organizations or if you think they're most impactful in larger organizations? 

Do you use ever use NPS or any other survey style?

Since Product Marketing touches so many areas of the business, this role is oftentimes in the best position to lead a VOC process. 

What are the best ways for establishing good communication, trust, and buy-in across departments?

I'm new to Product Marketing. In the interviews that I've done, I am being asked to present a marketing portfolio.

I'm a product specialist at Meltwater and I'm looking to move into product marketing but would prefer to look externally. I currently support the sales team by setting up and demoing customized environments to prospects, sparring use cases, and doing some enablement work.

I've been doing some small projects with both the product marketing team and the broader marketing team - most recently a competitive VS style landing page and vertical-specific landing page copy.

For a side project, I'm in the midst of starting a podcast for aspiring marketers where I interview people from different disciplines so students and others looking to get into the field can see what best aligns with their interests.

Is there anything else I should be doing? Am I looking two steps ahead and I need to get more experience first? Feel like I wouldn't even get an interview if I applied to a PMM job in the tech space.

Do you simply have Product Marketers by product/portfolio? Do you have a release communications manager? Someone in sales enablement? What other roles exist in your product marketing teams today?

We only have one product at HoneyBook but PMM does a lot of different things, ie, lifecycle marketing, research, competitive, feature launches, etc.

I'm starting a new job next week! Would love to hear your top tips in general as well as at the director level. 

Any advice on KPIs tied to product launches? 

I interviewed earlier this year and did well except for this assignment. I'm hoping to better prepare for similar situations. Here's the quest: 

As mentioned, the next part of this process is to complete a brief assignment. The purpose of this assignment is just to see your methodology get some insight into your approach to tasks.

For this assignment, I'd like for you to create a high-level go-to-market plan and strategy for our flagship product our event marketing platform. Our company traditionally has targeted enterprise b2b companies.

I'd like you to come up with high-level messaging, define who the target audience is, and then detail your strategy for informing the market about our event platform and getting more leads. Please identify which channels you would use, and what you would need for this go-to-market launch. Please keep your response under 2 pages

It can sometimes be a struggle for those on the executive team, or in higher leadership roles, to see the value that product marketing is bringing to the business - especially if they do not have regular interaction. How do you build visibility for you and/or your team, and clearly communicate the achievements and activities throughout the year? 

AMA: Eventbrite Global Head of Product Marketing, Jameelah Calhoun on Establishing Product Marketing

View AMA Answers