AMA: Dialpad Vice President Product Marketing, Natala Menezes on Messaging

The key to stand-out messaging is anchoring on customer value and showcasing how your solution solves your customer's problems. I think too often we focus on flash -- a pithy story – but what customers tend to respond best to is a compelling narrative that addresses their needs. What that translates into:  Speak your customer's language, not your industry jargon. When we interviewed our enterprise customers, they never once used the term "digital transformation" – they talked about "reducing rep ...Read More

Messaging perfection is a myth that I had to unlearn (and TBH it is a daily practice). What I've discovered is that strong messaging emerges through a balance of rigorous preparation and market validation. While we should always strive for excellence, the reality is that business milestones – whether a major keynote, sales conference or product launch – often set our ship date for us. And that's actually a good thing. Here's my evolved perspective: Rather than viewing messaging as a fixed destin ...Read More

I've found that managing stakeholder feedback on messaging requires both art and science. Here's the framework I've developed through years of leading complex messaging initiatives: Phase 1 - Cast a wide net (2-3 weeks): Gather diverse perspectives through structured workshops with sales, product, and customer success teams. I use a clear feedback template focusing on message clarity, authenticity, and impact to make input actionable. Phase 2 - Refine with intent (1-2 weeks): Synthesize feedback ...Read More

Great question! My methodology involves assessing the opportunity and making a strategic decision about how to invest our resources. My model considers market readiness, competitive differentiation, and GTM efficiency. I start with a SWOT analysis and talk with a handful of customers on our advisory board. This way I can understand the competitive landscape and our product differentiation while also getting insight from reall customers on market maturity and awareness – and value. If a product i ...Read More

Feature-focused narratives are challenging for organizations to let go of, in my experience. We get really excited about what a product can do and lose focus on outcomes – and that type of storytelling is what resonates best with business buyers. I’ve seen this pattern repeatedly – and I think it’s because our push in Silicon Valley for constant innovation means we are shipping incremental features weekly. But, in reality, it ends up being death by a thousand cuts – just too much information for ...Read More