5 days ago 8 min Best of Product Marketing Career Advice Hello, and welcome to the Courageous Careers newsletter, read by 4,000+ professionals looking to land, grow, and thrive in their dream... Jul 31 6 min How Susan Went From Being Laid Off to Landing a Senior Product Marketing Manager Job in 5 Weeks! Susan Liu is a client who enrolled in my Job Search Membership Program. When we met, she was trying to overcome the final round of... Jul 31 6 min How to Use Product Marketing to Drive Growth Hello, and welcome to the Courageous Careers newsletter, read by 4,000 professionals looking to land, grow, and thrive in their dream... Jun 14 7 min How to Align Product Marketing Strategy with the Business Stage Today, I will share my framework for building a strong product marketing strategy - the foundation you need to up-level as a product... Apr 18 5 min The 3-Step Product Marketing Strategy Framework Effective PMM strategies require an organic flywheel to work together. A strong process like this creates a feedback loop with one step fee Mar 8 6 min Accelerate Your Product Marketing Career by Building Your Career Team Welcome to my newsletter! And Happy International Women’s Day! 🦸 You should have four different types of people in your career: mentors,... Feb 12 3 min Why I Decided to Rebrand Three years ago, a LinkedIn post changed the trajectory of my life. At the height of COVID, I saw many of my friends getting laid off. I... Jan 13 6 min The Ultimate 30-60-90 day Playbook for Product Marketers The first 90 days on a new job is usually the most critical and challenging period in your professional career - the actions you take (or... Dec 17, 2023 5 min Four Steps to Acing Product Marketing Assignments Before we dive into the content today, I want to note that this newsletter is part of a four-part series on the entire job search... Nov 17, 2023 9 min How to ace product marketing interviews Imagine you have gone through the hard work of ​landing your product marketing interview​ by identifying your targeting, creating a... Oct 26, 2023 6 min How to land more product marketing interviews 2023’s job market has been very challenging, to say the least. With ​240,000 layoffs in tech this year​, the market is the most... Sep 14, 2023 4 min 15 Differences between Good PMMs and Great PMMs (and How to Become One) In my view, certain distinct qualities set these top PMMs apart from their good counterparts. 1 2 COURAGEOUS CAREERS NEWSLETTER Accelerate your job search and career growth Join 4,200+ high-achieving professionals in product marketing. Get in-depth and actionable tips delivered straight to your inbox monthly.

Find your dream product marketing job without the stress. Transform your job search and secure your dream role with coaching programs designed exclusively for product marketers Product Marketing Job Search and Interview Coaching Book a Free Consult See Program Details Join 100+ product marketers who have used my exact system to land their dream roles Navigating today's competitive job market is tough – particularly in product marketing. If you've faced rejection, endless interviews, or months of fruitless searching, you are not alone. After successfully landing my product marketing job with no background in the field, I used my exact process and refined it over the years to deliver my bespoke coaching programs to help you land your dream job regardless of your background. The good news is that there is a solution designed specifically for you. By working with me, you will go: From To By working with me, you will go from: Not landing any interviews Landing interviews with the right companies with confidence Keep getting rejected in the final round Landing offers AND getting the salary and title you deserve Feeling stuck at your job and not able to get the job you want Landing roles more aligned with your values, interests, and superpowers Feeling isolated, stressed, and burned out Feeling supported, more confident, and at ease. What my clients say Sivan Benjamin Product Marketing Manager, Samara Yi Lin's program helped me bounce back after getting laid off while on maternity leave - I went from not hearing back from most recruiters to being in two final rounds within mere weeks! Harry Dhaliwal Product Marketing Manager Yi Lin is the best product marketing career coach out there. Her mentorship helped me land TWO job offers, which I'll never forget, and I am thankful for every bit of help I received. Moyo Ajepe Product Marketing Manager, Walmart Connect Working with Yi Lin has been one of the best career decisions I've ever made. Using her strategies, and a bit of perseverance, I was able to move into a role that aligns with my career