Becoming a Product Marketing Manager in 2023
Assuming any role in 2023 is achievable but having a smooth transition and navigating the process might just not be so easy.?
Personally, I had hoped for a guide to enable me track progress, give me a pat on the back when earned, deal with the insurmountable confusion and anxiety that comes with trying everything and anything just to make a move, ultimately in search of my ideal career.?
So here, even though I'm still well on this journey, I’ve learnt a few things that could be of help to an aspiring Product Marketing Manager(PMM) or anyone else looking to switch careers.?
Allow yourself ease into this guide.?
1.Take courses - Knowledge is power?
If you’re going to take this leap, you want to be fully prepared for it. This would mean amassing industry knowledge that would enable you to carry on your duties effectively as a PMM or any other role as the case may be.?
Assuming you’ve been on the career line already, e.g an aspiring PMM who has been in roles like brand communications, digital marketing, sales and marketing, this may be a lot easier. However, in cases where you are taking a new path entirely, a reasonable amount of knowledge is required. And how do you get this? By learning of course.?
Seek materials related to your choice career. Online learning platforms like Udemy, Coursera, Skillshare, LinkedIn Learning and even YouTube will give you a great deal more than your money’s worth and they are mostly cost effective too!
For aspiring PMMs,
I found this particular Udemy course quite helpful.
2. Pick up new skills - A Jack of all trades, would eventually master one
One reason I never shy away from learning new things and adapting to standard methods and practices in a new work environment especially, is the many skills that I end up garnering in the process. An easy way to do this is filling in roles which are not exactly in line with your JD. Before you roll your eyes at me, I know this isn’t easy and could be perceived by other colleagues as you doing too much, but if there’s room, please go ahead because in addition to earning goodwill by saving the organization resources and time, you’re also proving yourself as competent and proactive. Your colleagues? Don’t fret, they’ll come around in the course of events following that. In garnering skills, you want to know the 2 broad skill sets that accentuate your relevance in any career : Soft skills and hard skills(otherwise known as technical skills). Soft skills are basically character traits and interpersonal skills that characterize relationships with other people and complement hard skills in the workplace. They include skills such as; Creativity, Problem Solving, Interpersonal Skills, etc. Hard skills on the other hand are technical skills that are required to carry-on your professional duties. Hard skills are tangible. Some of these are UI/UX, Data Analysis, Copywriting, Project Management etc.
One great thing about soft skills is you can never have enough of them, and you don’t know when they will come in handy until they do! Hard skills however, are more strategic and should follow one’s career inclination and direction.
For aspiring PMMs,
Here are some skills you can decide to take on:
Soft skills
Communication, Design thinking, Creativity & Problem solving, Organization & accuracy, Leadership, Interpersonal skills, Adaptability, Empathy.
Hard skills
Research/market Analysis, Social media marketing, Content marketing, Email marketing, Writing, SEO, Visual design, Event/Experiential marketing.
3. Follow Industry Leaders - Let people inspire you
Social media has made everyone accessible these days. With platforms like LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube etc. you can establish 1:1 communication with industry leaders and subject matter experts. Learn from them and maybe even get recognized by them.?
An easy way to do this is to create a LinkedIn account if you have none, search for product marketer in the ‘My network’ page, look through the list of names that pop up and start to follow according to preference. Do the same for any platform really.
You can also join industry specific groups and stay updated with trends and information shared on the group. Don’t forget to ask questions to gain clarity where needed. But tryyy as much as possible to stick to questions only, as your suggestions or inputs at this level may be irrelevant or even hazardous as the case may be (except on rare occasions when you’re specifically asked for objective inputs. In such times, it’s advised that you are cautious with your responses and maintain the stance of being merely an enthusiast or a newbie).
For aspiring PMMs;
Here’s a PMM community I joined and feel quite stocked about!
Also, a list of some of the Marketers that have piqued my curiosity in the past;
4. Join a mentorship program - Let people lead you
Not to sugar coat things, in this part of the world, finding a dedicated mentor could be a daunting task. One would think that searching for and eventually finding one should be worth the task, but I find that this isn’t the case most of the time.?
For varying reasons, mentor and mentee programs almost don’t work.?
