Hiring Product Marketers

When transitioning from the product development phase to the challenging market growth stage, product marketers are often the secret weapon your company needs.

Product marketers blend creativity with profound knowledge of your target market and product to devise strategies that drive rapid adoption, satisfied customers and revenue growth. However, hiring a skilled product marketer isn't straightforward. It requires knowing the role, deciphering the requisite skills, and understanding how to vet potential candidates.

This guide explains what a product marketer is, why they’re vital to your company’s growth, and how to effectively hire one.

What is a Product Marketer?

Product marketers define and execute the go-to-market strategy. They deftly navigate the intersection of sales, marketing, and product teams to ensure your company’s product is presented to the market in a way that resonates with potential customers and drives sales.

They grasp the competitive landscape, manage product launches, develop compelling marketing materials, and collect customer insights to guide product development. Most importantly, they're your product's storytellers and advocates.

The Importance of Hiring a Product Marketer

A skilled product marketer has the potential to significantly impact your company's bottom line by:

• Building Market Awareness: A product marketer can create buzz and recognition around your product, which can lead to increased adoption rates and market share.
• Improving Product Adoption: They understand what motivates consumers and how to get your product into their hands by developing persuasive messaging and targeted marketing strategies.
• Boosting Sales Efficiency: By providing the sales team with the tools they need to succeed – like sales scripts, competitor analysis, and case studies – product marketers help close deals more quickly.
• Driving Product Development: Customer feedback, market trends, and competitive analysis are all leveraged by product marketers to shape the product roadmap and inform development prioritization.

Essential Skills to Look for in a Product Marketer

Some skills you should search for include:

• Market Research Skills: A solid understanding of data analysis and market research methods is vital. A critical aspect of the job is extracting actionable insights from customer and market data.
• Communication Skills: They should have the ability to craft compelling narratives about your product and consistently communicate its value proposition.
• Project Management Abilities: Product launches are complex, requiring coordination between multiple departments. Excellent project management skills are a must.
• Strategic Mindset: Good product marketers understand how every task fits into the broader business objectives and can make strategic decisions accordingly.
• Customer Empathy: An ability to understand and empathize with your customers is necessary to craft effective messaging that genuinely addresses their needs.

How to Hire a Great Product Marketer

To increase your chances of finding suitable candidates, consider these steps:

1. Define the Role: The scope of product marketing responsibilities can vary immensely depending on the company. Before posting the job, ensure that you clearly define the role, required skills, and experience. Engage stakeholders from sales, marketing, and product to align on the roles expectations.

2. Expand Your Search: Don't limit your search to only marketers. Candidates can come from various backgrounds, like sales, customer success, or product management. Transferrable skills are essential, so keep your options open.

3. Ask Specific Interview Questions: Tailor your interview questions to test their strategic thinking, problem-solving skills, and ability to understand customer needs. For instance, ask them to explain how they'd handle a product launch or how they'd enable your sales team to better sell your product.

4. Hands-On Test: A hands-on assignment can reveal their approach to real-life scenarios. You could ask them to present a go-to-market strategy for a recent product or analyze results from past campaigns.

5. Look for Cultural Fit: Emotional intelligence and soft skills matter. A skilled marketer who can't get along with the rest of the team or lacks sufficient customer empathy might not be a good fit.

Conclusion

Hiring your first or next product marketer is an important step that can set your company up for considerable growth. By clarifying expectations, keeping an open mind about possible candidates and thoroughly vetting their skills in real-world contexts, you'll increase your chances of hiring someone who can make a meaningful impact.