2023 was a groundbreaking year for product marketing, witnessing a surge in industry entrants and heightened competition. As we stride into 2024, we see new frameworks and strategies emerging daily.
To get these updates as soon as they arrive, PMMs turn to the masters – those pioneering coaches who've not only seen it all but shaped best practices themselves.
We've scoured the industry's sharpest minds to bring you the top 5 product marketing coaches to watch in 2024. From positioning gurus to launch legends, these leaders represent the next wave of product marketing excellence.
This esteemed group comprises visionaries, strategists, and creative minds who have not only made waves in the space but are reshaping the very fabric of product marketing.
Join us as we delve into the minds of these distinguished coaches, unraveling their career highlights, future predictions, and words of wisdom to level up your PMM game!
Meet your Top 5 Product Marketing Coaches...
Tamara has leveraged her expertise across strategic product marketing roles to help B2B SaaS companies identify winning segments, pricing models, and product strategies to accelerate revenue. She also excels at coaching and mentoring the next generation of product marketers to embrace a new philosophy and mindset.
In addition to founding PMM Camp in early 2023, Tamara spent two years as an Expert in Residence at the Product Marketing Alliance. She is dedicated to facilitating meaningful connections and conversations that help PMMs refine their craft.
Through high-value training programs, an exclusive online community for PMM leaders, and one-on-one coaching, Tamara provides the guidance PMMs need to build rewarding careers and expand their skillset beyond PMM foundations.
What’s your top prediction for product marketing in 2024?
I think we’re going to see more specialization within the product marketing function, moving away from product marketing generalists and towards subject matter experts. Many PMMs are feeling burnt out, overextended, and underappreciated.
I find the happiest product marketers are the ones who have taken control of their career – they’ve done the work to understand where they can have the highest impact and then they find roles and projects that set them up for success (think lifestyle design, but for careers).
What advice would you give to someone who’s looking to build their profile in the product marketing world?
Identify what you want to be known for as a product marketer (you probably need to niche down more than you think, at least at first). Then, draft a list of core beliefs or hills that you would die on, and infuse these concepts into everything you create. Show up consistently (and authentically) every day.
With over a decade of experience in marketing at fast-growing startups like Intercom and Brandwatch, Jasmine has led high-performing teams and executed strategies that fueled company growth. Her areas of expertise span product marketing, positioning, market research, and sales enablement.
As a Director of Product Marketing at Intercom, Jasmine led initiatives including redefining Intercom's core messaging and ideal customer profile to support an upmarket shift. She also coached and mentored talent to maximize their potential.
After discovering a passion for helping others thrive, Jasmine completed coaching training with the Co-Active Training Institute. She now works with ambitious professionals navigating challenges like burnout, imposter syndrome, career changes, and more.
Jasmine takes a holistic, empathetic approach to coaching. She provides clients with strategies tailored to their unique goals and empowers them to find fulfillment in work and life.
What’s been your personal highlight in your product marketing career so far?
Building a successful, happy product marketing team at Intercom. I’m incredibly grateful to all the awesome PMMs who trusted me enough to join my team, and it has been such a privilege to work alongside them and support them in their careers. I’m proud of the work we did and am thrilled to see many of them now leading their own teams.
What’s your top prediction for product marketing in 2024?
It’s hard to ignore the proliferation of AI and the impact it’ll have on us all, especially on PMMs working in the tech industry. I don’t believe there’s any risk of AI replacing us any time soon, but I do think it represents an interesting challenge for marketers; with AI being integrated into seemingly every product, how do we differentiate those innovations?
I think PMMs will need to be creative to make AI features stand out—simply having “AI” in your product will quickly become table stakes (if it isn’t already!). I hope that means we’ll see much more focus on what you can actually do with the AI and the outcomes it delivers.
What advice would you give to someone who’s looking to build their profile in the product marketing world?
