AMA: Unbabel Former VP of Product Marketing, Sarah Din on Building a Product Marketing Team

This is a question I get a LOT. Everyone wants to know whats the idea PMM team structure. The short answer is there isn't one. Firstly, the role of a PMM looks different in every company. Secondly, the role of a PMM is not static. The role should evolve based on business priorities. So while you may structure the team a particular way today, know that you might need to change that structure a year from now if your priorities shift, especially at a start-up where things change quickly. Here are a few things to keep in mind though: * Look at the ratio of PM to PMM as a starting point, especially if you have a product-led organization. You want to keep this ratio as small as possible because if you have multiple products and launches to manage, you will need more PMMs to help manage them. * If your priority is more sales-led then try to focus your team on either personas or GTM segments. For example, if you sell into different verticals, you might also want to think about how you divide vertical expertise within the team. * Another approach is to structure a team based on functional areas: Sales-enablement, competitive intel, product launches, etc. This is not my favorite tBH but I've seen people do this. I believe this pigeonholes your team and leaves no room for their growth. * A hybrid approach is also ideal for small teams. You want to build a matrix of priorities and then divide them amongst the team but make sure you have clear swim lanes and that each person has ownership of a certain area. This will help career growth, give you a more well-rounded team and it makes it easy for people to move around and work on different, interesting projects. Currently, my PMM team is structured on the different parts of our platform because that's where I need my team to be focused. Additionally, I also own content strategy so we have that role on our team - since that person is a hybrid for marketing and product content. (Lots of open roles on my team if you are interested, reach out :) )

To scale any team you want to do it thoughtfully, and have a clear plan in place before you go on a hiring binge. * Have the right foundation in place before you bring on more PMMs. For instance, have the basic tools or processes in place because once you scale your team, it's much harder to define those. For instance, a GTM process, a basic messaging framework, etc. * You also want to make sure that the role of PMM in your org is clearly defined and communicated throughout. It's important to first establish what the roles and responsibilities of this team should be /will be so that when you hire new people, there is no ambiguity in what they are responsible for. * Create your ideal org chart, regardless of the headcount you do have, and then prioritize the roles that are the most critical and focus on hiring those first. This will vary for each org and depend on the current priorities of your organization, but it's important to have an idea of how you want to structure the team, and how they will work with each other as well.

Internal comms is sometimes undervalued, but in my opinion, it is one of the most important parts of a PMM's role, especially because product marketing is one of the very few roles that are extremely cross-functional and sits between multiple teams. Here are few ways I've seen it work best: * For major XF projects, have regular update emails so that you can make sure you are bringing everyone along the journey and it does not feel like you are working in a black box. * Internal newsletters (whatever cadence works for your org). We partner with the product team on a monthly newsletter where we talk about updates from both teams, but also talk about what's coming next. This goes to the entire company because we are still a small team but for bigger orgs you want to select your audience. * Whether you use Slack or Teams or something else, make sure you have communication channels where you are regularly posting updates on key projects. * At the beginning of every quarter, I draft a plan and share it with all cross-functional teams to make sure they are aware of our goals and priorities - but also give them a chance to give you feedback so that you can make sure you are prioritizing the most important initiatives. 

Does not matter if you are a junior PMM or a seasoned PMM leader - owning/coordinating launches and copywriting will always be part of your job in one way or another so embrace those, be the best at it, and use the experience to hone your craft. But you also don’t want to be pigeonholed into JUST being a project manager or copywriter - that’s when you need to make sure that you are working on a variety of projects in your role, and there are multiple ways to make that happen. * Have an open discussion with your manager and make sure that you have at least 1 big strategic initiative to own per quarter, whether that is helping define a new use case, building messaging or buyer personas, defining your ICP, helping sales with Win/Loss, etc - whatever the need is in your organization * Don’t wait to be told what to do. If you have ambition and want to grow in your role, just look at where the gaps are and take the initiative to fill them. For example, Market research or competitive analysis are usually things that get left on the back burner for a lot of orgs unless you have a large team to divide the work - so just go ahead and do that and share those insights with the relevant teams like the product or sales team. In order to be a more strategic PMM and for you to get a seat at any table, junior or not, you have to bring something of value to other teams - so figure out what is missing and just do it!

