Confessions of a Product Marketer | Top 100 PMA PMM Influencer Report 2022

This is my second year receiving acknowledgment as one of the “Top 100 PMM Influencers” through the Product Marketing Alliance (PMA). Below, I’m sharing my comments in the report, with the intention that it may be useful for those who are interested in learning more about product marketing.

In the 2022 PMM Influencer Report, we were asked to share our reflections including predictions and advice we’d give to aspiring product marketers.

1) What tidbit of information would you offer a product marketer with aspirations of being named a product marketing influencer?

Make a commitment to become a steward of the industry and figure out ways you can take your direct experience and package it in a way that feels helpful and transformative for others. What have you learned during your tenure? What have been some of your greatest challenges? What would you have done differently? Where should you spend most of your time in order to be effective? Start writing about your experience today.

2) What’s your product marketing prediction for 2022?

I believe that the PMM industry is constantly evolving, and I’ve noticed a few trends: Many companies are trying to fit product marketers into their systems and processes, and I’ve found that PMM should be creating the system and processes that work best for PMM to create the most value. The role requires agency and elasticity as the GTM process can change based on the changing market dynamics and customer needs.

I also believe that PMM should not just be pegged to an output like a “launch”. A product launch is one milestone, and that product still needs to be managed with other products. Creating a program to understand customers is a constant, and should not be done once.

I believe that PMM requires a full-stack understanding of the product roadmap, the ecosystem, and the changing needs of the customer. I also believe that incorporating growth marketing into your knowledge of product marketing will be incredibly important as the role continues to evolve.

3) What are your tips for customer-centric marketing?

Clarity is the key to understanding how to create customer-centric marketing materials. While I think it’s important to have a future-forward point of view on your industry and product roadmap, it’s also just as important to ensure that your marketing resonates with your customer. Oftentimes, disparate teams within a company claim to know what the customer wants and need.

Even worse, many of these same teams don’t have a unified and digestible report that can be implemented directly into the product roadmap. Without a constant and consistent pulse on the customer, and a systemized process to collect customer feedback, marketing is often driving in the dark when creating marketing strategies and material.

4) What’s been your personal highlight in your product marketing career, so far?

Creating my publication about product marketing on Medium, writing my first book product marketing debunked, and then two others, along with creating my product marketing agency all top the list. I started writing about product marketing in 2017 as a way to voice some of the major takeaways I learned in-house, and it’s always been fun to receive two-way feedback from readers.

I’ve also enjoyed the 25+companies and leadership teams I’ve worked with across a variety of industries. I’ve learned so much from all the exposure I’ve had across so many different types of customers, and products. I love the impact I’ve made on the companies I’ve consulted with and the way they’ve implemented a new way of thinking about product marketing for their business.

5) Why is product marketing important to you, and what does a good product marketer look like?

Product marketing is one of the hardest roles within a technology company, and it’s a role that requires so many diverse skill sets. I think I’ve gravitated to it because I love listening to customers, and I love the journey toward putting those products in the hands of customers. I believe PMM’s have a great responsibility to influence the trajectory of society through the way we infuse our opinions and customer feedback into the product roadmap.

A good product marketer is one who is a great writer, diplomatic, versatile, a great communicator, curious, and asks “why”.

You can check out the full report here.

If you’d like to learn more about Product Marketing, stay in touch and subscribe. If you’d like more in-depth tools on how to take your product to market, you can check out my go-to-market workshop.

My latest book, The Launch: A Product Marketer’s Guide, is now available on Amazon. I also wrote the book “Product Marketing Debunked. The Essential Go-To-Market Guide” which you can purchase on Amazon.