AMA: Asana Head of Solutions Marketing, Eric Bensley on Competitive Messaging
September 13 @ 10:00AM PST
View AMA Answers
Asana Head of Solutions Marketing, Eric Bensley on Competitive Messaging
Top Questions
Eric Bensley
Asana Head of Global Product Marketing • September 13
I think it's very helpful. For those reading this that haven't read Clayton Christensen's work, here's a good summary of the concept of "jobs to be done". When we create messaging, we need to be focused on what problem we're solving. I'll give you an example of when I worked on GoToMeeting. Th......Read More
1058 Views
2 requests
Eric Bensley
Asana Head of Global Product Marketing • September 13
There's no perfect way to do this. People hate when I say this but when it comes to messaging, I'm much more into qualitative feedback vs. quantitative. If you similarly hate me, feel free to move on. If not, here are a few qualitative measures I use: * Can your sales team remember it and pitch......Read More
1677 Views
4 requests
Eric Bensley
Asana Head of Global Product Marketing • September 13
You HAVE to answer "why now" with every piece of messaging you create. This is a question I ask to draw this out with my team: why didn't our prospects need this last year and this year they must have it? It's always helpful to look at macro trends and themes in the broader world + economy. Ge......Read More
1011 Views
2 requests
Eric Bensley
Asana Head of Global Product Marketing • September 13
Call me old school but I think positioning statements do this VERY well. Here's an exercise I've used and seen success with in building alignment on the "Why" of a company or brand. 1. Create list of key stakeholders who have a say in your value prop (think like key sales leaders, product, ......Read More
1269 Views
3 requests
Eric Bensley
Asana Head of Global Product Marketing • September 13
Generally, this comes down to your company priorities. It is hard to do both well so here are a few questions you can ask to determine which approach is correct: * What percentage of your new revenue comes from SMB vs Enterprise? How are your sellers organized SMB vs. Enterprise? * What cu......Read More
974 Views
4 requests
Eric Bensley
Asana Head of Global Product Marketing • September 13
With any emerging technology, I've found the best approach is to compare to the previous way of doing things. People digest a new way of doing something by comparing it to how they do it today. Think about a lot of the technologies we use today: Email = electronic mail, Software as a Service = So......Read More
1040 Views
1 request
Eric Bensley
Asana Head of Global Product Marketing • September 13
The magic formula usually includes these 3 in my experience: -Product - they'll pull you to vision and differentiation -Sales - they'll pull you into the here and now of closing business today -Customers - they'll help you rationalize the product and sales feedback so you can meet somewhere in......Read More
1019 Views
1 request
Eric Bensley
Asana Head of Global Product Marketing • September 13
I'll give you a couple wins but want to focus more on why I see them as wins vs. the actual messaging. Here are two wins: -We created a messaging framework for SMBs to adopt CRM. It was simple. Find new leads. Win more deals. Keep customers happy. Abbreviated as Find. Win. Keep. It was a win bec......Read More
1027 Views
2 requests
Eric Bensley
Asana Head of Global Product Marketing • September 13
This is a fun one that I've spent many hours chatting about with folks. Positioning is more of a high level concept about where you fit into your target audiences head in a different way than anyone else, Messaging is more about how you say that position to the target audience. Let's take a ma......Read More
1210 Views
2 requests
Who owns messaging and positioning in a product marketing org?
Specifically in the context of having only~2 product marketers, both of whom are counterparts vs. a team lead and direct report. On that note, if it's such a small team, who is best equipped to lead positioning and messaging (based on skill sets) or should this be a collaborative effort?
Eric Bensley
Asana Head of Global Product Marketing • September 13
I'd ask: What is you most significant marketing effort where you have to align on messaging and positioning? Is it your website? Is it sales kickoff? Is it a brand campaign? Look for the place where your most important stakeholders are organically engaging, whoever is most critical in this effort......Read More
1008 Views
1 request
Eric Bensley
Asana Head of Global Product Marketing • September 13
The simplest here is if you're moving awareness, pipeline, close rates, revenue, etc. But I know that's not always immediately available. So I have a simpler answer. PITCH YOUR MESSAGING TO PEOPLE, IN PERSON. This might seem too basic but I've seen the success over and over. Pitch your messaging ......Read More
1038 Views
3 requests
Eric Bensley
Asana Head of Global Product Marketing • September 13
As a general best practice, I think messaging should live 6-12 months with minor updates and no major overhauls. The 6 month window is for macro changes that no one expected. This is for all of us who created messaging 6 months before ChatGPT launched. We all had to pivot to bring AI in and no on......Read More
1023 Views
1 request
When should messaging change for a product and how should that be addressed with internal stakeholders?
or should messaging not change, but evolve?
Eric Bensley
Asana Head of Global Product Marketing • September 13
It should change when you position is significantly impacted by: -the market changes (ie new tech emerges - social, mobile, AI, etc) -your competition changes (ie your key competitor introduces low price offering) -the macro economy changes (ie recession, inflation) -your customer base change......Read More
1213 Views
1 request
Eric Bensley
Asana Head of Global Product Marketing • September 13
There's no replacement for talking to humans. And the less technical the better. We can all sit in a room with people "in the know" and nod our heads as we look at messaging. But try explaining it in conversation so someone who's never heard of your category, that's a different story. Try explain......Read More
1000 Views
2 requests
Brought to you by:
Klue - The Competitive Enablement Platform
Upcoming AMA's
Show All