At the risk of sounding saccharinely optimistic, product marketing is having its moment. About time, right? The folks at Fluvio found that roughly four in ten PMM job searches in 2026 were at companies with no product marketing team, or just one PMM. I’m seeing it too: I know companies with fewer than 20 people hiring PMMs. But this means we have a crap ton of work, and it’s overwhelming at times. Let me tell you why I believe this makes us more effective upstream.

Remember the famous quote from The Karate Kid (1984), “Wax on, wax off”?

You and I have seen that meme of the product marketing manager surrounded by people asking him for many things. A blog post, release notes, a new one pager. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen it, and honestly, I would pay to never see it again. I know these memes poke fun at the reality of our job, but I wasn’t allowed to complain about work growing up in a family that owned a small business. “This IS your job, now get on with it!” is burned into my DNA. 

I read a blog post by AI Product Bytes that categorizes the work of PMMs by upstream and downstream deliverables. Broadly speaking, upstream means strategy, positioning, and messaging; downstream means one pagers, battlecards, and other sales enablement assets.

That meme is the personification of being stuck downstream: you’re producing a ton of assets. 

But, hot take: I like the downstream work. It offers tremendous opportunities to learn about the buyer while helping my colleagues close deals. It’s also an opportunity to practice my craft through repetition: wax on, wax off.

Our vague job title offers more than it takes

Have you ever asked yourself how in the heck you got “product” in your job title? Or, if you’re like me, sometimes wondered if having “product” in your job title makes you the biggest con artist on the planet? Like, do I deserve having “product” in my job title because it comes with many assumptions about what I am and am not capable of?

Here’s the thing: if you’ve had these thoughts, great! That means you have some self-awareness. But more importantly, it means you’ve realized that having “product” in our job title gives us room to do a lot of different things and permission to do it without raising eyebrows.

And no, the vagueness isn’t just in your head. In that same Fluvio report, zero respondents described the success metrics for their target role as “very clear.” Zero! Sounds wild, but hear me out.

Our ambiguous job title means we have permission to join customer calls, give feedback on the product, use the damn product ourselves, and build messaging our buyers need to hear. All of these upstream and downstream activities are what we signed up for, and nailing them builds the credibility we will need to have the impact we aspire to. 

Pretty cool to have this job, right?

Ask yourself these two questions the next time you are stuck downstream

I get it. I’ve had weeks where I’ve spent the lion’s share of my time updating assets. I told myself, ‘Victor, this is important because you’re refining the messaging, making sure it comes through loud and clear.’ I could go on with the reasons I told myself this work is not a drag, but critical. And the thing is, it’s true. But two things can be true at the same time. Sometimes you just have to do this work, but you can do it in a way that positions you better for the upstream work you must also do.

I came to this conclusion because doing this work (the wax on, wax off) is what builds trust with my colleagues and shows the business that I can execute, that I have my own point of view on where we can innovate, and that I’m a true comrade.

The thing I want you, the “product” marketing manager, to realize is this: everything is a season, and the work sown now will be harvested later if you can keep the following two questions in mind:

1. Are these downstream activities what the business needs right now? This is the time to zoom out and look at what is happening across your company. Is the sales team grinding towards a massive goal? Is product hammering out new capabilities one after the other? Are you in your industry’s busiest season? These are all signals that those downstream activities are what the business needs right now. You’re all in the field together. If you weren’t in the field, you’d better be able to explain to your boss why you shouldn’t be in the field. Is there an industry-wide report you’re preparing for, or a truly monumental product launch coming up? If either is true, make it clear to yourself and your team why you can’t prioritize all of the downstream work.

2. How might I use these downstream activities to inform my upstream thinking?  Are there buyer insights in these assets that you hadn’t considered before? Are there AEs or CSMs who have a point of view you may have missed? It’s a gift to be able to have strong connections with colleagues across the business, and you benefit from using those insights in your upstream work in a way that few other roles can, because their scope is narrower than yours. Don’t waste that opportunity! 

