Product Marketing Career Path

If I could only pick 3, it would be: * Storytelling * Competitive insights * Customer-obsessed Telling a story isn’t just filling out a messaging and positioning framework but about being able to pitch a narrative on why status quo is broken, paint what that world would look like, and why your product will address the need. Layer in competitive insights in your analysis about the market, trends, and competitors to highlight your product’s differentiators and you can go even farther. Finally, doing all of that while being customer-obsessed and putting imaging how, when, and why they would choose your product and how to create a great product experience for them will help you reach that next level.

Every company has its own system or values that they look for during candidate review. During interviews, especially at larger enterprise companies, the recruiter or hiring manager usually has a rubric that assesses how much the candidate fulfills the criteria. Here are what stands out for me in a pool of PMM candidates: 1. Achievement - how do they take initiative and demonstrate that they are results-oriented 2. Influence - how do they convey ideas that can influence others without formal authority 3. Leadership - how do they build on the work of others and help develop others 4. Adaptability/ Resilience - how do they navigate through ambiguous solutions and how do they pivot when needed 5. Self Awareness - how do they handle constructive feedback and how aware are they of their own strengths and opportunity areas 6. Problem-Solving - how well do they analyze situations, identify key issues, and produce an alternative solution 7. Strategy oriented - how well do they think beyond their current activity/scope into a broader vision The more senior the role, the more emphasis I have on finding a candidate that can address all 7 characteristics on this list.

Your network, your manager’s network, your company’s leaders, other companies’ leaders that you admire, etc. The worst thing that could happen is that they say “sorry, I am too busy right now” so if they are busy, ask if they have anyone they would recommend. I also attend a lot of events and if I find someone I connect with and we have a good rapport, I will ask them directly as well. Don’t be afraid to ask - people want to help others if they can!

I have three favorite parts of product marketing which keep me excited, no matter how many times I’ve already done it: * User & market research: It feels like being a detective who finds hidden patterns, unknown users’ motives, and promising market gaps. I also love talking with people. * Launching products and building successful GTM machines: It comes with setting up all PMM processes, as well as executing every small part of the process. Defining GTM motion (marketing/sales/product led), value prop, use cases, GTM strategy & launch plan, working with all teams, and enjoying results ⁠— it’s all super thrilling for me! * Product testing and experimentation: From changing messaging on the landing page, re-designing onboarding flow, playing with various marketing channels to testing product-market fit hypothesis — all these give fast measurable results! Answering based on my Product Marketing Alliance interview.

All of my roles have been satisfying for different reasons. I have found that I get most excited when I: 1. Learn new skills and enjoy doing the “grunt” work 2. Have a solid set of team members that I connect with 3. Am in an org where PMM is valued and influential There will always be ups and downs with any role at any company based on the timing. However, the people are what really keeps me at a place for long!

This will vary highly depending on the person and org. In a large enterprise, your PMM job will be narrowly defined, both from a scope of responsibilities standpoint and in terms of the product you are marketing. In many respects, that makes it a much easier job than at a startup, where your buyers are uncertain, your role is nebulously defined and you're expected to do way more than just the boxes on the Pragmatic Marketing framework.   

That's really a factor or where you are in your career. I started my product marketing career at HP (back in the 1980s) and that was fantastic as they had processes in place and great employee education opportunities to help accelerate my knowledge and provide a framework for getting things done. Some of those fundamental aspects such as the product life cycle, product/project teams and management by objectives have driven my work habits and career. I have since worked at larger, more political companies and very small start-ups. I find it more enjoyable and challenging (there's a relationship) at start-ups as there is very little friction between having an idea and executing on that idea. The downside is less resources and less process to depend on for driving necessary communication or action. I have had success in both environments (large and small) and take pride in those accomplishments. I was able to participate in a global product launch via sattelite to our worldwide field when with HP which was an amazing experience. At start-ups I have been able to drive an entirely new pricing strategy and define and launch new products which has been very challenging and rewarding as well.