goals! Liza Ansher Product Marketing Manger, Amazon I'm shouting it from the rooftops – if you're aiming for a thriving PMM career, Yi Lin is your secret sauce! In a few months of working together, I landed an offer and gained core PMM skills, critical thinking abilities, and a community that has set me up for future success. Sabari Sawant Product Marketing Manager, AWS All of the expertise and resources, along with her dedication set her uniquely apart as a coach. After enrolling in Yi Lin's program, I landed a great job in 2 months! If you are looking to land a job faster and make some amazing friends along the way, do not hesitate to enroll in Yi Lin’s programs. Christine Moore Director of Product Marketing, Forj Yi Lin was a game-changer for me. Not only did she help me land a great role, the connections I made with other product marketing professionals in her community allowed me to build a valuable network that continues to offer support as I prepare to dive into a new role. Josh Porter Director of Product Marketing, Kore AI I secured a coveted Director role that aligned perfectly with my goals. I express my deepest gratitude to Yi Lin and her 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. Qian Huang Bowler Senior Product Marketing Manager Yi Lin impressed me not only with her experience and knowledge of the tech industry and product marketing but also with her passion for coaching and empathy for her clients. Thanks to her coaching and support, I landed my dream job in an industry that I’m passionate about! Mara Taylor Senior Product Marketing Manager Working with Yi Lin was one of the best investments I made in my career. What makes her such a good career coach is her industry experience combined with how good she is at tailoring her feedback to your specific needs at the moment. She helped me uncover a lot of things about myself. Her time is worth every penny. Read 50 more Testimonials on LinkedIn (Recommendations Section) Choose Your Program Learn More The Complete Program Master every step of the job search process in my fully customized, 1-1 coaching program. Learn More The Membership Program Get essential tools, group coaching, and a supportive community in this budget-friendly option. The Complete Land Your Dream Job Program Designed to help you master every step of the job search process in my fully customized, 1-1 coaching program, with an unmatched level of support. In this program, I will help you: ​ Find the right roles to apply for Create your personal narrative to help you stand out Craft a great resume, cover letter, and LinkedIn profile Land interviews with your target companies Ace behavioral and technical interviews and product marketing assignments Negotiate offers ​ End-to-end support Guarantee All 1-1 components of the program are valid for 6 months, with flexible timelines to meet your schedule. All group components and community access are available until you land a job. What this program includes: ​ 6x 60-min 1-1 coaching sessions (incl. mock interviews and assignment reviews) Full resume, cover letter, LinkedIn refresh Unlimited async document reviews between sessions Email/Slack support Live monthly group coaching calls and workshops (> 4 sessions per month) Access to my full Job Search Resources Hub with 30+ templates, guides, and all previous workshop recordings Access to a private client community to ask questions, participate in the discussion, connect with others, and access exclusive job opportunities Free access to my Dream Job Blueprint Course ($799 value) Looking to find your next product marketing role more aligned with your ambitions Recently affected by a layoff and want to get back into the job market ASAP Struggling to explain a complex career path or career gaps in interviews In an adjacent field and want to pivot into product marketing ​ Investment: One-time fee of USD $3,995, or 3 monthly fees of USD $1,395 per month (September special offer) One-time fee of USD $3,750, or 3 monthly fees of USD $1,350 per month Schedule a Free Consult This program is perfect for you if you are... The Land You Dream Job Membership Program A more budget-friendly program with all the essential tools, group coaching, and a supportive community to help you succeed and never feel alone. In this program, you will: ​ ​ Know exactly the right way to job search Gain the skills to create a great resume, cover letter, and LinkedIn Practice interview answers in a supportive environment and get direct feedback Get all your questions answered in real-time Find accountability buddies who are in your shoes ​ End-to-end support guarantee All program components are available to you until you land a job. What this program