How do product marketers make sure they're learning enough varied skills to be a well-rounded professional when scope is an issue?

This is a great question! I know lots of product marketers who worry that in getting more specialized they’re missing out on the opportunity to get that broad skillset. I reject the idea that you have to change jobs in order to get the experience you want and think there are plenty of ways to get it in your current role. Here’s what has worked well for me: Do your homework: While there are some skills that are universally important for a product marketer (ex: bringing new products to market), th ...Read More

The role of a product marketer is very different in every company. Still, I believe you shape up the position in your organization - the strengths, interests, and passions you bring with you can expand the role beyond its initial job description. Whether you're a PMM at a global enterprise with thousands of employees or part of a lean and mean marketing team at a fast-growing start-up, you have to control your own destiny.  The vast majority of learning and development happens not in formal trai ...Read More

There are multiple ways I'd suggest doing this. One approach is to use the current area that you're focused on i.e. sales enablement, and how you can use your knowledge and experience of this to influence the likes of product launch strategies. For example, if you're in sales enablement you have a birdseye view of what the sales teams challenges are, what they're hearing from their customers and what works within the pre and post-sales processes. Use this knowledge to springboard yourself into c ...Read More

Great PMMs are intentional about their development - this is especially important if you’re on a team with narrow scope. If you’re not getting exposure to new areas - pricing, enablement, customer insights - you have to create your own opportunities. I always encourage my team to plug into projects outside their immediate scope - co-owning a launch, shadowing a cross-functional project, or leading smaller side initiatives like a competitive standup or lunch-and-learns. These are the opportunitie ...Read More

Ah yes, the never-ending quest for well-roundedness in the face of limited scope – a familiar struggle for many PMMs. My general rule of thumb is Try Everything Early. Even if you're at a bigger company where roles are more clearly defined (i.e. a PMM for Competitive Intelligence, a PMM for Pricing, a PMM for Solutions, a PMM for Product Launches, etc.), attempting to try everything early as a product marketer allows you to discover your strengths, weaknesses, and interests.To start, I'd recomme ...Read More

I think it's always possible for product marketers to learn varied skills by being open to new projects or opportunities when they've mastered a skill. At a large company, where roles are more specialized there are often opportunities to work on different projects or products that may have different product-market-fit. At a smaller company, the scope may be wider but you may not have the opportunity to go as deep with any skill set. I'd advise being open to all the opportunities you see around y ...Read More

Large companies can mean limited scope, but you can still be a well-rounded PMM! Here are some tips: Be Proactive: Seek opportunities to learn from other PMMs. Shadow colleagues working on launches, offer to cover competitive events and lead competitive responses Focus on Depth within Your Scope: Master your area and bring those insights to other areas of PMM. For e.g. if you work in sales enablement you are close to your sales teams, their needs, and through them the customer needs and market t ...Read More

Such a great question! Sales enablement - although you're right it's a narrow focus - is still very transferable to the more customer facing aspects of customer marketing. You still need to understand how to build clear value props and messaging for sales so they can win deals, it's just that the audience is different. That said, my biggest suggestion is just to really push yourself to develop new tools and content that might be outside your company's playbook, particularly if the playbook is a ...Read More

Keep raising your hand and try to demonstrate your capabilities beyond your current role. Jump at stretch projects and think bigger about what you're doing. If you're doing enablement, are their strategic questions you could be asking for the campaigns motion to make sure the two tie together? Could you put a proposal together about how to do something different that could change the way your company works? To get the stretch opportunities, your leaders need to see your capabilities. Show them y ...Read More

Great question and a challenge I've definitely run into throughout the years. Every role and every company is different and you're not always going to get the full spectrum of PMM with every move.  To fill any gaps, I strongly recommend making friends in other departments. If other marketing teams are covering responsibilities, try to partner with them or shadow them to stay involved and learn. If you want to buff up on your enablement skills, grab coffee with your GTM and enablement teams to ta ...Read More

The key to developing more diverse skills it to be proactive about your opportunities to learn and get hands on experience. That may involve taking on side projects outside of your responsibilities. Here are some of the best ways a PMM can develop a well-rounded set of skills with a limited scope: Cross-functional Projects + Internal Networking Volunteer for projects outside your core responsibilities Shadow colleagues in different areas Join task forces or working groups Offer to help other tea ...Read More

This is sometimes harder to do at larger companies where the PMM team is organized to focus on very niche areas - but with any role, to be successful, find opportunities to participate in initiatives that are outside of your scope. Talk to your manager about your desire to learn and grow and it’s their job to help you find those opportunities - but if you see something broken, raise your hand to fix it. I have yet to meet a team that has enough PMM resources. The other option is to look for role ...Read More

Reach out to the product marketing network! Sharebird is a great place to start :) And I find that LinkedIn is another helpful resource for connecting with other product marketers to get insights from their experiences as well. Not only can people share case studies from the work they’ve done, but they can also provide guidance and feedback, and act as mentors. There are also a lot of wonderful classes available, including via Product Marketing Alliance. Check with your employer as you may be ab ...Read More

Great question - how to get a rounded set of skills when scope is limited. The strategy that works: a product marketer delivers consistently in current role, they show they have bandwidth and appetite for more, then point to specific areas where they are curious and/or can add value. Many managers will help product marketers grow if they've proven they won't drop balls and are specific about what they want to learn.Ask to shadow someone whose work a PMM want to learn. Sales enablement, competiti ...Read More