AMA: Microsoft Head of Marketing for Viva Goals and Viva Learning, Alina Fu on Developing Your Product Marketing Career
January 25 @ 9:00AM PT
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I’ve held both B2B and B2C PMM roles and while they are definitely different, there are also similarities. Let’s start with what they have in common: Capturing customer ...
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I would like to become a people manager and a strategic leader, whatever the attached title may be, from a senior PMM that I currently hold. How can I achieve this?
I have the opportunity to do so in a company that is rapidly growing, I believe. What kind of education should I look for? How should I signal this internally even if the role doesn't exist? To what extent should I be explicit about the need to create this role and my suitabilty?
How much do you trust your manager/management chain? I’ve had direct reports who share their career aspirations with me, even if it’s a role outside of my team, and I co...
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If I could only pick 3, it would be: Storytelling Competitive insights Customer-obsessed Telling a story isn’t just filling out a messaging and positioning framework bu...
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You can say that I fell into product marketing fortuitously. I started my career at Intel as a Technical Marketing Engineer (TME) role because I wanted to be customer-fa...
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I structure my PMM teams based on a blend of the following: What are the goals of the PMM team How the PMM team will be measured (this is related to how the company rega...
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Every company has its own system or values that they look for during candidate review. During interviews, especially at larger enterprise companies, the recruiter or hiri...
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As the sole PMM in my company, can you explain how product marketing roles evolve in terms of responsibilities and salary—from entry-level to mid-senior positions—and discuss the trade-offs between being an individual contributor and managing a team?
I'm currently the only PMM at my company and have noticed a range of job titles and responsibilities, including entry-level roles that seem to have a broad scope. I'm looking to understand the career progression in product marketing, specifically how roles advance in responsibilities and compensation, and what the pros and cons are of remaining an individual contributor versus moving into a management role.
I’ve been the only PMM several times and think it only works if you LOVE being a PMM. Some people call PMM the “quarterback” who is charting the marketing strategy. Othe...
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I get this question a lot and I think it’s dependent on the hiring manager and the need at the time (stage of the company, maturity of the market, product-market fit, how...
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The people. I choose roles based on who I will learn from, collaborate with, and interact with. The people at the C-Suite/executive level and the people on your immediate...
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I have a lot of meetings (sometimes triple booked) where a lot of context switching occurs every 30 min or so. I don’t say this to scare you off but to caution you that P...
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You move on. If you haven’t found success or there isn’t a concrete plan to change things it sounds like you have outgrown the role/team/company. It could be for a varie...
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I am an extrovert so I will share my observations. I have managed introverts on my team and they were excellent PMMs. They were super methodical, analytical and thorough...
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My junior PMMs have so much energy and enthusiasm but sometimes they miss the bigger picture. Thus, I would recommend honing in on: Clear and concise communication Strat...
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I think that depends on the hiring manager. I would even go so far as to suggest maybe you haven’t found the right role or HM who is looking for that broad horizontal PMM...
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Like any good first meeting, ask yourself some discovery questions: What do I enjoy doing the most at work? Why do I want to get into product marketing? What products do...
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All size companies have their own set of challenges. From what I’ve heard from colleagues and friends, Series A companies may be more challenging for PMMs because of wher...
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All of my roles have been satisfying for different reasons. I have found that I get most excited when I: Learn new skills and enjoy doing the “grunt” work Have a solid s...
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Your network, your manager’s network, your company’s leaders, other companies’ leaders that you admire, etc. The worst thing that could happen is that they say “sorry, I ...
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