Product Marketing Prioritization: A Field Guide for Doing Less, But Better
- Yi Lin Pei
- 4 days ago
- 10 min read
Hey, it’s Yi Lin! Each month, I share practical insights on product marketing, career growth, and thriving in this changing landscape. And if you’re ready for more than what this newsletter can offer, you can always explore my coaching programs and advisory services.
This newsletter is sponsored by: UserEvidence
The most tactical guide you need to capture customer proof
Are you spending months chasing case studies or testimonials, only for sales to ask, “Do we have proof for cybersecurity buyers?” or “Anything for EMEA?” Or perhaps you are unsure how to collect customer feedback at scale, or how much you should incentivize people to respond.
In 2026, the PMMs who win will be the ones who deliver specific, niche, ROI-backed proof that de-risks deals and earns sales’ trust. And with 67% of B2B buyers requiring compelling proof before they buy, this will be a crucial skill.
Closing The Evidence Gap is the most tactical, step-by-step guide I’ve seen on how to capture customer proof that actually gets used (and make PMM the most-loved member of your team). Because it’s written by a PMM leader, you know it’s got advice you can actually use.
Do you have too much work, but too little time?
I've been noticing a recurring theme lately in both client meetings and my community posts: people asking for help with prioritization. This seems heightened at this time of year - maybe it's the year-end crunch, or annual planning season for 2026. But many folks I've spoken to have a story similar to this client's:
"Our team is pretty small, and we're still building a lot of the foundations of product marketing. We also have to execute on launches every month, which takes up a ton of time. On top of that, my manager comes to me and says things like, 'We need to fix our sales enablement,'; or our CEO complains that our G2 page is out of date and needs to be cleaned up. And of course, I'm getting countless pings from other teams asking for help with slide decks, product page updates, talk tracks, etc. I honestly don't know how to prioritize these seemingly endless tasks."
If you’re reading this thinking, ‘Yep, that’s exactly my life,’ you’re not alone. Almost every PMM I coach says some version of this.
You can't clone yourself, and you can't add hours to the day. So what's a PMM to do?
My take on this is this:
Most prioritization issues are actually strategy issues.
They stem from a bad strategy, or no strategy at all. Here's how to tell if your team/company has a solid strategy:
It's simple and focused (a list of 10 goals is not a strategy)
It's actionable with the right resources behind it
It's adjustable and iterating - not rigid no matter what
If you realize your company might not have all three, don't panic. You don't have to be stuck in your company's bad strategy. You can still set a better one for yourself and your team. Of course, there are limits to this, and I will talk about that at the end.
But for now, here are four steps you can take to prioritize product marketing work.
How to prioritize product marketing work by doing less, but better
Step 1: Set your strategy
The word “strategy” gets used A LOT, and it can sound intimidating – or even like something only your C suite has to worry about. But at its core, strategy is just choosing what matters most and deciding where you’ll focus your limited time and resources (and saying no to things).
Ideally, your company has already created high-level goals that are cascading down to teams. Using this will help your marketing team determine their strategy, which will feed into yours (whether individually or if you’re managing a team).
Here’s how that should look:
First: Determine your functional team’s goals based on company-level priorities. This is usually set by your marketing or GTM leader each quarter. If they haven’t done this, bring a draft to them, and fewer goals are always better. Even if your company doesn’t use OKRs, there should be a clear equivalent you can anchor to.
Second: Review these goals and ask: What is our functional team's plan to achieve them across content, demand gen, ops, product, and beyond? This strategy should come from your leadership, but that doesn't mean you wait on the sidelines.
Third (critically important): Determine Product Marketing’s specific contribution to the functional plan. Be explicit about what PMM will own versus what PMM will support. This single distinction creates alignment and prevents PMM from becoming the catch-all function. See the sample graphic below.
Fourth: Turn that into a PMM team strategy. Use the same strategic pillars, but re-create it as PMM-specific initiatives, tasks. This becomes your roadmap.
Fifth: Get granular about what PMM needs to do that wasn’t captured at the functional level. This often includes foundational work such as research, ICP clarity, messaging frameworks, better processes. These gaps should be named explicitly and fed back into the functional strategy discussion in Step 2 so they are captured.
