How do I transition to product management? How do I make that switch?
Well, marketers have a great advantage and (a little) disadvantage when it comes to making the switch from marketing to product management. Quite a few successful product managers come from marketing background and if you are one figuring out how to make that switch – here is a comprehensive guide which will help you through the process.
The first question that a Marketing professional needs to ask himself/herself is
‘What do I bring to the Product table?’.
Usually, Marketing folk have knowledge of customer insights, competitive landscape, knowing what ‘works’ and what ‘doesnt’ (insofar as market insights are concerned) and the ability to go ‘out’ and talk to customers. All of this is valuable and can greatly assist a Product team.
Usually, Marketing folk have knowledge of customer insights, competitive landscape, knowing what ‘works’ and what ‘doesnt’ (insofar as market insights are concerned) and the ability to go ‘out’ and talk to customers. All of this is valuable and can greatly assist a Product team.
To make the most of the above skills, a marketing professional should ensure that he/she learns the ‘how’ of the product i.e the engineering jargon and framework – just enough to ensure that they are able to communicate ideas accurately with the tech team.
Another thing that the marketing professional can do is to represent the customer’s voice before the product team. This is highly useful as product teams can often lose sight of this basic fact.
To transition to Product Management, Marketing professionals can start by volunteering for internal products and doing all of what was mentioned above (leverage customer insights, represent the customer’s voice etc.)
He/she can also enter the product domain laterally by owning the product communication – i.e blogs, whitepapers, newsletters, distributable content etc. This will provide a great intro to the domain and also keep you around the Product team ensuring exposure and possible entry as Product Manager.
Watch the video above to learn more as part of our #UnboxingProductManagement series.
PS: The next batch of NextBigWhat’s Product Management Course starts September. Register for the 30% scholarship (more details here).
Got questions on your product management career? Do get in touch with us (contact)
[Ashish Sinha is program director of the NextBigWhat Academy’s Product Management Course. The next batch starts September. ]
