AMA: Truework VP of Product Marketing, Adam Kerin on Establishing Product Marketing

January 18, 2022 @ 10:00AM PT

How do you prepare yourself to become a Product Marketing Director and manage a team, without any experience managing anyone previously?

I'm on my 5th year of product marketing in my career, with another 5 years before that in general demand gen at very small companies. I've had management experience in the past, but not in a Product Marketing role. Often times in smaller companies, there will be 1 or 2 PMMs, usually in a very flat hierarchy, or a single boss, with no room to really move up a proverbial ladder and into management experience. So what are ways that I can prepare myself now, so that if the time comes to apply for a Director position (either internally or at another company) that I can be considered even without recent people management experience? Are there any courses for this that are highly regarded in the management arena?

Adam Kerin

Truepic VP of Marketing • 4y

As an individual contributor today, you can demonstrate your ability to manage projects and influence and lead people who do not directly report to you. This could be collaborating and convincing the product team of a new feature to win a new segment, or in effectively managing the many pieces and stakeholders behind a good product launch. Also ensure you’re actively managing your career with those mentors or managers who will shape it. Share your goals with your boss. Ask what they would need t ...Read More

460 Views

2 requests
You're the new PMM for a B2B SaaS company that has 40 people and is starting to scale. What should you aim to do in your first month and your first quarter?

Adam Kerin

Truepic VP of Marketing • 4y

I’ll caveat this answer largely depends on your company’s goals, existing team structure, and culture. One should never parachute into a new company with a rigid 30/60/90 plan or assume the recipe for success in your last role will apply here. First month = Big picture Learn both your people and your products. Overload on 1:1s, get your hands dirty with the product, and speak to customers. “First seek to understand, then to be understood.” First quarter = Build the basics Hiring plan, messaging ...Read More

2,403 Views

1 request
What's the earliest stage a startup should consider hiring a Product Marketing Manager?

I'm curious if you've observed the impact of adding a PMM to smaller organizations or if you think they're most impactful in larger organizations?

Adam Kerin

Truepic VP of Marketing • 4y

The two startups I joined as the first PMM were ~100 employees and both were for technical software products. In this space, my perspective is the founding and technical teams should be maniacally focused on building for a target customer or segment. Once they’ve established those early adopters, PMM can be the one to help that product-market-fit scale to the next customer or next segment. I think PMMs are more impactful at a smaller organization, simply because you own a bigger portion of the G ...Read More

859 Views

1 request
What are the biggest surprises when going from a company where product marketing was established to one where you have to establish product marketing?

Adam Kerin

Truepic VP of Marketing • 4y

I’ve been the first PMM at two startups now. It's been pleasantly surprising how impactful some of the basic PMM tools are when applied for the first time, and how quickly you can see their impact. Things as foundational as customer interviews, launch trackers, and announcement tiers have an oversized impact at a company that’s likely never done it before. While these were likely table-stakes in your previous roles, don’t underestimate how much they help discipline and quality to the team's GTM ...Read More

1,426 Views

1 request
When thinking about adding new talent to your team, how do you structure focus areas like Customer lifecycle stage, Persona, Areas of the product and Functional expertise?

We only have one product at HoneyBook but PMM does a lot of different things, ie, lifecycle marketing, research, competitive, feature launches, etc.

Adam Kerin

Truepic VP of Marketing • 4y

Perhaps similar to HoneyBook, Truework has one core platform, but the fit within different industry verticals is completely different. Different features are the key selling points, there are different buying personas, and a different sales pitch all means we want different PMMs focused on these different segments. For example, today we have one PMM focused on the mortgage industry, and we’re hiring for another to lead all things in consumer lending (e.g. personal and auto loans). While each cus ...Read More

474 Views

1 request
What skills of a Product Marketer are easier to improve or less of an importance? And what skills are harder to improve and have more significance?

Adam Kerin

Truepic VP of Marketing • 4y

Perhaps surprisingly, I believe the core deliverables and thinking of a PMM are easiest to improve. These are strategy frameworks, effective messaging and positioning, etc. You’ll learn most by doing, and get better with time, especially with retros to look back on previous launches and strategies. The most important and hardest skill to improve is influencing stakeholders outside of marketing. This skill will only grow importance the higher you go in the organization. I’ve seen excellent market ...Read More

572 Views

3 requests
What is your advice for creating and/or improving the product marketing process when joining a small but growing team with no or little structure and an inexperienced management team?

What are the best ways for establishing good communication, trust, and buy-in across departments?

Adam Kerin

Truepic VP of Marketing • 4y

I expect that this small and less experienced team is also more reactionary and tactical rather than proactive and strategic. That’s OK to a degree when in fire-fighting and startup mode, but product marketing can help improve this with your overall launch and GTM process. Start by aligning with leadership on the major objectives for the year as a company , sales, or product team. Then map out how product marketing will help drive these goals through adoption, market perception, etc. Finally det ...Read More

556 Views

2 requests

AMA: Truework VP of Product Marketing, Adam Kerin on Establishing Product Marketing

View AMA Answers

How do you prepare yourself to become a Product Marketing Director and manage a team, without any experience managing anyone previously?

You're the new PMM for a B2B SaaS company that has 40 people and is starting to scale. What should you aim to do in your first month and your first quarter?

What's the earliest stage a startup should consider hiring a Product Marketing Manager?

What are the biggest surprises when going from a company where product marketing was established to one where you have to establish product marketing?

When thinking about adding new talent to your team, how do you structure focus areas like Customer lifecycle stage, Persona, Areas of the product and Functional expertise?

What skills of a Product Marketer are easier to improve or less of an importance? And what skills are harder to improve and have more significance?

What is your advice for creating and/or improving the product marketing process when joining a small but growing team with no or little structure and an inexperienced management team?