AMA: Enable VP of Product Marketing, Amanda Groves on Messaging

Aligning the organization on story and messaging comes down to collaboration, clarity, and consistency. Here's how to nail it: Get everyone involved early and often. Bring in product, sales, and customer-facing teams from day one. Workshop the key pain points, value props, and differentiators together to ensure everyone’s voice is heard. Coalesce your thoughts in a framework Lock in core pillars—like, "Connect, Capture, Grow." This becomes the single source of truth that every team can adapt for ...Read More

I like to developing messaging documents based on the outcome we're driving towards. For example, if the need is surrounding company positioning, I'll use a strategic messaging map that's structured as a waterfall and ordered as follows: Positioning messaging that includes: Tagline, headline Positioning statement 25 word description Then target customer that includes: Business function, title and influence Then problem statements that include: Pain thresholds that make value props aspirin and no ...Read More

Similarly to sizing a launch, I would consider a tiering calculator to help assess effort v. impact for product messaging and positioning as it really depends on product complexity. A tier 1 launch can take anywhere from 10-12 weeks (post dev complete stage), so knowing there is a significant lift and corresponding impact, the messaging and positioning work will inherently be more consuming than a tier 2, 3 or 4 product launch. Fortunately, there are tools to help expedite composition and valida ...Read More

It sounds cliche to say, but we have to use the words of our customers to avoid the "sea of sameness." This can be accomplished by running listening tours (gong/chorus), attending events, surveying, or running messaging tests via third-party tools like Wynter. Once you've landed on key concepts, lean on messaging frameworks like Emma Stratton's "Keep it Punchy" where she advises to write as it you're explaining something at a weekend BBQ. If you keep messaging conversational and friendly, you'll ...Read More

Some of my favorite go-to frameworks are Donald Miller's Building a Storybrand, Messaging - Emma Stratton, and Positioning - April Dunford. For example, if you need to develop launch narrative you can use Donald Miller's "StoryBrand" framework to orient your thoughts: Here are the steps: A Character (your customer) Has a Problem (they need to solve) And Meets a Guide (your business/product) Who Gives Them a Plan (your solutions) And Calls Them to Action (to start the buying process) That Ends in ...Read More

AI has transformed developer marketing by enabling hyper-personalization, allowing marketers to speak directly to a developer’s specific challenges and use cases. For example, instead of sending generic emails about a new API, you can now use AI to analyze developer behavior—like the programming languages they use or the types of projects they build—and tailor messaging accordingly. Imagine a developer working on a Python-based data pipeline. With AI, your outreach could focus on how your produc ...Read More