Get the 30-60-90 Day Onboarding checklist for product marketers to help you start your new product marketing job with ease and confidence. Starting a new PMM job and already feeling overwhelmed? You're not alone, and you’re not failing. The first 90 days are tough for everyone. That’s why hundreds of PMMs swear by my free 30/60/90 onboarding checklist: the go-to playbook to help you turn overwhelm into clarity and confidence. By providing your email address, you'll also subscribe to my newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time, and I respect your privacy. Angelea Ennamorato Product Marketing Lead "As I tackled my role as a startup's founding PMM, I knew I needed help. This list was a life saver as I started my new role and with it, I felt I had a real plan on what to do in my new role. that propelled me to a new phase of my career and job where I felt empowered to tackle opportunities and challenges."

Get the Ultimate Job Search Guide for Product Marketers to help you land more interviews, position yourself as the best candidate, stand out, ace assignments, and navigate the entire job search process with confidence. Looking to land a PMM role in 2026? Download this 20-page guide for concrete frameworks and tactical guidance to navigate each stage of your job search. Take charge of your job search with 20 pages of insights distilled from thousands of hours spent coaching over 150 clients. By providing your email address, you'll also subscribe to my newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time, and I respect your privacy. Valentina Llinas Sr. Product Marketing Manager @ Cornerstone OnDemand "I had been in the hunt for 6 months already without luck, and by meticulously following Yi Lin’s process (trust her process!), I was fortunate to secure a role that checked all of my boxes within just 2 months! The confidence that Yi Lin’s approach provides is priceless and game-changing." What You'll Learn How to tailor your search to your unique strengths, values, and competitive advantage. How to position yourself as the best candidate and understand the most strategic way to apply. How to ace your interviews and take-home assignment based on what hiring managers are looking for. Get Instant Access to the Ultimate Job Search Guide for Product Marketers Now By providing your email address, you'll also subscribe to my newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time, and I respect your privacy. Why I created this guide Waves of tech layoffs have made it more important than ever to stand out in the job market. If you’ve been applying to dozens of roles and haven’t heard back or you keep getting passed up for more experienced candidates, it’s time to get more strategic. This ebook consolidates insights from hundreds of hours helping clients land product marketing roles. I hope it can help you avoid pitfalls and build confidence as you navigate your search.

Going from a team of product marketers to be the first dedicated PMM for a tech startup was a big transition for me. I knew I needed help from someone who had done something similar to navigate my role successfully. Yi Lin brought in amazing qualities as a coach—perspective, wisdom, and empathy (to name a few)—that propelled me to a new phase of my career and job where I felt empowered to tackle opportunities and challenges . I would strongly recommend her to other product marketers who want to learn how to grow in their PMM careers, harnessing the value of their experience in a new environment. Angelea Ennamorato Product Marketing Lead Yi Lin provided tremendous value to me as I moved from an individual contributor to a director role within product marketing. Her wealth of insights and best practices helped me quickly stand up and refine our PMM team processes, and gave me the framework I needed to build the most important bridges across our organization. She was an invaluable sounding board and coach as I built my confidence as a leader. I'm so grateful to have worked with her! Carley Stugelmayer Director of Product Marketing I had the pleasure to work with Yi Lin as one of her career coaching clients. Yi Lin was so helpful throughout the process - her communication was great, she was very empathetic to my specific career journey and she gave really great insights throughout the entire process. Working with Yi Lin, I was able to find a job within 3 months. Also, job searching is never easy, and I felt that her guidance helped to make the process a little less daunting. I have recommended her to friends and would certainly work with her again in the future. Carrie Silver Social Media Manager "I decided to work with Yi Lin after following her and getting significant value from her content on LinkedIn. This turned out to be one of the best decisions I have made for my career, as I landed my dream role I am super excited about, within 2.5 months after working with her, even in a tough job market! What I loved about working with Yi Lin is that her materials and instructions were value packed, straight to the point with zero fluff. This helped me articulate the value I brought and tell a cohesive story. It also ensured I focused on the most impactful activities in the job search process - allowing me to be efficient and conserve energy. One unique element of the program is that Yi Lin also has a supportive private community that provided an opportunity to connect with and learn alongside other talented individuals at all levels of seniority. And to top it off Yi Lin holds incredible group coaching sessions on a regular basis which supported me both with my job search and as a marketer. Some of the workshops she hosted include AI in product marketing, positioning/messaging, GTM strategies, to name a few. All in all, I received significantly more value than the investment, and the ROI is well worth it. Having worked with other coaches, I will say her coaching is far more valuable than standard programs which would not offer you the opportunity to refine your skills in such a way and learn with industry peers. I 100% recommend working with her if you need a helpful, empathetic guide along your job search and growth journey!" Cecilia Makinde Marketing Programs Manager, GTM Before I connected with Yi Lin, I felt overwhelmed by the prospect of my next job search. I knew I wanted a new challenge, but I wasn't sure where to start. Yi helped me gain clarity through insightful coaching sessions, asking powerful questions that helped me define my ideal role and career goals. Her one-on-one approach felt personalized and supportive, like having a cheerleader in my corner. She asked insightful questions about prior products that helped me completely revamp my resume, highlighting my strengths and achievements in a way that resonated with recruiters and hiring managers. She's also cracked the code for writing cover letters that land interviews; she helped me craft compelling narratives that showcased my unique value proposition. Yi Lin's library of resources and templates made my search process smoother and less daunting. The connections I made with other product marketing professionals in her community allowed me to build a valuable network that continues to offer support and advice as I prepare to dive into a new role. I am grateful to Yi for empowering me to take control of my career and navigate the journey with clarity and confidence. She was a game-changer for me, and I can't recommend her services highly enough. Christine Moore Director of Product Marketing, Forj "I chose to work with Yi Lin because of her sheer knowledge in the field as well as her genuine desire to help her clients work towards landing their dream roles. Despite it being a tough time in the job market, Yi Lin never once doubted that I would find a great role, which truly helped me maintain my confidenc e and calm as I continued my job search. With her help, I have been able to land a great role and I am truly excited to continue working with Yi Lin moving forward as I progress in my journey." Deepa Pillalamarri Customer Enablement Specialist As someone who has been managed and coached by Yi Lin, I’ve experienced first-hand her genuine commitment to my growth and transformation. Yi Lin hired me while at Teachable, and she has since been my biggest advocate, providing me with strategic expertise and coaching through complex situations and tasks. As a result, I continued seeking advice from her when she became a full-time coach. As a coach, Yi Lin masterfully blends clear communication, refreshing transparency, highly specific advice, and a positive mindset. After every session, I can better see the bigger picture, walk away with clear next steps, and--not to be underestimated--benefit from much-needed emotional guidance. In my view, Yi Lin’s effectiveness as a coach derives from a truly unique point of view informed firstly by her background as a career pivoter, not only once, but multiple times, which provides her with a deep well of empathy for people of diverse backgrounds who often experience myriad challenges on their journey; and secondly, her varied interests and backgrounds as an artist, consultant, and someone who has lived in many places, all of which make her keenly observant of people’s specific needs and superpowers. If you want to grow in your PMM career, I can’t recommend her highly enough, no matter your background. Don Atkins Product Marketing Manager Yi Lin’s coaching program transformed my job search. Her expert guidance taught me effective methods to focus my efforts for maximum impact. Working closely with Yi Lin on interview techniques was invaluable. Unlike other resources that simply give you questions and example answers, Yi Lin took the time to work through questions with me and helped me to understand how my experience could translate into answers that showcased how I was the best candidate for the role. This totally changed the game for me when interviewing. Thank you, Yi Lin, for equipping me to succeed! Gwen Kessinger Senior Product Marketing Manager Harry Dhaliwal Product Marketing Manager More specifically, I started working with Yi Lin after a layoff— she provided me with instant relief from our very first call. It was her expert understanding of the field and concrete strategy that helped to lift some of the weight off of my shoulders. I credit the ease with which I was able to land a new role that I love— within the time frame I set out for myself— to her