Here's how you can stay current in product marketing as a late career professional.

I was put in charge of product marketing after a 20+ year career in Sales (channel distribution, Apple, NETGEAR) and a few years as VP Product. That helped me in a sense that I had a global perspective, I knew the customer's mind and the way our sales channels operate. The part where I had to learn was how Product Marketing teams operate. Very methodic, target-driven, constantly looking at the clock, asset-centric. What they often forget is to do a field reality check. That was one of the major reasons I got the role, to bring the field perspective. Still today I have that same reflex. "Did you test this content?". A great way of solving this disconnect is to do some rotation on the job, send Product Marketeers to trade-shows or the field.

Learn, Learn, Learn. Even late in your career, embracing new tools, techniques, and methodologies is crucial. This could include taking online courses, attending workshops, or simply keeping up with industry news. Personally, Just dedicate a little time each week to explore new Mar-Tech and growth strategies that product companies are adopting.

Curiosity, growth mindset, and thirst for learning will serve you well at all stages of your career. The world is always changing and there are always new avenues to explore. The value of being a late career PMM is your ability to pattern match faster and more easily than folks that are earlier stage. (Especially if you’ve been a lifelong learner!) Even amongst the change and newness, there are cycles that repeat themselves like the refrain of a familiar song. Being able to see the old and recognizable within the new is a superpower that enables you to make accurate predictions cast vision with confidence.

Building and maintaining a strong professional network is crucial for staying informed about industry trends and opportunities. Attend industry conferences, join professional associations, and participate in online forums to connect with peers, mentors, and newcomers. These relationships provide insights into emerging technologies and methodologies in product marketing, which you can apply to your own strategies. Networking helps you stay current and enhances your professional growth and opportunities.

I think I have some perspective here (LinkedIn Top Business Networking Voice talking:-)) I can't stress enough how important it is to talk to everyone and their mother about what it is you are doing, what problems you are solving, how your organisation got successful doing that, what you have learned from talking to the field. If you are not very social media savvy these days, there is no way you can catch up with business networking needs anymore. A trade-show, an event, a reception.... it is all cute but it can never beat the ability to engage with thousands of people in your industry on LinkedIn, Reddit, Facebook, X, Threads. Product marketeers should volunteer taking on social media listening roles. I know I did - and it works!

Product and Growth marketing is a very niche vertical compared to the overall scope of Marketing. Which also means that strategic information is within the network of people who are practicing it. So build your network and reach out to professionals who have a history of building and optimizing product growth journeys.

One fantastic part about product marketing vs. digital marketing is that the fundamentals remain the same. Key to product marketing are: Research - Competitive, Buyer, Market, Win/Loss Positioning & Messaging Relationships How you conduct your research may be a little different, but hopefully, it is even easier now with all of the data available on the internet. Years of experience in positioning and messaging have taught you what works and what doesn't when it comes to resonating with consumers. Ultimately, the same rules of testing that messaging out still apply. So keep at it! This is a great area for someone late in their career to provide significant strategic value.

"Well by heart still a management #trainee". Over the years to stay relevant with the years passing by its about believing in a statement"I have a #learning of 16-17 yrs over experience. Keep the learning button always on , it can be from your mentors, team , freshers , colleagues, partners for that matter any one you meet during the day .To stay a relevant fitment if learning is important #unlearning is equally relevant & taking fresh ,from the scratch curves at any stage of your pro journey is progressing. Every morning I wake up I say loudly to myself "I know nothing" & then go out in the market as a clean slate .That's the #adrenaline that keeps me going with its own share of lows & highs . Earn #people ,$$ will be a by product .

1. Keep an eye on New Product and Feature releases, especially for the products with user-first approach -- this will tell you the consumer demand trend. 2. Check - which market is consolidating, which is diversifying and which one is disrupting an existing market.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with new marketing tactics and strategies. Staying current in product marketing means continuously trying out new approaches to see what resonates with your audience. This includes using A/B tests to compare different campaign versions and pilot programs to test new strategies on a smaller scale. These methods provide valuable data on what works best. It's crucial to put new knowledge into practice to measure the real-world impact of methods, techniques, or tools. For example, if you learn about a new digital marketing tool, integrate it into a campaign and analyze the results. Did it increase engagement? Did it lead to higher conversion rates?

If you need a unique and insightful perspective on product marketing, then press Pause. Don't be the person broadcasting content all the time, instead become the listener downstream; spend time with Sales, Prospects, buying Customers and do a post-mortem with all of these categories. Focus on what you produced recently. The reality check is stunning. It is breathtaking how much nuance is lost. Take the feedback in, swallow your pride, accept that your conversation partners will revert to (in your eyes) irrelevant details. If you build report with these people, who often appreciate communicating with a PMM, you can form a VIP feedback council out of them. We have done this at NETGEAR and it really works. Remember, bite your lip and listen!