It’s the same advice I’d give about building relationships in any situation: Be helpful, be authentic, and be kind. The PMM community is ever-growing, and there are so many people looking to connect with others who can relate to the experiences and challenges they’re facing. I’ve found that most people are willing to share their experiences and advice if you are equally generous with yours, and people will remember you if you are kind and helpful.
I’d also like to say this: You don’t have to love “networking” to make connections and build your profile. I’m an introvert and networking events give me the fear, but I’ve always welcomed opportunities to share advice or connect with others 1:1 – whether that’s responding to a question in a product marketing Slack group, sharing my experience on a podcast, or spending 30 mins with someone who reached out on LinkedIn asking for help.
Say “yes” to things when you can (even if it scares you!), and proactively look for opportunities to help others by sharing your experiences and expertise.
Jason Oakley
Founder of Productive PMM
Jason Oakley is a talented product marketing coach, consultant, and creator who helps early-stage companies build high-impact PMM functions. With over 10 years of experience as a founding product marketer, he has built PMM teams from the ground up at three successful startups - Klue, Chili Piper, and Uberflip.
Having been in the trenches as the first PMM hire multiple times, Jason understands the unique challenges facing new and growing product marketing teams. He works closely with founders and PMM leaders to help them scale faster, prioritize the right activities, and drive measurable impact across their organizations.
Now as the founder of Productive PMM, Jason is on a mission to equip product marketers with the frameworks, knowledge, and confidence needed to demonstrate value and become a strategic driver of business growth. He offers coaching and consulting tailored to the specific needs of early-stage startups and their product marketing functions.
When he's not helping clients level up their PMM capabilities, you can find Jason spending time with his family, cheering on the Raptors, or working on children's books inspired by his fox named Rocco. As a proud Newfoundlander and morning person, he also loves cracking dad jokes.
What’s your prediction for product marketing in 2024?
The companies that can remove obstacles for customers and make buying easier are the ones that will win. You're going to see more companies leading with their product.
More messaging that clearly describes capabilities and differentiators. More interactive demos and visuals that actually show the product. More buyer enablement content that aims to help buyers evaluate.
What advice would you give to someone looking to level up in product marketing?
- Consume a lot of content. The most valuable things for me have been LinkedIn and podcasts.
- Accelerate your learning and build a supportive network with courses, communities, and coaches.
- Build a strong POV — on the definition of product marketing, your market, and the value of your product.
- Don't be afraid to try new things, fail, and share what you learn. It’s the only way to make what you learn stick.
With over 12 years of experience spanning B2B/B2C SaaS, IoT, CPG, and consulting, Yi Lin leverages her diverse background to equip clients for success. Since 2021, she has helped over 150 professionals land roles at leading companies including LinkedIn, HubSpot, Uber, and TikTok.
Yi Lin began her own career pivot from transportation engineering to tech marketing in 2016 despite lacking relevant experience. By developing a strategic approach, she landed her first role in marketing at Autodesk. From there, she rose to become a senior product marketing leader and a top 100 global PMM influencer.
Having personally overcome the challenges of switching careers, Yi Lin makes it her mission to help driven professionals achieve their dreams. Her customized coaching focuses on resume branding, interview preparation, salary negotiation, and onboarding success. Yi Lin also provides ongoing career growth support tailored to each individual.
Past clients highlight her ability to boost confidence, develop strategic career plans, and open doors to new opportunities. Whether looking to get a foot in the door or grow into leadership, Yi Lin enables professionals to thrive in marketing, product marketing, and no-code tech roles.
What’s your prediction for product marketing in 2024?
More product marketing work will be AI-assisted. With the increasing adoption of tools like Jasper, Copy.ai, and ChatGPT, many PMMs already use AI daily to automate more repetitive tasks.
Using these tools smartly will make PMMs more productive and do more strategic work. On the other hand, overreliance on these tools can lead to more cookie-cutter messaging and content – so please be aware!
What advice would you give someone looking to level up in product marketing?
First, reflect on what you want to achieve at the next level, whether it be new skill sets, influence, or purpose. Then, map out where you are today to identify the gaps. This will help you focus your efforts to close the gaps, which you can do by getting mentors/coaches, taking on more opportunities at work, and focusing on learning.