coaching. She helped me identify my strengths and impactful stories to focus on in interviews, gave me feedback on my materials, created a supportive community of tech folks, and is my most trusted advisor. In fact, I have enrolled to work with her again as I enter a new phase as a product marketer. I highly recommend working with Yi Lin in any stage of your career. Attention anyone looking for expert support in their tech career: Like many others, I first came across Yi Lin's content on LinkedIn and noticed her name circulating as an influential voice in tech and product marketing. As I considered reaching out, I remember being uncertain of the level of support I would receive from a tech career coach -- would this be similar to prior job placement services that were too general to be useful to me? Absolutely not. As someone who has now completed a full coaching cycle and various workshops with Yi Lin I am 100% sure I made the right decision to schedule that initial call with her. Jordan Adler Product Marketing Manager, KickUp I am thrilled to share my experience working with Yi Lin - as her guidance played an instrumental role in helping me secure a coveted Product Marketing Director role that aligned perfectly with my goals. The journey was challenging, but the payoff was worth every effort invested. My objective was to transition from an enterprise setting to a startup. However, given the tough job market, I found myself facing a lot of rejections despite my experience. The turning point came with Yi Lin’s guidance on targeting only companies that fit my background and domain. Then, using her PSAR frameworks and highly personalized messaging house, my value was able to shine and I was able to stand out. Additionally, her program and community also allowed me to transform into a better product marketer. The exposure to diverse product marketing perspectives allowed me to improve my strategic thinking and point of view - an unexpected but welcomed outcome of this journey. The comprehensive support I received—from group meetings and guest speakers to practice interviews—was pivotal in preparing me for the challenges of my new role. I express my deepest gratitude to Yi Lin and her client community for their unwavering support, invaluable tips, and encouragement throughout this journey. Job searching can be isolating, but with this team, I never felt alone. Josh Porter Director of Product Marketing, Kore AI Yi Lin and I worked together when I was searching for my latest role and I would and have recommended her to anyone in the hunt who'd like an expert set of PMM eyes to help give them a leg up on the competition. I'm a very seasoned PMM leader, but she is a framework master and was instrumental in helping me clarify what I was trying to say. She was pivotal in taking my work from good to great and my investment in working with her has definitely already proven to have a positive ROI. Kelsey Kamp Director of Product Marketing, Marin Software TESTIMONIALS My Clients Say

This newsletter is sponsored by: UserEvidence Turn customer proof into your competitive advantage  If you want your team to strengthen messaging, compete harder, and win more deals in 2026, start by fixing your customer evidence engine . As a former Director of PMM, this is the system I desperately wish I had. UserEvidence  gives you the verified proof every PMM needs but never has enough of: ROI stats, competitive wins, product claims, and account-level stories you can plug directly into launches, narratives, and sales motions. With the ability to scale customer-centric content, you can dedicate more time to actually enabling sales.  → Book a demo to see it in action! Four Lessons from Four Years as a Product Marketing Coach Happy New Year, everyone!  I hope 2026 is off to a gentle, grounding start for you. 🥰 The end of a year/beginning of a new one always puts me in a reflective mood. It is one of the few moments when time feels slow enough to pause and really take stock. I think about what worked, what didn’t, what surprised me, and what I learned the hard way. This year marks my fourth year running my own product marketing coaching and advisory business (or 5th year if you count my side-hustle year). It has been an incredible journey. There have been real highs, plenty of challenges, and constant learning. I feel deeply grateful that I get to wake up every day doing work I care about, working with thoughtful, driven people, and building something that supports my family.  But that doesn’t mean it has been easy or linear.  I’m sharing this reflection because I’m often asked how I started my business or how I built what I do today. From the outside, things can look smooth or “figured out.” The reality is a lot messier and slower. And to me, there’s nothing more encouraging than hearing how things went “behind the scenes” when people share their success stories.  Because our career successes are not magic, and that means whatever you want to achieve, it can happen for you, too.   So here we go.  Lesson 1: Mastery beats motivation  Many people are familiar with parts of my story, but for those who aren’t, here’s the short version. I started my career as a transportation engineering consultant and later made a hard pivot into product marketing. It was intense and challenging, but it worked. After becoming a newbie PMM, I was promoted three times in three years to become a Director of Product Marketing.  