What pointed recommendations do you have on gaining influence as a new member of an organization or as a junior product marketing team member?

Your best play is to show up with an insight backed by data. I think many product marketers over-index on the product and not the market and you have an opportunity to bring market insight into the organization. Being new is actually an advantage because you won't be skewed by the history of the company. You'll know what insights will be most impactful to your organization but a few ideas: Market trends - what is happening in the market overall? How is your company proactively making sure they'l ...Read More

As I've answered on a few other questions, I have a set of things I like to do to build meaningful relationships with key stakeholders. These are key whether you are just getting started in product marketing or if you're the most senior team member. My 7 relationship building "secrets" are: Understand strengths and weaknesses: Figure out who in your organization has the skills that can help you. And think about what you're able to give in return. You should know what you bring to the table and w ...Read More

My top recommendation is to immerse yourself in the prospect/customer experience, document your learnings, and surface insights that are helpful to those around you in discussion. The credibility of a relevant customer quote or anecdote stands on its own and demonstrates your ability (and commitment) to customer centricity. Another is to seek to understand, not to prove—what I mean is it's good to ask genuine questions to speed up your onboarding or ramping; while it may be uncomfortable to "exp ...Read More

Become the go to expert on something - quickly. Generally, as a PMM, you want to be the expert on the buyer. Shadow as many sales calls as you possibly can. Develop relationships with customers. Call them, show up at their office, take them out for drinks. Compile a library of stories, personas, facts and figures.  Then, when you speak, don't give opinions - give facts and stories. "Connie from AT&T had that same problem, she told me that she..." "Yeah, that's definitely true with our SMB cu ...Read More

There's some great advice here. To add on, here are a few things I've seen new PMM hires do to onboard successfully: Drive a project with clear definition: Oftentimes, there's an unglamorous piece of work that new hires/junior PMM are asked to take on that the organization desperately needs. Prioritizing this work will help you earn a seat at the table and ultimately move into more stretch projects that align with your interests. If there is no clearly defined project you're being asked to own, ...Read More