AMA: Gong Former Director, Product Marketing, Ryane Bohm on PMM Soft and Hard Skills

I talked about soft skills in another question, so let's laser focus on the hard skills needed to succeed in PMM here. Here are 3 hard skills you can focus on right now:   1. Data-Driven Decision Making: I actually teach a dedicated course on this topic at Loyola Chicago because I believe in it so much! Data helps with identifying and speaking to your target audience, defining the value of your product and ROI, market sizing, predicting buyer behavior, validating success in the market, and so mu ...Read More

Great question and a challenge I've definitely run into throughout the years. Every role and every company is different and you're not always going to get the full spectrum of PMM with every move.  To fill any gaps, I strongly recommend making friends in other departments. If other marketing teams are covering responsibilities, try to partner with them or shadow them to stay involved and learn. If you want to buff up on your enablement skills, grab coffee with your GTM and enablement teams to ta ...Read More

In a product-led growth company, PMM needs to prove the product value and push for the next steps - like getting contact and lead information, securing a demo, or setting up a meeting for example.  With that in mind, always make sure your marketing assets & content are putting the customer first instead of boasting about features and functions. It's easy to fall into that trap. Know that your content is likely going to be the customer's first time interacting with the product rather than a c ...Read More

I find that a lot of the most successful marketers as well as product marketers come from a sales background and I have a lot to learn from them. You're already super customer-focused, you're a great communicator, you are an expert at thriving in tense situations, and nobody knows the go-to-market motion better. Let's bottle that up and turn you into a PMM!    1. Find an industry you will thrive in and a product you are passionate about. Maybe this is an industry you have sold into or maybe it's ...Read More

Product Marketers are experts in soft skills, and there is a never-ending array of skills I see in the most Successful PMMs. Let's boil it down to a few: 1. Communication: One of the defining attributes of a successful product marketer is strong communication skills. PMMs need to be able to articulate complex thoughts in a clear and concise way - both in written and verbal formats - and have the ability to present those ideas thoughtfully. 2. Emotional Intelligence: To be successful, you need to ...Read More