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How to become a Product Marketing Manager?

Blog Date
January 18,
2025

Product marketing has emerged as an inevitable role in almost all organizations today. The significance of branding and promoting a product or service in its target market cannot be undervalued. This is where the need for skilled professionals arises to craft the perfect messaging for promoting the desired product or service. They are adept at conveying just the right words to highlight the value the product or service can bring to the target audience. These professionals, known as Product Marketing Managers, help create and increase the demand for the said product, resulting in higher sales. With the high demand for this field of work, this blog highlights the required skills for Product Marketing Managers and explains how to become one.   

What is a Product Marketing Manager?

Before going any further, let us define the role of a Product Marketing Manager quickly. Most organizations today employ skilled professionals in this position. These professionals are responsible for crafting the message, positioning the product in the market, and managing the product’s overall branding before its target audience. 

However, their role does not end there. Among the many skills for a Product Marketing Manager, the one that is the most crucial is the ability to convert the audience into loyal customers. Product Marketing Managers are also responsible for collecting feedback from customers and maintaining cordial relations with them after the product launch. 

Some of the other major roles and responsibilities of a Product Marketing Manager are as follows:

  • They convey the value of the product to its potential customers, investors, and clients.
  • They collect and analyze feedback from customers and maintain good relations with them even after the product is launched.
  • They conduct market research and use the findings for further product development.
  • They build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders and external vendors. Developing and maintaining relationships is one of the key skills for a Product Marketing Manager. 
  • They design a detailed marketing plan to increase the demand and sales of the product.
  • They are responsible for the messaging, positioning, and branding of the product.
  • They plan the product launch and the release of existing products in the market.
  • They assess the performance of the product and its effectiveness in the market.

Why choose a career in product marketing?

The career path of Product Marketing Manager is a lucrative one as it offers multiple opportunities to think out of the box, be creative, and communicate strongly about the strengths of your brand to the public at large. Some of the top reasons that students choose Product Marketing as a career and advance on the path to Product Marketing Manager are defined below:

  • Customer relationship and engagement: This is one of the top reasons to love Product Marketing as a career option. Product Marketing Managers are expected to understand the pain points and requirements of their existing and potential customers. They then design the roadmap for developing the products to align with those expectations. For this, they need to constantly communicate with the target audience. 
  • Personal and professional growth: Product Marketing Managers always need to learn and grow and this provides an excellent opportunity for their personal and professional development. They are required to keep pace with the ever-changing technology and deliver newer marketing strategies to stand up to the competition.
  • Real impact on the brand and business: This is one of the major reasons for several students to opt for the path to Product Marketing Managers. In this role, they get the opportunity to make a potential impact on the business and the brand, which eventually results in considerable growth. Product Marketing Managers are required to carry out a host of activities – messaging, product positioning, market segmentation, content creation, product launch, and sales training. All of these activities have a significant impact on overall business growth. 

Steps to Product Marketing Manager career        

Ready to break into the domain of Product Marketing? Given below are the steps to a Product Marketing Manager career path:

  1. Gain the relevant qualification: Completing an undergraduate degree is one of the prerequisites. A Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, or a related or relevant field of study would be ideal. Some organizations may require a Master’s degree though, preferably MBA.
  1. Obtain required professional experience: This is one of the key steps to a Product Marketing Manager’s career trajectory. Graduates with the desired qualifications must also obtain sufficient work experience in the field. Some managerial roles may require graduates to complete the required on-the-job training before being considered for the position of Product Marketing Manager. You may start your career in the entry-level role of a Marketing Assistant, for instance, and slowly work your way up.
  1. Complete the desired certification: Short-term certification courses help provide additional skills that are helpful in career growth and advancement. You may earn professional certifications along the way, such as in leadership, marketing, or team-building to help prepare you for the wide array of responsibilities. 
  1. Build your resume: This is the first requirement on the Product Marketing Manager job path. You would need to create a resume that best showcases all your academic and professional achievements so far. Include your highest level of degree earned, relevant certification courses completed, work experience, awards earned, etc. 

Some of the key skills required on the Product Marketing Manager job path are as follows:

  • Search Engine Optimization: Known by the popular acronym SEO, a fair understanding of this skill helps identify the exact keywords that your potential customers are using to find the product that you are marketing. Competitor research and SEO metrics can help Product Marketing Managers design the right marketing strategies for product promotion. 
  • Research: This is one of the key skills that managers use to drive their efforts in the right direction. With this skill, you can also recognize specific patterns and any obstacles in the way of product success. 
  • Public Speaking: Product Marketing Managers are required to deliver training to sales and support teams. This is one of the key responsibilities of the Product Marketing Manager job path. This is why professionals must be comfortable addressing large groups of people as well as clients to put forth their ideas and pitch for marketing
  • Sales: All Product Marketing Managers must have this skill to pitch products before potential customers. They must be able to understand specific customer requirements and present their product as the best possible to meet those needs.
  • Planning: A Product Marketing Manager should have strategic planning skills to look ahead, analyze the latest market trends and the competition, and devise effective marketing strategies to promote their products. With the right planning, managers are better able to achieve business goals and ensure success at every stage of product development.

Career growth as a Product Marketing Manager

The above section detailed the various steps to becoming a Product Marketing Manager. After completing the relevant qualification and gaining the desired work experience, one can start their career in Product Marketing and slowly move up the ladder. The table below illustrates the transition to Product Marketing Manager through the various levels and their career growth:

Entry-level Mid-level Senior levelLeadership rolesExecutive level
Product Marketing Associate/Coordinator Product Marketing ManagerSenior Product Marketing ManagerDirector of Product MarketingVice President of Product Marketing 

Conclusion

Product Marketing is fast emerging as a niche and useful work domain, helping organizations step up their sales and achieve business goals faster. This blog detailed the exact career path in the world of Product Marketing. The transition to the Product Marketing Manager position starting from the entry-level role involves gaining the right qualifications, and work experience, and adding skills to your kitty with the relevant certifications. 

Take the first step on the path with an online MBA in Marketing from Sikkim Manipal University, one of the best-known universities in India. Offered on the renowned Online Manipal platform, the course helps equip students with the required analytical and creative skills in the world of marketing. Students graduating with the program are eligible to work in varied roles in the marketing sector and the transition to Product Marketing Manager is also highly likely. Sign up for the course on Online Manipal and take the big leap for a rewarding career ahead.  

Disclaimer

Information related to companies and external organizations is based on secondary research or the opinion of individual authors and must not be interpreted as the official information shared by the concerned organization.


Additionally, information like fee, eligibility, scholarships, finance options etc. on offerings and programs listed on Online Manipal may change as per the discretion of respective universities so please refer to the respective program page for latest information. Any information provided in blogs is not binding and cannot be taken as final.

  • TAGS
  • Online MBA
  • Product Management

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