Women in Product Marketing

“Show up, be awesome, and speak in the language of your customers” - Natala Menezes

Natala Menezes, an inspiring product marketing leader at Grammarly, shares her insights on the steps to develop and execute a successful product launch, red flags to watch out for along the way, and how PMMs can be more involved in the product life cycle. Tune in to hear Natala and Mary discuss how to manage the partnership with the product team as well as add value and support.

Check out Natala's AMAs on Sharebird.
Connect with Natala on LinkedIn.

Questions covered in this interview:

1. What is your process for developing buyer personas for a new product launch?
2. What are the foundational steps to develop a repeatable and scalable launch discipline?
3. In your experience, what are some of the common product launch challenges or red flags that you see?
4. How Product marketers can be more involved in the product development lifecycle?
5. As a product marketer, how do you manage product teams that are poor at scoping releases? Especially as they apply to changing release dates and minor updates.
6. How to add value to a product team that isn't used to working with a PMM? In what ways do you see (or recommend) product marketers build trust with their XFN partners?
7. How do you more effectively influence product roadmap priorities and timeline?

Claire is an avid golfer and PMM leader with a background in psychology who enjoys and specializes in zero to one product marketing and product led growth (PLG). She excels in the development and innovation of existing products as well as building new products to serve current and new customers. She and Mary discuss the art and science of the PMM craft, combining the psychology of habit forming with messaging, marketing, design, etc. Tune in to hear the framework for developing new products and the work that PMM is responsible for behind PLG.

Connect with Claire on LinkedIn.
Join Claire on Sharebird.

Alysia is a seasoned PMM leader and podcast host of the Women on Work show. In this interview she and Mary discuss end-to-end, full stack marketing and product launches. Alysia shares advice on how to better understand your buyer and identify your strengths to be a better leader. In this interview you’ll hear advice for your first product launch, and how to leverage your strengths to enable new opportunities.

Check out Women on Work podcast.
Connect with Alysia on LinkedIn.
Join Alysia on Sharebird.

Meg is a proud single mother and marketing leader fighting and advocating for women in the tech world. In this interview her and Mary discuss how the pandemic has impacted working women and our roles as business leaders and caretakers. Another key focus of this interview is how to scale your company quickly and articulate what you do better than competitors prioritizing business impact. Tune in to hear how to become a leader of your subject matter, find both male and female allies,  adapt to a virtual world, earn a seat at the table, gain confidence and be remembered, and ultimately believe in yourself and all that you are capable of.

Connect with Meg on LinkedIn.
Join Meg on Sharebird.

Jenna began her career in journalism and now leads the PMM team at Klaviyo. Her and Mary discuss strategizing and bringing new product lines to market, one of Jenna’s specialties. She is passionate and skilled at bringing new product lines to the market and especially enjoys storytelling. In this interview you’ll hear advice on evaluating the success of a product launch, recognizing the evolution of your product line and company narrative, how to structure your team and champion your own success in the tech world.

Connect with Jenna on LinkedIn.
Join Jenna on Sharebird.

It’s always fun to get a fresh perspective on the PMM career from someone who is new to the space. This week we’re chatting with Ashley, a newcomer to the PMM craft who was recently nominated for the PMM Newcomer of the Year award! Tune in to hear her journey and how she’s leaned into her past experiences to get to where she is today. With her eyes set on a future CMO role, she explains that it’s all about putting yourself out there, being willing to bet on yourself, and being comfortable being uncomfortable.

Connect with Ashley on LinkedIn.
Join Ashley on Sharebird.

Christy joins us this week to discuss a recent big product launch that her and her team did on her birthday! Tune in to hear why she recommends/ doesn’t recommend doing this and how her product launch came to life. Her and Mary debrief the product launch together and identify key components that make every launch successful (ie. troubleshooting what doesn’t go according to planned, the benefit of discovering issues in advance prior to the launch day, and how to prep and make sure you’re on track for deliverables). They also talk about launch narrative - ensuring that  you have a clear narrative that tells a cohesive story in a competitive market. 

Beyond product launches, they discuss PLG and the role of product marketers in a self-serve business. This includes understanding use cases, strategically making a splash in the market, creating consistency and standardization while still being creative, learning to scale and grow with your business and team, and ultimately keeping up with the pace of the org. 

