What are the core hard skillsets a PMM needs to develop to be an effective full-stack marketer?

A full stack PMM requires the perfect mix of “left brain / right brain.” But there’s a reason why “whole brain” isn’t as popular of a cliché. I believe that anyone can build on their existing skills to succeed as a full stack PMM—whether that’s a data-driven person developing their creative/storytelling muscle or vice versa.

In general, the most successful PMMs I’ve seen exhibit these 4 traits; they’re:

• Evidence-based: They use quantitative and qualitative insights from the market, competitors, and customers to inform their GTM strategy, segmentation, positioning, and product recommendations.
• Customer-centric: They have a deep understanding of customer and market needs, ensuring customer empathy in all their work.
• Unifying: PMM uniquely sits between product, sales/CS, and marketing, driving collaboration between teams with product expertise at their core.
• Storytellers: Given their deep understanding of their target audience, pains, and product solutions, they can craft compelling narratives that serve as blueprints for other teams creating messaging and assets.

The best full-stack marketers can go broad and deep. From a hard skills POV, you'd need to know enough to build a plan across any marketing dimension (product, social, email, web, growth, strategy, etc.) but IMO its more about the soft skills to build relationships, know when to do a task vs bring in others, brand yourself as someone who gets the job done and delivers results and the mental model to always think big picture about customer impact and usage--that will bring more opportunities which will help create a full-stack marketer. 

There are several core hard skills that a product marketing manager (PMM) should develop in order to be an effective full-stack marketer. These skills include:

1. Product knowledge: A PMM should have the ability to quickly learn and gain a deep understanding of the product or service they are marketing, including its features, benefits, and unique value proposition. This includes understanding the product's target market, competitors, and differentiators.
2. Market research: PMMs should be skilled at conducting market research to gather insights into customer needs, pain points, and preferences, as well as market trends and competitors. This can involve conducting surveys, interviews, focus groups, or other forms of research to gather data and insights.
3. Marketing strategy: PMMs should be able to develop and execute marketing strategies that align with the product's overall goals and objectives. This involves creating a marketing plan that includes tactics such as public relations, advertising, content marketing, and sales enablement.
4. Data analysis: PMMs should be proficient at analyzing data and metrics to measure the effectiveness of marketing campaigns and make data-driven decisions. This can involve using tools such as Google Analytics, Salesforce, or other marketing and sales platforms to track and analyze data.
5. Communication and collaboration: PMMs should have strong communication and collaboration skills to effectively work with cross-functional teams, including product development, sales, and other stakeholders. This involves being able to clearly articulate the product's value proposition and marketing messages, and working closely with other teams to ensure alignment and coordination.