The One Hire That Will Transform Your Go-to-Market Strategy (Yet Most Teams Hire Too Late) — with Shirin Shahin

Product Marketing's Power Play: Why B2B CMOs Shouldn't Wait to Invest

Let’s be honest: product marketing might be the most misunderstood function in B2B marketing. Ask five people what it is and you’ll get seven different answers. But here’s the thing—if you’re a CMO or part of a marketing leadership team trying to build a clear, aligned, and high-converting go-to-market strategy, this role isn’t optional.

In this episode of Growth Activated, I sat down with Shirin Shahin, a product marketing powerhouse turned consultant. She’s built PMM teams at fast-scaling startups and enterprise tech giants—and she’s got strong opinions on what product marketing is (and isn’t), when to invest, and why most marketing orgs are getting it wrong.

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So, What Is Product Marketing, Really?

Shirin said it best:

"Product marketing is the who, what, and why of your product—and then figuring out how to communicate that across channels."

Translation? It’s not just about launches or sales decks. Product marketing is the glue between your product, your positioning, and your customers. It helps your brand actually resonate. It helps your sales team speak like experts. And it makes sure your messaging holds up when buyers are comparing you against five lookalike competitors.

(Need a refresher on messaging that actually drives ROI? Check out our episode with Zoe Hawkins on content strategy and marketing ROI.)

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The Mistake Too Many B2B Marketing Teams Still Make

Shirin’s seen this movie before: CMOs wait too long to bring on product marketing.

Instead, they:

• Dump sales enablement on demand gen
• Launch without clear positioning and messaging
• Let sales dictate the narrative instead of owning it themselves

Sound familiar?

"The foundation matters. And product marketing helps you get that foundation right before you scale."

And if you're serious about building the right foundation? Fractional CMOs are saying the same thing—PMM isn't a "nice to have." It's essential to a scalable B2B marketing strategy.

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The 5 Things Product Marketing Actually Owns

Let’s make this crystal clear. Shirin broke down the five strategic responsibilities every product marketer should own:

1. Voice of the customer and market – Interviews, persona work, competitive insight
2. Positioning and messaging – Translating features into value buyers care about
3. Sales enablement – Creating tools and clarity that actually help reps close
4. Product launches – Cross-functional orchestration, not just emails and webinars
5. Adoption and measurement – Driving usage and tracking what matters

This isn’t fluffy work. It’s foundational. Skip this and your campaigns won’t land, your sales and marketing alignment will suffer, and your funnel will leak.

Need more evidence? Jeff Ignacio breaks down how RevOps supports these pillars.

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Who Should Own Product Marketing? (Spoiler: Not Product)

There’s been debate forever about whether product marketing should sit under marketing or product.

Shirin? She’s clear:

"Our biggest impact is on the go-to-market side. That’s where we drive growth."

When product marketing reports to the CMO, things just work better. You get tighter messaging, better launch alignment, and a marketing org that’s not constantly scrambling to keep up with product updates.

This aligns with what we’ve seen in episodes like CMO–CTO alignment and CMO–CFO collaboration. The more aligned your leadership team is, the faster you grow.

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When to Hire Product Marketing? Way Earlier Than You Think.

I asked Shirin when a startup should bring in its first product marketer. Her answer?

• When your product is about 80% done
• When you’re moving out of founder-led sales
• Before you bring in a demand gen lead

Why? Because if you don’t lock in your personas, positioning, and messaging first, everything else—ads, content, sales outreach—will be built on shaky ground.

"If you skip the foundations—you'll waste time and budget downstream."

This ties directly to what we talked about in the CMO playbook: lead with strategy, then scale.

And if you're at the founder stage, this is a key insight from Leslie Vickrey’s path from marketer to CEO too.

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Why Product Marketing Often Feels Invisible

Here’s the kicker: even when orgs do hire product marketers, they don’t always set them up for success. Shirin sees this all the time.

PMMs are held to marketing KPIs—but they don’t get:

• Clear ownership
• Enough resources
• A seat at the table during strategy

"Don’t make product marketing reactive. Let it lead."

That means real cross-functional collaboration with brand, sales, and product. It means building an org where strategy starts with PMM, not ends with it.

Looking to build tighter alignment at the exec level? Don’t miss our episodes on cracking the C-suite code and creating a CRO-aligned pipeline strategy.

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AI’s Role in Product Marketing (Hint: It's Not Coming for Your Job)

Let’s talk AI. Yes, it’s changing the game—but not in the way you might think.

For product marketers, AI is more of a force multiplier than a threat. It can:

• Speed up persona development
• Accelerate message testing
• Automate busywork so PMMs can stay strategic

"If personas used to take weeks, now they take days. That just means we can move faster—and test smarter."

Still, no AI tool replaces real customer conversations. That human input is non-negotiable.

Want to go deeper on this? Nicole Leffer’s episode on AI tools for B2B marketers is packed with insights.

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Final Thoughts for CMOs and Marketing Leaders

I asked Shirin: what’s the one thing she wishes every B2B CMO knew?

"Hire product marketing earlier. You won’t regret it. We help you build the foundation that drives the rest of your growth."

Whether you’re leading a lean team or scaling toward enterprise, product marketing shouldn’t be an afterthought. It should be one of the first strategic hires you make.