AMA: Instruqt VP of Marketing, Sean Lauer on Building a Product Marketing Team

When evaluating a product marketing management (PMM) team that oversees multiple products or operates within a matrixed structure, high-level or aggregate metrics play a crucial role. While micro-level data might be necessary to drive specific metrics, it is essential to measure team performance at a broader level to gauge overall team health. By examining team-level measurements, leaders can gain valuable insights into the effectiveness and efficiency of their PMM team's operations. Some examples of metrics are: * Team NPS (broken out by internal stakeholder groups) * Adoption rate of new features * Product usage (i.e. DAU or MAU) * Customer retention rate * Lead gen and/or conversion rates * Sales revenue and growth First, assess these metrics at the team level and then dive deeper to understand drivers. A combination of high-level and granular metrics offers a holistic view of the PMM team's performance, enabling leaders to understand the impact of their strategies and initiatives on a broader scale while also delving into specific areas that require attention and optimization. By leveraging these metrics, PMM teams can align their efforts with organizational goals, drive meaningful outcomes, and continuously enhance their contributions to the company's overall success. When it comes to demonstrating a PMM team's impact through these metrics, there are a handful of key strategies that one can use: * Regular reporting via a single source of truth or dashboard (i.e. Google Sheet, Slides, Notion doc, etc.) * Case studies and success stories to make the impact more tangible * Customer research and reporting to quantify the impact beyond key metrics * Education to explain how PMM impacts the customer journey and company trajectory

The key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics will differ between product marketing managers (PMM) and various teams, depending on the stakeholders involved: * Product and PMM collaboration success can be measured by: * Product feature adoption * DAUs/MAUs * Customer NPS or CSAT * Sales and PMM collaboration success can be measured by: * Leads generated * Lead conversion (i.e. MQL to SQL) * Sales cycle * Win rates * New business revenue * Customer Success and PMM collaboration success can be measured by: * Revenue retention * Churn rate * DAUs/MAUs * Product feature adoption * Expansion revenue It's important to note that no single metric can fully gauge the impact of PMM. However, a combination of the aforementioned KPIs can provide a close approximation. Since the responsibilities of a PMM team can differ from one company to another, selecting the right metrics is crucial for demonstrating the team's impact.

When evaluating a product marketing management (PMM) team that oversees multiple products or operates within a matrixed structure, high-level or aggregate metrics play a crucial role. While micro-level data might be necessary to drive specific metrics, it is essential to measure team performance at a broader level to gauge overall team health. By examining team-level measurements, leaders can gain valuable insights into the effectiveness and efficiency of their PMM team's operations. Some examples of metrics are: * Team NPS (broken out by internal stakeholder groups) * Adoption rate of new features * Product usage (i.e. DAU or MAU) * Customer retention rate * Lead gen and/or conversion rates * Sales revenue and growth First, assess these metrics at the team level and then dive deeper to understand drivers. A combination of high-level and granular metrics offers a holistic view of the PMM team's performance, enabling leaders to understand the impact of their strategies and initiatives on a broader scale while also delving into specific areas that require attention and optimization. By leveraging these metrics, PMM teams can align their efforts with organizational goals, drive meaningful outcomes, and continuously enhance their contributions to the company's overall success.

A lot of people will sum up the role of PMM as "the voice of the customer." However, this explanation falls short of clearly defining swim lanes and also crosses into other areas like customer marketing, content marketing, research, etc. The simplest way to describe the PMM role is "the voice of the product." Here's why: * As the voice of the product, you need to be focused on both the inbound and outbound sides of PMM * As the voice of the product, you need to be the connective tissue amongst all teams that touch the product or sell the product * As the voice of the product, your role is more clearly defined when working with other marketing stakeholders—PMM drives or is the approver of work related to the voice of the product

For me, a full-stack product marketer is someone who is strong with both inbound and outbound PMM. You can partner well with key stakeholders like sales, customer success, product, marketing counterparts, and even the executive leadership team (PMM is, after all, directly connected to strategy). You're a Swiss Army Knife when it comes to being the voice of the product and can solve problems no matter what is thrown your way. In most cases, you will flex different skill sets up and down depending on various factors like the nature of the product itself, the maturity of the company, and the strengths and weaknesses of key stakeholders.

As a newly appointed product marketing manager (PMM) in a rapidly expanding business, it's essential to pay attention to the following critical aspects for success: 1. Build the Foundation: Lay the groundwork by conducting thorough market and customer research. This is the key to refining the positioning of the product and crafting compelling messaging that resonates with the target audience. 2. Address "One-to-Many" Deliverables: Leverage your skills to create scalable marketing programs and strategies that can effectively reach and engage with various stakeholders simultaneously as the business expands. 3. Ruthlessly Prioritize: Recognize the importance of prioritizing tasks. It's unrealistic to tackle everything at once. By prioritizing, you can ensure that the most critical initiatives are given the attention they deserve. 4. Don't Let Perfect Be the Enemy of Good: In this rapid-growth scenario, you don't have the luxury of time. Quick and dirty solutions will often suffice. It's important to set expectations with your manager and key stakeholders, but you'll often realize that good is good enough.

It's important to note that the answer to this question will vary from company to company. First, you should have a good understanding of the current situation in order to identify the most pressing needs. Where are the biggest fires? Where can your effort make the biggest impact? It's also crucial to be aware of your own strengths and weaknesses. I strongly believe in hiring to complement your weaknesses. You don't have to excel at everything. Instead, hire someone who can take on tasks and free up your time to focus on areas where you are stronger. Consider this new hire as your deputy or partner. In a rapidly growing SaaS startup, spending a lot of time training a new hire may not be feasible. Bring on someone who has prior experience and is capable of solving problems. Similarly, focus on hiring someone motivated by the "messiness" of a fast-growing startup.

When establishing a Product Marketing Management (PMM) team, it is essential to consider the following factors: * The product's target audience and whether it addresses a single use case or caters to various audiences. * Whether in-depth technical knowledge is necessary to comprehend and promote the product effectively. * The organizational structure of the product management team. * The composition of the sales team or the absence thereof. * The current and prospective marketing functions within the organization. * The driving force behind the product's growth, whether it is propelled by sales, marketing, the product itself, or a combination of these factors, such as Product-Led Growth (PLG) or Sales-Led Growth (SLG) strategies.