What Is a Product Marketing Manager? Job Description and Salary

Your investigation and improvement squad has been moving connected a caller merchandise for months and putting valuable resources into its creation and manufacturing.

They’ve cautiously researched nan marketplace and nan problem they intend to lick — and now it’s clip to fto your merchandise trading head activity their magic.

I dislike to show you this, but without marketing, your merchandise (no matter really astonishing it is) will ne'er beryllium recovered by nan customers whose problems it would solve.

This could lead to lackluster sales, financial failure, and imaginable customers who are still suffering from their original problems.

A merchandise trading head tin thief you debar this by uncovering strategical angles to link your product’s features pinch your customers and their symptom points.

Recently, I asked Nathan Oakley, trading head astatine RJ Living, to talk to maine astir merchandise trading and nan job’s responsibilities. I besides asked him to picture a emblematic time arsenic a merchandise trading manager. Here’s what I learned.

Table of Contents

• What is simply a merchandise trading manager?
• What does a merchandise trading head do?
• How does a merchandise trading head disagree from a merchandise manager?
• How to Become a Product Marketing Manager

What is simply a merchandise trading manager?

I didn’t get into trading done nan accepted assemblage route. And if you’re for illustration maine (or you activity successful different field, for illustration income aliases customer service), you mightiness not beryllium arsenic acquainted pinch merchandise trading managers aliases their roles.

Through talking pinch Oakley, I learned that a merchandise trading manager, aliases a PMM for brevity, is simply a specialized marketer who takes ownership of a product’s positioning, messaging, and branding.

To get an moreover amended thought of their occupation duties, let’s return a look astatine this sample merchandise trading occupation description.

Product Manager Job Description

A merchandise trading head will beryllium responsible for overseeing nan creation and distribution of promotional campaigns for cardinal products.

This individual will person a keen knowing of nan product’s target audience, and in-depth knowledge of applicable merchandise features.

Product Marketing Manager Skills and Qualifications:

• Foundational trading and run guidance experience.
• Project guidance skills.
• Strong organizational and connection skills.
• The expertise to analyse applicable accusation and make informed decisions.
• The expertise to prioritize tasks and responsibilities crossed projects.

While I afloat judge you tin do immoderate occupation pinch nan correct training and experience, employers look for a minimum of a Bachelor’s grade for this role.

Ideally, your Bachelor’s grade will beryllium successful business administration, marketing, aliases a related section of study.

Some employers whitethorn moreover activity candidates who clasp precocious degrees and person much extended acquisition successful marketing, sales, aliases advertising.

While not required, location are certifications disposable (such arsenic nan Certified Product Marketing Manager distinction) that tin thief amended hole Product Marketing Managers for nan responsibilities they are astir to return on.

I find certifications to beryllium a awesome measurement to proceed your acquisition and summation caller skills, particularly if you’re looking to beforehand your profession aliases jump into a caller role.

The adjacent mobility you mightiness person astir this domiciled is ‘How overmuch does a merchandise trading head make?” It’s a valid mobility that I had, too, because, arsenic a erstwhile teacher, I americium ever amazed astatine nan net ranges for different careers.

According to PayScale, nan mean guidelines net for Product Marketing Managers successful nan U.S. is $99,814 per year, though this tin alteration depending connected nan institution and level of experience.

Product Marketing Manager’s Core Responsibilities

Just for illustration salaries, a merchandise trading manager's responsibilities whitethorn alteration from institution to company. However, I recovered location are a fewer halfway responsibilities that are cosmopolitan to nan role.

1. Market Research

When diving heavy into nan role, nan first point I saw was marketplace research. A merchandise trading head is responsible for knowing nan target assemblage and marketplace trends.

It’s their occupation to get into nan minds of nan customer, understand their symptom points, and past fig retired really your merchandise tin entreaty to them.

2. Positioning and Messaging

Once your merchandise trading head has a clear thought of really your merchandise tin thief your perfect customer, they’ll activity connected creating clear merchandise messaging and positioning.

Ideally, your product’s position and connection are what will make your merchandise guidelines retired from nan crowd. So, it’s important your PMM has done their research.

3. Create Your Go-To-Market (GTM) Strategy

What is simply a marketer without a trading strategy?

Just for illustration your contented marketer is tasked pinch creating and ensuring nan occurrence of your contented trading operations, your merchandise trading head is besides responsible for moving alongside different squad members to trade and execute merchandise launches.

4. Sales Enablement

You mightiness deliberation income enablement is squarely successful your income department’s domain.

And while that mightiness beryllium true, it’s adjuvant to partner pinch nan merchandise trading head to equip your income teams pinch nan devices and training they request to efficaciously waste your merchandise to customers.

A merchandise trading head tin thief create scripts and income sheets to assistance your income teams successful their efforts.

5. Performance Analysis

While chatting pinch Denise, she besides told maine that capacity search is important to her role, too.

Denise said, “Tracking capacity is simply a must arsenic good — I ever make judge to reappraisal our analytics quarterly to fine-tune our campaigns, which has helped little our costs per acquisition by astir 20% without sacrificing engagement.

In nan end, I'd opportunity it’s each astir staying tuned successful to some nan marketplace and our assemblage to support everything together.”

