Introduction “The company story is the company strategy.” – Ben Horowitz, Andreessen-Horowitz When I work with marketers and startup founders on messaging and positioning, they ask me the same questions: “How do we make our product sound less complicated?” “How do we differentiate from similar solutions?” “How do we know if our message will resonate?” (Maybe you’ve asked yourself these questions too.) The answer to all three questions is deceptively simple: to create messaging that revolves around your customer’s world. Some might call this a “customer-centric” approach to messaging but, man, I hate that jargon. (More on that later.) Too many companies talk about themselves, when they should be talking about their customers. Awesome messaging prioritizes your customer’s needs over your product’s best features. This book will show you how. Who is this book for? This book is for marketers of tech or tech-enabled products who want a simple approach to creating a messaging strategy that’s clear and compelling. You know your product is amazing. You know your story matters. But getting it down on paper is harder than a year- old Twizzler. Are you ready to communicate the awesomeness of your product in a new and meaningful way? Then let’s get down to business. What you’ll learn This book gives you a step-by-step approach to creating a messaging strategy, from understanding your customer to bringing your framework to life and everything in between. I’ve used this same approach with many startups over the years – from early to hyper-growth stages. And lemme tell you: this sh*t works. Sound good? Then let’s do this thing. Emma O’Brien Founder & Chief Strategist, Punchy Copyright ©2020 Punchy LLC Page 1 The Product Marketer’s Guide By Emma O’Brien to Punchy Messaging Contents 1. What is a messaging strategy, exactly? page 3 2. Meaningful Messaging is everything page 6 3. Know your customers before you write a single word page 8 4. Check out your competition page 14 5. Creating your messaging framework page 17 6. Writing rules to live by page 26 7. How to bring your messaging strategy to life page 32 Copyright ©2020 Punchy LLC Page 2 Chapter 1 Chapter 1 What is a messaging strategy, exactly? Have you ever read a website that felt like it was written just for you? Instead of bouncing to another site in 2 nanoseconds, you decide to keep reading. The copy brings up things you’ve actually thought about, and presents benefits that sound really, really good to you. You’re not someone who falls for marketing – you’re a smart marketer after all – but you feel like this company actually gets it. Maybe they have something you’re looking for. So you click that button to buy now, book a demo or learn more. If that’s ever happened to you (like it’s happened to me) then you experienced a great messaging strategy in action. It wasn’t a fluke. The company told a story that got your attention, resonated with you on a deeper level and inspired you to consider the offer. A messaging strategy articulates the value and vision of your product in a way that hits home with your ideal customers. It boils down the awesomeness of your product into a clear and consistent story that you retell across marketing and sales activities. Simplicity is key here, especially when your product is super innovative and complex. Simple messaging enables people to easily understand what your product is and why it matters, without an engineering degree as a prerequisite. Copyright ©2020 Punchy LLC Page 3 Chapter 1 However, it’s not always easy to connect the dots between complex technology and a customer’s everyday life. Companies everywhere struggle to communicate the value of their products in a way that actually means something to customers. Houston, we have a messaging problem I once worked with the CEO of a fintech company that was blowin’ up the status quo of investment management. His SaaS platform was so ahead of its time that prospects struggled to get their heads around it. During sales pitches, he could tell by the faces in the room that prospects were thinking: “What the hell is this guy talking about?!” He could usually get them to see the light after 20 minutes of explaining. “But what really keeps me up at night is our website,” he told me. “I wonder how many prospects come to our site, don’t understand a thing they’re reading and then go away forever.” The CEO was right to wake up at 3am in a cold sweat. This scenario was playing out on his website every day. And it’s happening on countless other websites at this moment. Weak messaging is like spraying customer repellent all over your website. It has the power to confuse, bore and turn away prospects from your product forever. Even if your product is the answer to his or her prayers. The tech industry is awash with weak messaging that features buzzwords, technical jargon and chest-beating about features. It’s creating a ton of noise that prospects don’t fully understand, automatically tune out or straight up ignore – which has catastrophic effects on business performance. Here are some common signs that your company has a messaging problem: Spotty marketing performance Product marketing is about putting simple, repeatable and consistent messages into the market to attract your ideal customer. If your marketing messages aren’t something your prospects care about, they won’t take any notice of it. Poor performance will ensue. Copyright ©2020 Punchy LLC Page 4 Chapter 1 Longer sales cycles The right messaging speeds up your sales cycle by attracting the right kind of customers to your business – the ones most likely to buy – and clarifying your product’s value before prospects get on the phone with you. If your messaging isn’t on point, you’ll attract a hodgepodge of prospects who aren’t a good fit, wreaking havoc on your sales cycle and close rates. Sounding like everyone else Without a clear messaging strategy that highlights the unique value of your product, it’s easy to fall into the trap of mimicking what competitors are saying. This makes your solution indistinguishable from other players. When you sound like everyone else, it’s hard to convince prospects that your product truly is different. Losing to inferior products Unfortunately, it’s not enough to have the best technology. (If it was, I’d be out of a job.) To be successful, you’ve got to be the best at conveying the value of your technology. If your competitor does a better job, they’ll beat you – even if your product is better. It happens all the time. Marketing legend Jack Trout said: “Better products don’t win. Better perceptions tend to be the winner. Truth will not win out without help along the way.” I worked with a client who was a category creator and market leader. Analysts agreed their platform was “the best.” However, the company’s messaging was dense, complicated and overwhelming to read. This created a perception that their product was super advanced and hard to use. Their competitor took a simpler, more human approach with its messaging. Instead of talking about the robust features, they unpacked the problems it solved in a simple way. People assumed this meant the product was simpler to use. And the company overtook the other that was technically a better product. While my client’s messaging was fighting against them, their competitor used the power of great messaging to get ahead. And you can too. Copyright ©2020 Punchy LLC Page 5 Chapter 2 Chapter 2 Meaningful Messaging is everything For your messaging to stand out and attract the right customers, you’ve got to challenge the status quo of buzzwords, jargon and death-by-features. How? By embracing a new approach that puts your customer first. I call it Meaningful Messaging, and it’s a simple approach to creating messaging that actually means something to the people you’re trying to reach. So much messaging out there makes the product the star of the show. Hence all the glamor shots of UIs (and even worse, code!) plastered across software homepage marquees ‘round the world. This ignores a fundamental truth: Customers don’t buy technology. They buy better outcomes: the ability to make better business decisions, to become more productive, to look like a rockstar in front of their boss. Meaningful messaging connects your prospect’s hopes, needs and desires to your product’s capabilities. It deals in truth and instantly makes your technology mean something real to people. Copyright ©2020 Punchy LLC Page 6 Chapter 2 Here’s how it’s different from the typical approach to messaging in tech: Customer-first, not product-first Your customer – not your product, technology or company – must be the hero of the story. Instead of regurgitating features, champion your customer’s aspirations. Show prospects how they can change for the better with the support of your product. That’s way more compelling than any feature. Simple, not complex Your product aims to be user-friendly. Similarly, your messaging must be reader-friendly or else your visitors will be left scratching their heads. Dense, technical language creates the perception that your product is complicated or hard to implement. Meaningful messaging simplifies complexity by speaking your customer’s language. It makes the core value of your product nice ‘n’ easy to grasp. And when it comes to messaging, there isn’t a person alive who doesn’t like nice ’n’ easy.