Given that Product Marketing role definitions and skills vary so much by company, how do you develop a transferrable career path if you end up switching firms along the way?

In my career path I've looked for a few things and created a few career principles... 1. Finding growth industries that will be more important in the next 3 - 5 years given where I see trends moving...For example, I was in AdTech in 2010 when mobile and display advertising was just starting to take off, marketing automation in 2014 as marketers were starting to get much tighter around spend, measurement, and performance and finally, marketplace-based food delivery in 2016 just as on-demand servi ...Read More

No doubt your product, its value props and your audience will change from company to company.  What doesn't change however is your job to be done as a product marketer, and the role you get to play. No matter what organization I've been part of, PMM has always sat at the intersection of product, sales and marketing. Now you might get pulled in one direction or the other depending on the company (see answer above) but on any given day, you are the only person this side of a GM that will be as clo ...Read More

Switching companies as part of your PMM journey is a good thing (if you're not jumping around too much). It will give you a broader perspective on different GTM channels, business models, org structures, sales processes, etc. You just need to make sure you are growing and acquiring new skills with every role. Even if you're making lateral moves, seek out new areas of responsibilities and more opportunities to do things you've never done before - maybe take on analyst relations or build the compe ...Read More

PMM role definitions and skills do vary significantly across companies (and even teams within the same company!) but I see this as an opportunity.  The main skills are still foundational across all roles:  1. Having a deep understanding of the customer - being able to clearly grasp customer pain points and communicate them to the product team, and ensure you're solving for them with any messaging. This also includes being able to ramp up on a new space quickly and learn the nuances of a product/ ...Read More

I guess I've never really thought of this as a problem. If you follow your passions and continuously take opportunities in great organizations, you will automatically create a career path that sets you up for the type of future opportunities you like and are passionate about.   If you're more concerned about progression, and moving into successively more senior positions, you're actually far better off switching companies with some regularity. Not to mention you'll make a lot more money over the ...Read More

Yes, PMM role varies a lot by industry and company. So you have to ask yourself what you want to do and what ultimately interest you. When you choose what companies, PMM groups to join, you need to evaluate whether that helps you get to where you want to be. For example, I am not into enterprise B2B. Product marketing in that space requires a lot more sales enablement work that I'm not passionate about. I've personally found the following background helpful to excel at product marketing: Hands-o ...Read More