I love this question because in my experience I have hired PMMs from a variety of backgrounds, including people that have had no direct PMM experience, but they all had the right aptitude for the role. Depends on the level of seniority you are looking for OR the kind of product you have, you might have specific technical skills you require. In my opinion, technical skills can often be learned on the job, but there are a few more “softer skills” that cannot. Here is what I always look for: * The ability to think strategically. Be able to see the bigger picture, and the long-term vision. At the same time, you HAVE to be able to roll up your sleeve and execute. No matter how big your org is, you will always have to balance the two. * Strong communication skills. Half of our job is about listening to people, understanding them, and presenting ideas. PMMs lead through influence, and to have influence you have to have clarity of thought and tell stories that will resonate (both internally and externally). * Be comfortable with ambiguity and the ability to pivot quickly. This is even more important at start-ups but working at public companies I've still seen this be extremely useful. PMMs don't’ have a static role (and they should not). Our focus changes with company priorities so it's important to be comfortable with not knowing what each quarter might look like. But also don’t get married to ideas, you have to be able to let go easily and not get frustrated. * Organized and self-driven. PMMs often work on multiple initiatives at the same time, no matter how big the team is. If you are not organized or cannot project manage, you cannot do this job well * Be passionate and want to grow. I think this applies to almost any role, but it's important for me to build a team of people that are willing to learn and want to work on a variety of things to become a more well-rounded PMM.

There are always going to be a million things that you feel need to be done. PMMs by nature want to take on everything, but the fact is, even though things might seem critical, not everything needs to be done right away. Especially in the absence of a senior marketing leader who can help triage projects, this can get complicated. So it's REALLY important to first determine the most critical priorities and then phase out things, especially with a small team and low resources. Some ways to do this: * If your company has OKRs or company-wide goals, use that as your north star. Look at your to-do list and go through each one to say, does this tie to current company goals? If it doesn't, move it to a backlog. If you are not sure, ask your leadership team to make that clear, because, at the end of the day, you need to focus on things that will actually move the needle. * Always keep a backlog of things once you have prioritized, and make that visible to everyone, especially your XF partners in the product and sales team. The next time you get new requests, having a backlog along with your top priorities will make everyone understand what you have prioritized and why - and how it ties to the company goals. * Be comfortable with saying no to things - this is one thing you learn with time. You will always get asked for more, and it's easy to become a machine that is pumping out new content or collateral, etc. but that is not helping your company in the long-run, so pick and choose what you say yes to. It should also give you time to work on the more strategic initiatives that will help you with long-term growth. * Also identify some initiatives that are low-hanging fruit so that you can deliver a few good things and build better relationships with your XF partners, while you work on the more strategic initiatives.

It is so important to have some foundational processes in place before you scale a team. Here are a few I always like to establish right away * GTM, product launch process - this is a huge part of the role, and not having a clear process can cause confusion and misunderstanding. This is also a very cross-functional effort so it's extremely important to be clear on the role everyone plays in the process, what deliverables are expected and how to communicate as a group. * Messaging framework - When you scale from 1 to many PMMs, you need to be on the same page about how to talk about certain aspects of your company or brand or product, or to different audiences or verticals. while you might not have the full messaging in place when you begin to hire, it's important to establish the framework itself so that when you do hire new people, they can easily contribute. * Internal comms - Internal comms is just as, if not even more, important as external comms to customers. Often times teams fail or have a disconnect due to alack of clear communication. While this may seem trivial, it's really important to establish how to communicate with individual teams/partners but also your entire org and how to make sure everyone is aligned with what your function is focused on. * Competitive Intel - this will look different at every company and might not be a huge priority at the moment but have a matrix of who your competitors are and which ones are the priority for your team. At some point, you will get asked and there will be a need to dig deeper, so it's important to know what to focus on and what not to focus on. * General PMM charter - At the end of the day, you should make sure you have an overview of what your team is responsible for (and what they are NOT responsible for) and how your team is structured, how their roles are divided, and what your goals and priorities are for the quarter or the year. When new people come in, this will help them orient themselves and get ramped up fairly quickly

This really depends on your current PMM team, and how they are structured. * If you have PMMs that are very specialized in certain areas and are you trying to grow the team, think about what gaps you have and focus on that in your hiring process. * If your team is full of marketing generalists that are doing a little bit of everything, then again, identify the gaps - are you missing specific PMM skills on your team? then focus on hiring for that. * This also depends on the level of seniority you are trying to hire for. If you are hiring junior PMMs, and are willing and able to mentor and train them, then look for someone more well-rounded! If you are looking for someone more senior who can come in and just jump into taking over and driving projects, then you probably want someone with more experience specifically as a PMM. Overall, I think looking for someone more well-rounded is always a good idea because things change often and In my experience, the structure of the PMM team can also evolve over time, so I try to find people that can evolve with the company and change roles if needed.