Why product marketers must understand product management

I want to talk about something that’s been on my mind for a while — and I say this with care, not criticism.

There’s a growing gap between what product marketers could be doing and what we’re actually known for inside many product organizations. I think that gap often starts with one simple truth:

Too many product marketers don’t truly understand product.

We all know how to describe features and write crisp messaging. I’m talking about understanding how products are built, shaped, and prioritised, and understanding the tension between short-term roadmap and long-term vision. It is knowing the trade-offs behind every “why now” and every “not yet.”

These trade-offs are emotional, political, and contextual. They’re shaped by leadership pressures, revenue commitments, legacy architecture, and moments where we just have to ship something. PMMs who don’t understand that world will struggle to meet PMs where they really are.

I say this as someone who came up through product management before moving into product marketing. I’ve sat in backlog sessions, design sprints, made bets under pressure, and shipped things that didn’t land. I’ve also worked with some incredible PMs who were understandably sceptical of product marketing — because, frankly, they’d…