Finally (and possibly most important): Be clear about what not to do. Some work may be important, but simply not aligned with current company goals or timing. Protecting focus is part of strategic leadership. There is a saying I love:
“Don’t half-ass two things. Whole-ass one thing.”
Step 2: Use a prioritization framework
Ok, so now you know what you have to do. It’s time to figure out how you’re going to do it.
This is one of my favorite parts, because I get to share my most popular framework: the Action/Priority Matrix. This simple 2x2 matrix helps you categorize tasks based on Impact and Effort, making it easy to spot your “Quick Wins” while mapping out the larger, more complex projects.
Here’s how to use it:
1. List all your tasks for the quarter - Start with everything that cascades from the strategy you created in Step 1.
2. Rate the impact - For each task, ask yourself: How impactful is this on a scale of 0–10? Impact is about how crucial the task is to the company’s and team’s key goals this quarter.
3. Evaluate the effort - How big of a lift will this be for you or your team? Assign an effort score so you can compare tasks objectively.
4. Plot your tasks on the 2x2 matrix and group them into four categories:
Quick Wins: High impact, low effort. Do these first to build momentum and early wins.
Major Projects: High impact, high effort. Plan these carefully, break them into milestones, and turn pieces into quick wins—or request additional support.
Fill-Ins: Low impact, low effort. Handle these during lighter weeks, or delegate if possible. Often ideal for someone more junior.
Thankless Tasks: Low impact, high effort. Avoid these when you can. They usually signal unclear boundaries or work PMM shouldn’t own. Partner with your manager to determine how this work should get done (or whether it should get done at all).
Below is an example of what this looks like with common PMM activities mapped into each category.
As you’re working through this, remember what we covered in last month’s newsletter: where AI can help with some of these tasks. While not a hard and fast rule, it’s more likely that you’ll see value in the “Fill-Ins” and “Thankless Tasks” areas; for example, you can likely create a workflow using current assets to help you update FAQs.
You’ll need to discern where AI adds value for major projects, likely within the smaller milestones (ie, you could probably use an LLM’s help pulling themes out of your win/loss calls, but you’ll want to confirm those and do the analysis and presentation yourself.)
How to use surveys to capture customer proof (without losing your mind)As we saw above, customer case studies are usually quick wins: high-value tools that can generate immediate value. Yet collecting actual customer proof might be more painful than we’d like to admit. Specifically, customer proof is usually collected from surveys. But most surveys flop because they’re too long, too generic, and too annoying for customers to answer.
So how do you run surveys that actually get responses? Here’s how, according to the Close the Evidence Gap:
This is just the starting point. The UserEvidence playbook goes way deeper including email scripts, sample survey question sets, incentive strategy, internal testing workflows, and exactly how to turn raw responses into ROI-ready proof points your sales team will actually use. |
Step 3: Communicate your prioritization
Once you’ve mapped all your tasks into this framework, the next step is making sure everyone around you is aligned with your priorities, especially your manager.
Avoid simply sending your manager a list and say, “I can do these, but not everything else.” That approach doesn’t build trust, and it puts all the burden of interpretation on them.
A far more effective way is to turn your priorities into a simple narrative (e.g. a few slides) that ties your work directly to company and team goals. For example, you might say:
“Here are the business goals for the quarter. I’ve taken some time to think about what PMM needs to deliver to support those goals, and here’s my proposed prioritization based on impact, sequencing, and what we’ve learned this year. I’d love to get your feedback and make sure we’re aligned.”
This immediately shows that you’re thinking strategically, not just reacting to tasks. It also signals that you’re actively connecting your work to outcomes, something every great PMM leader appreciates.
The second part of communicating prioritization is being mindful of how you say no or push back. There are two simple techniques that preserve trust:
1. “Not now.” You’re not shutting down the request. You’re saying it’s not aligned with current priorities or timing. This keeps the door open without derailing your plan.
