AMA: Cisco fmr Product Marketing Leader, Elizabeth Grossenbacher on Messaging Strategy

I've used the following framework over and over again for situations like this. You need to understand your differentiator and the value of that differentiator. Follow the steps below to see how I have done this at companies like Twilio and Cisco. Write down the customer's pain Write down why it hurts Create a simple table for your Tier 1 competitors using the columns & rows listed below. Columns: vendors, what is the vendor solution, how does the vendor deliver this solution (technical reas ...Read More

Clear positioning across stakeholders depends on separating ownership while preserving alignment. Leadership should define the overarching narrative. That's the company’s point of view about the market and why it matters. That conversation should happen WITH product marketing in the room -- even facilitated by product marketing. Then, product marketing should translate that vision into a structured messaging architecture that explains who the product is for, what problems it solves, and how valu ...Read More

Strong content sales-enablement programs work because they help buyers make decisions faster and with less risk. In my experience, the most effective PMMs anchor enablement in a clearly defined ICP, then they map messaging to each stakeholder on the buying team. From there, they give sales "ready-to-use language" and proof tailored to real deal friction. When content mirrors how buying actually happens, adoption follows naturally because reps are no longer translating marketing material. They ar ...Read More

Messaging becomes diluted when it turns into a negotiation over wording instead of a decision grounded in evidence. The most reliable way to prevent this is to anchor discussions to customer reality rather than internal preference: customer insight becomes the source of truth, structured frameworks provide an objective reference point, and editing based on taste is replaced by alignment based on intent. When stakeholders evaluate messaging against agreed criteria (what problem it clarifies, what ...Read More

Competitive intelligence is most useful to messaging when it reveals how buyers are thinking. Don't just list out feature gaps! Product marketers must analyze where prospects hesitate, what assumptions they carry from incumbents, and which perceived risks dominate the decision. The goal is to uncover the mental model customers bring into evaluation and then design messaging that addresses the specific friction preventing change. In this way, competitive analysis becomes a diagnostic tool for sha ...Read More

Customer feedback shapes messaging most powerfully when it is treated as ongoing input. Effective product marketers build continuous feedback loops, prioritize observed behavior over stated opinion, and translate recurring customer experiences into narrative themes the market can recognize. Instead of asking customers what sounds compelling, they study how customers actually work, decide, and struggle, then craft messaging that reflects those lived realities. Over time, individual anecdotes beco ...Read More

Start with redefining how buyers understand their problem! The most effective approach is to shift the conversation away from existing comparisons and toward a new mental model of evaluation. Product marketers do this by reframing the problem, introducing new criteria that incumbents were never designed to satisfy, and educating the market before attempting to sell into it. In a new category, persuasion follows understanding. Customers must first learn how to think differently before they can ch ...Read More

When strategy discussions attract too many opinions, progress slows because messaging becomes a debate over preference rather than a decision about outcomes. The most reliable way forward is to introduce an objective arbiter: customer evidence. Product marketers can present structured options instead of open-ended drafts and evaluate those options against business impact, especially revenue potential and adoption risk. By shifting the conversation from “Which wording do we like?” to “Which direc ...Read More