AMA: MetaRouter Director of Product Marketing, Michele Nieberding 🚀 on Messaging

A critical yet incredibly hard part of messaging--especially in fast-paced industries like tech where it feels like things are always changing AND "shiny object" syndrome is a real thing where leaders get excited about specific use cases. Which is great as a "hook" for sales, but can lead to messaging whiplash and identity crises imo.Some tips I like to use to build, manage, and KEEP that alignment across the org: Focus on shared goals: Remind the team of the common objective—crafting messaging ...Read More

Great question! Especially asking about messaging for a feature launch specifically (vs. overall product messaging). My process might be a bit unique, but here's the process I like to follow (assuming this is for a seasonal product launch that includes multiple products/features/enhancements, not just a standalone, individual feature launch):Step 1: Market Research and Stakeholder Alignment *NOTE: No launch is successful without stakeholder alignment up front! Understanding the market: what is t ...Read More

Firstly, I would say...PROCEED WITH CAUTION! Tech companies especially are always tempted to create a new category. Because cause of courseeeee what they're building is unique and different, right?? At a Series A B2B startup, here's my advice: You should almost always anchor your product to an existing category. Some of the biggest pitfalls with category creation:1. No competition. Meaning you can't tap into existing demand--you have to make entirely new demand.2. Low product understanding. You ...Read More

Interesting way to phrase this, but I like to use those as INPUTS for my messaging. Then I look at what am I trying to create messaging for? A solution/platform, new product pillar, or a launch? I like to have a "single source of truth" messaging docs both for the overall platform and each (seasonal) launch to start. From there, I build a messaging pyramid: Overview: What is the overarching solution and what it does For example: "MetaRouter is an enterprise-grade customer data collection and int ...Read More

When it comes to messaging, I think data is a nice-to-have, not a need-to-have. There's a delicate balance that needs to happen in messaging where you are prioritizing consistency in messaging while also staying responsive to market--easier said than done of course! Here's what I would recommend: Create a core messaging framework - this is your foundation and single source of truth for the overall Make sure you have established a continuous feedback loop - have a regular cadence with sales, cs, ...Read More

Yes, but...I would use this as a data point along with other methods of messaging testing/validation if you don't have a lot of traffic -- A/B testing on your website is probably one of the best ways of testing messaging if you get a decent amount of traffic.First, you need to define your goal and hypothesis (aka, what are you trying to learn from the test?). For the goal, are you trying to see which messaging version resonates more with your audience, or testing new value propositions, or even ...Read More

I go old school and have a Google Doc template I love, but the general buckets are these. Industry trends - what has changed (Is it a big change? it should be! Is it relevant? Can you measure the impact? include stats with links) Who is the enemy? Is it the status quo or an old/antiquated way of doing things Why now? Drive urgency on needing to make this change ASAP Show that there will be winners and losers - what is the "destination?" - provide examples where you can. For example, "If you don' ...Read More

As a solo and founding Product Marketer (and total marketing team of 2 people), I feel this deeply..I have almost no time to truly dedicate to market research.I personally like to use Gong because there is so much GOLD that already exists, and the filters and alerts you set up can highlight and help bubble up the most important pieces. For example: Create Keyword Trackers: Set up keyword trackers around key topics, competitors, or product features to identify recurring themes in customer convers ...Read More