So, if you want to cognize really your merchandise resonates pinch your customers, inquire your merchandise trading manager.

Since they’re responsible for search metrics to find merchandise performance, your PMM tin refine nan trading strategies aliases tweak merchandise positioning.

What does a merchandise trading head do?

After I learned astir nan halfway responsibilities of a merchandise trading manager, I wondered, “What does a merchandise trading head do?” So, I thought I would inquire Oakley for specifics.

Although their occupation titles mightiness not explicitly opportunity “Product Marketing Manager,” that’s precisely what they do.

Oakley told maine they’re responsible for crafting a communicative astir their products that will entice imaginable customers to acquisition them. They past cod customer feedback aft a merchandise launch.

In different words, erstwhile nan merchandise is being prepared for launch, nan merchandise trading head (or team) will beryllium progressive successful educating nan nationalist astir nan worth and benefits of nan offering truthful that they tin person imaginable customers into raving fans.

According to Oakley, you’ve sewage to beryllium bully astatine analyzing people. “Because you’re moving straight pinch nan product, you request to beryllium bully astatine strategical reasoning and knowing group and their needs,” he said.

I besides learned that nan domiciled of nan PMM goes acold beyond knowing group and really they’ll usage your product. Instead, you besides person to see really they move done nan income chimney while considering your product.

That intends nan PMM will attraction connected 3 levels of nan income funnel:

1. Acquisition. Bringing consciousness to your merchandise done contented specified arsenic societal media, copywriting, and blogs. This requires nan merchandise trading head to find what type of run needs to beryllium done, create a fund for nan trading endeavors, trade a task scheme to representation retired erstwhile this contented will beryllium released, and oversee a squad that will create nan desired content.
2. Engagement. Building spot and creating conversations pinch imaginable customers done events, campaigns, and circumstantial calls to action.
3. Conversion and Retention. Converting imaginable customers into paying customers for one-time purchases and keeping existing customers loyal done subscription models aliases add-on purchases (when appropriate).

It’s worthy noting that from 1 institution (or campaign) to nan next, nan responsibilities and expectations placed connected a merchandise trading head whitethorn differ.

How does a merchandise trading head disagree from a merchandise manager?

With akin titles, it tin sometimes beryllium difficult to understand nan different roles disposable wrong a company.

Many often confuse merchandise trading managers pinch merchandise managers, and while location are similarities, nan roles transportation very different responsibilities.

Both a merchandise trading head and a merchandise head supply a sound for nan product. However, nan quality is who they are speaking to.

A merchandise head is vocal during nan accumulation shape of a product. They speak internally connected behalf of nan product, communicating pinch engineers and developers regarding its features and functionality.

A merchandise head is focused connected answering nan question, “Does this merchandise lick nan problem we intend it to solve?”

A merchandise trading manager, connected nan different hand, is responsible for speaking to nan extracurricular world.

While these individuals will fulfill very different roles, they will sometimes activity together. Both nan merchandise head and nan merchandise trading head must person a coagulated knowing of nan buyer persona and will stock nan investigation they’ve done to assistance nan other.

How to Become a Product Marketing Manager

Since some Oakley worked successful this role, I asked if he could stock immoderate tips pinch maine astir really to go a merchandise trading manager.

Both of them suggested location are 2 ways you tin go a merchandise trading manager: getting a trading grade pinch internship acquisition and upskilling.

Study trading aliases business to summation experience.

Oakley suggested that nan easiest measurement to get into merchandise trading is by completing a Bachelor's grade program.

“To get into merchandise marketing, it’s easiest to commencement pinch an undergraduate grade successful business aliases communications, followed by internships successful integer marketing, branding, aliases sales. This will springiness you a coagulated instauration to get your ft successful nan door,” he added.

While a Bachelor’s grade is adjuvant to have, Oakley stressed nan value of continuous learning because nan trading section is ever-changing.

He told me, “Never extremity learning aliases upskilling successful nan industry. So beryllium judge to support connected educating yourself connected contented and manufacture knowledge truthful you tin flourish successful your role.”

Upskill and modulation to merchandise marketing.

You tin modulation to merchandise trading aft gaining trading experience, moreover if your acquisition is successful integer aliases contented marketing.

When hoping to modulation into nan field, it's ever champion to footwear things disconnected pinch acquisition successful fields for illustration integer trading aliases marque management. You’ll build analytical and connection skills on nan way.

There are various online courses you tin complete to summation and fortify your skills. However, Oakley suggests you usage LinkedIn Learning.

Product Marketing Managers: A Valued Team Member

I’ve learned that creating a merchandise is only half nan battle.

In bid to win pinch your merchandise launch, make your merchandise wildly profitable, and guarantee that it gets into nan hands of nan individuals you intended to help, you request personification astatine nan trading helm.

And done my chat pinch Oakley, it became much clear to maine nan value of having a dedicated merchandise trading head connected nan team.

Product trading managers harvester their expertise successful trading and psychology to thief find nan champion positioning for your product. When you take nan correct merchandise trading manager, they will lead nan correct customers to you.

Editor's note: This station was primitively published successful January 2022 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.