Product Marketing Advice I'm Thankful For.

I’ve been in tech marketing for more than 10 years.

I sometimes get LinkedIn requests from folks looking to break into Product Marketing, or current connections who are looking to make a career change into the field.

So I’ve compiled a few pieces of advice that I wish I’d had coming up through the trenches.

1. Align your aptitude with demand - If you think Product Marketing is the career for you, that’s awesome! But the role is varied, so you need to identify which parts of the role you’re strongest in, and determine how much demand is out there for those skills. The good news is that PMM is an in-demand role, the bad news is that every organization describes the role differently. Get a clear picture of what you like and want to focus on, then align your job search around those skills.

2. Learn to write for many different audiences - You might hear this described as positioning work, or persona work. Those are the functions of PMM that you will be responsible for, but being able to write for different audiences is the way you’ll accomplish those tasks. Practice writing the same thing for different types of people so that you can be more authentic, clear, and convincing.

3. Turn your current portfolio into a Product Marketing dream - Theoretically you already have examples of work in your portfolio. Whether these are projects from your last job, or final projects at school, these pieces represent opportunities to reframe them as Product Marketing work. With a little extra effort, you could identify the persona, positioning, messaging, competitive analysis, and Go-to-Market strategy for every project you’ve ever worked on — you might just need to get creative!

4. Adversity is still out there - I’m not going to lie to you. As a woman in tech, things are still hard, and I can’t forget the intersectionality of challenges facing our industry. If you’re finding yourself frustrated by challenges of inclusivity and lack-of-respect, please know that support and community are out here for you!

5. Keep up. - A few weeks ago I published a post about how to deal with change as a PMM. This is advice I wish I’d had earlier! So if you haven’t read that post, I encourage you to do so.