AMA: Google Product Marketing Lead for AI/ML Technologies, Abhishek Ratna on Product Marketing Strategy & Messaging

At its core, good messaging focuses on addressing stated or unstated customer needs in a clear and memorable way. Here are some simialrities in B2B and B2C messaging: * Pithiness and clarity - so users can understand in 3 seconds or less what they stand to gain from the product. * Paint a vision of comoft and freedom from worry. And here are ways in which the two often differ: * B2C organizations often focus on emotional appeals and storytelling to connect with consumers, while B2B organizations may focus more on logical arguments and data to appeal to business decision makers. * B2C marketing messages are often geared towards a wider, general audience, while B2B messages are typically tailored to specific industry segments or individual companies. * B2C organizations often have shorter sales cycles and lower ticket prices, so their marketing messages may focus on immediate gratification and convenience. B2B organizations typically have longer sales cycles and higher ticket prices, so their marketing messages may focus on long-term value and ROI. * B2C organizations may have to deal with more competition and a higher degree of price sensitivity, so their marketing messages may need to emphasize uniqueness and differentiation. B2B organizations may have fewer competitors and more complex buying processes, so their marketing messages may need to focus on building trust and credibility.

When i think messaging, its rarely about the product. Great messaging serves to acknowledge/alleviate the user problem first. Given that lens, it makes sense to introduce hierarchy in terms of the user needs - at the top level, i think about what's the biggest/most important problem we solve for the user, and then we start building sub layers of messaging that speak to the component problems that ladder up to the bigger problem.

Non-Marketers often look to us as the team with most insight on customers. The more grounded our messaging is in customer research, the more likely we are to get buy in and alignment. Some tips to practically get alignment 1. Show them data and research on consumer behavior and the effectiveness of the messaging in question. 2. Share success stories from other companies who have used similar messaging and saw positive results. 3. Collaborate and gather feedback early from product managers and engineers to ensure the messaging aligns with the product and its goals. I've run short messaging workshops to great effect fro bringing alignment. 4. Communicate the potential risks of not using the suggested messaging, such as missing out on potential customers or not accurately representing the product.

That is a fine art and takes a lot of practice. That said here are a few helpful ideas 1. Look to industry publications and journalists for inspiration. I read a lot of artile on tech crunch, business insider, wored and other tech publications to understand their approach. 2. Use short, clear sentences and replace technical adjectives/verbs with non technical ones. For example, a sentence like "our technology can defragment frontends from backends" may be replaced by "our technology lets any frontend work with any backend." 3. Focus on the benefit and the why audiences should care, instead of getting lost in feature descriptions.

There are a few ways to do this 1. Conduct surveys or focus groups with customers and audience members to gather their thoughts and opinions on the messaging. 2. Monitor social media and online reviews for feedback on the messaging and response from customers. 3. Implement a system for collecting and tracking customer feedback, such as a customer service hotline or email address. 4. Attend industry events and conferences to network with customers and audience members and gather their feedback in person. 5. Collaborate with other departments, such as sales and customer service, to gather insights from customer interactions and feedback. To gain opt in for these exercises 1. Talk to Sales and Customer Success to get you audience with customers. 2. Use survey agencies if you have the budget to build audience committees.

Non-Marketers often look to us as the team with most insight on customers. The more grounded our messaging is in customer research, the more likely we are to get buy in and alignment. Some tips to practically get alignment 1. Show them data and research on consumer behavior and the effectiveness of the messaging in question. 2. Share success stories from other companies who have used similar messaging and saw positive results. 3. Collaborate and gather feedback early from product managers and engineers to ensure the messaging aligns with the product and its goals. I've run short messaging workshops to great effect fro bringing alignment. 4. Communicate the potential risks of not using the suggested messaging, such as missing out on potential customers or not accurately representing the product.

