Does Product Marketing consulting work?

I’m about to find out…

There's high demand across Europe for Product Marketing talent, which should make consulting an obvious opportunity for businesses and PMMs alike. But why aren't more people doing it?

Does Product Marketing consulting work?

This week’s post doesn’t really haven’t an answer. Or, at least, it doesn’t have one yet.

Because I’m about to embark on a new career adventure and it’s - you’ve guessed it - as a Product Marketing consultant.

I’m feeling excited, but also cautious.

Excited because there are so many companies out there who are looking to up their Product Marketing game. Some who need to start from scratch, others who need to really ramp things up. All with big Product Marketing problems to solve. And that sounds like a lot of fun to me.

It also feels like we have a supply issue. At least in Europe. I’ve spoken to a bunch of founders and marketing leaders who are finding ‘Senior PMM’ and ‘Head of Product Marketing’ to be some of their hardest permanent roles to fill at the moment.

So I’m very much looking forward to working with interesting and innovative businesses on getting their Product Marketing functions set up, having an impact, and then hopefully helping them find a permanent PMM to take things over too. (If you’re looking at the moment, let me know…)

I’m also feeling cautious, though, as there aren’t a whole lot of Product Marketing consultants out there and I figured there might be a reason for that. 

Product Marketing is a very ‘in-house’ kind of role. In fact, when I define it, I talk about Product Marketing being the bridge between the commercial part of an organisation and the product part. This is likely tough to do when you’re an external consultant.

There’s also the more general challenge that Product Marketing can be seen as the silver bullet that will fix all problems. That’s difficult enough when you’re joining a company full-time. But trying to do that from the outside? That’s a stretch.

But there’s always a way to solve for this stuff. Set expectations. Invest your time in the right stakeholders. Lean on people in-house who can help your work find the right internal audience. And, of course, focus.

My hypothesis is to focus on the same thing I’ve done when joining businesses as their first product marketer: nail the basics.

The essential customer insights. Competitive intelligence. Personas and customer journeys. Core value messaging and positioning. Invest in this stuff early, before getting into the weeds on product launches and internal processes, and everything else that follows feels so much easier. That’s the theory at least!

Who knows, it might not be for me, but consultancy is something I’ve wanted to try for a while now and this feels like the right time. 

I’m very lucky to have found a couple of brilliant clients to kick things off with from next week. I’ll be regularly sharing my findings with you about how it’s all going and what I’ve learned along the way. And trying to answer that important question: Does Product Marketing consulting work?

Wish me luck! 👋

P.S. Does your company need some help with its Product Marketing efforts? If so, let’s chat! ☕️

P.P.S. If you’re a product marketing consultant with any tips and tricks for me, I’d love to hear them!  🙏