includes: ​ Live monthly group coaching calls and workshops (> 4 sessions per month) Access to full the Job Search Resources Hub with 30+ templates, guides, and all previous workshop recordings Access to private client community to ask questions, participate in the discussion, connect with others, and access exclusive job opportunities Free access to my Dream Job Blueprint Course ($799 value) This is perfect if you are... Tired of searching for your next role alone Looking to have more accountability while searching On a budget, and looking to get access to all the best practices while job searching at your own pace ​ ​ Investment: One-time fee of USD $1,095, or 3 monthly fees of USD $395 per month (August special o ffer) One-time fee of USD $795, or 3 monthly fees of USD $295 per month Book a Free Consult FAQs How are your coaching programs different from others? Is it worth the money? My coaching programs are the only ones in the market designed specifically for product marketers by a product marketer. My full program also uniquely combines 1-1, group, and community elements to help you get customized coaching and feel supported throughout the process. These are the reasons why clients choose specifically to work with me: I help them job search like a product marketer by helping them identify their superpowers to create their unique positioning. I am a career pivoter myself, with extensive experience across different types of companies as a product marketing leader and consultant, from early-stage startups to scale-ups and enterprise companies. I use a unique design-thinking informed coaching approach centered around rapid testing and iterations to allow for flexibility and rapid improvement in results. What’s included in the group coaching calls per month? Do I have access to recordings if I miss a session? There are 4 types of group coaching calls that happen roughly every month: ​ Group interview coaching prep sessions, which include job search strategy and live peer interview practice sessions. Job search AMAs (Ask-Me-Anything) sessions where you can ask me any questions you have live. Guest speaker workshops related to interviewing or PMM career development. For instance, previous guests have included the lead PMM from Square, Anthony Pierri from Fletch PMM, and more. PMMs fundamentals workshops. For instance, I have done workshops on GTM, Research, positioning/messaging, and more. If you miss any sessions, you can watch them on-demand anytime. You can access the ENTIRE vault of all previous recordings and watch at your own pace. Many people have mentioned the live group coaching calls significantly exceeded their expectations and have been instrumental in helping them master the interview process and never feel alone. Do you work only with product marketers? I also work with adjacent roles like growth marketing, content marketing, and general marketing. Will I directly work with you? Yes, you will work directly with me on every aspect of your job search. There is no outsourcing to other coaches. When are you available to meet? Once we decide to work together, I will send you the payment link and the contract — when that is all signed and paid, I send over a welcome email with instructions and a Calendly link to book a time with me. Availability is on a first-come, first-serve basis. Ready to Secure Your Dream Job? Schedule a Free Consult

First Name Last Name Email LinkedIn How did you find me? Please describe your challenges: Which program are you interested in? Select As coaching is an investment in yourself, it requires time, energy, and a financial commitment. Who better to invest in than yourself? My program costs range from $795 to $3,795. Flexible payment plans are available. Are you on board? Select Yes or No? Submit Thank you for contacting me. I'll reply within 2 business days. What People Say “Having spent time in start-up and big-tech, Yi Lin shared amazing insights and frameworks. I absolutely would highly recommend her to anyone who is thinking through career opportunities and specifically within Product Marketing” — Sadiya N., Senior Product Marketing Manager ​ "I'm so grateful to have met Yi Lin. She provided insights on the right companies to target and held my hand through it all. With her help and support, I finally landed my dream role!" — Surbhi Gupta, Product Marketing Manager, Avalara CONTACT YI LIN PEI Interested in working with me? I am so looking forward to meeting you! I offer a free consultation call to learn more about you and provide more insights on how we can work best together. ​ Please fill out the form below, and if there is a fit, I will respond within 24 hours to schedule a call. ​ Talk to you soon!

