This question comes up a lot. Certainly more than it used to. In fact it’s the number one thing marketers must address once the business plan is in place. When you’re ready to launch the product and start down the road to reaching product-market fit, a clear message is a must-have. The company’s message and position is what every startup tackles, once funding is secured.
High expectations. Who’s doing the lifting?
It’s never “once and done” either. The trickiest part is that it needs to do a lot of things. In other words, we have high expectations for our market message and we expect it to convey a whole lot. We sometimes expect it to do the selling for us. We also expect our prospects to do the “heavy lifting” and figure out what we’re talking about.
Of course the message needs to be clear, concise and consistent. Duh, that’s a minimum. It also needs to inspire and grab the attention of the buyer, quickly. All online. In product-led buying cycles, a physical conversation is practically non-existent. At least in the early part of the relationship.
The “elevator pitch” is now a misnomer and should be referred to as the online hook. Once you catch the ‘fish’ with the right content bait, you then need to reel in with more information, and make it interesting and useful. For a while.
The thing to remember when crafting your message. Don’t overcomplicate it. Don’t expect it to do everything. Do enough to get a lean-in or what we marketers refer to as a high response rate or a decent click-through rate.
Be patient
Getting all this right in a short time frame is difficult. This stuff takes lots of swings at bat. Excuse the baseball analogy but my son is an avid player so it tends to rub off. When you don’t have a ton of cycles because your investors want answers and you have employees to hire and projects to execute, it can become daunting very quickly. However, it’s better not to rush it. Once you start outbound, listen carefully and then adjust from a core foundation.
Useful guideposts
Recently I thought about the approach I’ve taken over the years and at numerous companies. I then wrote down the 10 golden rules that generally work for me. It definitely helps to have a framework to step through the messaging exercise, which helps break down each part of your story and what you want to say to who, when. For example when explaining what your product actually does versus the benefits it delivers that is different from the strategic promise. Ultimately messaging is about having an organic conversation with your market, over time.
Test before you press Go!
Don’t assume because you all align internally on the message that it’s good to go. You must test it with customers, prospects, partners and even colder groups who could be customers but don’t know who you are today. Listen very carefully. Decide what’s worth changing or keeping and don’t forget to stand it up next to the competition. It’s easier to make tweaks from a solid foundation. Don’t overcomplicate and expect too much from it.
Get everyone on the same page
There’s nothing worse than having different messages and different communication assets across the same GTM team. If sales and marketing aren’t aligned, it doesn’t work. As distinct teams, listen to each other and ask all the right questions. Sales is on the front line every day and they are excellent eyes and ears for marketing who are knee deep in long term planning. Once feedback is incorporated, agree, move on and get aligned.
Here’s my top 10 messaging guideposts.
Be concise and clear – Avoid jargon. Use plain words. Aim to inspire.
Position is contextual – vs using today and other relevant tools?
Thought-leadership is different – not all users are bleeding edge. They can get there.
Deeply understand users & buyers – Different, of course. Keep it human.
What problems do you solve – Focus on use-case. Pains solved.
Strike an emotional chord – Product is important but not the only thing.
You are the company you keep – Pick the top players.
Let customers do the talking – Your biggest asset.
Know your differences – Communicate often.
Guide users from old to new (you) – Drive adoption.
Put it all together
It’s not easy to keep all rules front and center when defining your value. A structure or framework helps to tease apart what you say to who, when.
If you have ever lived through the entire process of writing it down, it quickly becomes how you communicate. It should roll off the tongue. It does take time to internalize and become a believer. If you can’t deliver the story with passion, then it’s probably not right.
Enable all teams inside the org to understand the message, be able to deliver it and more important, to believe it because it is the very foundation for a company’s ability to survive and thrive.
I loved this red typewriter image as it reminded me of the time I learned typing using a similar old-fashioned, rusty piece. The teacher said, “it will make you a better, faster typist”. On that, she was absolutely correct.