2. Frame everything as a trade-off. For example: “We can launch the new Sales Playbook this quarter OR run the competitive training for the enterprise reps. Doing both is possible, but it means deprioritizing PLG experimentation for SMB. Here’s what that trade-off looks like.”
This approach:
Makes the invisible work visible
Helps leaders make intentional choices
Prevents you from silently absorbing extra work
Step 4: Identifying the real constraint and making the right request
Even with perfect prioritization, you’ll eventually hit a point where the team simply can’t take on more. When everything is being labeled as “critical,” your job isn’t to work harder, it’s to identify the real constraint and ask for what’s needed.
Before you make any request, diagnose whether the issue is:
Capacity (not enough hands),
Capability (missing skills or tools), or
Consistency (broken processes creating churn).
Each one requires a different solution. Capacity problems point to headcount or contractor support. Capability gaps point to tools, vendors, or specific expertise. And consistency issues can’t be solved with staffing or software. You must fix the intake, workflows, or communication first.
Once you’ve identified the constraint, frame your request around business outcomes, not bandwidth. Instead of “I’m overwhelmed,” shift to:
“To hit our goals for this quarter, PMM needs to deliver X and Y. Based on the current team, here’s what’s possible, and here’s what won’t get done without additional support.”
A simple capacity snapshot works well here. Show what can be delivered with:
0 new hires,
1 new hire or contractor, or additional tooling/vendor budget.
This makes the invisible work visible. It also gives leaders clear, concrete options.
Finally, always articulate the risk of not taking action. That might mean slower launch cycles, missed opportunities, longer sales timelines, competitive pressure, or simply burnout. Leaders respond when you show the business impact, not when you talk about being overloaded.
On that note:
Bonus - don’t sacrifice your life
I hear versions of this from so many clients:
“I’m not willing to sacrifice my health or my family anymore. I stop at a certain point. If no escalation is happening, I’m not going to do it.”
This is not about being lazy. It’s about protecting your boundaries.
The goal is not to become more efficient at self-abandonment. The goal is to design your work in a way where:
Your time is protected for the few big rocks that move your career
Your capacity and tradeoffs are visible to leadership
Your relationships are set up to support you, not drain you
And you still have a life outside of your job
You want to build a system where you can do excellent work and still have a life. And honestly, if leadership won’t engage in a candid conversation about tradeoffs after you did steps 1-4 above, then that’s pretty important data for you, too…
…and it may be time to leave the company.
Where to go from here
If this is resonating, it’s because these challenges aren’t personal failures; they’re systemic patterns that PMMs face every day. And this is exactly the work I do with clients: helping PMMs design systems that protect their time, clarify their priorities, and support their career growth without sacrificing their health or their lives outside of work.
I’ve partnered with more than 30 PMMs this year to build personalized strategies for prioritization, boundary-setting, and sustainable leadership.
Here’s what this looks like when it works in real life:
Clementina, Lead PMM at Klaviyo, used her learning budget to work with me. She quickly built a strong strategy, then identified and executed a project so impactful that it's become the most talked-about initiative on her global team.
If you want support as we move into a new year, my Grow and Thrive 1-1 coaching programs are where we do it together. And yes - this is the perfect time to use your L&D budget before year-end!
Resources and updates:
🎙️ Upcoming Event
I’m doing a real coaching hot seat on the Product Marketing Adventures podcast. Streaming Dec 9th →Sign up here.
📝 New resources
My behind-the-scenes take on what coaching actually looks like and can do for you. (Product Marketer newsletter with Rory Woodbridge)
My most popular post of November: my exact process for positioning & messaging using a Miro board.
Inside my community (what you get when you work with me)
When you work with me through any of my programs, you also get access to my private, vetted community of current and past clients, one of the most supportive PMM networks out there.
A few recent highlights:
→ In-Person Meetups (NYC, SF, and beyond)- Good food, real conversations, and genuine friendships… not just PMM venting buddies. :)
→ AI Workflow Workshops - Members demoed AI workflows from Claude projects to full agentic setups — it was so good it sparked a 30-day AI challenge. The work people shared blew me away.
If you’ve ever wondered what the 1:1 experience feels like beyond the sessions… this is a small glimpse behind the scenes.