After building several PMM teams from scratch, I decided to go out on my own. I’m sure I looked confident from the outside – but I did not feel  ready at all. During COVID, I helped several laid-off friends land new jobs, and that’s when I started to notice that I was exceptionally good at helping people make sense of their experience and turn it into a clear, high-impact story. It was the same skill I had relied on to change my own career. These friends pushed me to take the work more seriously, which eventually grew into my 1:1 coaching programs. At some point, as my business grew, I wanted to reach more people, so I decided to build a job search course. I spent a huge amount of time on it, creating the curriculum, recording videos, and so on. But when I launched it, only five people signed up. I remember feeling embarrassed and disappointed. I thought that the idea was never gonna work and pretty much gave up. But after sulking for a week, I decided I couldn’t quit yet.  I knew from plenty of people that my process worked…. So why didn't anyone sign up?  Instead of giving up, I got curious. I paid close attention to those five people. Where did they get stuck? What actually helped? I also talked to people who had considered signing up but didn’t. As I collected feedback, one insight immediately stood out: job search support cannot be purely self-paced. People need accountability, real examples, feedback, and community. That realization changed everything and helped me launch the PMM Job Search System in December 2024.  Over the past year, more than 75 people have gone through the program, with an average of 1 person per week landing a new job. None of this would exist if I had treated those first five sign-ups as failures instead of information. This was a huge lesson for me that I will carry forward:  The most meaningful things rarely look impressive at the beginning. Mastery is built through repetition, humility, and a willingness to keep going. Lesson 2: Clarity beats noise When you are building anything, whether it’s a business or a career, it’s like rowing a boat. If you don’t know where you’re going, all that effort just moves you in circles. Early on, I spent a lot of time thinking about what kind of business I actually wanted to build. I was raised by a single mom with very strong values, and I’ve always had to reconcile two things that can feel at odds: creating real value for people and being paid fairly for my work. I wanted to help people generously, but I also needed to support my family and build something sustainable. What became clear to me quickly is that I didn’t want to build a business optimized purely for short-term revenue. I wanted something enduring: a business grounded in impact, trust, and long-term relationships. I believed that if I focused on that, the money would follow. Not the other way around. That clarity made some decisions harder in the moment. I had to learn to turn away clients. I said no to opportunities that looked good on paper and ignored paths that promised faster growth but didn’t feel aligned with my true goals. I see this tension most clearly on LinkedIn. There are moments when I spend days creating a post, only to watch it land with 20 likes. Then I see a meme rack up thousands of likes. I’d be lying if I said that never stung or made me question my approach. The comparison mentality is real.  But I always come back to the same question: what am I actually trying to build? That question has helped me ignore noise and focus on signals that matter more to me. Not just revenue growth, though that’s important. What I care most about are repeat clients and word of mouth. Those are indicators of trust and durability. Last year, nearly 40% percent of my work came from repeat clients across my programs, along with a steady stream of referrals from people who know me and my work. Those results have given me a deeper kind of confidence that comes from knowing this:  Sticking to my values will always lead to the right results.   Lesson 3: Focus, but leave room to experiment  I’ve always believed deeply in focus. As product marketers, we know this instinctively. If you try to do everything, no one knows you for anything. Focus is what allows mastery to form. For most of my career, I leaned very hard into that principle. And it served me well. What I learned more recently is that focus alone isn’t enough. Over the past year, I started thinking about my work through an 80/20 lens. 80% of my time went into refining and deepening my core offerings. The remaining 20% I treated as R&D. This 20% was uncomfortable by design because I needed to put myself out there, to try things I wasn’t sure would work, and to be willing to face rejection. In a world that’s changing as fast as ours, doing only what has worked in the past is one of the fastest ways to become irrelevant. And not surprisingly, about 90% of those experiments failed. I was ghosted after proposals. Conversations that felt promising went nowhere. Ideas I thought had potential turned out to have no real product-market fit. But those failures were incredibly informative. They taught me what not to pursue and sharpened my instincts. The remaining 10% did  surprise me. For instance, I helped an AI startup create their  positioning and messaging  for expansion into the US market, I trained a team of 70 PMs and PMMs to align on how to work together (yay!), and I built a recruiting agency !  