At the end of the day, working downstream not only means that you can refine your craft, collaborate with your colleagues, and gather insights to take back upstream, but it also means that you are building trust and credibility with your colleagues. Delivering excellent downstream work is what your colleagues remember, and when they have a strategic idea, they’ll come to you for input.

We all want to return a favor, even at work

Did you know that there isn’t a single culture on this planet where people don’t return a favor? Not a single culture, that’s pretty major. This fact comes from the book “Influence: Science and Practice” by Robert Cialdini, which goes into academic-level detail on reciprocity, our desire to not be indebted to others. 

Let’s not forget that the downstream work is your job. You’re not doing it altruistically, you’re getting a paycheck. I’ve had colleagues ask me for a favor even though I was slammed. I’ve learned two things: my colleagues know I’m busy and they have considered not asking me for help, but they did because they know their request serves the company’s goals: to be the best in their market and make money. They’re asking you because they know you care about the business and your relationship with them. 

If you haven’t figured out how I feel about this job, then let me say it plainly: we have one of the best jobs in business!

So, let’s reframe your thinking now: your colleagues are coming to you when they need your help, so you are now someone who they depend on. And that means you can depend on them when you need help, let’s say finding a customer reference, championing an idea, whatever. The thing is that you have more people rooting for you to succeed upstream.

Be the person with a unique point of view

The most important thing is that you’re dependable and people want to bring you into the room. You’ve established your own point of view, or you have insights that only you have because you’ve stitched together lots of different data points from all of the work, conversations, and things you’ve done. People will want to hear about that.

Imagine what is now possible for you when you get to work upstream! 

And you’re not the only one who wants this. When the Product Marketing Alliance asked contributors for their one ask of the CMO and CEO in 2026, the answers were consistent on one point: bring PMM in earlier.

So, how do you actually make this a reality? How do you actually bring all of your experience to the opportunities upstream?

• Make sure your insights are unique and your own. The worst thing you could do is become an echo chamber. If someone, a PM, a leader, whoever, comes to you with a question or for your input, and you echo the last person they asked, you’ll go from an advisor to an approver, and being an approver is not where impact is made. You’ve spent so much time in the field, and you have unique insights and PMM skills. Don’t get sloppy: write down your thoughts and think about interesting challenges your customers are having and how you’d solve them. You are being an advisor when you help others see something they missed.

• Bring the same intense energy from downstream to upstream. People depend on you because you know how important it is to follow up and follow through on your promises. You're probably also fast and still thorough. You should absolutely apply that same intensity to every single upstream opportunity you get, even if it’s just a small thing. Someone asks you about a product feature that you think is a good idea? Don’t waste this opportunity to share your idea and say, ‘Hey, I have some data or insights in another document that I can share with you.’ And do it immediately, like, within 10 minutes of wrapping up with that person. This intensity is what moves business forward, and it’s electrifying. If you can be electric to your colleagues, they’ll keep coming back to you for more, because we’re made up of a bunch of energized atoms. 

I know I just threw a lot at you, but you’re going to get in the room. You’re a PMM, and people want you in the room even if at times you doubt you can add any value. But don’t ever miss an opportunity to share an insight and be electric.

Moving between downstream and upstream is a feedback loop

I know it's really easy to complain and to feel like you're just a content machine. I get it. I've been there. But the minute you reframe your thinking from ‘This is the only thing that the business thinks I can do’ to ‘This is just what the business needs right now,’ you stop getting so worked up about it. 

It's okay to complain, but do it for just a few minutes and get back to work. Then zoom out and look around. You're probably not the only one that's downstream in their own way, and if you’re busy shipping assets, you're probably working on the right things.

And while you're working on the right things, which are all of that content, don't forget to look for insights that sharpen your own point of view. You’re going to get back to the upstream activities, and when you do, your colleagues will know you have really smart insights to share. Be generous with those insights!

You want to make sure that you have a tremendous amount of energy to act on those insights, because that behavior is what will keep companies valuing PMM (even with our insanely vague job title). In that vague job title, we have a tremendous amount of scope.