Jason Oakley
This article is based on a playbook from the PMM Jetpack, co-written with Alex Eaton, VP Marketing at UserEvidence.
You can ask two people “what does product marketing do?” and get two wildly different answers. It’s like putting “dressy casual” on a party invite. Some people hear blazer and slacks, while others think jeans and sneakers.
But for PMMs, there’s more on the line than just confused party guests. Because when a product marketing function isn’t clearly defined and communicated, people start defining it for you. And that’s when you get stuck spending your days fielding random, low-impact requests.
Your best defence is clear expectation setting. Typically in the form of a charter, which is a fancy way to say “a documentation that explains what the heck you do.”
So what is a product marketing charter?
Your charter is a foundational document that outlines the purpose, goals, scope, and responsibilities of product marketing. It outlines what you do, why you matter, and what people can expect from you.
It’s an important tool when starting at a new company, but it’s never too late to create one either.
In this post, I’m going to share everything you need to start building and sharing your PMM Charter:
- What to do before you start
- How to structure your charter and what to include
- An actual charter deck example, with a full slide-by-slide breakdown
- How to share your charter and keep coming back to it
What to do before you start (SPOILER: go on a listening tour)
It’s always best to start building your charter with a listening tour. And this is true whether you’re starting at a new company, or not.
A listening tour is essentially a round of internal interviews with key stakeholders in your company. Usual suspects include heads of product, sales, and CS, plus your founder or CEO. Also key ICs like experienced sales reps and product managers.
Generally, your goal is to understand things like:
- How do people feel about collaborating with product marketing?
- How can product marketing help them the most?
- What is the #1 goal of product marketing in their opinion?
- What are their goals for this year/quarter and how do they see product marketing being involved?
This tour doesn’t just give you context to create your charter, it also brings other stakeholders into the process, making it way easier to align on the finished product later.
What to include in your charter
Your charter should cover three key areas:
- What is product marketing?
- What is product marketing at [your company]?
- When to come to PMM (and when not to)
Remember: This is internal selling. You are the expert, and your charter is you sharing your point of view. Always, always, always, explain any buzzwords and jargon. Your team should leave the call excited about what you will do and how they’ll work with you.
Looking for inspiration? Here’s an example of a real PMM Charter created by Alex Eaton when he started as the founding PMM at UserEvidence.
Let’s walk through Alex’s charter slide by slide:
What is product marketing?
The first step is to always provide a clear high-level definition of product marketing
This may seem redundant, especially if product marketing has existed at your company for a while. But trust me, there’s a good chance folks still don’t get it, even if they say they do.
Alex started by defining what good and bad looks like in product marketing.
As he puts it:
“At its best, product marketing is a strategic powerhouse driving decisions across teams. At its worst, it’s a glorified task manager, stuck coordinating projects without wielding any real influence.”
He ended this section with a visual of different product marketing areas of impact.
This visual shows everything PMM can support, but it’s also a place to narrow down from, and a window into new areas you’d like to expand into.
This is way too much for one person, so solo PMMs should use it to highlight the tradeoffs you need to make.
What is product marketing at [your company]?
Here you’ll get specific for your role. Start with the core business problems you’ll be focusing on, then get tactical with a list of initial projects.
Slides 11-12 in Alex’s charter were an acknowledgement that product marketing doesn’t exist in a vacuum. At UserEvidence, their sales-led motion heavily influenced his priorities.
After all the context, Alex defined what he saw as his three core responsibilities.
- Bring products to market
- Create demand for our product
- Help sell our products effectively.
Now you’ll see in action how the first parts of the presentation set Alex up for clarity at the end.
He talked about product marketing from a high-level, and now he’ll use the same reference points to say exactly what his plan is.
Slide 14 brings back the PMM role map. But Alex now circles his core focus areas using colors matching the 3 responsibilities from his previous slide.
He then takes it one step further and identifies 5 specific short-term projects that fit into those buckets. Things that were already green lit by leadership based on discussions during Alex’s interview and onboarding process.
Getting specific, shows the team exactly how you’ll jump in to help them right away and how it aligns with broader company objectives.
Note: for the broader terms on this slide Alex talked through specifics. For example, V2 messaging + positioning included renaming their platform, re-doing their homepage, and training the team on an updated messaging document. Avoid generalities as much as possible. Tell the team exactly what you mean.
When to come to PMM (and when not to)
Alex wraps up with the classic ‘when to come to product marketing’ list. This is a chance to talk through why you’re qualified to help with these areas and how they fit into the work you’ll be doing.
How to share your charter
Once your charter is done it’s time to hit the road again. You should meet with leaders and teams within your company to walk them through it. This is when your charter really becomes valuable.
Schedule 30 minutes with each functional leader, department head, or team that you interact with and walk them through your deck. Give them a chance to provide feedback, ask questions, and use it as a way to start a conversation.
In addition to educating your colleagues, presenting your charter live to other teams does two things:
- It gives you a chance get immediate feedback. Once you get it in front of others it may become clear where you need to add some context, what you need to clarify or adjust, or what needs cut completely.
- You can refine your charter and make it better. After implementing feedback from your cross functional conversations you’ll notice how much more solid your charter is.
Watch this video for some more thinking about how to best share your charter once it’s finished.
3 practical ways to regularly use your charter to make your life easier
I’ve failed many times in my career to follow up on something I called a ‘living document’ or ‘source of truth.’
So how do you keep you keep your product marketing charter from ending up in the documentation graveyard of work completed and never referenced - right alongside your messaging framework 🤦♂️
Luckily with a charter there are some built in points you can use to naturally resurface and use it.
1. Onboard new hires
About six months into his tenure, Alex brought on a few new team members. Going into those onboarding calls, he wondered how much of the charter would still be useful. But Almost everything still held up. The definitions of product marketing, the key focus areas, and the expectations he had set.
The only parts that felt outdated were the initial projects, and that was just because we had completed most of them. That turned into a great storytelling moment. He could walk people through not just where he started, but what he’d accomplished since. It helped new hires see the team's trajectory and momentum right away.
2. Document and track your quarterly goals
While Alex didn’t initially build the charter as a tracking tool, it became one naturally. Revisiting it after a couple of quarters offered a clear view of what he had prioritized and actually shipped. It let him reflect on what had gone to plan, what had changed, and where he’d made the most progress.
Pro Tip: You can add an appendix to your charter, where you keep OKRs for the quarter, key projects we’re working on, and who is responsible. This keeps you coming back and updating it.
3. Advocate for initiatives, budgets, or headcount
When it comes time to make a case for budget, tools, or headcount, your charter gives you a head start.
Most of the time, those conversations require you to zoom out, remind leaders what product marketing is currently focused on, and what’s missing.
You’re not just saying “we need more help”. You’re showing the scope of your role, your impact to date, and the opportunities you're not yet resourced to tackle.
Pro tip: If you have a quarterly planning process, it’s worth syncing your charter with those conversations. You can show how your goals ladder up to company priorities and highlight gaps where you could do more with additional support.
Final Thoughts
Creating a product marketing charter might seem like a “nice-to-have,” but in a role as misunderstood as ours, it’s necessary.
We’re constantly searching for a foothold in strategy, the ear of leadership, and buy-in from our peers. A charter helps you get all three of these.
Plus, it might just save you from spending all day making PDFs.