Leah Brite

We break down product marketing’s work into four buckets and work with product as follows during each of the phases: Market Strategy, Customer Insights & Product Roadmap. PMM leads market, competitive, and customer/prospect research to uncover key customer problems. We analyze market data, hone competitive intelligence, and draw on prospect and customer insights to illuminate product/market fit. We collaborate with the product team throughout this whole process to identify and prioritize big ...Read More

The PMM org structure is highly variable based on the company – and also shifts and changes through a company’s lifecycle to best meet company needs.  There are four primary structures Product lines (i.e. Software, service, etc) Customer segments (i.e., small business, mid-market, enterprise, accountant), Functional (i.e. insights, product strategy, GTM, monetization, sales enablement) - Not my favorite as I think PMMs do their best work when they are deep on the customer problem and product sol ...Read More

Upfront, I just want to call out something that you all likely already know - PMM’s strategic and interconnected role makes it difficult to pinpoint and measure impact. Strategic, foundational work is hard to measure. And being so interconnected means that there are heaps of dependencies and variables. Shared goals and metrics are part of the job, so get comfortable with that. Build communicative, productive partnerships with the teams that have shared goals and align on the approach. Celebrate ...Read More

First 30 days:  Onboard and get all the context! Learn about your customers (firmographic info, top segments, their pain points, where they spend time, how they enter the buying process, who influences their decision, ICP, JTBD, etc. Consume all the research that has been done if anything exists), your company (org chart, how decisions get made, unwritten rules, values, how to get things done, etc.), market (trends, competitors, sizing), your product (how it works, top competitive solutions, gap ...Read More

The Why: AI isn't replacing PMMs– it's becoming our research assistant, content accelerator, and pattern-recognition partner. The PMMs who'll thrive are those who use AI to eliminate busy work so they can focus on strategic thinking, customer empathy, and cross-functional collaboration that only humans can do well. How I use AI: Customer research synthesis: I run transcripts and survey responses through AI to quickly spot themes and sentiment. Content creation acceleration: AI helps me create fi ...Read More

Internal comms are so key given the highly xfn role of PMM. I’ve also found them crucial given that some of the outcomes PMMs drive are less tangible than some functions like Demand Gen.  The best channels to communicate updates depend on size of company, tier of update, and goal of the comms. For a moderately scaled org and tier 2 update, here is an example by stage of product dev. Kickoff. Host a kick off call for everyone that will be involved in the GTM (e.g. channel partners, product, sales ...Read More

The Why: PMMs sit at the intersection of competing priorities. You’re constantly influencing without authority, aligning cross-functional teams, and driving decisions without being the final decision-maker. That’s less about “negotiation” in the classic sense—and more about building strategic alignment through storytelling, empathy, and trust. And when it comes to leaders? They’re juggling limited time, limited data, and big bets. Your job isn’t to convince them you’re right—it’s to give them th ...Read More

Start with data. Ground your messaging in first and third party data that illuminates what is important to your target customers, key pain points, aspirations, how they like to be messaged to, language they use, etc. Show your work -- don’t just include the suggested messaging in the doc; add an appendix or reference section that demonstrates a thoughtful approach that is grounded in the data. Next, see if you can get some quick feedback from target customers on your messaging to further validat ...Read More

A few things come to mind to try: Create a brief for the sales enablement assets upfront. Succinctly outline what your objectives are in priority order, who the target audience is, and some brief details on what’s important and likely to appeal to them. This brief is also a great place to outline your RACI/DACI/RAPID to create clarity on what each person’s role is in the project. When conflicting opinions arise, try to leverage your brief to realign the stakeholders around what is important. Bri ...Read More

I’d start by doing a listening tour. Understand where they are in their PMM learning journey (have they worked with PMM before? How much do they know about the role?), needs or pain points they have, and their expectations of you in the role (not all of which will be correct nor need to be fulfilled). This will help you understand how much education and alignment you’ll need to build. Then, get to work crafting your PMM lane. Clearly specify what you will (and won’t) do, where the handoff points ...Read More