"I do not think that most startups in Nigeria and even Africa have what is called Sales Enablement in place."

Do you agree? 👀

Well, those are the words of Omolara Sanni, a Product Marketing Manager at InCash, and my co-pioneer at the ⁠⁠African Product Marketing Pioneers (APMP).

Following her bold, "non-data-backed" claim above, which turned out to be true 😀, I brought Omolora onboard to help us understand the "what and how" of Sales Enablement. Listen in to hear how she uses a "school Inter-house sports" analogy to explain the concept of Sales Enablement 🙌

Amongst all the good stuff, she emphasized one important message - PMMs need to cultivate a great relationship with their Sales team.

Keep an eye out for Omolara's Treford Masterclass coming up on April 27, where she will be doing a deep-dive on Sales Enablement.

🥁🥁This episode is sponsored by a community of ⁠African Product Marketing Pioneers⁠. APMP is a community where African Product Marketing Managers can share and learn from each other's knowledge and experiences. Whether you're a seasoned PMM, a newbie, or a soon-to-be newbie in PMM, there is a place for you. If you would love to be part of the APMP community, join ⁠here⁠.

🚀The Product Marketing Starter Podcast is now available on ⁠Apple podcast⁠ and literally any other podcast platform you can think of 🤸⁠

#PMStarter⁠ ⁠#podcast⁠ ⁠#AfricanPMMs⁠ ⁠#ShineALight⁠ ⁠#productmarketing⁠ ⁠#Sales #SalesEnablement

Hey PMStarters🚀

I'm sure by now we've established that the Product Marketing role is similar to handling a Swiss army knife because of its multifunctional complexities. Now imagine juggling several Swiss army knives at once!! Well, that's what Product Marketing Consultants do! 😅

For S3E2 of the Product Marketing Starter podcast, we spoke to Amalia Kamga, the Director of product marketing at ISB.

If you're considering the Consultancy route, then this episode is a "must-listen" for you 🎧

🚀The Product Marketing Starter Podcast is now available on Apple podcast and literally any other podcast platform you can think of 🤸

Hey Folks!

We are back with Series 3 in 2023 🚀🤸

In Series 3, we'll continue to unravel PMM and deepen our understanding of the role.

Kicking us off is Fidel Nwaefulu, a Faculty member at Utiva.

Fidel shares his journey into PMM and also talks about Utiva's Product Marketing school and how to join!

One key takeaway from my talk with Fidel is this - Retention is the new conversion! 

Listen in to understand this and so much more 🎧

It's important to note that this particular episode was recorded in the last days of 2022, so if you hear us say "this year", please know that we are referring to the year 2022 😅

🥁🥁This episode is sponsored by a community of African Product Marketing Pioneers. APMP is a community where African Product Marketing Managers can share and learn from each other's knowledge and experiences. Whether you're a seasoned PMM, a newbie, or a soon-to-be newbie in PMM, there is a place for you🤗. If you would love to be part of the APMP community, join here.

🚀The Product Marketing Starter Podcast is now available on Apple podcast and literally any other podcast platform you can think of 🤸 

For our Final episode in Series 2 of the Product Marketing Starter podcast, I had so much fun speaking with the bubbly and energetic Temilade Adelakun (AKA The Tems of Product Marketing 🎤).

Temi and I have known each other for a while now through the NUTM program, so this episode was extra special 🤗

She shared the story of her "accidental" entry into Product Marketing, and how she recently landed her first PMM role with Google!

Talk about starting with a BANG🚀😎

For emphasis, Google's hiring acceptance rate is 0.2%  🙉!!!!

This is one episode you wanna listen closely to and take notes along the way, especially if you have dreams of PMMing at a multinational company.

Listening to Temi, you can easily tell that she is passionate about providing value to customers (customer-centric), and driving impact at any organization she works.

She also had some wise words for fresh graduates looking to get into Product Marketing and Tech in general as she did. According to her, It all begins with self-awareness and of course, consistency! Reminds me of the episode with Emmanuel 🌚

This one's packed full of tips and insights you don't want to miss!!

In one of our previous episodes, Onyinyechi Nneji emphasized that PMMs and PMs working on a specific product/company need to be "5&6" (very close😊).

It is for this reason that we had James Okpare talk about WHY and HOW Product Marketing Managers CAN and SHOULD maintain a great relationship with their Product Managers.

A great relationship will ultimately translate into a wholesome product that solves the customer's problem(s).

