Orinna Barton

It’s important to prove out the value of product marketing in the organization, and also your value as the product marketing leader, before you even think about hiring. This is especially true in organizations that have never had the function before and may not fully understand the scope of PMM. Once you demonstrate your value to the organization, justifying that first hire will go much smoother. It also shows you aren’t afraid to do the work, to get your hands dirty. Lastly, it gives you a chance to really learn the ropes at your company first so you have a better sense of what you need from the role — what type of PMM hire, their focus areas, and get a sense of how you’d structure the team once you get even more headcount (with less friction for your first). Once you’ve demonstrated product marketing’s value (i.e. your value), leadership and your cross-functional partners in product, sales, etc. will be hungry for more. You’ll know you’re ready for your first hire when you have too much work on your plate to do it well. You can make a clear case for why you need additional headcount, which will be easier to do when everyone just wants more! Make sure you articulate what the increased capability on your team will enable for the business. As for setting them up for success, I love a 30-60-90, that they co-create with you so they feel a sense of ownership and investment in the plan. I’ve seen many great frameworks on Sharebird already on this! And especially with your first hire, be upfront and transparent that things will change as the company evolves and the team grows. Good luck!

I like operating under a “full-stack” product marketing model, where PMMs work across the entire product lifecycle. In this approach, product marketing is involved from the very start of product development, all the way to launch and beyond. Organizing and aligning teams by product works well with the full-stack approach, so that tends to be my preference. I especially enjoy this configuration in product-led companies, where a PMM can deeply embed themselves within the product teams they’re partnering with. That being said, my answer to this will also vary based on the company. There are two things in particular I consider: 1. What the company is focusing its GTM efforts on — what segments and/or strategies they’re prioritizing. Consider your company strategy right now: are you focusing heavily on distinct customer segments? If so, consider mapping the product marketing team to those to maximize effectiveness. 2. How big the product marketing team is. When the product marketing team is just starting out, it’s simply not big enough for hard lines between roles. You can carve out general focus areas for your team where it makes sense — by product, solution, company size, industry/vertical — but don’t set them in stone. Keep it fluid, especially in a startup environment. Team structure can and should change as the company evolves.

This will depend on whether you’re joining other PMMs currently at the company or building the function for the first time from the ground up — I’ll assume the latter. While your cross-functional stakeholders will probably care more about external-facing assets, you should prioritize building internal-facing materials as well. If you skip the foundational things, you’ll only make it harder on yourself later. Internal-facing, foundational materials: * Messaging guides for company-level messaging (if it doesn’t exist), product-level messaging (for core products), industry/vertical messaging (if relevant). Once you have all of these in place, you can quickly spin up all sorts of external-facing materials. Make sure to refresh them regularly as your product evolves! * Product launch framework, which should include your tiering definitions and strategy. Don’t feel like you need to stick to a rigid framework — especially when you’re the only PMM. However, I consider it a helpful resource for educating cross-functional partners and justifying why not everything can be a tier 1. * Enablement hub or content repository, if it doesn’t already exist. Sales and CS will thank you for organizing enablement content in a single place! * Competitive battlecards are great quick hitting wins for sales. Plus, you can start creating them while you’re ramping and familiarizing yourself with the competition. * Personas can be a massive undertaking, so this shouldn’t necessarily be something you start on day 1 if they don’t already exist. But sooner than later this should be on your radar. External-facing assets: * Before you start creating anything, get input from sales and other stakeholders on what key materials they need to be refreshed or created net new. Prioritize the list and get alignment. * This list could really be anything — sales decks, website updates, product launch materials, customer-facing roadmap, etc. — depending on your company’s needs.

Because product marketing’s work is so cross-functional in nature, many PMM goals will be co-owned with other teams. And to some degree, my answer would depend on the company. In a smaller company with fewer distinct roles, I think PMM can have greater influence over a wider variety of metrics. In bigger orgs, there may be entire teams dedicated to certain metrics. For example, in a company with a customer education team driving customer onboarding and education, that team will be measured directly against activation or adoption metrics. In a smaller organization, that may sit with some combination of product marketing, product, and CS. But generally, here are the metrics I’d say: * Win rate. It’s PMMs job to be a partner to sales in converting prospects to closed-won customers. This is a great bottom-of-funnel metric to ensure the rubber hits the road and your GTM strategy and messaging are working. * Pipeline creation. It’s critical that the PMM team develops positioning and messaging that deeply resonates with their target audience and attracts the right potential customers. If they’re doing that well, it will show up as pipeline creation and/or contribution. * Product adoption. This should be a shared goal with the product team, but it’s important for PMMs to have a stake in whether the roadmaps they’re inputting on and the products they’re launching are driving toward adoption — and ultimately customer value and revenue.

This can be challenging at first, but it’s absolutely essential to start doing not just for your own career growth, but for your team’s growth as well. Try to delegate a mix of different types of things: quick wins, more strategic projects, etc. Don’t just default to delegating the easier things. You’re responsible for your direct report’s career path right now — lead with empathy and take that seriously. Think about their gaps and opportunities for growth and try to fill them with relevant initiatives that will help them learn. Even if it’s a high-profile, challenging, or strategic project, if you think they can handle it with your help, go for it! Just lean in more, as needed — be more supportive, offer extra 1:1s while they’re working on something tough, or add office hours to reduce friction and make it easy for them to get guidance from you. It will feel like more work for you in the beginning, but it will be worth it in the long run!