Here are some fundamental things 1. Research and understand the motivations, needs, and pain points of both the buyers and users of the product. 2. Create messaging that speaks to the benefits and value of the product for both the buyers and users. 3. Highlight the features and capabilities of the product that are relevant and appealing to both the buyers and users. 4. Address potential concerns or objections that may arise from both the buyers and users, such as cost, implementation, or ease of use. 5. Utilize customer testimonials or case studies that showcase the success of the product for both buyers and users. 6. Offer resources and support for both the buyers and users to help them understand and maximize the value of the product. Next, you would like to create separate marketing channels for the two audiences 1. For example, have a "developer.xyz.com" site for your developer audiences, a xyz.com/buyerpersona1 page for your buyer persona, and xyz.com to speak to both 2. Create separate "buyer center" content from "user documentation/guides"

You can do so in the following ways 1. Conduct market research and understand the cultural, social, and economic factors of the different geographies. 2. Use language that is clear and easy to understand across all geographies. 3. Avoid using colloquialisms, slang, or local references that may not be universally understood. 4. Focus on the common benefits and value of the product, rather than specific features that may not be relevant across all geographies. 5. Utilize visuals and images that are universally appealing and understood, rather than using local symbols or icons. 6. Use customer testimonials and case studies from various geographies to show the product's effectiveness across different locations. 7. Offer local support and resources to help customers in each geography understand and use the product.

You can use a slew of KPIs to measure effectiveness. 1. Conversion rate: the percentage of people who take a desired action, such as making a purchase or filling out a form, after being exposed to the messaging. 2. Click-through rate: the percentage of people who click on a link or call-to-action in the messaging. 3. Engagement rate: the percentage of people who interact with the messaging, such as liking, commenting, or sharing it on social media. 4. Customer satisfaction: the level of satisfaction and loyalty expressed by customers who have interacted with the messaging and product. 5. Brand awareness: the percentage of people who are aware of and recognize the brand and its messaging. 6. Sales revenue: the amount of money generated by the product as a result of the messaging. 7. Net promoter score: the likelihood of customers recommending the product to others based on their experience with the messaging.

A few things can help here 1. Create differentiation by emphasizing how your product/service solves customer problems uniquely and better than other alternatives/incumbents 2. Create a new category - take a leaf from the playbooks of Drift or Gong.io. Instead of being another chatbot, gong.io created a category called conversational intelligence and sustained marketing momentum behind it

Absolutely, there are a few ways to do so: 1. Social listening - Monitor social media and online reviews for customer reactions and feedback on the messaging. 2. Work with other departments, such as sales and customer service, to gather feedback from customer interactions and experiences. 3. Attend industry events and conferences to network with customers and gather their feedback in person. 4. Utilize free online forums and communities to gather feedback and insights from potential customers.

Yes, i wrote an article about building an end to end developer playbook. This should help https://www.developermarketing.io/reaching-out-to-developers-with-abhishek-ratna/ You can read it for in depth insights. Here are some top level takeaways First, we need to understand the traits that all developer personas share. Here are some: * Trusting hands-on experience over claims, * Learning constantly to grow skills, * Problem- and use case-driven, * Wish to stay current with the latest technologies, and * Heavily influenced by peers. TONE CONSIDERATIONS You should also take into account the tone you use when engaging with developers or trying to attract them to your website (or product). For example: * Ensure the tone is clear and straightforward, with no fluff. * It should be accurate and backed with metrics and facts. * The tone you choose needs to reflect the fact that engineers love details. * Also, make sure you include models and diagrams.

The ultimate KPI for great messaging and positioning is always the health of your business and your most important business metrics. Great messaging can doe everything from increasing conversion rates, accelerating the sales cycle, lowering acqusition costs to improving win rates. Those would always be the P0 OKRs to me. There are great leading indicators too, which are more tangible and direct. Things like ad click through rates, email click through rates, site bounce rates, time on site, and more, that speak to how engaging and action-inducing your messaging is.

There are a few 1. The AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action) framework: measures the success of the messaging in capturing the audience's attention, generating interest, creating desire for the product, and driving them to take action. 2. The FAB (Features, Advantages, Benefits) framework: evaluates the messaging based on the features of the product, the advantages it offers over competitors, and the benefits it provides to the customer. 3. The PAS (Problem, Agitation, Solution) framework: assesses the messaging by identifying the problem the product solves, agitating the pain points and challenges of the audience, and offering a solution through the product. 4. The USP (Unique Selling Proposition) framework: measures the effectiveness of the messaging in highlighting the unique value and benefits of the product, and setting it apart from competitors. 5. The HERO (Hope, Empathy, Relevance, Outcome) framework: evaluates the messaging based on its ability to inspire hope, connect with the audience's emotions, be relevant to their needs and goals, and provide a desired outcome.