Product marketing has a perception problem.
It’s one of the most valuable functions in go-to-market, yet ask five different people what PMM does, and you’ll get five different answers—“messaging,” “sales enablement,” “launches,” “content,” or the dreaded “a little bit of everything.”
And when a function isn’t well understood, it isn’t well respected.
Product marketing should be driving market positioning, influencing product strategy, and shaping how companies compete. Instead, it’s too often seen as an internal support function, existing to make things look nice, jump on last-minute sales requests, and tidy up product announcements.
This isn’t just frustrating—it’s dangerous. Because when PMM is undervalued, companies:
- Launch products without a clear market fit.
- Lose deals because sales is running with disconnected messaging.
- Let competitors define the narrative instead of owning it themselves.
It’s time for product marketing to fix its reputation problem.
Why PMM Struggles with Perception
1. PMM Does a Lot—Which Makes It Hard to Define
Product marketers sit between product, sales, and marketing. That means they wear a lot of hats—positioning, messaging, research, enablement, launches, competitive intelligence. But because PMM doesn’t fit neatly into one bucket, it’s easy for other teams to misinterpret its role.
- Sales thinks PMM exists to make battlecards and decks.
- Product sees PMM as launch coordinators.
- Marketing treats PMM like an internal content team.
And when different teams have different definitions, PMM ends up stretched thin, trying to keep everyone happy instead of driving meaningful impact.
2. PMM Has a Visibility Problem
Unlike sales (which is tied to revenue) or product (which builds the thing), PMM’s success isn’t always obvious. If positioning is strong, a launch lands well, and sales is enabled, no one stops to ask why it worked. But when things go wrong, PMM is often the first to get blamed—“the messaging wasn’t strong enough,” “the market positioning didn’t stick.”
PMMs need to get better at showing their impact, not just assuming people understand it.
3. PMM Has Historically Been Reactive
Because PMM sits at the intersection of so many teams, it often gets pulled into reactive work—last-minute sales requests, executive fire drills, product updates that need “a quick messaging pass.”
The more PMM operates reactively, the harder it is to be seen as strategic. Instead of leading positioning discussions, PMMs end up responding to them. Instead of influencing product strategy, they’re asked to “just launch it.”
How PMM Can Fix Its Reputation
1. Own the Narrative Internally
If PMMs don’t define their own role, other teams will do it for them—and they’ll get it wrong.
PMM leaders need to clearly articulate their function:
- PMM is not a service function. It’s a strategic function that drives positioning, go-to-market execution, and competitive differentiation.
- PMM is not “just messaging.” It’s about market strategy—understanding customer needs, defining how products compete, and making sure the entire company tells a cohesive story.
- PMM is a driver of business impact. It influences pipeline, win rates, and product adoption—not just content output.
If you want to change how PMM is perceived, start by changing how you talk about it.
2. Tie PMM’s Work to Business Metrics
Nothing changes perception faster than proving real impact. PMM teams should stop reporting on the number of assets created and start tying their work to measurable business outcomes:
- Did better positioning increase win rates?
- Did a new messaging strategy reduce sales cycle length?
- Did a clearer differentiation strategy lead to a higher ASP?
If leadership doesn’t see a direct line between PMM and revenue, PMM will always be seen as a nice-to-have instead of a strategic driver.
3. Get Ahead of the Work
The best PMMs operate like strategic advisors, not order takers. That means getting involved before positioning is set, before a launch plan is needed, before sales is struggling to differentiate in the market.
How?
- Partner with product early – Influence roadmap decisions instead of just launching whatever ships.
- Lead sales enablement proactively – Shape how sales tells the story instead of just making decks on request.
- Own competitive positioning – If PMM isn’t defining how the company differentiates, someone else (probably a competitor) will.
4. Get Loud
PMMs do incredible work, but they’re often too quiet about it. Internal visibility matters—if no one knows where PMM is driving impact, it’s easy to overlook.
- Make PMM wins visible in leadership meetings.
- Educate teams on what great PMM looks like.
- Highlight where PMM has shifted outcomes.
The more PMM positions itself as a strategic function, the more it will be treated as one.
The Bottom Line
Product marketing’s reputation problem isn’t going to fix itself. If PMM wants to be seen as strategic, it needs to act like it.
That means:
✅ Owning positioning and differentiation—not just messaging.
✅ Proactively influencing product and sales—not just reacting to requests.
✅ Tying work to business impact—not just deliverables.
✅ Making PMM’s value impossible to ignore.
Because when product marketing is respected, strategic, and empowered, it transforms how companies go to market. And when it isn’t? It’s just another team making slide decks.