RJ Gazarek

Principal Product Marketing Manager, Refactored Marketing, LLC

Content

What is your favorite product marketing interview question and the best answer you've heard?

RJ Gazarek

Refactored Marketing, LLC Principal Product Marketing Manager • January 17

Let me give you the one interview question, out of every interview I've ever been to, that literally stumped me. "Give me a time that you were the most creative". It stumped me at the time because I approach my role in PMM from a very systematic, repeatable, scalable, and data driven approa......Read More

3376 Views

What are the fundamental differences between a PMM and a senior PMM? What are some clear indicators that someone is ready to take on a senior PMM role and the responsibilities that come with it?

RJ Gazarek

Refactored Marketing, LLC Principal Product Marketing Manager • April 3

For me, it was primarily just based on experience, and having done a number of launches, GTM planning, messaging, buyer/market analysis, etc - that I know what to look out for, and don't need a lot of hand holding. You can read about how to do our work, but until you are in the trenches and learn......Read More

1781 Views

What did you wish you knew at the very beginning of your product marketing career as a Product Marketing Manager?

RJ Gazarek

Refactored Marketing, LLC Principal Product Marketing Manager • February 19

I was lucky at the beginning of my PMM career, because I got into a pretty solid group that understood exactly what PMM did and didn't do. But I think my advice to people would be to really understand and grasp the craft of product marketing. We're not just writers - if we wanted to do that, we w......Read More

1374 Views

What are the biggest frustrations you have as a product marketing manager?

RJ Gazarek

Refactored Marketing, LLC Principal Product Marketing Manager • February 19

For me right now - it's that the craft of Product Marketing isn't fully realized by both people in Product Marketing and companies. There is a pretty stark difference between someone who markets products and someone who is a product marketer. I find that people who market products are heavily foc......Read More

1363 Views

What future executive role should I be shooting for as a Product Marketing Manager if you don't want to be a CMO?

RJ Gazarek

Refactored Marketing, LLC Principal Product Marketing Manager • February 21

Depending how you work your career, you could easily aim for a CPO role (Chief Product Officer). You may have to spend a few years as a product manager - but as a PMM, you and your PM should be two hands of the same body. Everything my PMs do and know, I know as a PMM - I don't get into the engin......Read More

1195 Views

How do you break into a product marketing role?

RJ Gazarek

Refactored Marketing, LLC Principal Product Marketing Manager • February 19

I agree with everything Dave has written, another role I would look for is someone in Content Marketing who has worked with Product Marketing, and wants to get into how the sausage is made. Understanding what the otherside of that world looks like, can be valuable coming into PMM, because when yo......Read More

1159 Views

What are some examples of different projects that Product Marketing Managers at different levels would own? For example, a PMM vs a Senior PMM vs a Director of Product Marketing?

RJ Gazarek

Refactored Marketing, LLC Principal Product Marketing Manager • January 17

Another avenue that some companies take, is the TYPE of PMM you are. So you can be a product marketer, a solution marketing, a segment marketer, a vertical marketer - these all still fall under the role of Product Marketing, but rather than focusing specifically on tacitical to strategy, they're ......Read More

1086 Views

Where do you see the future of Growth & Product Marketing heading? What skills will a future Growth & Product Marketer need, that he/she doesn't have today?

RJ Gazarek

Refactored Marketing, LLC Principal Product Marketing Manager • February 21

More towards being data driven and on the strategic side. I love Product Marketing because it is a very "scientific" craft, you don't really have to guess at anything. You get out there, understand your target market, talk to buyers/users/champions/decision makers, understand their pains, and the......Read More

1050 Views

How do you prioritize your product marketing projects and still make time for ad-hoc requests?

RJ Gazarek

Refactored Marketing, LLC Principal Product Marketing Manager • January 15

We do this in our team at Veracode! So we actually operate in a SCRUM/Agile fashion, with 2 week sprints. We point all of our work, and plan for an 80% capacity. This ensure we have time to drive ad-hoc requests and return immediate value to the business when they come up. In the event that we do......Read More

887 Views

A lot of companies struggle to see the value of product marketing. What is the best way of measuring product marketing ROI?

RJ Gazarek

Refactored Marketing, LLC Principal Product Marketing Manager • January 15

Mike makes a good point - in that it can be hard to help people see the value that PMM brings to the table. When I'm looking to take on a job in a new company, it's one of the first things I try to sniff out is what the company's view is on Product Marketing (e.g. do they just view product market......Read More