AMA: Salesforce Senior Director, Product Marketing Launch Strategy & Emerging Products, Jodi Innerfield on Product Marketing Career Path

I don't know if you'll like this answer--there is no one career path after Product Marketing. I believe career "paths" are more like jungle gyms than ladders--sometimes you go forward and up, other times you've got to move to the side, and sometimes you've got to hop from the swings to the monkey bars. What does that actually mean? Product Marketing in particular has so many different roles and skill sets within it: messaging, enablement, events, product launches, product adoption--the list goes ...Read More

What does "Product Marketing Lead" mean at your company? Titles aren't the same everywhere, so it's important to understand the expectations your manager and your company have for you in this new role. As I interpret "Lead," that probably means you're in charge of something holistically--a product, a feature, a launch. How are you communicating your work and your successes to your manager, team, and department? Are you regularly sharing out the work you're doing, what you've learned, how you're ...Read More

This answer is going to be different depending on your company and its job levels, expectations, etc. So I can't answer it generically, but I can tell you what changed for me: the team size and scope of work. As a director, I started out with zero direct reports and owned one product. My role then grew to be a team of 3-4 people and I owned a growing line of business. As a senior director, I've had anywhere from 4-12 people on my team, and the scope of work just keeps growing. But if you look at ...Read More

While I can't say these three skills are what helped me achieve my role today (in reality it's a mix of hard work, luck, and re-orgs!) I will say these skills are what help me as I grow: Adaptability: Things change all. the. time. I've changed roles every 1.5-2.5 years, sometimes of my own design and sometimes because a team was eliminated or the organization's priorities changed. My team has grown and shrunk because of re-orgs and redesigns and shifting priorities. I've learned that I can be fr ...Read More

I don't think it's important to come from a PMM background, but I do think these three skillsets are necessary to be successful as a PMM: Adaptability: Priorities, focuses, and resources change quickly. I look for people who react well to change, and are flexible enough to handle high-level strategy one moment and get in the weeds on performance metrics the next. Storytelling: PMMs need to be great storytellers. Even if you've never had a PMM role before, your interview is an opportunity for you ...Read More

Not every great individual contributor is going to be a great manager. It's harsh but true! Managing and leading people is a totally different skill set, and what made someone a great IC is not what's going to make them a great manager (in fact, it may make them a terrible manager!) I first want to know: Why? What's the motivation for being a people leader? If it's because it's perceived that managing others is the only way to move up, that's not a great motivation for leading. But if there's a ...Read More