AMA: Crossbeam Senior Director Product Marketing, Amanda Groves on Building a Product Marketing Team

Great question, I look at the data to identify areas of red and strategize against those ebbs and flows overtime. It's easy to get excited by ideas, but the data we have is the most tangible means of assessing performance/needs. Beyond data assessment, I have a regular sync with front line teams to suss out what's working, their needs, and also tour competitive playing field to ensure our bases are covered. These exercises ensure I'm approaching PMM execution and priorization with an informed lens (both quant/qual information gathering is the goal). Questions I keep for team members floating new projects: * What sales collateral are you using the most? Why? * If you had a magic wand and could have one new asset, what would it be? * How will this [project] scale overtime? How will we measure success? * How can this be done from a crawl, walk, run approach? (test our way to what good looks like)

PMMs often are measured by output, since most of what we provide are tied to other metrics. I would focus on delivering tangible assets on a regular cadence (case studies, one-pagers, pitch decks, etc) and in parallel - measuring utilization metrics like: product activation, MAUs, reactivations, attach rate, conversion velocity etc. These two streams (tangible output + metrics) cover your bases, establish influence and prove growth (worthy of promotion).

Great question. TL;DR: Put in the time up front to know what you want in the role, set your expectations for the hiring team, and establish what you could compromise on along with the non-negotiables. Do you have a 70-80% of your hit rate on non-negotiables? That's a solid candidate right there, lean into that. Also know that it's better to wait for the right hire v. feel pressured to hire fast because of the "labor market". Everything is fluid, and the cost of a bad hire is far worse (up to 30% of the employee's salary) v. waiting things out. Long-ish answer: It all starts with setting clear expectations for everyone involved (internal hiring team and candidates). Before the job hits the market - define and confirm the candidate's hiring process. For example, based on seniority of the position suss out: * will there be a take home assignment? * panel? how many folks should join? * which folks from cross-functional teams should we involve? (given the intersection of PMM it's wise to consider front line team members like CS, Sales, and of course product team members). * portfolio review? For each member of the hiring team, we share their role in the process along with the key dimensions we're looking for them to suss out. In terms of tech - you can't put a price on a solid ATS (applicant tracking system). We use Greenhouse to track everything, candidate score cards, knock out/screening questions, interview guides, etc - this keeps everyone accountable for their role and the candidate pipeline running smoothly. We are very clear on the job requisite so the candidates know what's expected of them. We outline who they'll meet in the hiring process, what the interview sequencing looks like and any time commitments they need to make for assessments/portolfio reviews. For the hiring committee, we meet to formally "kick off" the job once we have some solid candidates in the pipe and start interviewing. We make it clear what we're looking for in terms of soft/hard skills, attributes, culture fit, and provide a list of questions to get ideation flowing. We aim to keep time to fill under 40 days (ish) and are normally successful because of the work we (and the amazing people ops team) put in upfront. 

Biggest learnings on scaling a business globally: * etablish product market fit in core market first. * beta/pilot core PMF offering in new markets before going big on strategy/execution. listen/learn and adjust to market reactions (in terms of positioning/messaging) and enable team from there. * messaging is not one-size-fits all - test your way to what good looks like. * decentralize PMM to support global efforts. 

I stay aligned with my leadership by building in public. I share our on-going updates on Slack to ensure teams know what's on our plate, along with performance stats and learnigns. I also utilize all hands and MBRs to share what's working, what's not, and plans for executing against goals. Agility comes from staying centered on the north stars. As long as I'm working on the business priorities, I'm able to take on tasks that help us perform against goals (or remove what isn't) to stay focused, aligned, and agile.

We have an established cadence of enablement with our internal teams where we bundle features/collateral into market themes. When rolling out a new feature, we organize content into two buckets: technical (CS) and value story (sales). For the value story elements: we create "how to sell" slides and a launch packet that includes case studies, demo overview videos, and other relevant material for the sales cycle. We then quiz the remote sales team on their learnings (via Kahoot!) to keep folks accountable before GTM push. 

Notion. Notion. Notion. We use Notion for everything and build product and product marketing operating systems on Notion. My VP of Product and myself have built databases that automatically alert us as items move across the product development lifecycle. This triggers cues for PMM when we need to lean into certain projects (once they've hit the development stage v. scoping for example). Beyond Notion, I've established a formal tiering process for new features that involves a calculator and product marketing brief to suss out impact/launch plan. These are my tools for managing scope creep and timeline adjustments.

