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Sean Lauer

AMA: Instruqt VP of Marketing and Product, Sean Lauer on Messaging

January 16, 2025 @ 9:00AM PT

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Sean Lauer

VP of Marketing ¡ AUGMENTT

👋 Sean Lauer (Charlotte, NC)

💼 VP Marketing at Augmentt. Previously VP Marketing at Instruqt, Senior Director of Product Marketing at Mural, and Global Product Marketing at Twitter.

🧪 Currently deep in an ICP, positioning, and messaging refresh and loving the mix of strategy, customer insight, and wordsmithing

🤝 Always happy to chat: marketing, product marketing, positioning and messaging, GTM strategy, technical marketing, sales enablement, customer education, and product strategy

🍦 Favorite ice cream: One Sweet Whirled (RIP, Ben & Jerry’s… bring it back)

  1. How do you get alignment across the org in the story and messaging?

    Sean Lauer
    Sean Lauer

    AUGMENTT VP of Marketing | Formerly Instruqt, Mural, Twitter, Anheuser-Busch InBev • 1y

    This is an excellent question because the answer seems easier than the reality. It's easy for PMM to think, "We're PMM, so we get to decide our messaging, and we don't really care what other stakeholders think." While messaging is a core part of PMM, and ultimately, PMM is responsible for it, oftentimes, successful messaging lies in stakeholder buy-in of that messaging. Why is that the case? It's because if the messaging PMM builds differs from the messaging that stakeholders, such as sales, are ...Read More

    614 Views
    1 request

  2. Has B2B and B2C messaging becoming more similar as time has gone by?

    Sean Lauer
    Sean Lauer

    AUGMENTT VP of Marketing | Formerly Instruqt, Mural, Twitter, Anheuser-Busch InBev • 1y

    Whether you're marketing a B2B or a B2C product, you're always marketing to people. The key to PMM, and the key to marketing in general, is developing a deep understanding of the people that matter—users, buyers, influencers, etc. If you can create messaging that resonates with the right people, then it will be impactful. This doesn't change whether you're marketing a B2B or a B2C product.

    677 Views
    1 request

  3. What types of messaging documents or frameworks are typically shared with stakeholders from different teams (i.e. product, marketing, execs, etc.)?

    Sean Lauer
    Sean Lauer

    AUGMENTT VP of Marketing | Formerly Instruqt, Mural, Twitter, Anheuser-Busch InBev • 1y

    The contents of your messaging library will vary from company to company and product to product. However, you'll want to create some tentpole documents no matter where you are. A few to consider as part of your arsenal: A single source of truth—This is usually a longer form document that tells the story of your product. It should provide the source material for much of the messaging needed for different teams. While positioning should remain consistent, messaging, and this doc in particular, sho ...Read More

    549 Views
    3 requests

  4. In your opinion, how much time and effort does messaging & positioning for a product take?

    Assume you're starting from scratch, as a new hire or launching a new product

    Sean Lauer
    Sean Lauer

    AUGMENTT VP of Marketing | Formerly Instruqt, Mural, Twitter, Anheuser-Busch InBev • 1y

    Simple answer—it takes as long as you want it to take. That's not necessarily what anyone wants to hear, of course. But the reality is that positioning and messaging can take way longer than it should if you don't have a deliberate process and there's no clear decision-maker. What's important to remember is that positioning always comes before messaging. Positioning is strategy, and it drives everything from messaging to product strategy. From my perspective, I would emphasize positioning and we ...Read More

    858 Views
    1 request

  5. How do you store and manage your messaging for other Marketing team to use?

    Sean Lauer
    Sean Lauer

    AUGMENTT VP of Marketing | Formerly Instruqt, Mural, Twitter, Anheuser-Busch InBev • 1y

    It's important to create a single source of truth so that stakeholders know where to look for the latest and greatest. If your company has a wiki (Notion, etc.), create a messaging hub within your marketing space. If they don't have a wiki, a Google Drive or Dropbox folder will also work. The more tailored you can make it to different audiences, the better. Make it simple for them to find the messaging that they need—whether it's for GTM purposes or product. PMM can sometimes feel like the "mess ...Read More

    2,447 Views
    1 request

  6. What is the relationship between messaging and the unique value proposition of a feature? Which encompasses the other?

    Sean Lauer
    Sean Lauer

    AUGMENTT VP of Marketing | Formerly Instruqt, Mural, Twitter, Anheuser-Busch InBev • 1y

    The value proposition of a feature is part of a messaging framework. I would go so far as to say that clearly articulating the value prop is potentially the most important part of feature messaging. This is the "why" that end users need to care about to adopt the feature. If users don't understand why a feature is adding value, they're unlikely to use it.

    537 Views
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  7. What are you best practices for creating differentiated messaging while still keeping it simple/not too full of jargon so it best resonates with customers?

    Sean Lauer
    Sean Lauer

    AUGMENTT VP of Marketing | Formerly Instruqt, Mural, Twitter, Anheuser-Busch InBev • 1y

    The answer is in the question itself—using jargon will prevent you from creating anything differentiated. Jargon is the norm, so the more you use it, the more you'll sound like everyone else. The more you create messaging that reflects how real people talk (without jargon), the more you'll create differentiated messaging. If you need a test or a framework, I always like the exercise of pretending you're in a loud bar with your friends and you're trying to explain your messaging. You'll naturally ...Read More

    630 Views
    1 request

  8. Are there any messaging books that changed your life?

    Sean Lauer
    Sean Lauer

    AUGMENTT VP of Marketing | Formerly Instruqt, Mural, Twitter, Anheuser-Busch InBev • 1y

    I'm a big fan of "Make It Punchy" by Emma Stratton. What Emma's able to do is boil down messaging to its simplest elements and make it approachable. It's so easy to make messaging more complex than it needs to be. For instance, to involve too many stakeholders or to iterate too many times. When messaging gets overly complicated or frustrating, it means you need to take a step back. Perhaps, read Emma's book and then revisit your work. I think it'll help!

    828 Views
    1 request

  9. How do you approach messaging for things that might not excite the customer?

    For example, when needing to communicate a price increase or end-of-life message?

    Sean Lauer
    Sean Lauer

    AUGMENTT VP of Marketing | Formerly Instruqt, Mural, Twitter, Anheuser-Busch InBev • 1y

    Honesty is the best policy, as they say. Be direct, don't get creative, and don't sugarcoat the message. The key is to show empathy for the customer's perspective.

    • Explain clearly why an update is being made and be clear about the trade-offs involved.

    • Communicate the change early and often across multiple channels.

    • Always provide an opportunity for customers to provide feedback and feel heard.

    • Be human and avoid marketing jargon.

    945 Views
    2 requests

  10. How has market research and testing of messaging changed given AI?

    Sean Lauer
    Sean Lauer

    AUGMENTT VP of Marketing | Formerly Instruqt, Mural, Twitter, Anheuser-Busch InBev • 1y

    Once you see messaging that was created with AI, you start to see it everywhere. There are also tools that allow you to scan messaging to determine if it was written with AI (so it can be confirmed). It's placed even more importance on the ability to speak to your audience as a human would speak to them. Words and phrases that don't sound like typical spoken language when you read them out loud are going to feel AI-created and forced. If you want messaging to land, speak it before you write it. ...Read More

    848 Views
    1 request