Product marketing has always been a bit of a shape-shifter. One foot in product, one in sales, another in marketing (yes, that’s three feet—PMMs make it work). The role is as much about translating complex ideas into compelling narratives as it is about making sure go-to-market teams have what they need to win.
But in 2025, the landscape is shifting. Buyers expect more. Competitive moats are thinner. And differentiation is no longer just about what you build—it’s about how well you tell your story. The role of product marketing isn’t just changing; it’s expanding.
PMM Is No Longer Just a ‘Support Function’
For years, product marketing has struggled with a perception problem. It’s often been seen as an internal service function—writing sales decks, updating battlecards, managing launches. Necessary? Sure. Strategic? Not always.
That’s changing fast. In leading organisations, PMM isn’t just enabling go-to-market motions—it’s driving them. The best PMMs today aren’t waiting for product teams to hand them a feature to package up. They’re influencing what gets built in the first place. They’re making sure products align with market needs, identifying whitespace opportunities, and shaping strategic decisions.
Messaging Alone Isn’t Enough
Strong positioning and messaging are still at the core of product marketing, but they’re no longer the whole job. The biggest shift we’re seeing is a move from static messaging frameworks to dynamic, continuously optimised narratives.
- AI-driven insights – Messaging is no longer just crafted based on gut instinct. Tools powered by AI are surfacing trends from customer conversations, sales calls, and competitive movements in real-time.
- Personalisation at scale – Buyers expect messaging that speaks directly to them, not a one-size-fits-all pitch. The best PMMs are creating adaptive messaging frameworks that evolve based on audience, industry, and use case.
- Clearer differentiation – Markets are noisier than ever. PMMs need to articulate not just what makes their product different, but why it matters to customers—without falling into feature comparison traps.
Competitive Intelligence Needs to Be Proactive, Not Reactive
In 2025, being “aware” of the competition isn’t enough. Markets move too quickly for PMMs to play catch-up. Competitive intelligence needs to be continuous, proactive, and deeply embedded in go-to-market motions.
That means:
- Building always-on competitive programs – No more one-off battlecards that get stale in weeks. PMMs need real-time intelligence feeding into sales and product teams.
- Training teams to sell against competitors effectively – A good battlecard doesn’t just list strengths and weaknesses. It equips sales teams with narratives that change the conversation.
- Tracking and countering messaging shifts in real-time – If a competitor starts positioning differently, PMMs need to respond fast—not in a quarterly review meeting.
Go-to-Market Execution Is Getting Smarter
PMM has always sat at the centre of go-to-market strategy, but in 2025, it’s becoming the orchestrator of the entire motion.
- Sales enablement is more than just content – It’s about making sure reps know when and how to use assets effectively, tracking what works, and continuously improving.
- Launches aren’t events—they’re campaigns – Product marketing is shifting away from one-and-done feature launches to ongoing, multi-wave adoption strategies that ensure new capabilities actually drive business outcomes.
- PMMs are leaning into revenue impact – More than ever, product marketers are expected to show direct influence on pipeline and ARR. That means deeper collaboration with RevOps, clearer success metrics, and a data-driven approach to strategy.
The Tools PMM Uses Are Evolving
PMMs have traditionally had to work with tools designed for other teams—sales CRMs, marketing automation platforms, product roadmapping tools. That’s starting to change.
New platforms are emerging, built specifically for PMM needs:
- Centralised messaging and positioning hubs – Ensuring consistency across teams, rather than scattered slides and outdated docs.
- Live competitive intelligence systems – Replacing static reports with always-updated insights.
- Scalable enablement platforms – So PMMs can track adoption and impact, not just create content and hope it gets used.
The Future of PMM: More Influence, More Impact
The expectations for product marketing in 2025 are higher than ever. Companies that treat PMM as a strategic function—rather than just a support role—will outpace those that don’t.
This year, the best PMMs won’t just be delivering sales decks and feature messaging. They’ll be shaping product direction, driving competitive wins, and proving their impact on revenue.
Product marketing isn’t just evolving. It’s stepping into the spotlight.