Connect with Christy on LinkedIn.
Join Christy on Sharebird.

Susan, aka Spark,  joins us in this week’s episode sharing her journey into her current role, working on virtual reality work experiences. She has had a marathon career that has not come without sacrifice and hard work. In this interview Mary and Spark discuss the core PMM principles that have helped her and her team become successful across product marketing and launching products. They also discuss what it’s like to be female in a male dominated space, the importance of future proofing your next move whilst taking risks, and the transition from B2B advertising to B2B and B2C productivity. If there’s anything you take away from this interview it’s stay hungry, take risks, and don’t be afraid of new opportunities, even when they scare you. As Spark puts it, “if you’re not a little scared, are you really pushing yourself?”

Connect with Spark on LinkedIn.
Join Spark on Sharebird.

“Great marketing as a whole is just really understanding the human side of things.” - Agustina Sacerdote 

Agustina, a recent mom and PMM leader, talks about how work has become more human and the value of integrating our personal and professional lives. Her and Mary also discuss various topics from what it’s like to work in a start-up environment, how to invent the PMM function at an organization and figure out what to build next, how to position your product and understand your customer, and really making sure that you are driving business impact and that those business decisions are tightly aligned with business outcomes. Many people think of product marketers as creatives, but playing the numbers game and analyzing data is what helps you keep a seat at the table.

Connect with Agustina on LinkedIn.
Join Agustina on Sharebird. 

As an avid gamer and marketing expert, Amy has risen the ranks to become vice president and prominent leader in the PMM community. Tune in to hear her background and experience, the tools and skill sets she considers necessary to excel in your career, how she navigates and builds relationships with product management, and takes on the research and discovery phase. She also shares how she keeps a pulse on the market and advice on how you and your team can best compile your MRD.

Connect with Amy on LinkedIn.
Join Amy on Sharebird. 

What does it take to be a successful marketer and achieve a VP role? In this week’s interview we are joined by Kimberly, who was recently promoted to vice president at a fast growing company. Mary and Kimberly discuss what steps she took leading up to this opportunity, how she’s approaching her 30/60/90 day plan, and how curiosity and an eagerness to learn have aided in the acceleration of her career. They also discuss how to scale your team – one of Kimberly's specialties.

Books recommendations: 

1. Servant Warrior Leader by Phil Johnson 

2. The First 90 Days by Michael D. Watkins

Connect with Kimberly on LinkedIn.
Join Kimberly on Sharebird.

Welcome back to the Women in Product Marketing podcast. In this week’s interview Katharine and Mary discuss how Katharine got good at building and starting PMM teams. This is a skill that Katharine has honed over time - you won’t want to miss her invaluable advice and how she encourages a “learn it all” attitude vs a “know it all”. 

Other topics of conversation that Mary and Katharine discuss are inbound marketing, what to look for when evaluating a new role, how to orientate yourself and your team around the power center at a company, how the priorities of your team vary in a B2B vs B2C space , and how to manage a variety of categories.

Connect with Katharine on LinkedIn.
Join Katharine on Sharebird. 

Welcome to season 3 of the Women in Product Marketing podcast. We cannot wait for you to hear from all of our superstar guests. While you wait for the new season to begin next week, join the conversation as Mary meets up with two fellow Sharebird hosts, JD Prater and Jeffrey Vocell. In this episode, they share advice for those trying to establish the function of product marketing at their business whether it's brand new or something you're trying to evolve.

JD is the host of the Thrills and Chills podcast, where he interviews seasoned PMM leaders on what it’s like to be the first PMM and how to establish product marketing at an organization. Jeffrey is the host of The Product Marketing experts where he interviews guests who have done AMA sessions on various topics including messaging, market research, developing your PMM career, product launches, sales enablement, stakeholder management, and influencing the product roadmap. 

See you next week!

Connect with Mary, JD, and Jeffrey on LinkedIn - we love hearing from you! 

Connect with Seema on LinkedIn.
Join Seema on Sharebird. 

Connect with Liz on LinkedIn.
Join Liz on Sharebird. 

Connect with Priya on LinkedIn.
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Connect with Div on LinkedIn.
Join Div on Sharebird. 

Connect with Kelly on LinkedIn.
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Connect with Sara on LinkedIn.
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Connect with Liza on LinkedIn.

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