So by putting myself out there, I got opportunities that kept me sharp, exposed me to new problems and perspectives, and opened up new business ideas. Lesson 4: Getting help > going at it alone  One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is that growth gets much harder when you try to do it entirely on your own. Not because you don’t know what to do, but because the most meaningful problems require new perspectives and support. I’m actually introverted, even though people often assume otherwise. Writing has always been my most natural way to connect, which is probably why you’re reading this newsletter. 😀 But introversion can also turn into isolation if I am not careful. This year, I pushed myself to change that. I reached out to people I admired and deepened relationships I already had. Those small actions led to some of the most meaningful relationships I’ve built so far: mentors, collaborators, peers, and partners who challenged my thinking and expanded what I thought was possible. For instance, I deepened my relationship with my mentor  - the amazing Martina Launchengco, whom I met on LinkedIn through one cold outbound message. She has been a huge collaborator and inspiration since then.   But support doesn’t just show up in professional settings. I’m often told I’m a “super mom” for running a business while raising young kids. The truth is, I couldn’t do this alone. I have an incredibly supportive partner and a strong support system at home. There is real, invisible labor behind everything I’m able to build, from help with childcare, logistics, and the emotional weight of day-to-day life.   The more honest I’ve become about needing help, at work and at home, the more sustainable my life and business have become. Growth has accelerated not because I worked harder, but because I stopped pretending I had to – or could  – do everything myself. As I look ahead to 2026, one of the biggest bets I’m making is on people. Who I work with. Who I learn from. Who I partner with. Who supports me behind the scenes. Even as a one-person business, nothing I build is truly solo. Looking ahead to 2026 As I reflect on the past four years, I feel deeply grateful. Not just for the growth of the business, but for the life it has allowed me to build. My oldest daughter is four and a half. My youngest is ten months old. This work has supported my family, stretched me as a person, and given my days meaning. It hasn’t been easy. It still isn’t. But it has been worth it. If I can leave you with one thought as you step into 2026, it’s this: get honest about what you really want to build in your life.  Then ask yourself what one small step you can take right now to move toward it.  There is a saying I love, which is “too small too fail” . If you take a small enough step forward, even if it’s absurdly small, then you can’t fail (and will only move forward).  So take that step. May be that is getting clarity about what you want. May be it’s leaving something bad behind to pursue something new. Or may be it’s simply asking for help.   That belief is at the heart of everything I do at Courageous Careers. I hope some of what I shared was helpful to you.  I’m glad you’re here. Thank you for reading. I’m rooting for you this year!! Yi Lin P.S. If this newsletter has resonated with you, and you’d like to build an intentional career with the right support in 2026, here are all the ways I can help you:  Looking to land a new PMM role?  → Join the PMM Job Search System  (Q1 enrollment opens today!) or check out my 1-1 coaching program Starting a new PMM job and want to ramp fast?  → Check out my 1-1 PMM Onboarding Program Want to thrive, get promoted, or gain clarity in your role?  → Check out my 1-1 Leadership Coaching Program Need support for your PMM team or company?  → check out my advisory, consulting, and training services

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.  →  Learn how to get customer proof the right way.  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:   Make the ask personal: Send the survey from the AE or CSM they already know. Tell them the “why” (what’s in it for them): Example: “We’re gathering honest feedback to improve your experience and help teams like yours make smarter decisions.” Incentivize properly: Cash > swag. $25 is the baseline but it goes up from there. Also make sure to keep the language FTC-safe: the incentive is for an honest review. Keep it ruthlessly short: 5–13 questions. 2–3 testimonial-style prompts max. Test internally before sending.  Focus each survey on ONE use case. For instance, Industry, region, competitor, use case. Don’t combine them. Being focused means higher response rates + cleaner proof. 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. → Download the guide 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.

