Louis Debatte-Monroy

Product Marketers' main value add is their customer, market and product knowledge. It is also their ability to connect the dots between different parts of the company and its offerings. This takes time to build so it would be difficult to outsource. I wouldn't advise it on the long term. However, an external PMM consultant could be useful in setting up the right tools, frameworks and methodologies in a less mature company and team. Temporarily helping to build foundations and scale a team as an example.

Rather than projects, you can link seniority to the type and complexity of the projects. The more Senior the PMM, the more complex and strategic projects they will be expected to handle. This can be defined based on a few things: * How complex the projects are: a short single project or a long one with multiple workstreams? * How business critical the projects are: a small feature announcement vs a major product launch? * The number and seniority of stakeholders they have to work with: a simple Product Manager or the company's management board * The number of products/projects to be handled at the same time As an example, I expect a fairly junior Product Marketing Manager to be able to handle a simple, non-strategic product launch involving a limited set of stakeholders. But I wouldn't expect to be handle to defend a new strategy to the Management Board. But a Senior PMM should be able to drive progress on a full-on strategic Go To Market involving multiple workstreams and senior stakeholders.

You are not here to market products. That's the main thing I wish I knew. Would have saved me countless hours and tears. The number one mistake PMMs make is to start from the product. They organize weekly calls with the Product Manager. They devise elaborate to tell the world about this product. And they then they start fighting with Product Teams, having long debates on the overlap of responsibilities between PM and PMM, getting frustrated when the rest of the organization doesn't support their efforts, etc. So start from the customers and their pain points. And then find ways your company can solve them. Don't limit yourself to one product. Once I changed my approach to my role, I was able to broaden my scope and grow my impact.

A good question - there are many definitions around. What matters the most is to align your own organization with those definitions. Here are the definitions we agreed on in my organization: * Value Proposition is a simple statement that describes the overarching promise of a product, service or company. In other words: what your offering is. * Positioning is a more elaborate form of Value Proposition highlighting benefits and differentiators to a specific market segment/persona --> why it is relevant to your target buyer and how do we position it consistently towards them. * Messaging is an outline of narrative that defines how we communicate a Value Proposition to the market --> How we want to talk about it. Guides the creation of creative briefs, copy and content.

* Define (with your team) a short, memorable mission statement. * Create a short slide deck that introduce your team, its mission, what you stand for, and some of the work you're the most proud of * Show that deck to every new joiner, in the marketing organization, but also sales, product, etc. * Refer to that mission statement whenever you get a chance (it's your WHY): in strategy presentations, sales updates, team meetings, etc. I personally meet with every new joiner in our stakeholder group and I always tell them the same story. I ask my team members to do the same.

It's often difficult to get access to customers, especially in a B2B/Enterprise environment. Quite often, the account team will act as a gatekeeper and be wary of other people talking to "their" customer. Here's what typically worked for me and my team: 1) instead of positioning your project as a PMM research project (personas, testing, etc.), position it as something the Sales Team can benefit from (case studies/win-loss). Instead of: "I need to ask questions to your customers for my research project" Try: "I need to talk to your customer so I can build a case study that you'll be able to use to get more customers" 2) Watch the "Win" announcement emails and immediately jump on the occasion to try and get in touch. When a deal is just signed, both customers and account teams are typically "happy" and open to discussing. Again, using the case study excuse might be useful there. If you're in a more direct to buyer scenario (SaaS, developers), then I find that going to trade shows, hackathons, conferences is the best way to get some face time with your audience.

As PMMs we typically see ourselves as the glue, at the center of the Venn diagram between sales, marketing and product. But this is perhaps what causes us to burnout. We constantly try to "herd the cats" and to be everything to everyone. Instead, we should see ourselves as part of an ecosystem, where every team has a role to play, and every team has a responsibility to "connect the dots". Busy is easy. Focus is hard. Rather than trying to do everything right, focus on the 1-2 strategic projects that can create value for your company by addressing the most pressing issue: Is it to generate leads? Is it to convert those leads into customers? Is it to build the right products?