Hello, and welcome to the Courageous Careers newsletter, read by 4,000+ professionals looking to land, grow, and thrive in their dream product marketing roles. Today’s special edition features some of the most frequently asked questions I get on job search and career development. I share: What to do when you feel stuck in your career 🪨 What to do when you keep getting denied a promotion 💸 How to ace stakeholder/loop interviews 👩‍💼 If you are looking for part 4 of the series “How to build your product marketing strategy,” don’t worry - it will come out next month. You can read the previous three articles here . With that…let’s dive in! Let me work directly with your startup… Recently, on LinkedIn, I announced that 🌟 I'm growing! 🌟 After years of helping individuals excel in product marketing, I'm expanding my focus to empower startups in building strong PMM functions. Building a successful product marketing team in a startup is hard- especially now. The role's ambiguity, limited resources, and pressure to deliver quickly have left many young PMM teams struggling and founders doubting PMM's value. That's where I come in. Over the past year, I've helped startup PMM teams: Build a GTM launch process and hiring strategy. In 6 months, the PMM team grew from 1 to 4, significantly boosting conversion. Develop US-market positioning in 2 weeks, enabling confident market entry. Streamline team strategy to 3 key priorities, improving funnel metrics while keeping the team's sanity intact. 😂 Whether you need team coaching or fractional PMM advising, I'm here to help. Please email me at peiyilin09@gmail.com if you'd like a free consultation. Best of My Product Marketing Career Advice Question 1: I've been at my current company for four years, and I feel stuck. It's not terrible, but I fear I'm just letting time pass. I'm unsure about my next steps or how to make a change. How can I create a career plan? Deciding what to do next in our careers can be daunting. Many common fears hold us back, such as “What if I make the wrong move?” or “What if my next job isn’t perfect?” Early in my career, I felt the same way. Despite feeling stuck in my consulting job, it took me nearly six years to make a change because I feared making the wrong decision. So, the first step in any career planning is to let go of the idea that there’s only one perfect path. Instead, embrace the concept of a winding career journey with multiple possibilities—most of which are reversible and could lead you to exciting, unforeseen opportunities. Once you've embraced this mindset, you can follow these steps to create a career plan: Write your future vision story: ​ This isn’t about a specific job title or salary. It’s about envisioning your day-to-day life and how you want to feel. Do you want a work-life balance that allows for deep work in the morning and family time in the evening? Or do you see yourself leading strategy in a fast-paced company, working on high-stakes projects? Your vision should capture the essence of your ideal life. Identify 2-3 potential paths: ​ Once you have your vision, identify a few potential paths to achieve it. Assess whether your current role aligns with your vision. For instance, if you imagine a 35-hour work week but are currently working 80 hours, you’ll know a change is needed. Your options might include switching jobs, changing teams, learning new skills, or exploring something entirely different. Prototype your potential paths: ​ After identifying your options, test them as much as possible. The beauty of career paths is that others have walked them before you. Reach out to people in your network who have the roles/careers you’re considering. Conduct informational interviews to understand if those paths align with your vision. You can also test the waters by volunteering for related projects or taking on part-time work. Choose the path that energizes you the most: ​ After prototyping, choose the path that excites you the most and feels easiest to start. Then, take the smallest, easiest first step to start moving in that direction. Using this approach, my clients have successfully discovered fulfilling new directions. One client moved from big tech to a startup, became a freelance consultant, transitioned from PMM to Chief of Staff, and returned to school to become a creative writer. While their new careers may not be perfect, one thing is certain: they are much happier. I hope these tips help. For further reading, I highly recommend the book Designing Your Life , which is rooted in design thinking principles and has profoundly influenced my coaching style. Question 2: I excel at work, but after three years, I'm still being denied a promotion and paid below market value. I like the company but feel undervalued. What should I do? It's challenging to feel undervalued, especially when you're consistently performing well. To determine your next steps, consider the following approach: Objectively evaluate your performance: ​ Assess your achievements and understand how your organization and manager perceive your contributions. Benchmark your level and pay against industry standards by reviewing market reports and talking to peers and mentors. This will help you determine if your compensation and role are aligned with your skills and contributions. Understand your company’s promotion criteria: ​ If you've consistently received positive feedback in annual reviews but haven’t been promoted, it’s important to ask why. A good leader should provide clear reasons and outline the criteria for reaching the next level. Sometimes, a lack of promotion may be due to the absence of a business need for someone at that level, which may not reflect your performance. Determine your options based on your values: ​ Based on your manager's response, decide on the best course of action. You might choose to stay, seek a different role within the company, or explore opportunities elsewhere if you feel undervalued. Ensure your decision aligns with