If you already have the skills to operate at the next level, don’t be afraid to ask for exactly what you need, or take a leap and pursue a new opportunity!
Shyna Zhang
Go-to-Market Advisor, Consultant, and Coach at Growth Marketing LLC
Shyna has built and led go-to-market and product marketing teams in Seattle, Singapore, and San Francisco for 10+ years. Taking that experience, she runs a go-to-market advising and consulting company for Silicon Valley's fastest-growing companies.
Her passion for developing talent in Product Marketing has led her to create Real World Product Marketing Academy, a case-based approach to learning not only the “what” but the “how” of product marketing.
Shyna has curated a group of marketers who are able to combine the art and science of marketing – storytelling, deep empathy for the buyer, and the ability to drive impact and influence across the organization – with a “General Manager’s” business perspective.
Her core competencies include: Go-to-market strategy, messaging & positioning, storytelling, creative problem-solving, sales enablement, product marketing, and category creation.
What’s been your personal highlight in your product marketing career so far?
Having had the opportunity to work with SaaS clients in industries from manufacturing to fintech to enterprise software to workforce productivity has allowed me to learn about so many different approaches to go-to-market.
Whether it’s sales-led, product-led, partner-led, community-led, or (most often), a combination of both, I really enjoy the process of learning about the industry landscape, the competitors, the whitespace, and partnering with the leadership to create a tailored go-to-market strategy.
Product marketing isn't just words on paper, rather, it’s a business strategy. So the process of sitting with the leadership team to come up with new categories, truly identifying differentiators, and developing a narrative for the market is really satisfying.
The best feeling is logging onto LinkedIn and seeing your messaging and positioning “in the wild” or seeing your clients’ CEO launch their new thought leadership centered around your recommended strategy and category. Feels like I’m making a true impact 😄.
What’s your top prediction for product marketing in 2024?
With the proliferation of hosting, storage, and developer tools, it’s becoming easier to spin up products and solutions overnight that are “good enough,” AI accelerates this. Differentiation is HARD and becoming harder in SaaS. Regardless of industry, you’ll often hear buyers say “All of the options sound the same.”
The front-line sales team is feeling this pain the most. Although relationships and go-to-market strategy are important, most companies don’t actually understand what their differentiators are (hint, it may not actually be a feature in the product).
Product Marketers will continue to be at the forefront of working together with the leadership to understand and develop moats across the business, not just with technology. Is it our community and thought leadership? Is it our integrations and partnerships? Is it our consultative go-to-market approach? Is it scale or network effect? Is it a combination of both?
More than ever, PMMs will be in the driver’s seat to help drive differentiation, value, and ultimately, growth.
What advice would you give to someone who’s looking to build their profile in the product marketing world?
As Aristotle says, “Know Thyself.” Figure out what your superpower is. This may require some reflection or conversations with people who have worked with you (it can be hard to see the label from inside the bottle 😄).
There will naturally be parts of PMM that are more interesting and exciting to you, you’ll probably be better at them as well. Focus on building your profile with your team, company, and online around this area. Voice of customer? Storytelling? Competitive Intel? Pricing and Packaging?
Not only will you be able to work on projects you love, you’ll probably excel through your own curiosity, passion, and hard work.
That's a wrap!
And there you have it – our roundup of the Top 5 Product Marketing Coaches poised to shape the industry in 2024. This elite group of leaders represents the vanguard of product marketing excellence. They’ve not only pioneered new frameworks but are actively guiding the next generation of PMMs to refine their craft.
We hope you've found inspiration in their words of wisdom and are eager to implement their advice. Don't hesitate to connect with these coaches on LinkedIn to continue the conversation – they’re dedicated to facilitating meaningful discussions to help fellow product marketers level up.
As we stride into an exciting new era for product marketing, let us embrace these visionaries' pioneering mindsets. Stay curious, creative, and laser-focused on customer value.