Jeff Beckham
Sr. Director and Head of Product Marketing, Gem
About
I lead product marketing at Gem, which makes a SaaS product that can help you hire 5x faster. Previously at Mixpanel, Slack, BlueJeans, and Cisco Systems.
Content
Jeff Beckham
Gem Sr. Director and Head of Product Marketing • December 17
At every company I’ve been a part of, product marketing has always been the driver of any sales enablement done by the marketing team. I’m sure that’s not the case everywhere, but I believe it’s the norm. The main reason is PMMs are hired for a specific skill set that fits enablement – storytelli......Read More
1765 Views
Jeff Beckham
Gem Sr. Director and Head of Product Marketing • December 17
The more time in advance you can provide the sales team, the better. But you also don’t want to sit on new products / features that are ready to go, especially when you’re at a small and nimble company like yours. The key question is, when is the product far enough along that you know the final f......Read More
1308 Views
Jeff Beckham
Gem Sr. Director and Head of Product Marketing • December 17
This is a fun question because I’ve seen this vary so broadly across the places I’ve worked. Step one is to make sure product marketing gets invited :) At Mixpanel, all of the go-to-market teams go to SKO, and it has really helped to create a sense of shared purpose across sales, marketing and cu......Read More
1206 Views
Jeff Beckham
Gem Sr. Director and Head of Product Marketing • May 6
It’s a good question, but also a loaded one! Product management needs to prove their value to the company too, right? The dynamic you’re describing is common though, unfortunately. I’ve lived it many times. The best working relationship comes when both sides have shared goals. If that’s not rea......Read More
1204 Views
Jeff Beckham
Gem Sr. Director and Head of Product Marketing • December 17
The biggest mistake I’ve made is not involving Sales at the ideation stage. Too many times, I’ve thought I had a great idea for a new program or piece of content, only to find upon rolling it out that I was solving a problem nobody had. It’s always good to have a few “friendlies” on the sales te......Read More
1077 Views
Jeff Beckham
Gem Sr. Director and Head of Product Marketing • December 17
The best sales reps I’ve seen rely on people and resources across the company to win deals, but these same reps are also very particular about the materials they use and the people they invite to meetings. This attention to detail in the customer experience is what drives their success. The mill......Read More
1040 Views
Jeff Beckham
Gem Sr. Director and Head of Product Marketing • May 6
I’m glad you asked, because I love building presentations! I realize I’m a total slide nerd, but here’s my process: 1. Align on the outcome you want from the presentation. Who are you trying to convince, and about what? Whether the audience is the sales team at SKO or execs at a busines......Read More
1000 Views
Jeff Beckham
Gem Sr. Director and Head of Product Marketing • December 17
It’s exciting that your company is making the shift up-market! The first question to ask is whether you have the right people in place to sell into enterprises. Promoting the best people on the mid-market team is highly risky, although that decision is usually outside the purview of product marke......Read More
972 Views
Jeff Beckham
Gem Sr. Director and Head of Product Marketing • December 17
If you have the opportunity to be involved, snatch it as quickly as possible! The core of product marketing is creating messaging that works, and the fastest way to test messaging is through channels that scale. SDR templates are one of those, along with digital ads and high-traffic web pages. O......Read More
961 Views
Jeff Beckham
Gem Sr. Director and Head of Product Marketing • December 17
A good question to ask before starting a sales playbook is, “what’s in it for them?” Good sales reps welcome support from anyone who can truly help them, and product marketers are well-positioned to provide that type of assistance. But I’ve made the mistake many times of taking the “build it and ......Read More
882 Views
Credentials & Highlights
Sr. Director and Head of Product Marketing at Gem
Lives In San Francisco
Knows About Competitive Positioning, Consumer Product Marketing, Product Marketing Career Path, P......more