your core values—such as learning opportunities, the caliber of colleagues, and your future career vision—not just extrinsic factors like title or compensation. Move forward with focus: ​ If you conclude that the company no longer aligns with your values or doesn’t appreciate your contributions, it may be time to move on. In this case: Clearly define your target, including the size of the company, business model, industry, and desired role. Determine your value proposition for potential employers: Articulate in your application materials why you’re the best hire for those companies and what unique value you can bring. Apply to those companies with a polished resume, cover letter, and direct outreach to hiring managers to maximize your chances of landing interviews. Practice interviews using structured frameworks, like my PSAR framework, ensuring your answers reflect the level you’re aiming for, not your current position. Negotiate your offer and title confidently based on your value and market rate. Example: A client of mine, a founding PMM, was excellent at his job and asked for a promotion after over two years at his company. Despite clearly demonstrating his significant impact and crucial role in key projects, the company repeatedly refused to promote him, citing budget constraints. After discussing his options with me, he decided it was time to move on. He quickly received an offer from another company with a 50% pay increase and a higher title—perfectly aligned with his career vision and values. When he resigned, his old employer immediately matched his new offer (!), proving there were no budget constraints—they had simply taken advantage of him. While this situation may not apply to everyone, if you’re a top performer but are repeatedly denied a promotion, it’s likely time to evaluate new opportunities where your contributions are truly valued. Q3: I am currently interviewing for new roles but I keep getting stuck in loop interviews with PMs and Sales. What should I do differently? That’s a great question. Many people get stuck at this stage because their responses don’t match what their audience wants and needs to hear. Here are three steps to follow: Step 1: Understand each stakeholder's perspective. Once you do, anticipate the questions they’re likely to ask. Here are the two most common stakeholders: 👩‍🔧 Product Managers: Product managers want to see your commitment to their product's success. Demonstrate how you've collaborated, championed products, helped prioritize roadmaps, or driven adoption through launches. In startups, PMs may have misconceptions about PMMs. This is a chance to clarify what a great PM-PMM relationship looks like. Potential questions: Can you describe your product marketing experience? How do you approach understanding a new product and market? How do you develop a launch strategy? How do you ensure product-marketing alignment? If post-launch adoption is low, what steps would you take? 👩‍🔧 Sales: In B2B companies, product marketing's relationship with sales is crucial (and sometimes contentious). Sales teams need to see your strategic value in the enablement activities that product marketing does. Potential questions they might ask: How do marketing initiatives support our sales goals? What sales collateral will you provide? How do you ensure product messaging resonates with our target audience? How do you gather sales feedback on marketing materials? What KPIs do you track for sales enablement effectiveness? Step 2: Prepare your responses using a structured framework, such as the PSAR framework I developed: In your answers, emphasize the role of the stakeholder team and how you collaborated with them, explaining the rationale behind your actions, not just the actions themselves. When describing a work experience, follow this structure: [Process] Outline your approach to show systems-level thinking. [Situation] Briefly state the task, challenge, or goal. [Action] Detail your actions, following the process you outlined. [Results] Share the impact, results, and learnings. Here is an example: Can you tell me a time you had to launch a product to market? [Process] When I launch products, I follow a three-step process to ensure the best results. First, I validate the product/market fit to answer the what, how, when, and why of the launch. Then, I develop the positioning and messaging. Lastly, I determine the promotional and channel strategy, including internal enablement. [Situation] Last year, I was tasked with launching a DEI tool to help SMBs track their diversity metrics easily. The goal for this launch was to drive pipeline for our sales team. [Action] I first aligned with my PM counterpart to understand the target persona, problems we'd solve, and our unique benefit. I then created a brief capturing these details and identified positioning for the SMB market. After sharing this with cross-functional teams for buy-in, I developed the promotional strategy, focusing on educational webinars with industry experts rather than simply pushing product features. [Result] We exceeded our launch target within the set timeframe. My launch playbook became widely adopted across the team due to this success. Step 3: Finally, tailor your messaging by using the exact language each stakeholder uses. For example, when speaking with product managers, use terms like "roadmaps," "adoption," "release/launch," "product development lifecycle," and "backlog." When speaking with sales, use terms like "deal cycle," "win rates," and "win/loss analysis." You don’t have to do it alone. I offer three programs that can help product marketers like you: ​ Land: My job search Blueprint Course to help you land your dream job fast (currently on sale!) ​ Grow: Succeed in your product marketing role in the first 90 days. Deliver value quickly and minimize stress. ​ Thrive: Thrive in your product marketing role. Achieve your career goals and get to the next level. That's all for this issue. See you next time!