Ideally however, if you’re lucky enough to find a mentor in your field, what it does for you is lift you up the stairs faster than all your hard work and effort put together, this doesn’t mean you don’t get to work hard, it means your efforts will be more targeted and result-oriented because someone is looking out for you and pointing you in directions already towed by them.?
In my unending quest for a mentor/mentorship program, I ran into ADP List.?
Even though I’ve not been lucky to be paired with any mentor within reach, you just maybe luckier (edited earlier)
But guess what? As of when you’ll be reading this, I have been luckily accepted into a mentorship session with a renowned DOM. Our session is scheduled to be held today (rejoice with me as I anticipate this session). So yeah I can boldly reiterate: Join a mentorship program.
For aspiring PMMs;
领英推荐
5. Offer free services to F&F - Try failing and fail trying
Here is where you can try failing and fail trying at little or no cost really! After all, this is free work.?
Implement your acquired knowledge and skills, take note of your mistakes, failures and strengths; don’t fail to give yourself some flowers when you’ve earned it. Move on to onboard your second or third F&F business, chip in subtly in one of your discovery or onboarding sessions that they’d have to incentivize your services at this point. They’ll buy it cos by now they see the benefits of your services to their brand/business.?
Do this and boom! You’ve landed your first paid client, in addition to the portfolio work you would be developing shortly.
6. Creatively put together a portfolio - Show us what you’ve got.
This is the point where you can start to show off the free work you’ve done previously. It’s important to note that the work must have been done excellently to make it a good fit for your portfolio.?
In creating a professional looking portfolio, you want to work with a website to ensure seamless navigation and a pleasant aesthetics all in a bid to make your work appealing to prospective clients or employers.
For aspiring PMMs,
I recommend websites like Wix, MainStack, Disha, Milkshake, Notion as they are such great choices when it comes to building a portfolio website within a template.?
7. Get Certified - Big boy or girl no be for mouth
Certifications always add a boost to your CVs and portfolios.
Most of the paid courses you’ll take are actually inclusive of a certificate.?
However, vital and relevant qualification in your field, might need more specialized certification which could be cost-intensive pending the institution or certifying body/organization. So take your time with this, you don’t want to invest at the wrong time. Start with cost-effective learning with certifications like Udemy, Cousera, LinkedIn learning.
It helps to conduct research on this, remember to leverage on LinkedIn profiles to find as much information as you need in terms of this.
NB: Be careful so you don’t come off as a stalker (LinkedIn always gives us away lol)
Getting certifications however, could be cost intensive especially when the certifying body is a renowned one.?
For PMMs,
Here are relevant certifications for our career.
8. Put yourself out - Hit the streets
Okay, you’ve done all this, but that’s not all yet.?It’s time to start putting yourself out.?
This doesn’t mean you get to live a fake life or anything like that. I watched a video by GaryVee, a famous marketing YouTuber where he explained why some businesses and individuals don’t thrive in 2023 while others do.?
He stated that like it or not, social media brings you to the limelight. Research shows how much publicity one gets being online. So, you don’t want to be confined to your safe space, refusing to come out. If you’ve built yourself from the scratch, I mean you know how much resources went into this, you’re not about to hide all of that under a bushel.?
Your talents? hidden.. Like in the parable.No way! You’ve got to put yourself out.?
Identify platforms where your audience could be, leverage on information from industry leaders whom you follow already. Join conversations, start some, just as you learn, teach others.?
This has a way of refining your thought process as well as establishing the knowledge you have but have hidden(lol).?
At the beginning of this article, I had mentioned that I’m also well on this journey to becoming a PMM.?
Any chances you take a good guess on what stage I currently am??
Note that everyone’s processes defer just as our individualities do.?
Don’t feel obliged to follow this guide hook, line and sinker, instead, use it to evaluate your processes bearing in mind that a few things may come in handy.?
Lastly, DO NOT put yourself under pressure, it’s okay to spend a lot of time on each step of this process, take your time, take it, but just don’t sleep on it.
I’ll keep you abreast of things as I discover more!?
And oh! You can join my discovery group here..? Join PMM Zero on Telegram
I'll be in touch!