AMA: MyFitnessPal VP Product Marketing, Katie Levinson on Product Marketing Skills

I decided to ask Claude this one :) Here's the response!Getting automated - Content creation at scale, basic competitive research, lead scoring and segmentation, A/B testing setup, and routine reporting. The tactical, repeatable stuff is going away fast. Double down on these skills - Strategic thinking, cross-functional influence, customer empathy, creative problem-solving, and executive communication. Also, become the AI power user on your team - the person who figures out how to use these tool ...Read More

The shift from individual contributor to director is less about product marketing skills and more about leadership, strategy and influence. In my opinion, the most important skills are: Strategic thinking at the portfolio level: As a senior PMM, you're generally deep on one product or product area. As a director, you need to see how multiple products work together, understand resource allocation across initiatives, and think about long-term positioning strategy. You can start practicing these sk ...Read More

First off, resist the urge to immediately suggest changes. Spend your first 30-60 days understanding the current processes, team dynamics, what's working well, and where there may be some areas for improvement. Then focus on these areas: Bring in new frameworks and methodologies: Maybe your previous company had a killer competitive intel process or a unique approach to customer research. Share these tactfully, positioning them as "here's something that worked well at my last company that might b ...Read More

I've been in this exact situation in my career three times now, and it's actually a great opportunity because you get to define the function and really advocate for product marketing. Here's how I'd approach it: Create a simple framework for PMM: Build a deck that shows product marketing's core responsibilities and how it connects to each function i.e., "Here's how PMM helps Product (competitive landscape, user research), here's how PMM helps marketing (messaging, positioning)." Show, don't tell ...Read More

If by product marketing template you mean a go-to-market brief, here are the key components (copied from another AMA I've done!): Feature description: A clear and concise explanation of the feature, including what it does and how it works. This serves as the foundation for PMM to develop messaging and positioning. Insights/research: Any relevant data, research, or insights that influenced the decision to build the feature. This helps PMM understand the “why” behind the feature, enabling them to ...Read More

Document everything: Keep a running list of wins, metrics, and impact. Not just for your own tracking, but to share in regular updates to your manager, who should also be sharing this with leadership. Connect your work to business outcomes: Don't just report on activities ("I launched 5 campaigns this quarter"). Report on results ("New messaging strategy drove 23% increase in app store conversion rate"). Track how your campaign messaging impacts conversion funnels, or how your competitive resear ...Read More

Asked Claude again, because why not!Become an AI power user immediately - Master the current tools and stay current with new ones. The PMMs who embrace AI as a productivity multiplier will have a massive advantage. Strengthen your strategic thinking - As AI handles more tactical work, your ability to think strategically about market positioning, competitive differentiation, and long-term trends becomes more valuable. Develop deeper customer empathy - AI can analyze data and generate content, but ...Read More