What is an effective way to position myself with a background in brand-side insights, PMM for 3.5 years? Proving harder than I'd thought.

Hmm, if you've done work on the brand side including gathering customer research and insights, you already know more about PMM than you think.

Start by stepping back to understand PMM as a function more deeply. Explore its various facets—different PMM specializations, core skills, and how the shape of PMM differs between consumer vs B2B, startups vs larger orgs, PLG vs SLG, SMB vs mid-market vs Enterprise. There is a plethora of resources online on product marketing as a function - network with PMM professionals to understand their day-to-day and try to find the translation layer to represent your work from a PMM lens. Identify any gaps, focus on what you’re already strong at, and build from there.

PMM is a relatively newer function and plenty of marketing and product professionals have pivoted to PMM by demonstrating their specialization and fluency in relevant PMM skills from adjacent functions and industries.

If I were you, I would build a portfolio of projects to highlight (for PMM roles) your expertise with -

1. [Inbound] Understanding of Customer Needs & Pain Points

2. [Inbound] Research & Experimentation

3. [Inbound] Data-forward and data-informed strategy development skills

4. [Outbound] Storytelling (!!) - your brand-side experience gives you an edge here

You may need to stretch to develop expertise in areas like GTM orchestration, sales enablement, or contributing to product roadmaps, but those can be long-term growth goals.

Startups are usually more willing to make a bet on smart & adaptable folks who will learn on the job. Alternatively, consider entry-level PMM roles at larger organizations where you might have more structured learning and opportunities to get guided mentorship. Both paths have value and the choice depends on your style of learning and having a firm understanding of what kind of environment you'll thrive in.