AMA: MetaRouter Director of Product Marketing, Michele Nieberding 🚀 on Product Marketing Skills
May 2 @ 10:00AM PST
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MetaRouter Director of Product Marketing, Michele Nieberding 🚀 on Product Marketing Skills
Top Questions
How do product marketers make sure they're learning enough varied skills to be a well-rounded professional when scope is an issue?
i.e. working at a large company with minimal scope, focusing on sales enablement but knowing you need experience on the product launch side, other marketing teams covering responsibilities, etc.
Michele Nieberding 🚀
MetaRouter Director of Product Marketing • May 2
Ah yes, the never-ending quest for well-roundedness in the face of limited scope – a familiar struggle for many PMMs. My general rule of thumb is Try Everything Early. Even if you're at a bigger company where roles are more clearly defined (i.e. a PMM for Competitive Intelligence, a PMM for Prici......Read More
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Michele Nieberding 🚀
MetaRouter Director of Product Marketing • May 2
* Start with a template: This may include... * Define who your audience is and what their pain points are * What the key message pillars are (i.e. innovation, reliability, cost-effectiveness, ease of use, etc.), * A concise and compelling value proposition statement tha......Read More
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Michele Nieberding 🚀
MetaRouter Director of Product Marketing • May 2
Let's start by level setting--what do we mean by soft skills vs. hard skills here? To me, "soft skills" are interpersonal attributes and personality traits that shape how we work with others like communication, adaptability, teamwork, and empathy (empathy is underrated in my opinion!). "Hard skil......Read More
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Michele Nieberding 🚀
MetaRouter Director of Product Marketing • May 2
First of all, my sales reps tend to respond better to Slack than email. BUT...that being said, having been a former top-performing sales rep, here is what I would suggest (and what I appreciated when I was in sales): Keep it Clear and Concise: Sales professionals are often busy and receive a hig......Read More
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Michele Nieberding 🚀
MetaRouter Director of Product Marketing • May 2
Before we get into most important skills, let's think about the goal of product marketers: to effectively translate product features into compelling value propositions and ultimately propel the product's growth and success in the market. One of the reasons product marketers are so valuable is be......Read More
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What skills are the most important to develop when going from Sr. PMM to Director of Product Marketing?
I will work to see how I can accomplish this at my current company, but there are limited slots and I may need to go elsewhere. I know PMM is different at different companies, but it's helpful to hear what you look for
Michele Nieberding 🚀
MetaRouter Director of Product Marketing • May 2
Great question! Definitely not an easy leap to make, but while there may not always be an opening at your current company, taking a proactive approach will position you well for if/when something opens. Here are some things I would recommend you keeping in mind: Leadership and People Manageme......Read More
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Michele Nieberding 🚀
MetaRouter Director of Product Marketing • May 2
Lots to unpack here! My main takeaway--start with AI, then stretch your content as far as you can! To start, I love a good template. Once you have a good template in place, you can build out "sub-sections" to build from your key content piece. For example, you are writing a messaging doc for a s......Read More
391 Views
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Michele Nieberding 🚀
MetaRouter Director of Product Marketing • May 2
Let's start with best practices, then get into an outline I like to use! Best Practices: * Keep the presentation concise and focused. Don't try to fit everything in at once. * Reps typically have 30 minutes or less for a first call. * I try to keep it to 5-7 slides--10 slides ......Read More
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What is your superpower product marketing skill in that is a differentiator?
I find that product marketing has become a position that doesn’t require much experience. You can be fairly seasoned and compete with someone that is just out of undergraduate because the discipline is not the same in tech as it might be in consumer goods or retail.
Michele Nieberding 🚀
MetaRouter Director of Product Marketing • May 2
My "hot take: here: experience matters, but how you use it matters more. Let me explain. While someone new to the field might be able to learn the fundamentals of competitor analysis or messaging frameworks, a seasoned product marketer leverages that experience to develop a deeper understanding......Read More
368 Views
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How do you build a Go-to market PMM portfolio when you only have content marketing skills?
I'm a PMM with 4+ YOE and I work at a B2B SaaS company. The issue is that I only have content marketing, sales enablement and campaign management experience, and NO product launch or go-to market experience.
Across different interviews, I've been rejected because I'm not able to come up with strategies for positioning a new product in the market. I've consumed several courses and understand the theories now. But I don't have any practical experience of working with the Product team for launch.
How do I leverage my theoretical knowledge into practical applications and crack interviews?
Michele Nieberding 🚀
MetaRouter Director of Product Marketing • May 2
Having this type of background is GOLD! Don't underestimate yourself here. I understand companies may want a specific example of how you've positioned a new product in the market, but positioning a new product means nothing if you can't create clear content or enable sales to talk about WHY that ......Read More
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