Boo! 👻 It’s Yi Lin. Don’t worry, the only thing spooky in this newsletter is how fast AI is moving. 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 Why customer proof matters more than ever In 2025, traditional case studies won’t cut it. Buyers want verifiable, AI-friendly proof tailored to their industry, size, and use case - not another static PDF. That means turning customer stories into proof that moves deals forward: blind-but-verified wins, bite-sized snippets your sales team can actually use, and competitive switch stories (e.g., “Why we switched from X to Y” ). UserEvidence’s new ​Evidence Gap 2025 report​  reveals what’s working (and what’s not) in customer proof, plus practical playbooks and tips you can steal today. 😉 → ​ Learn how to create customer proof that increases buyer confidence ​ Is AI making you sweat? You’ve been given an AI mandate. Maybe you are new to leadership. Maybe you’ve just stepped into a new role. Or maybe you’ve simply been handed the responsibility without much direction. Either way, the expectation is clear: “figure out how AI makes us more productive.” Translation: multiply yourself (and your team). The challenge is knowing where to start. While there’s no shortage of well-meaning AI tool lists, webinars, and prompts lists out there, they rarely cover what matters most: the strategy to design and implement a real product marketing-focused workflow . To see real results, you need clarity on your goals, a focused place to begin, and alignment with leadership. When I published the ​ State of AI in Product Marketing Report ​  a few months ago, I highlighted how PMMs are using AI. Since then, the biggest question I’ve heard is: “Okay, but how do you actually execute this in real life?” That’s what this issue is about: building real workflows, so you can use AI in a way that makes you more strategic, not just busier. And I’ve got a cool real-life example  at the end - so don’t scroll away too soon! Why AI adoptions fail Before we dive into how to build an AI flow the right way, it’s worth asking: why do so many attempts fail? An MIT study recently found that 95% of enterprise AI pilots never scale or deliver ROI ( ​source​ ) .  While that study focused on big enterprises, the same traps show up in startups and even small teams. Three themes kept coming up in my advising and coaching work: Unclear objectives → AI projects were launched just to “keep up,” with no defined problem or success metric. Lack of change management/guardrail → everyone experiments in isolation, but no one sets ownership, process, or guardrails. Skill gaps → teams jump in without expertise in the very workflows they are building, leading to shallow adoption or lower quality outputs. When you zoom out, you realize the problem isn’t a lack of enthusiasm; it’s the absence of structure. Most organizations (especially startups) treat AI as a quick productivity hack, not a business capability that deserves real design . How to build Product Marketing AI workflows the right way So what do the successful 5% do differently? They treat AI as a system, not a shortcut. For PMMs and team leads, that means resisting the hype, slowing down, and being intentional. Here’s how I advise my clients to do it: 1. Anchor to a business goal Start with strategy. Not “what can AI do?” but what does the business need right now? For example, if win rates are dropping because competitors keep undercutting you, your AI pilots should directly address bottom-of-funnel conversion. 2. Choose a focused use case Once the goal is clear, pick one workflow that maps directly to it. The mistake I see often is starting too broadly. “Product launch,” for example, isn’t a single use case; it’s five or six (research review, positioning, promo plan, enablement, content). No wonder teams get stuck. So how do you choose the right one? I keep two simple principles in mind: Small enough to solve, big enough to matter  (credit to Zapier). Start with more execution-focused tasks (left of the spectrum of the graphic below):  this is where AI has the biggest advantage. The temptation is to begin with things like positioning, the “big ticket” work. But those require the most human judgment (and a ton of stakeholder alignment). They are the easiest place for AI to fail. Start small on the left, prove value, then expand. 👉 Example: if competitive intel is the challenge, begin with an AI-assisted workflow that aggregates competitor updates for a single top competitor. Document the process, capture the win, and build from there. Don’t get hung up on the format. It doesn’t matter whether that first use case is just a few saved prompts, a lightweight custom GPT, or eventually an agent (yes, agents are cool, but no, you absolutely don’t need one from the beginning). What matters is that it’s tied to your business goal and scoped small enough to deliver a win. 3. Define what “good” looks like Before writing a single prompt, map the structure of a high-quality output. For instance, if you are creating a competitive landing page, define the essential elements first: headline, proof point, differentiator, and CTA. Don’t rely on the tool you’re using to shape what good looks like. Feed it the right inputs: battlecards, customer stories, landing page examples, brand guidelines. That’s when AI starts to feel like an extension of the team instead of random internet text or AI slop. 4. Build in public, share, and iterate As you are building your workflow, document wins, refine prompts, and expand step by step. One client started with AI call summaries, then layered in objection handling, and only later tackled messaging. Each stage built credibility and confidence. Despite any “expert advice” you see, the fact is: AI is new for everyone. No one has the playbook figured out. The PMMs and team who win are the ones who share