The biggest challege (for me) is certainly managing alignment across product and product marketing. As teams grow and scale broadens, working in a distributed manner across the globe makes it hard to stay in touch/row in the same direction. The best way I've found to influence the global product marketing strategy is to make time (early mornings/late evenings) for 1:1s with your global peers. During this time, ensure you have tangible assets for them to review (related to your strategy/philosophies, proof points) to build trust and rapport. When 1:1s can't be established, influence via visuals: looms, gif overviews, slide decks etc. Storytelling is powerful and visual assets help to bridge those learning and enablement gaps quickly no matter where your team is located. Above all - care and be kind. That matters and builds trust. And trust = influence.

I always start with Why. Why don't the regional teams find that product valuable? Who exactly and what data (quant/qual) do they have to support it isn't valuable? Start with asking more questions - then present defensible proof points (from customer's who've adopted/expressed interest in the product) via case studies, utilization data, rev gen, etc - to show the value. Customers are the ultimate aligner, use their stories to get buy in where doubt has been cast. 

Create and distribute a brand style guide and strategic narrative. Make sure your team is able to give a short pitch, long pitch, demo and is certified on all three. Force Management's Command of the Message framework is a great way to ensure large teams are speaking consistently and presenting value-driven messaging across the customer journey. 

Since rev gen/attainment is our north star, we prioritize efforts based on TAM per region. There are also localization dependencies for a global SaaS strategy, so we work with security and legal to ensure our product is servicable to global solutions before prioritizing market entry/SoW takeover. Fortunately, many of the assets we create in the US market can be repurposed in a global environment, we just depend on boots on the ground resources to reorient for common use cases/provide market feedback to us so we can course-correct for fit across EMEA, APAC, LATAM and other target markets.

Firstly, I'm always happy to be a resource on this subject - just ping me on LinkedIn, this is quite a meaty ask/task. I would suggest splitting product coverage between the two of you, and contract out (via consultants) anything where you need additional coverage for long-term projects i.e., partner marketing, voice of the customer work. The growing cost of an external vendor can help make the case (sooner rather than later) for internal dedicated resources. In terms of hierachy of product prioritization, tackle the areas that will support customer activation and adoption first. Not everything all at once. Scan your support queue (tickets) and listen to calls to also get a holistic sense of business needs. Also - save your "yes's" for this most impactful projects, index on saying "no, but..." to save time and headspace.

1. PMM with Sales: I ask for links to chorus/gong calls to listen to customer's positioning. We tackle enterprise needs on-going and jam on enablement materials + content market fit. I also pitch new concepts/messaging to sales for reaction and ask for on-going market feedback on concepts/campaigns. Success is measured by revenue attainment but more specifically, how PMM can influence closed/won rate - deal velocity - pipe gen - upsell/expansion and AVC. Deliverables: pitch decks, one-pagers, enablement content, demo overview videos, snippets, outreach templates, case studies, eBooks/playbooks, persona guides 2. PMM with CSM: Similar motions as above but more from the technical able lens (v. value story with sales). Success is measured by land and expand, net retention, NPS, engagement and utilization. Deliverables: knowledgebase articles, snippets/outreach templates, messaging guidance, overview videos, product tours, one-pagers, eBooks/playbooks, case studies, events/webinars 3. PMM with Marketing: We meet pretty regularly but focus on integrated campaigns/growth goals. We measure success by PQLs generated, funnel conversion and overarching project execution. Deliverables for marketing mostly consist of launch plans, positioning + messaging docs, product overviews, videos, scripts, outlines, case studies, reviews, webinars, newsletters, slide decks. etc. 4. PMM with Product: we meet weekly with product and individually with PMs as product/features advance throughout roadmap. Goals: attach rate, WAUs/MAUs, utiliaztion, use case activation. Deliverables - executing launch plans and meeting attach goals, case studies, messaging + positioning, 

A bit of both. My ideal PMM sqad has a set of core product marketing folks that are organized by product line. In addition to core product marketing, my team owns customer marketing, lifecycle marketing, competitive marketing + analyst relations. With the core discipline + specialization you can tackle the majors and minors of what good looks like (at scale) for PMM.

It depends on seniority level of hire, but typically I look for experience in a customer-centric role: marketing or customer success in SaaS (B2B a plus). Key attributes for me are: detail oriented/technical prowess, storytelling/written abilities, empathy, collaborative, curious, systems mindset and high level of owernship/autonomy. You can suss out traits like these by choosing a short take home assignment upfront as a screening assessment. Ask the candidate to "teach you something" (anything, not necessary tech-specific). The process of teaching will tease out most of the above and also show (v. tell) their skill level + fit for your business. Other questions could be: * Tell me about a complex solution you marketed - how did you ensure the internal team and customers understood the value and got excitement from the offering? * How do you prioritize competing projects across teams? * How do you measure success of your programs? * How do you stay up to date on industry trends?

