During my interaction with learners as well as while interacting with my colleagues or extended team-mates, many times I keep getting one question (or variations of the question)

"What skills do I need to move from Sales to Product?" 

"I am into Business Ops and BI, how do I transition my career to Product Marketing?"

"How do I know that Product Marketing is for me?" 

Hence, I thought of sharing my views on the skills that are required to move into Product Marketing. You may be in Sales or working as a Business Analyst or in brand Marketing, it's applicable to one and all.

In my journey as a Product Marketing professional for over one and half a decade, I believe that these are the 5 Key Skills required to build one's career as a Product Marketeer

• Analytical skills: This is one of the most important skills of a Product marketing specialist. The ability to analyze market data and trends, and infer user insights to generate actionable insights is extremely critical. Based on these insights, the product development would work on the product and the marketing team can build up the communication.
• Project management & Cross-Functional Communication skills: The ability to manage complex projects, and timelines, and coordinate with multiple stakeholders is quite important. And hence the importance of good communication skills (both written and verbal). As a Product Marketeer, one is the bridge among multiple teams including Product Development, Marketing, Sales, and Technology Teams
• Product knowledge: One should not only have a fair understanding of the technical aspects of the product but it is also expected that he/she has a decent understanding of the attributes of the product including the features, benefits, target audience, and channels of adoption.
• Digital Marketing skills: Any aspiring Product Marketing Specialist should have a good understanding of digital marketing and the pros and cons of various digital channels that may be used to promote products, such as social media, email marketing, and SEO.
• Strategic thinking: Any aspiring Product Marketeer should have the ability to think strategically, as it involves understanding the market, competition, and customers as well as identifying opportunities for growth and positioning the product to meet the needs of the target group

Do note that one need not be proficient in each of these areas but one needs to have the right attitude to make the transition. We all have some skill or the other. Evaluate those existing skill sets and see how they could be transferred to the requirement for the (product) role. Build your profile accordingly and start positioning your profile accordingly. More on this maybe in my next post