what they are building. Post your workflows, host a quick demo at all-hands, or create a shared prompt library. This not only builds momentum but positions you as the AI champion in your org. Pro tip:  bake your process into the workflow itself. Include usage notes, dos and don’ts, and review loops so the system is as much about guidelines as it is about outputs. Case study: The landing page that built itself (almost) To bring this process to life, let me share a real example from a founding PMM client (with his permission, of course). His small team was spending weeks writing and re-writing landing pages, with unclear ownership and inconsistent quality. So he built an AI flow that blended automation with human strategy, which results in not just faster output, but better output. The project at hand was a product landing page positioned against a major competitor (a legacy system), tailored for a specific persona. It wasn’t about creating new positioning or messaging (that work was already done, and remember, that’s a “right side of the spectrum” task). The challenge was translating existing messaging into landing page copy using a repeatable, proven framework. I helped him think through the backend strategy that made this workflow scalable. Here’s how we broke it down (which roughly mirrors the steps above). It all comes back to what I said at the beginning: start with strategy. 1. Anchor to a business goal Before writing a single prompt, we clarified the business outcome. The team’s priority was improving middle-of-funnel conversion, getting more prospects to book demos. 2. Scope the right use case From there, we explored different ideas. After discussing a few, we landed on the use case of building high-converting competitive landing pages. This is because expanding to all  webpages would have diluted the model and produced inconsistent outputs. Competitive landing pages, on the other hand, were: Directly tied to demo bookings → a measurable outcome the business cared about. Straightforward → easy to define what “good” looked like. Self-contained → mostly owned by marketing, which reduced dependencies and made it faster to implement. By starting here, we set the project up for a fast, credible win that built confidence and momentum. 3. Research, codify, and feed the tool with best practices. Rather than relying on guesswork, my client and I pulled from industry frameworks, my own experience advising PMM teams, and examples of top-performing landing pages. He then fed these, along with other critical information, to Claude. It included artifacts like: Product and positioning guides Competitive battlecards Strategy frameworks Success stories and customer-voice databases Style and messaging guidelines And that’s the great news: odds are, you have all of this (and more!) already. Each of these assets taught the AI how the brand thinks, writes, and differentiates. This is what made it more than a generic content generator and instead an extension of the team’s expertise. 4. Layer in collaboration, guardrails, and share From there, the workflow was built with guardrails: it asked clarifying questions before generating anything, cited sources for every claim, and routed outputs through review loops. This way, you are not just generating good output but modeling the right review process and workflow. For example, here’s a screenshot of an automated Slack message created using an MCP connector (a new open standard that lets AI connect securely to tools like Slack, Notion, or Google Drive). Whenever someone on the marketing team publishes a new page, the system instantly notifies the PMM and routes it for review. So, how does the workflow look in action? From the user side, it’s NOT just a one-and-done prompt. The system is built with guided steps  that prompt the user for additional information, e.g. different styles of messaging for the headline from a pre-set number of options. And then comes the “wow” moment: the tool pulls it all together into a full landing page draft, complete with sections, copy, and even a lightweight HTML mock-up. What used to take days of back-and-forth now takes minutes, and the quality is anchored in the team’s own strategy and assets. Here are some anonymized screens of the V1 landing page below, with all sensitive information removed. Of course, with more iterations, it will get better and more specific, but this was a significant improvement over what was there before. Voila! And it’s done. What once took days now takes a few minutes, producing sharper, better-aligned content. More importantly, my client walked away with a repeatable AI flow that can scale across the team. Here’s what I want you to take away: AI only works when paired with a strong strategy.  Start with a business goal, choose one low-risk workflow, and prove the value, then expand. The tools don’t matter as much as the process.  ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or purpose-built tools, they all work. What matters is how you design around them. What’s next? Over the past year, I’ve worked with PMMs and leaders at fast-growing startups to design AI flows that don’t just save time but also strengthen strategy. Of course, you can absolutely experiment on your own. But many of my clients chose to work with me because they want to accelerate what they are already good at, with a trusted partner who helps them dig deeper, refine their thinking, and explore bold ideas with confidence. Together, we turn workflows into strategies that win executive buy-in, and that’s what helps them lead with greater clarity, influence, and impact. 👉 If you’d like to explore how ​coaching​  can transform your career,  simply contact me here. I’d love to help you build your next strategic flow so you become a truly AI-empowered product marketer and leader. :) See you next time, Yi Lin