Susan Liu is a client who enrolled in my Job Search Membership Program . When we met, she was trying to overcome the final round of rejections and bounce back after a layoff. Through hard work, she landed a senior product marketing manager job at a reputable startup within five weeks of working together.  Her story is truly transformational.  I recently caught up with Susan to have her tell her story and share some of what she’s learned. I hope she inspires you the way she has inspired me! Yi Lin: What did you do for work before your recent job search? Susan : I had a varied career, starting as a pharmacist and then working in consulting roles in digital transformation, strategy and innovation, and product management.  There was a layoff at my last consulting role. And initially, when I was made redundant, I was in denial. I thought, "Oh, it's okay, I'll just get another job," but I didn't realize how tough the job market was.  Coming from a consulting background, I had a very generalist skill set. I was applying for various types of roles, which made my applications weak because they lacked focus.  It was an even tougher market to be trying to make a career change.  But I didn’t want to give up on myself; I wanted to find a job I was interested in. Once I zeroed in on product marketing roles and started only applying to them, I started having success. Wow, you have a fantastic background! Why did you choose to focus on product marketing?  As I struggled through interviews, I took a moment to think about what type of work I enjoy most and how that overlaps with my skill set. A lot of that converged around product marketing. In consulting, I often tested new ideas, making fake landing pages and prototypes to see if they solved a pain point and whether people would pay for them. Realizing that I enjoyed these elements more made me understand that I actually preferred product marketing. Amazing. Switching back to job searching, how did you stay positive during the search? That’s a great question. Since the search was long (I spent six months searching before joining the coaching program), I had to stay positive and keep moving forward. Instead of just grinding, I focused on building new skills while on the job hunt. I realized no career is ever safe, so adapting and changing with the times is essential.  In my time off, I attended a data analytics boot camp, which is something I was always curious about but didn’t have time for before. Additionally, it gave me time to invest in a side project I’d always been interested in—thinking about how to communicate with more impact in a work environment. I started a TikTok channel, researching how we can communicate with impact, and that was instrumental in helping me land my current role. The most important thing for staying positive was realizing that I can learn and apply different skills and be adaptable in a tough situation. How did you identify and address challenges during your search? Improving my communication skills  There were definitely a few challenges I had to overcome. I realized that to stay sane and improve my interviewing skills, I also needed to improve my communication skills. So, I researched different communication techniques, attended improv classes, and took a stand-up course.  It may sound unrelated, but I applied these techniques during the interview to improve my communication and storytelling.  Specifically, I learned to reduce the amount of information for the other person to process and explain it in a way they understood. Before, I struggled to articulate my experiences because of the wide range of projects I've worked on. I realized I needed to communicate in a way others could understand. This mindset shift improved my interview success. Improving job search strategy  In addition to communications, I also found that I kept having the same problem with product marketing interviews–I was doing everything right to land interviews and get all the way to the third or final round, but I couldn’t quite nail the case study or assignment. So, I was getting very close but was struggling to close offers.  I had been following you (Yi Lin) for a while and loved your content. Then, as I began reflecting on my mistakes and identifying areas where I required additional assistance, I realized I wanted more dedicated support than reading your content online. That's when I joined your Job Search Membership Program . Immediately after I joined, I attended a case study workshop you hosted and immediately realized my mistakes. I applied all the techniques I learned, specifically your "show, don't tell" approach  - and that was one of the most important things that helped me land the role at Semble. In addition, I was pleasantly surprised by all the other elements of the program.  The masterclasses you offered were a shortcut to mastering PMM best practices and techniques. Plus, the community you built is incredibly supportive and knowledgeable, and the buddy system kept me motivated throughout the search.  All in all, I just want to say to everyone that you can’t put a price tag on the technical knowledge shared in the program, but what truly sets you apart is Yi Lin's genuine kindness and commitment to each person’s success.  Thank you so much! It’s been a pleasure working with you. Can you tell us more about landing your product marketing job - the breakthrough moment, and how you felt?  The job search membership program was a real game changer in my job search. As a career switcher, I landed a Product Marketing role just five weeks after starting the program, beating candidates with over five years of experience. The breakthrough moment was truly the “show, don’t tell” approach for the case study. This method highlighted my specific skills and creative thinking, which helped me secure the job. I even created a sales enablement video as part of my project. This approach gave me confidence during the interview and allowed me to showcase my abilities effectively.  Starting the new job was an emotional and exciting experience. I laughed and cried when I got the news. Meeting the team and diving into the product and industry has been amazing, and I’m eager to address the significant healthcare challenges ahead. What advice would you give to other product marketing job seekers? My advice to people in a long job search is to focus outward instead of inward. You can lose confidence when something traumatic happens, like losing your job. But if you focus outward, you have the clarity to think about why a company is hiring, what problems they're facing, and how you can solve them.  Don't worry about not having perfect skills; reframe your mindset. Previously, as a career switcher, having a generalist background was a disadvantage.  However, by systematically building my strengths and applying these new ideas in interviews, I landed a role.   Even though I had more time off than I would have liked, it gave me time to think about what I wanted to do and helped me refocus. I zeroed in on product marketing and companies with a mission I believed in. During the job hunt, I realized that our time in life is limited and moves simultaneously fast and slow.  I want to spend my future on something I care about, like improving healthcare, which is Semble's mission. I'm eager to make an impact in my role by setting up new processes. Most of all, I'm thrilled to keep working with Yi Lin.  I want to continue asking for help and building my strengths to succeed, even beyond the interview process. If you’re still in a job search, focus on your strengths, showcase them in interviews, and believe in yourself. One day, this will be a blip, a transformative experience. Thank you so much, Susan!  For a step-by-step walk-through on how to land your next PMM job with ease and confidence, check out my free guide here . To learn more about the Job Search Membership Program, navigate to this page and click on “The Membership Program” option (Currently on sale!) Susan also created a free course on how to use the communication skills she learned to ace storytelling in interviews. Check it out here !