James also shares his unique career journey from being a Product Marketing Manager at a Startup to becoming a Product Manager at a Venture Capital firm, and soon-to-transition (full-time) to a Startup Founder. Phew! One heck of a trajectory 😅

Listen in and pick a few lessons.

Product Marketing sits at the intersection of several roles, hence there is the tendency for PMMs to be dragged into everything from Sales to Digital Marketing and Customer Support. This can be a difficult and stressful position to be in, especially if you're a "people-pleaser." Thus, it's important to know where your role starts and ends, and when to say "NO." At the same time, it helps to keep a flexible mindset and be open to taking up other roles, especially when working in a lean team.

Carolyne and I set out to delineate the PMM role at each phase of the product's journey from ideation to launch and beyond. We hope this gives new PMMs a sense of what exactly the role entails, as well as helps managers and c-level executives to see the value of hiring a PMM early on. Carolyn emphasized the importance of coming into the PMM role with the mindset of a "co-owner" of the product and not merely a "quick-fixer."

As a PMM, how do you set boundaries, and how do you prevent/manage burnout? Let's know in the comments.

We also touched on Positioning and gave a special shout-out to PMA for the scholar program, which helped Carolyn and I kickstart our PMM journey. Highly recommended 💯

Being a consultant PMM who has worked with several companies (as well as the "Queen of Positioning" 👑😁), Carolyn had a wealth of knowledge to share on the pod.

Being a first-time PMM is hard enough, but what's even more challenging is being a first-time PMM at a company that never had a Product Marketing role.

Onyinyechi talks about her transition from content marketing to becoming the first Product Marketer at Kippa.

She shares the ups and downs, and dishes out some survival strategies for any PMMs in a similar position.

Speaking with Benahili was sort of like unpacking a box full of wonder 🤗💕

Aside from her vast knowledge of Product Marketing, she has a contagious affection for the most unlikely things...listen to find out🤓

Behanili speaks about how she (kinda unintentionally) began charting a career path into Product Marketing by running a small business whilst studying Petroleum Engineering at UniLag. #Badass 🙌

Through her business, she was able to form relevant networks and position herself for her first Product Marketing role at Sharply

Today, she is a Product Marketing Manager at DOT, and aspires to work at a multinational company someday...so, if you're looking for a badass, #data-driven product marketer, ring her up! ☎️ 😎

In addition to voicing her opinion on the "Product Manager vs Product Marketing Manager" debate, she also shares her reservations about "elevating the product marketing space", especially in Nigeria, for fear that it might become trivialized. 

What do you think about this? 🤔

Do listen to understand more and share your thoughts.

#PMStarter #productmarketing #career #podcast

For Episode 2 of the “Unconventional Route to PMM” series, we spoke to Emmanuel, a Product Marketing Manager at Lend an Arm.

One key lesson from Emmanuel’s journey is the importance of self-awareness and continuous self-discovery. #KnowThyself 💡

Emmanuel's transition from Law to PMM began once he realized he didn’t want to be a full-time lawyer. Thus, he took advantage of the “break” (#ASUUStrike and #Covid19) to build his skills in product design and marketing…and, as they say, the rest is history 🚀

In the podcast, Emmanuel also shares his plan to explore Product Management, which leaves me wondering if there is anything he cannot do! 😅

Switching careers can be scary, but staying in an unsatisfying career can be scarring. So, grab your headphones and listen in, because Emmanuel shares some very insightful tips on how to go about making that much-needed switch.

We also talked about the apparent gap in mentorship/leadership in the African Product Marketing space, compared to other Product careers, and how we can work towards closing this gap. Listen, Learn, and Enjoy 🤗

Switching from one career path to another can be quite daunting.

This is why our focus for Series 1 of PMStarter is - Unconventional Routes into PMM.

Kicking off this series is Joy Kika, a Product Marketing Manager at Healthlane, who took a leap of faith from Clinical psychology into Product Marketing.

Joy shares her early PMM experiences including jumping Molue for the first time in Lagos😂! She also shares how she's been able to sustain a career in product marketing.

If you're just starting out in your career, you'll definitely learn a lot from her story of resilience. Asides from her wealth of experience and knowledge, I bet you would also enjoy listening to her witty chuckles and sonorous voice 🤗

Joy also hints at some future "kikass" moves she'll be making, following the launch of her book.

Speaking to Ms. Kika was such a joy! 😁 I hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed having her on the podcast.

P.S.: Her super-power is creating a "kikass" GTM strategy🚀