Profile of a Product Marketing Manager

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What does a Product Marketing Manager do?

A Product Marketing Manager is responsible for marketing a specific product, or product features to their intended audience. Product Marketing Managers need to understand things like:

How does my product or feature compare to competitors in this space?
What’s the messaging behind my product - how does it help my customer, and how do I let them know that?
How do I keep my customer engaged (loyal) and coming back again and again to use my product?
How is this product or feature different from other products or features the company sells?

What does a Marketing Manager or Marketing Director do?

Marketing Managers or Marketing Directors, focus on different areas of marketing compared to Product Marketers. Generally speaking, their function can be a bit more broad and encompass aspects of marketing other than product, such as:

Meeting key business KPIs, like bringing in new leads for a service, or creating advertisements that lead to online web conversions or signups
Using customer insights and market data to make educated decisions on where to focus marketing efforts and budgets
Developing marketing strategies, media plans, or campaigns that drive growth for the business
Leading creative teams or agencies to produce ads, compelling graphics, or other marketing collateral

How are these types of marketers different from each other?

There may be several different marketing roles you want to recruit for, depending on your size and responsibilities you want your marketer to have.

Are you hiring someone to market your product, helping sell specific features to a specific B2B audience? Perhaps a Product Marketing Manager is right for your company. Or, do you need someone to lead a time of marketers, and make sure your team is meeting their goals? Perhaps a Director of Marketing is the right hire for you. Do you need someone who has a strong background in digital marketing, marketing technology or analytics? Then maybe a Marketing Analyst is the right hire for you.

What are some of the skills a Marketing Manager may need to have?

Funnel-building: Depending on the role, your marketing hire should understand how to build funnels, what makes a successful marketing campaign, and how to measure key performance objectives (KPIs).
Work samples: Not all marketing professionals will have portfolios, but in some instances this can helpful - for example, if you’re hiring someone who is expected to write copy, you may want to ask for writing samples.
Aptitude for sales and business development: Understanding how business goals translate into marketing, and how to partner with sales and business development teams to craft marketing plans, can be an important skill for a marketing professional.

What are some top tips when hiring for a Marketing Manager or Director role?

Ask if your candidate questions about the different teams they’ve worked with. Do they have experience working cross-functionally, with marketing technology teams, data teams, and product management? That’s a good sign they’ll be comfortable putting together marketing strategies that can impact multiple areas of the business, and driving sales.
Ask your candidate questions on a time they worked on a marketing project that didn’t succeed, or didn’t succeed initially. Many marketing efforts don’t work right away. What was their approach to fix it, or what did they do differently to pivot?

What are some of the typical job titles of a Product Marketing Manager?

We’ve recruited for many different Product Marketing Managers and Marketing roles, including:

Product Marketing Manager
Senior Product Marketing Manager
Director of Product Marketing
Growth Marketing Manager
Product Marketing Lead
Market Expansion Strategy Director
Marketing Lead
Marketing Director

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