What is a Product Marketing Manager (PMM): job overview and salary
A Product Marketing Manager (PMM) is someone who bridges the gap between product development, marketing, and sales.
Product Marketing Managers are tasked with developing and implementing a marketing strategy for a product.
They play an essential role in a startup and are often the first marketing hires and work on launching the product from a marketing point of view.
In this article, we’ll go over more of what they do and how much they earn.
What is a Product Marketing Manager?
A Product Marketing Manager (or Director) is a C-suite executive who is responsible for driving the go-to-market strategy, messaging, and positioning of a SaaS product.
They manage product launches, and press releases and are in charge of strategizing how a company acquires customers through inbound marketing strategies.
What does a PMM do?
A PMM creates the Go-To-Market strategy In a SaaS company and makes sure the Sales team, Product, Marketing Execs, and Content Writers are all on the same page to bring a product to launch and acquire customers.
They also work closely with the VP of Product to make sure everything is being adhered to from a branding and messaging point of view.
A Product Marketing Manager focuses on the following aspects of a sales funnel:
- Customer Acquisition: A PMM will build out a strategy to bring awareness to a product through content such as social media, blogs & articles, email newsletters, and copywriting.
The PMM will determine the type of marketing campaign, create a budget, craft branding guidelines, and oversee a team that will create the content. - Engagement: They build trust and generate awareness through events, campaigns, and specific calls to action.
- Conversion and Retention: They build strategies to convert potential customers into paying customers and collect feedback from customers after the launch.
What’s the difference between a Product Marketing Manager and a Product Manager?
The main difference between the two are:
Product Manager: Product Managers are the "mini-CEO" of the product, they oversee its entire lifecycle from conception to launch and beyond. They focus on what the product is, ensuring it meets customer needs and aligns with the company's goals.
This involves tasks like conducting market research, defining product features, working with engineers to build the product, and gathering customer feedback.
Product Marketing Manager: PMMs on the other hand, concentrate on how the product is presented to the market. Their job is to take the product created by the product manager and develop a go-to-market strategy. This involves tasks like creating marketing materials, crafting messaging that resonates with target audiences, and working with sales teams to effectively position the product.
What skills does a PMM have?
A few common skills that Product Marketing Managers have are:
Marketing skills:
- Research and understand customer needs, competitor landscape, and market trends
- Creating compelling content (like blog posts, and social media content) about the product and its benefits while highlighting the brand’s story
- Ability to create campaigns to generate leads and interest in the product
- Tracking and analyzing marketing campaign performance to measure success and identify areas for improvement
- Creating a plan for launching the product and entering the market
- Developing a strong value proposition that effectively communicates the product's worth
Management skills:
- They collaborate across teams and manage those in the sales and marketing function
- Work with the VP of Product and Product teams to develop the product and create a marketing roadmap
- Train the sales teams on communicating the product’s benefits to prospects
- Juggling multiple tasks, meeting deadlines, and managing resources effectively
What qualifications should a Product Marketing Manager have?
There’s no specific degree requirement, but a degree in marketing or business administration is valuable to many employers.
Many PMMs have marketing-specific skills like:
- Digital Marketing
- Marketing Analytics
- Copywriting
- Social Media
- SEO
And combine these skills with basic knowledge of product management principles.
Career path
PMMs will usually start working as digital marketing associates in SaaS companies, where they will work as generalists under the Marketing Manager on a wide range of marketing activities such as copywriting, email marketing, social media, and in rare cases, business development.
After doing this for a few years, they’ll go on to either specialize in a particular skill like Content Marketing or PPC or become a Product Marketer, although it widely depends on the product and the company’s goals. After a few years of working in Product Marketing, people usually pivot to Product Marketing Managers.
Most companies will want someone to have:
- 6 years of total marketing experience
- 3 years of product marketing experience
Before becoming a PMM.
Many marketers who want to pivot into Product Marketing often take advanced courses in Product Marketing from providers like Product Marketing Alliance or Product School to get the necessary skills and certifications.
Salary
The average salary for a Product Marketing Manager is:
Glassdoor: $121,523
Indeed: $122,486
Built In: $118,331
Comparably: $161,126
Salary: $140,093
Average: $132,711
Top 3 interview questions to ask a Product Marketing Manager:
1. Imagine we're launching a new product targeting a competitive market. Our product has a unique feature, but it's also slightly more expensive than competitors. How would you approach the go-to-market strategy for this product?
2. Tell me about a time you had to launch a product with limited resources. What challenges did you face, and what strategies did you use to overcome them?
3. How do you see the role of a PMM evolving in the next few years? Additionally, what excites you about the prospect of working on our product specifically?
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