It definitely depends on the company stage/goals. So I start there - get alignment from exec leadership on what the company North Stars are and begin building a crawl, walk, run strategy to cover departmental growth. In parallel to strategic alignment with leadership/executive team - you must, I stress MUST, complete listening tours. * Meet with your customers * Meet with your prospects * Meet with your sales team * Meet with your customer success team * Meet with your product team Listen to how they talk about their pains, needs, wants and dreams. The listening tours will crystallize areas of need and allow you to place a strategic lens on the buisness priorities that ladder up into overarching company goals. For most well-oiled PMM teams, the PMM leader will establish the foundational GTM launch process (inclusive of tiering + enablement) with the help of cross-functional stakeholders. This is the first thing many PMM focus on while companies establish PMF. Next, it's important to understand product utilization stats to inform programming across 4 A's: (awareness, activation, adoption, advocacy). This could look like launching a product newsletter, webinar series, in-app tours, nurture campaign etc, but again, highly dependent on business needs. In parallel, develop your messaging, positioning, and strategic narrative frameworks to begin influencing enablement programming. These are the heavy hitting projects/intiatives a PMM should tackle, first!

I do not consider PMM accountable for pipeline, no. We certainly influence overarching business performance (everyone on staff does whether directly or indirectly) but to me: marketing (traditional demand gen/content) builds the pipeline along with an outbound motion from sales. From there, PMM can influence velocity of customer journey stages via nurture campaigns, but ultimately sales/revops is responsible for actively forecasting, weighting, and reporting on pipeline. Because I am not accountable for pipeline, I don't have a defensible answer to how I keep sales folks honest in how they weight/forecast pipeline. However RevOps does this very well (here) and there are tons of tools to help sales folks get this right more often than they get it wrong! Clari for example...6sense...definitely would recommend a peek at those tools to help get alignment on pipe gen/performance

Revenue is the tippy top north star metric. But you can slice and dice how PMM influences revenue based on revenue stage. I like to think about measuring PMM using the 4 A framework: Awareness - demand gen/PQLs Activation - registered users/engagement Adoption - land and expand/utilization Advocacy - NPS/CSAT/net retention The PMM function is then split/specalized to inform the above majors and minors, which ultimately influences revenue.

I tend to coalesce early-ish stage PMM teams by product pillar/functionality. For example, if you group certain features into capabilities, split roadmap ownership betwee you and your PMM. Bucket those product capabilities and divide and conquer (full PMM GTM lifecycle responsibilities). Once you've achieved product market fit, you can consider organizing the team by relevant personas and begin to hire specializations like: core PMM, customer marketing, lifecycle marketing, competitive intel, etc. But definitely index on hiring generalists that have a platforms & systems mindset. These folks can scale and that's what you need when it's a small but mighty team. 

How do you define product marketing? How do you measure success? What is your superpower? What do you wish I asked that I didn't? What's a brand you think is marketed poorly. Why? What would you do to improve it? Tell me about your favorite campaign, career win, or highlight. Why does that spark joy for you? What inspires you? What brings you energy? Why product marketing?

Why product marketing? - Tells me their motivations. If they have a drive to serve customers and a discipline for storytelling, it'll shine through. If not, I'll know it's not a good fit. How do you define and measure success of product marketing? - It's important to suss out if your philosophical belief/metrics in PMM aligns with your candidates' view. They can often be different, and in some cases that's okay! But this question is a great level-setter to establish domain expertise, perspective on the craft and trajectory. What is your superpower? - This question tells me a lot about their percieved strenghts. I love when a candidate lands on "storytelling" or "nailing a process". "Curiosity". The attributes here should ladder-up into the dimensions you need in a PMM candidate, and I find this authentically teases those out a bit more v. a resume or "walk me through.." type question.

Protect your calendar! Set aside Do Not Disturb (DND) time for strategic thinking and honor that time. Try to establish a "no meeting" day at your business where you have dedicated space to GSD and think strategically. Set the expectation that if you accept a meeting, there must be a clear agenda along with expected outcomes for your attendance. That helps to narrow down how to spend time so you can prioritize the most valuable/impactful sessions. I also run a lot so that helps to create space for deep thought/strategic work. Also where my best creative thoughts come from!