Hello, and welcome to the Courageous Careers newsletter, read by 4,000 professionals looking to land, grow, and thrive in their dream product marketing roles. Want to sponsor a future newsletter or learn more about other sponsorship opportunities? Email hello@courageous-careers.com . I recently returned from a much-needed family vacation in Switzerland, which was refreshing (to say the least!). I want to emphasize to everyone that taking time off is both possible  and essential . Don't get caught up in the hustle; take a step back and recharge. Today’s content covers part three  in a four-part series on How to Build Your Product Marketing Strategy : ​ Part 1: The 3-step product marketing strategy framework ​ ​ Part 2: Aligning the strategy with the business stage ​ Part 3: Operationalize product marketing through growth tactics ← today’s newsletter 😍 Part 4: Scaling the strategy to action by building a team With that…let’s dive in! How To Build Your PMM Strategy Part 3: Operationalizing Product Marketing Through Growth Tactics Growth is all the buzz. Companies want to grow again, and they want to do it smartly. ​Lenny’s​  latest hiring data shows that growth-titled roles are growing faster than all other roles. ​ Source: Lenny’s Newsletter ​ While the data is mostly from product roles, the same applies to marketing. I recently helped a startup hire its first marketer. The profile we determined? A combination of product marketing and growth marketing skills—the golden combo. Why is this the golden combo? If you think about it, the best marketer needs to know strategy AND how to execute tactics. But the challenge I see with PMMs is they can be too much in the silo of their world. The result? They can’t tie what they do to their results and have a harder time proving value. Key point: To be a great PMM (whether you want to be a CMO or not), you must understand growth tactics and how they relate to strategic planning. So, let’s dive in to help you understand growth tactics and planning. Step 1: Understanding Growth Tactics Growth expert ​Elena Verna​  describes growth as “your ability to predictably, sustainably, and competitively answer the question of how you acquire, retain, and monetize customers.” So, to drive growth, we need to consider these three levers: Acquisition lever:  The company acquires customers through awareness (top of the funnel), interest (middle of the funnel), and activation/purchase (bottom of the funnel). Retention lever : The company retains and expands existing customer revenue through feature expansions, reliability, and services. Monetization lever : The company charges customers to optimize for revenue and profit. While these concepts are PLG-focused, they apply more broadly to every type of business. Most businesses, no matter what kind, use a combination of tactics across these three levers across sales, marketing, and product. Understanding the most common tactics is extremely important for PMMs to inform their own strategy and determine which efforts require collaboration with different teams. I built the tactics table below to use as a guide. Note that this is not exhaustive and some tactics will fall into multiple buckets across teams. A word on monetization—many PMMs have not worked on monetization, as it can be owned by other teams like product management or sales, depending on the business model. However, because monetization relies on a thorough understanding of personas and customer research, PMMs should have experience with it. In my private client community, I did training on monetization and pricing 101 and how to get involved in pricing as a PMM. Source: Yi Lin Pei, Courageous Careers Section 2: Operationalizing the tactics to drive marketing Now that you understand the common growth tactics by growth lever and business model, it’s time to use it as an input/consideration when you create a marketing plan. According to the book LOVED by Martina Launchengco , product marketing work gets embedded in larger marketing plans that cover all marketing activities. So, it’s essential to ensure the GTM strategy and PMM foundation research work are covered in the larger marketing plan. No matter who PMM reports into, ensuring marketing plans encompass details of GTM will help bring it to life through the GTM engine, and connect marketing with product. If you are trying to figure out how to do this, this is the process I used to go through every quarter to ensure our team’s plans are embedded in the marketing plan. Step A: Determine the key growth lever to meet the business goal It’s usually very hard to focus on multiple