5 Things To Look For In A Product Marketer Candidate By Emily Kramer

Summary

Emily Kramer is a marketing expert boasting significant success in driving startup marketing growth. Read her tips to find top product marketing hires.

Emily Kramer’s experiences with building, leading, teaching, mentoring, and growing marketing teams at Carta, Asana, Ticketfly, and Slack-acquired Astro are unparalleled. She’s currently the co-founder of MKT1 Capital, providing guidance for marketing pros looking to build their marketing functions and grow them at scale.

There’s no shortage of big victories for Emily throughout her career. She’s worked with Seed to Series E startup-based marketing teams with anywhere between $0 to $100 ARR.

Beyond the companies already discussed, Emily has worked with 50-plus startups, helping them hone their marketing strategy. She fully grasps how challenging and lonely running a startup marketing department can be. Thus, she’s taken what she’s learned and designed a course for marketing leaders to streamline their job.

Don’t forget the famous Kramer Twitter page, where Emily provides crucial insights to her social media followers.

5 Things Worth Considering When Hiring a Product Marketer

Did you know a failed hire can cost a company anywhere between $17,000 and $240,000?

Every role has its challenges when it comes to finding the ideal recruit. That said, product marketing might be one of the most challenging jobs to recruit for. It can feel like rocket science because of how multifaceted the role can be.

Below, we’re discussing some key takeaways from a recent podcast Emily did for Lenny’s Podcast (the same publisher of Lenny’s Newsletter). These tips ascertained from the podcast will help streamline your search for a top performer:

A Product Marketer Must Understand (Xn) These Core Tenets

Explaining one’s role in product marketing can feel broad and vague. Nonetheless, it comes down to understanding the product, audience, and market in which a candidate is working.

It's also a good sign if your candidate has a firm knowledge of key performance indicators in marketing.

Once these tenets are fully grasped, the foundation is built to effectively communicate with relevant audiences with impactful messaging at the right time.

Copywriting Skills Are A Must

Copywriting skills are a crucial component of successfully marketing products. This is a nuts-and-bolts ability, extending to emails, content strategy, emails, launches, etc.

Be mindful of the difference between technically “good” writing and writing that converts. Here’s an article from LinkedIn discussing the nuances of ROI in copywriting.

Prioritize Generalist Over Specialists

Generalized marketing functions and skills make a candidate more versatile. That means being more than simply a product marketer.

While hiring specialists on a contract basis is often fruitful, marketers who can adapt to various needs and be scrappy in figuring things out will offer the most full-time value.

The above notion rings especially true for early-stage startups who need the people on their marketing teams to wear many hats and grow into whatever their role evolves into.

In other words, don’t focus on candidates with one specific area of expertise. Seek talent with reasonable working knowledge in facets that drive growth.

Focus On Product, Content, And Growth Marketing

Focus on the most significant problems and what will help drive the most growth, then assess the three most common sub-functions most companies (like early-stage startups) seek in a hire.

Generally, these sub-functions would be a content distribution and marketing expert, a growth marketing and demand specialist, and a product marketing whiz.

You’ll want someone who dives head-first into these facets. They’ll be the most impactful hire for your organization.

Marketing Teams Should Be Made Up Of Pi-Shaped People

Consider the number 3.14–or pi–which has a symbol like this: π. It’s almost like two capital Ts combined.

The pi symbol represents a candidate’s product, growth, and content marketing skills. You should seek an expert in one area (the first T), proficient in another facet (the second T), and you want them to know how and when to hire contractors across all areas.

Become A Marketing Expert With Maven

The above tips from MKT1 Capital's co-founder Emily Kramer’s recent appearance on Lenny’s Podcast will help you hire difference-making professionals for your marketing teams.

Yet, the takeaways from one podcast can only offer so much. Undoubtedly, the lessons learned will be illuminating. Still, Emily's Building B2B Marketing Course will give early and growth stage marketing leaders a leg up in hiring the top talent.

On the above note, Maven provides exceptional marketing courses to ambitious professionals like you looking for engaging learning opportunities that bolster skill sets and supercharge careers.