What's your process for figuring out what metrics to hold PMM accountable for?

This ties back to business objectives (corporate level KPIs), and how your team / individual role & responsibility is structured against those objectives.

You'll often see that, depending on the company stage and maturity, PMM will skew towards alignment with either Product OR Sales. But it's rarely perfectly positioned in the middle. 

• Let's say your business has an aggressive product growth target... well then you're likely to staff a PMM that'll specialize in launches, or maybe even a lifecycle marketer (the next hottest role after PMM in marketing, I might add). In that case the metric to hold this particular PMM accountable to is: Activation, adoption, or engagement rate within the first 5, 10, 30 days post-launch -- something to that effect.
• On the other hand, if there is a clear sales target, then you could have the PMM aligned to: Revenue, win rate, close rate, ASP, etc.

I recommend to stick with 1 metric wherever possible to not muddy the water. And again, enure alignment with the business objective and take advantage of the fact that most PMM teams get a comprehensive view of the business and can position against critical initiatives (and associated metrics).

Messaging and revenue. But to be clear, here are the specifics:

• Drive pipeline and top-line revenue growth, inclusive of new logo and cross-sell / up-sell (land & expand growth)
• Partner with enablement to ensure quota-carrying teams know what to say to whom and when
• Bring customer feedback into the product and technology team in order to inform product roadmaps.
• Prioritize, open, and adapt to new markets and industries
• Drive home differentiated and unique value

Determining which metrics to hold Product Marketing accountable to can be tricky since PMMs often indirectly impact key business metrics, such as revenue or customer retention. Determining the appropriate metrics to hold PMM accountable for requires a thoughtful approach that considers both their direct contributions and their collaborative role in shared outcomes. Here's how I like to approach the process for determining product marketing KPIs:

• Identify direct impact areas where PMMs have full control and can be fully accountable. These are activities where PMMs control both the execution and outcomes. Examples include crafting clear and compelling marketing messages, executing product launch campaigns, and gathering actionable customer insights. These metrics reflect areas where PMMs have full ownership and their performance can be directly measured.

• Recognize shared outcome areas where PMMs contribute alongside other teams and do not fully control the entire outcome. Many critical business outcomes are the result of cross-functional collaboration. Outcomes like revenue generated, pipeline growth, and customer retention involve multiple teams, including sales, demand generation, customer success, and product development. In these cases, product marketing cannot be fully accountable because they do not control all the variables influencing the KPI. Instead, they should be accountable for their specific contributions to these shared goals. To effectively measure PMM's success, it's essential to clearly define their responsibilities within these collaborative efforts. This might include providing effective sales enablement materials, developing strategic market positioning, creating detailed customer personas, and ensuring consistent messaging across channels. Metrics for these contributions could involve assessing the effectiveness of sales training sessions (measured by improvements in sales performance), the quality and conversion rates of leads from PMM-led campaigns, or the impact of PMM strategies on market share growth.

• Encourage and measure collaboration to ensure that PMMs actively work toward improving shared outcomes. Given the highly x-functional way in which product marketers drive business outcomes, product marketing should also be held accountable for their efforts to collaborate and contribute towards the broader team and organization. This means establishing joint objectives where PMMs are responsible for working effectively with other teams. Metrics here may include feedback from other teams on PMM support and the success of jointly executed initiatives.

• Balance quantitative and qualitative metrics for a more holistic evaluation. Quantitative metrics provide measurable data on outcomes like engagement rates, lead generation numbers, and sales performance. Qualitative insights, on the other hand, offer valuable feedback on aspects like message clarity, campaign effectiveness, and customer satisfaction. Incorporating both types of metrics ensures a comprehensive evaluation of PMM performance.

• Adjust for external factors to maintain realistic and fair expectations. In the course of a product launch, factors beyond PMMs' control may impact the outcome, such as market conditions, competitive actions, and economic trends. Recognizing these factors helps ensure that PMMs are held accountable for what they can influence rather than being unfairly judged on elements outside their control.

• Regularly review metrics to keep them relevant and aligned with business objectives. This step is crucial to ensure that the metrics remain aligned with evolving business goals and accurately reflect PMMs' contributions. This also involves gathering input from PMMs and other stakeholders during performance reviews and being willing to adjust metrics as roles and strategies evolve.

By focusing on both the areas where product marketing can be fully accountable and their roles within shared outcomes, organizations can create a fair and motivating accountability structure. The above steps help to ensure that Product Marketing is measured on what they can control or influence while promoting effective teamwork toward common business objectives.