The quest to find and hire a proficient SaaS Product Marketing Manager involves more than merely checking off a list of qualifications. It’s about understanding the nuanced dynamics of your HCM / employee engagement product and strategically aligning a candidate’s skills and experiences with your company’s roadmap.
When looking to recruit SaaS Product Marketing talent, here are five practical steps you should follow:
1. Define the area of product marketing you are most concerned about and where you need the strongest skills.
Most HCM companies are a combination of products they have engineered and built themselves, integrations (into other complimentary platforms), and acquisitions. Understanding which part of your business requires the greatest focus for an improved GTM and value narrative will help you make a more impactful hire.
2. Expand your boundaries to engage to select from the largest pool of candidates possible.
We’ve identified and engaged with HCM and Employee Experience talent across North America and suggest companies keep an open mind on location. Limiting location parameters means limiting your talent pool in an already small and highly specialized field.
Next to their product management counterparts, product marketers are some of the most cross-functional employees a company will hire. Ask any Product Marketing Manager, and they will validate that they have worked with remote, often global, teams for most of their careers. They are skilled collaborators and excel working with remote teams in one capacity or another.
3. Think about how you create opportunities for hires to expand their role and learn new marketing skills.
While not all product marketers want opportunities to move into management or expand their scope, many do. To attract top talent, think ahead to how you might create an employee experience that identifies top talent and helps them close skills gaps. How might you apply pursuits to learn or build further education into a retention strategy by subsidizing their learning? Plan ahead to ensure that the top talent you’ve worked so hard to attract sees a future within the organization.
4. Regarding compensation, know where you can be flexible.
It’s always surprising how many companies go into a search just figuring this out as they go along. Know your top end and flexibility. Plan and be prepared with your most competitive offer.
Product marketing is a specialized skill and set of experiences. PMMs capable of delivering an enterprise SaaS ROI-based value narrative are still relatively rare compared to the average PMM. This skill separates them apart from the average and is also reflected in the compensation they earn.
5. Sell!
At every step of the interview process, leave the candidate more excited about the team and the mission. End each interview step with a review of your excitement about them and why it’s a great time to join.
To land the best SaaS Product Marketing Manager talent available for your organization, ensure you know where you can be flexible and what qualifications are essential, and be prepared to move fast.
We hope you found these tips helpful!
Are you looking to hire an HCM-specialized SaaS Product Marketing Manager? See our latest salary guidelines for this candidate niche.