AMA: Atlassian Director of Product Marketing, Jira, Marina Ben-Zvi on Messaging

Messaging effectiveness is as much about internal and external activation as it is about developing compelling messages that lands with customers. Too often, messaging falls flat because it’s treated as a one-time deliverable rather than an ongoing process to enable the organization to apply it effectively. Ensuring the sales team is effectively versed to use the right messaging with the right customers is a combination of enablement, reinforcement, and feedback loops. Messaging isn’t just a doc ...Read More

Messaging development is highly cross-functional—while product marketing is the driver, success depends on strategic input, customer insights, validation, and cross-team adoption from stakeholders. Bringing in the right stakeholders from the start ensures that messaging isn’t just well-crafted—it’s well-adopted. The right stakeholders to involve depend on the altitude of the message (i.e portfolio vs product level), audience, and go-to-market motion, but typically it includes: Product leadership ...Read More

Messaging is never truly perfected—it’s proven. If you’re waiting for perfection before putting it in front of customers, you’re waiting too long—the market may have shifted, competitors may have evolved, and your audience’s priorities may have changed. Instead of aiming for perfection, the goal should be to gain validation—customer proof that messaging resonates, and drives desired action. Said another way, your messaging is “perfected” when it’s been tested & validated in the market and ha ...Read More

There’s no one-size-fits-all framework for messaging—it has to be tailored to the business, the audience, and how it will be activated. I have a loose message framework I use and modify for every company and business need whether it’s foundational company messaging, a sales play, or campaign messaging. The key as you’re going through the message creation process is to keep activation and make sure you’re providing the types of message inputs that will be actionable for your go-to-market teams. A ...Read More

If your messaging is good and resonates with customers, competitors will copy it. That’s just the reality of the market. Instead of getting frustrated, take it as a signal that you’re leading the conversation. But while copying the words is easy, backing up the claims is where most competitors fail. Still, today competitors are catching up on capabilities and getting to “parity” faster than ever. Moats are increasingly short-lived. True differentiation (messaging and product capabilities) in tod ...Read More

Isn’t it the worst when marketing messages sound too … well … marketing-y? When we rely on words like leverage, empower, and innovate without grounding them in anything real, we lose clarity—and worse, we sound like every other company out there. The best messaging is simple, clear, and authentic. It should feel natural, not forced, and stay true to how your customers would say it. To break the habit, I set a few key principles for my team: Say it in fewer, simpler words. If you can explain it i ...Read More

Successful messaging isn’t just about sounding good—it’s about driving the right action at every stage of the customer journey. The best messaging does three things: Moves customers toward your worldview – It clearly articulates the problem in a way that reframes their thinking, shifts them toward your solution, and makes them see your product as the inevitable choice. If your messaging makes customers say, "I never thought about it that way before," it’s working. Drives measurable business impa ...Read More