AMA: DocuSign Senior Director, Global Solutions Marketing, Paul Rudwall on Messaging

People say that "design is art, with a purpose." I believe the same can be said about messaging. It's storytelling with a purpose. To be effective, you need to know what that purpose is. To start, I think you need a solid understanding of a few things: Product: What are you trying to sell? Audience: Who are you trying to sell it to? Pain Point: What's the problem you're trying to solve? "From" Mindset: What is their current perception of their problem and what you're selling? "To" Mindset: What ...Read More

Product and Solution messaging are different (and complementary) sides of the same coin. To answer this, I think it will help to loosely define how I look at some of these terms: Product Messaging: What is this "thing" and what does it do? Portfolio Messaging: How do all our "things" (products, services, integrations, etc.) come together to make 2+2=5? Solution Messaging: How do all these "things" (products, services, integrations, etc.) come together for you? Note that here, I've used portfolio ...Read More

It may sound pedantic, but I think the two most helpful things you can do are to 1) Read and 2) Write. Read: There are so many good writers out there. And, you can pick up a lot from them - whether they write fiction, non-fiction, speeches, messaging, or copy. If you make time to read, you can learn a lot. And, don't just read... read with purpose. Dissect their styles and try to identify what makes their writing compelling. Write: Like anything, writing is a skill. Nobody is born a great writer ...Read More

There's no one right way to do this, but there are a lot of ways to get it wrong. So, rather than a definitive answer, here are some dos and don'ts. Don't: Throw it Over the Fence: Posting something to an intranet site, posting it to Slack, or sending out an email is never enough. Start with the assumption that nobody will read what you send, then determine how to deliver the message. Once it's been delivered, post it wherever people will be able to reference it later. Assume The Same Thing Will ...Read More

One of the biggest challenges in marketing is creating hard-hitting messaging that's relevant to a wide range of audiences. The bigger the surface area you apply force to, the harder it is to break through (it's a lot easier to pop a balloon with a pin than with the palm of your hand). Messaging is no different. My advice is: Focus on What Moves the Needle: You can't be everything to everybody, so you will need to make some calls. Figure out what's important to your business and only focus on th ...Read More

There is absolutely a risk in drawing a conclusion too quickly. Moreover, I'd contend it's much harder to get a signal on whether messaging resonates than most people think. We all like to be happy with our work, so it's easy to fall victim to testing our message with "friendlies" who know how we think and will give us feedback we want to hear. So, my first recommendation is to do more testing than you think you need, and make sure you have some vocal skeptics in the mix. You don't need to accep ...Read More

As a general rule, I think your brand voice should remain consistent. It's part of your company's identity. It can be playful, conservative, or a combination of a hundred different things. But in order to feel authentic, it needs to remain consistent. That said, you very well may need to change the message you deliver to that audience and even some of the language you use. A CEO, a Director of Marketing, and a Developer will all care about different things and will talk about them differently. T ...Read More