Would you advise someone looking to become a product marketing leader to get an MBA?

I personally think the biggest value of an MBA is in getting into product marketing. Most companies dont have APMM roles and so there isnt a ton of opportunities for true entry level roles. PMM roles tend to require mapping customers to narratives to products to marketing strategies, while being able to project manage your time and build relationships internally--thats a pretty nebulous charter, which is where the MBA comes in. For candidates who havent had luck moving internally from another role into product marketing, or are looking to make a complete career pivot, MBAs tend to give hiring teams a bit of security in the candidates ability to handle that workload. However, once youve started your PMM career, I dont think an MBA is then required to get to leadership roles within the company. You can get there with what you learn on the job and what you deliver while in your previous roles. 

Should you want to branch your skills out into areas where you may not have natural exposure, many of the leading business schools offer certificates that may allow you to sharpen a few skills that might help you in your overall development path; but I dont necessarily see a ton of value in an established PMM getting an MBA in order to get to leadership levels. Candidly, none of the promo conversations I've ever been in referenced a current employees education, and all were focused on impact created in the current org. 

An MBA is helpful but not required for product marketing. Relevant work experience is more important. About 40% of product marketing managers have an MBA, so it becomes one aspect of hiring criteria. Given two candidates with equal qualifications, the MBA could be the deciding factor. 

Consider the activities in product marketing: most of them require deep understanding of the market and its buyers. A strong product marketing manager needs to be a good researcher, a good communicator, and a good facilitator. Most product marketing managers do not do business cases or financial modeling or some of the strategic aspects taught in MBA programs.