AMA: Ethos Head of Product Marketing, Aneri Shah on Messaging

Here's a simple 6-step process you can follow: Write the brief: Write the brief for what you want your name to accomplish. This should include a description of what the product is, all your positioning work (audience, problem to be solved, key differentiators, proof points etc.), and the goal your product is trying to achieve. This should be widely socialized with everyone involved in the naming process. Define naming categories: The next step is to structure your creativity. There are many diff ...Read More

Do it for fun! Try it on products you use but don't work on, ads you see on TV etc. It makes it much lower stakes to get into the mindset of using a messaging framework, and you'll find it's a muscle you can build over time. It's also much easier when you try it on a product you use - you can ask yourself the questions you'd be asking in messaging research: who do you think it's for, why do you use it over others, what problems is it solving in your life? Think about this the next time you watch ...Read More

When your product or solution isn't sufficiently differentiated, focus on the other key aspect of your positioning: the audience. Who is your product disproportionately better for? While many products in a given category may be highly similar, is there a user persona for whom your product is better, e.g. a specific vertical, geography, company size, or role? Don't be afraid to take a strong POV and use your messaging to lean in to a specific persona until you have deep penetration within that se ...Read More

Speak like you would speak to a human: We often write messaging that speaks to corporations rather than individuals. Think about how you'd explain what you do to a client on a sales call. Now think about how you'd explain it to your mom, a friend, a child, or a stranger at a party. What do all of those descriptions have in common? What are some of the most salient concepts for you to communicate? Focus on those. Pro tip: Use AI to help you riff on your messaging if it's feeling a little stale. A ...Read More

Your Sales/Customer Success teams are your biggest asset! I'd run the following playbook: 1. Test the messaging internally: Round up all the internal teams that work most closely with customers (Sales, CX, Success, Solutions Engineers, SDRs etc.) Host a working session to get their feedback on your initial messaging. This can be structured in different ways based on the size of this group and the culture of your organization - it could be something as simple as a Zoom call with your messaging do ...Read More