Great question! I've been lucky to work at a wide range of companies and while each was satisfying and challenging in their own way, I've definitely figured out what works best for me. For me, working for a big company brings resources and clear growth paths, and I’m grateful to have started my career there. * The pros: At a big company, you know exactly where you fall in terms of job leveling, and what you need to take the next step up. Your work is clear and tied to a very specific line of business and you feel confident in the company’s success. * The cons: For me, the thing that was challenging about working at a big company was how “figured out” things were. I found lots of processes and frameworks were already built at a big company and it was up to me to execute on a clear set of activities, which was great as I was starting to learn, but started to feel restrictive after a while.  * How I felt as a PMM: As a product marketer, the relationship between product, product marketing, and partner teams was tightly scoped and while those swimlanes were helpful bumpers at first, they felt a little restrictive as my skills grew. After that experience, I made a 180-degree shift and was the 52nd employee at a very small company. * The pros: When a company is that small, every day is a test of how productive you can be, how many good decisions you can make, and how much hustle you’ve got, which gave me a lot of energy at that point in my career. It was great to be able to directly see the impact my work had on the business, and the entire company felt like one team working together, which was incredible.   * The cons: Even with all the positives, I’d say this size was hardest for me. As a product marketer, I wasn’t spending much time doing the type of product marketing I loved, like getting to know customers, helping drive the roadmap, crafting messaging, or launching products. Because we were such a small team, I wore a lot of different marketing hats and was spending a lot of my time working on lead gen efforts for the sales team - which is definitely not my area of expertise. In this type of company, you’re asked to do whatever the business needs and you don’t always have guidance on how to do it well.  * How I felt as a PMM: After that experience, I realized that even if I didn’t want a role that was too structured, I did need some structure to succeed. I also realized how important it was to have a close relationship with a manager who I could bounce ideas off of, turn to when I needed feedback or guidance, and who helped make sure I was learning and growing, not just spinning my wheels. Since then, I’ve taken a bit of a Goldilocks approach to choosing companies - not too big, not too small, just right. I’ve found that a Series B company of about 100-200 employees fits my personality and work style best. * The pros: There are plenty of things to build and decisions to be made, but the company has gotten validation in the product and financial backing that gives employees space to breathe and think long term. I love that I don’t have to go through too many “checkpoints” to get a project off the ground, send out a survey, or put together a plan. At the same time, I love that there is enough process that we’re able to make sure we’re making the right decisions and doing work that matters.  * The cons: It's still a small, early-stage company, which means that there are areas of the business that aren’t figured out. Your career growth is not well defined because the company is continually changing, as is what’s being asked of you, and the company usually hasn’t solidified its levels, titles, or career growth guides so it can be hard to feel like you can really show the progress you’re making because it’s not a clearly defined path. * How I feel as a PMM: I love the role product marketing gets to play when a company is this size. The product has momentum and there’s usually a team of PMs who have a strong point of view on what they need to do next, but there’s still plenty of room for a product marketer to come in and help influence the roadmap and try new things for launches. As a leader at Envoy, I still get to get my hands dirty here and there while also creating the structure and processes needed for the team to scale.

All size companies have their own set of challenges. From what I’ve heard from colleagues and friends, Series A companies may be more challenging for PMMs because of where they are in their product-market fit journey, how they regard Marketing/PMM, and what their urgent needs are. PMMs get quite unhappy when other teams throw stuff at them without involving them in the process. This happens a lot at any stage company, unfortunately.

My junior PMMs have so much energy and enthusiasm but sometimes they miss the bigger picture. Thus, I would recommend honing in on: * Clear and concise communication * Strategic thinking and GTM planning * Being thorough - what impact does X have on Y I’ve noticed that junior PMMs usually get outbound marketing roles and believe that’s a great way to get used to how we communicate product launches, digital marketing and customer marketing.

I am an extrovert so I will share my observations. I have managed introverts on my team and they were excellent PMMs. They were super methodical, analytical and thorough. I truly valued what they brought to the team dynamic. Part of being a great manager is being able to assess people’s strengths and interests, and amplify their potential by placing them in the right role or giving them projects that would make them stand out. As PMMs, we need to be able to have great written and verbal communication because we bring together so many workstreams and have so many collaborators and stakeholders but you do not need to be the one always in front of execs or presenting at large events to be successful as a PMM.

Like any good first meeting, ask yourself some discovery questions: 1. What do I enjoy doing the most at work? 2. Why do I want to get into product marketing? 3. What products do I think are marketed well? Why? 4. What products can be marketed better? How would I market it differently? 5. Did I enjoy thinking about these discovery questions? If so, try to break into PMM!

You move on. If you haven’t found success or there isn’t a concrete plan to change things it sounds like you have outgrown the role/team/company. It could be for a variety of reasons, some of which are outside of your manager’s control. There may also be a disconnect between your vision of the ideal role and what the organization needs at the moment.  I would ask myself - if this isn't what I want to do, is it worth sticking around?

I have a lot of meetings (sometimes triple booked) where a lot of context switching occurs every 30 min or so. I don’t say this to scare you off but to caution you that PMMs are one of the most interdisciplinary roles you can have and are the intersection between Product, Marketing, Sales and Customer Success/Experience. If you are fine with multi-tasking, managing multiple workstreams, and collaborating ALL THE TIME, you will enjoy it like I do!