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TL;DR: Product Marketing Managers (PMMs) bridge the gap between product development and go-to-market strategy. They understand the market, buyer needs, and competitive landscape to position products effectively and drive adoption.

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Who Are Product Marketing Managers?

Product Marketing (PMM) has the primary goal of understanding the market and buyer (their needs, alternatives, buying process, etc.) in relation to the company's products and services. It is strategic marketing at the product or product line level.

Product marketers utilize knowledge of the market, product, product strategy, and competition to enable Marketing and Sales organizations to execute optimally in activities related to the product. PMMs prepare and develop documents defining positioning, messaging, competitive differentiation, and go-to-market strategy, simultaneously ensuring senior management is aligned with these.

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While deliverables like data sheets and website copy are visible outputs, the primary focus and value of PMM is strategy: understanding the buyer and market dynamics to influence the product roadmap ('inbound PMM') or positioning and messaging ('outbound PMM').

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The first thing you'll often hear is that "product marketing looks different wherever you go." Product marketing varies by company and by team.

Key Distinctions in PMM

📈 Inbound vs. 📣 Outbound

The terms inbound and outbound come from two common marketing strategies that companies take:

• Outbound marketing: The traditional method of marketing by pushing messaging out to potential customers
• Inbound marketing: A more recent approach of helping yourself "get found" (through content) by people who want to learn about your industry

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Inbound Responsibilities

• Participate in research sessions with customers
• Gather feedback and extract insights to represent the voice of the customer
• Leverage insights to inform product features to shape the product roadmap </aside>

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Outbound Responsibilities

• Launching a product or feature
• Crafting positioning and messaging
• Creating short-form (blogs, one-pagers) or long-form content (presentations, playbooks)
• Measuring success of campaigns
• Interfacing with sales/BD teams to help them sell </aside>

Learn more about Inbound vs. Outbound

💼 B2B vs. 🛍️ B2C

This is one of the most important distinctions that likely determines your responsibilities in PMM.

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B2B (Business-to-Business)

Significant focus on content creation and sales enablement, especially given the longer sales cycle. More emphasis on enterprise deals, account-based marketing, and sales support materials.

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B2C (Business-to-Consumer)

More likely to receive a role with inbound responsibilities. Greater focus on consumer research, user behavior, and mass marketing campaigns.

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