growth levers simultaneously and achieve the best results. Instead, I recommend prioritizing the most important lever and funnel stage first. For instance, if your company’s key goal is to reach $20M in revenue by driving pipeline and increasing conversion rates, then it’s important to focus on the Acquisition lever. Then, evaluate which stage of the acquisition journey has the biggest drop-off and therefore the most significant room for improvement. For instance, if your company consistently hits their top-of-funnel goals and captures a lot of leads, but they are not converting well into accepted opportunities, it makes sense to focus your efforts on this middle part of the funnel to drive better lead → opportunity conversion. Step B: Use the PMM framework to map out product marketing strategy and tactics Before jumping directly to growth tactics, it’s important to run through the key gap/challenge from Step A through the ​ PMM framework in Part 1​ . This ensures the foundational issues are addressed. Using the same example above, let’s say you are now trying to understand why leads are not converting to opportunities. You found two key reasons: The lead quality is low.  In this case, it’s important to define the audience, better define the ICP, and set better qualification criteria to select the leads. The lead quality is good. In this case, leads are not properly nurtured and segmented so the messaging sent to leads is generic. You need to segment the ICP and create more appealing segment-specific messaging. Step C: Choose the growth tactic to double down as a bit bet. With a solid strategy in place, it’s time to pick a growth tactic that fits the company’s business model. If the company has a history of being marketing-led and boasts a strong lifecycle marketing team with a good email marketing track record, a key growth tactic could be to create a segmented email nurture sequence. Even if product marketing doesn’t directly own this tactic, you’re in a great position to suggest co-owning it with lifecycle marketing. You can offer valuable insights on your ideal customer profile, segmentation, and messaging to help them develop effective email sequences. Step D: Complete the rest of the marketing plan with additional tactics. Once that tactic has been determined, you can use a similar process to complete the rest of the marketing plan and show the final result in a funnel, which could look like the graph below. Source: Yi Lin Pei, Courageous Careers Congrats! You’ve now used PMM fundamentals and growth tactics to build a strong PMM team plan that feeds into the overall marketing activities. You've pinpointed the highest-impact strategies for growth based on your market insights, customer understanding, and growth levers. Implementing this approach every quarter will shift you from a passive role to a more proactive and strategic PMM, whether you're an individual contributor or a team lead. Let me know what you think! You don’t have to do it alone. If these ideas sound exciting but a bit overwhelming, you’re not alone—I’m here to help! With my signature coaching programs , you can confidently step into your new role or become the leader you’re meant to be. Together, we’ll tackle any tactical or strategic topic that will help you achieve the best results for your team and hit your career goals. ​Learn more about both programs here.​ ​And schedule time with me to get set up here.​ “Through working with Yi Lin, I was able to identify my priority and craft an action plan that I was able to immediately put into action and deliver impact. Yi Lin also had the right resources and answers to all of my questions and customized our coaching to fit the specific challenges I faced at each juncture - from product activation, launches, to goal setting and more. I highly recommend Yi Lin's coaching if you are looking to level up!” How Susan Landed A Senior PMM Job in Just Five Weeks I’m thrilled to share Susan's inspiring journey from layoff to landing a senior PMM role at Semble! As a client of my Job Search Membership Program, Susan transformed her job search techniques and her career: She went above and beyond to "show vs. tell" in her assignment She honed her communication skills and other pinpointed areas of improvement identified in her interview process And she stayed positive. Her strategic efforts and my program’s support helped her overcome final-round rejections and land a dream role. Susan's story highlights the power of resilience and the right guidance. Learn more about how you can achieve similar success here (click on the membership program option).