What are the key processes you'd set up when expanding the Product Marketing team from 1 to multiple people?

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 yo ...Read More

Without knowing how many you're talking about, this is a bit of a tough question to answer with specificity, but I'd say you definitely need to create and/or revisit your operating model every time 2-3 new people join your team, especially when you're going from 1-4. Think about establishing principles for: Who is doing what? (i.e your key functions and workstreams - I often find DARCIs help out here) How you'll share information - (i.e. which meetings help us discuss and progress our workstream ...Read More

Know the business forecasts for as far out as possible( preferably at least 1 year) -- overall strategy, revenue, R&D investments, headcount, budget, HR/hiring policies, etc. Have a vision of the team structure that aligns with this strategy List out the net-new roles you're planning for, prioritizing must haves vs. nice to haves Assign the must have roles to a timeline (order of hiring), supported by a note on why Shop this around to your manager and any other key stakeholder; confirm budge ...Read More

Map out the various deliverables your team is responsible for. Some are consistent (launches) and others are point in time (website relaunch). List out all the stakeholders you interface with regularly: product management, Sales, Sales Enablemenrt, Marketing comms. Develop a process thats sustainable that allows you to work with each of these groups.  The biggest dependency will be on product so establish a framework and rules of engagement on how product updates will be communicated. How regula ...Read More

While we’ve evolved the shape, size, timing, and application, some resources I either stood-up or leaned on as Coda’s first PMM that are still in use: A PMM “Hub” - Your single source of truth for all things product marketing. From “Who do I talk to about X?” to “What dashboard can I look at for Y?” to “What’s the deal with this persona?” If it’s not documented, it’s not part of your strategy. Luckily, we have a great template for Team Hubs: https://coda.io/d/Design-Team-Hub_dos6bXTG3xZ/A-beauti ...Read More

Some of the low hanging fruit here would be setting up team rituals - team meetings, slack channels, team hubs, etc.  Some of the more logistical processes would include setting up a shared launch calendar to have a shared source of truth. Defining a tiering framework for launching products. Establishing areas of ownership and alignment to product and/or audience and/or sales.  Find ways to templatize work that you'll be dividing amongst yourselves - messaging guides, pricing frameworks, naming ...Read More

If you're expanding a PMM team, you're likely growing as a business as well.  As you grow as a business, your Product and Engineering teams are likely growing as well. This means that these teams are likely going to be releasing more features. And with more features, comes the need for broader stakeholders (Customer Success, Sales, Partners) to understand what Product is building ahead of when these features get into production.  This to me means that a fundamental process for Product Marketing ...Read More

When expanding the PMM team I think about forming GTM playbooks. It's documented step-by-step processes which you have during your launch, that helps your team stay focused, organized, and accountable. Basically, it is a manual that describes workflows, procedures, and the role each person plays during the launch.  The purpose of playbooks is to help companies run GTMs smoothly and effectively. Main playbooks & processes I build: PM & PMM cooperation process, which defines how two functi ...Read More

The most critical step is setting up a Product Marketing Operating Model. There is a lot of intrinsic knowledge that a solo PMM has that needs to be shared with any future hires. Set up your next PMM for success with templates, guides, flows, advice on internal relationship management, etc. The second step is inviting them to update the operating model during their onboarding. New people are so amazing at noticing blind spots. Use it to your advantage and help them feel like they are contributin ...Read More