Sharebird
Sign Up / Sign In
Lindsay Bayuk

AMA: Pluralsight CMO, Lindsay Bayuk on Developing Your Product Marketing Career

October 27, 2021 @ 10:00AM PT

View AMA Answers

  1. What are some tips you have for answering the infamous PMM interview question: "Tell me about a successful product launch you led."

    Lindsay Bayuk
    Lindsay Bayuk

    FullStory CMO • 4y

    If you do really exceptional work and execute a masterful launch that delivers meaningful outcomes for your product, you’ll have a great story for the next interview. Just do the work. The results and stories will come. I'd also add that part of being a great product marketer is being a storyteller. So consider that the way you tell the story is just as important (if not more important) than the results of the lanch itself.

    3,619 Views
    5 requests

  2. What do you look for when promoting a Product Marketer from individual contributor to people manager?

    Lindsay Bayuk
    Lindsay Bayuk

    FullStory CMO • 4y

    I look to see if that person is already leading teams. A great product marketer already leads through influence. They will already lead cross-functional teams through launches or campaigns and they will already lead their team through challenges. I always look to promote someone who's already doing the work without being asked and without having the title. 

    709 Views
    2 requests

  3. What comes after head of PMM, e.g. if you want to move to VP of a marketing team, how to do that? And how to ensure that you're getting knowledge of other marketing functions (e.g. paid) so that you are equipped to lead an entire marketing team (vs. just a PMM discipline)?

    Lindsay Bayuk
    Lindsay Bayuk

    FullStory CMO • 4y

    Lots of things can come after VP/Head of Product Marketing. It’s not just about a linear path. Depending on the size of your company you can take on additional teams adjacent to product marketing such as content marketing, social, research, customer marketing. You also don’t necessarily need to lead new teams to learn about them. You should be learning about all aspects of marketing (how to drive pipeline, optimize conversion, develop content and events) in order to figure out how to drive the g ...Read More

    672 Views
    5 requests

  4. What hard skills are must haves vs nice to have, to be a Product Marketing leader?

    Lindsay Bayuk
    Lindsay Bayuk

    FullStory CMO • 4y

    I’d say that a great product marketing leader needs to be great at the basics: research, positioning, messaging, enablement. They also need to be able to lead strategy for both marketing and product, clearly talk about their space, the competitive landscape and communicate with Executives and customers. A great product marketing leader is someone others follow. They are influencer and a thought leader. They push their teams, companies and products forward. They are exceptionally proactive and en ...Read More

    3,207 Views
    2 requests

  5. What separates a good PMM from a great PMM?

    I'm an individual contributor at the manager level, and I'm looking to see how I can eventually get promoted to the next level!

    Lindsay Bayuk
    Lindsay Bayuk

    FullStory CMO • 4y

    A great product marketing manager is obsessive about their craft. They study product marketing. They watch how other companies execute their product marketing. They follow practitioners and strategists on Twitter. They read all the classic books on product marketing, product management and copywriting. They focus on being great for the sake of being great and delivering results, not to climb the career ladder. 

    2,694 Views
    3 requests

  6. How do you update stakeholders, and the company as a whole, on the recent activities and achievements of product marketing?

    What channel/form, what content do you include, formats, etc.

    Lindsay Bayuk
    Lindsay Bayuk

    FullStory CMO • 4y

    Great question! This is so important. Because product marketing is often the "glue", it’s easy to miss how critical it is to driving company alignment and growth. Make sure that you have a regular cadence of updates and clear/measurable metrics reported to your CMO and Executive team. Being proactive about advocating for your function is part of being a great marketer!

    2,550 Views
    1 request

  7. What are the most important skills (both tactical and intangible) that are must-have for product marketers?

    Ex... GTM: it more important to be skilled at product or feature-specific launches or to be skilled at high-level overall GTM (messaging, positioning, pricing, packaging).

    Lindsay Bayuk
    Lindsay Bayuk

    FullStory CMO • 4y

    Intangible: Curiosity, resilience, diplomacy, grit, and being an evangelist for your product/space. The best product marketers can flip between the forrest and the trees. They understand where their market is headed. They can speak with Executives and support reps with ease.

    Tactical: Relationship building, public speaking, writing, editing, analysis/modeling, extreme attention to detail, and survey design.

    1,207 Views
    3 requests

  8. What experiences and skillsets should an experienced 'generalist' marketer look to really profile and play up when applying and interviewing for a fully dedicated PMM role?

    Lindsay Bayuk
    Lindsay Bayuk

    FullStory CMO • 4y

    First I think a generalist needs to learn about the core pillars of product marketing. I have a post I’ve written about the four pillars of product marketing. I would recommend that a generalist marketer figure out how their experience has taught them about each aspect of product marketing and have specific examples to make the tie. 

    1,917 Views
    2 requests