Product messaging doesn't magically appear out of thin air. It is the culmination of months of product marketing work. The product definition. The target market determination. The competitive analysis. The product feature list.
Profile your buyer audiences with buyer personas
Without a buyer persona to guide you, your product messaging is probably communicating a generic message to a generic audience. This is fine if you are willing to live with a hit-or-miss messaging approach.
With buyer personas, you develop an keen understanding of your buyer. One profile should be created for each distinct audience that participates in the buying process. You then use this knowledge to target your product messaging for each buying audience.
Create your customer value proposition
Buyer personas tell you about buyer motivation. Customer value propositions quantify real buyer value. The key action here is quantify. Generic claims can be easily dismissed. Quantified values are taken seriously.
By working out your customer value proposition, you identify a balanced view of the value your product offers. Not only are areas of positive value quantified, but areas of equal or negative value are also recognized.
Evaluate your competition's messaging
You may have the best messages in the world. But if your messages sound like your competitor's, it will be difficult for a buyer to distinguish the differences between you.
Put yourself in your prospect's position. Take an objective look at the messaging your competitors use. Identify the strongest messages. Determine what makes them powerful. Review their weaker messages. Critique them. Look at the language your competitors use. Use this knowledge to more carefully select your own messages.
Craft your basic messaging
For each audience describe
Build out your message house
We are not talking about the message house in its traditional form. Your message house should address the needs of the prospect throughout his/her buying process.
By mapping out the prospect's buying process, you will clearly understand the prospect's needs at each stage. With that understanding you can develop key messages and storylines that satisfy the prospect's needs. The rigor of this approach ensures that your messaging doesn't lose momentum. Instead, your messages architect buyer momentum through all stages of their buying process.
Ruthlessly edit your messaging
Bad writing can ruin the best messaging. Your buyer must be able to decipher and digest your ideas. They can't do that when those ideas are hidden in
- lengthy sentences
- strings of adjectives
- flowery marketing language
- company lingo
- irrelevant details
- poor formatting
