How can I get into B2B SaaS product marketing from my current B2B SaaS Solution Engineer role? Could you highlight the transferable skills and gaps you see in this case. How to address the gaps?

Without a ton of context on your role and the product/services you’re representing, I’d say that the most important thing to keep in mind is how you position yourself — and really lean into what sets you apart from other PMMs (e.g your technical skills).

There are technical product marketing roles that require more technical aptitude. For these roles, your technical skills set you apart from less-technical PMMs. So if you’re an engineer who enjoys story-telling, I think you've got a great shot at transitioning to a PMM role. My tip here is to look for roles at companies with complex products (like AI and cloud data) and leverage your ENG background.

I can’t speak too intelligently about all the transferable skills since I don’t know the ins and outs of ENG. But to highlight three:

•  Technical knowledge: you can probably learn new, more complex products faster. You can also likely partner better with your PMs and Eng leaders if you speak their language.
•  Problem-solving: no matter your role, problem-solving is a great skill. As an engineer, I assume you're always assessing situations, identifying problems, and then finding solutions. This applies to product marketing too. The best PMMs are always proactively assessing and addressing situations (Are we on track to hit our goals? Why or why not? Why are customers adopting this feature?)
•  Industry knowledge: if you're building a product in X industry and want to move into PMM in X industry, you at least have a basic understanding of the market. You can really show your strength here by digging deeper into the industry, competitors, and market trends.

Again, I don’t have a ton of context for your specific situation. But some potential questions/concerns that might pop up:

•  Story-telling and writing: can you write crisp, compelling stories?
•  Marketing acumen: are you familiar with marketing channels and how to build campaigns?
•  Communication: can you clearly communicate with big groups of stakeholders to drive an outcome? how do you influence without power?
•  Project management: how organized are you? Can you lead a team to achieve all project goals on time?