AMA: OpenTable Director of Product Marketing, Connie Woo on Messaging

Good point! I actually find repositioning work to be some of the most fun and rewarding type of product marketing work. With new product launches you often need to work off a lot of assumptions, related research or things you don't know. For repositioning a more mature product, you can work with a lot of what you do know directly. Some of my favorite projects in my career were when I've allowed myself to carve out the time to be the student of my own product. I would study the customer use cases, the biggest wins and challenges of my sales teams, the moves our largest competitors were making and the trends in adoption and usage data. Develop a hypothesis for how your product delivers value to your target audience, and go on a mission to validate that hypothesis with both qualitative and quantitative evidence (while also being flexible to tweaking your hypothesis). And then, practice your repositioning with key cross-functional stakeholders to stress test. Not only does that become a good opportunity to let somone poke holes, it's a good way to showcase your intellect, gain buy-in upfront and crystallize important relationships in your company.

Positioning is the strategy behind the marketing of your product. It incapsulates what the product is, who it's for and what value it adds, and is backed by research and insights. Positioning often comes to life in internal materials (e.g., briefs, GTM plans, etc) and sales enablement/training, so everyone is on the same page about strategy. Messaging is how you're going to get your target audience to buy into your product. It has a greater element of creative zest to charm the audience you're going after, and shows up in your various channels and collateral. Messaging should always be conveyed in a way that resonates deeply with your target customerbase. Elements of Positioning and Messaging may overlap though, considering they both address the value your product delivers!

I find it helpful to put together a simple exec-level deck that incapsulates the key messaging, how I got there, and how it'll show up. I use that deck to organize my own thoughts concisely, as well as socialize with/gain feedback from stakeholders. 1. Key messaging - this is usually a one-slider with a headline message and 2-3 supporting or key points. It's just a way to directly answer "what are we saying" 2. How I got there - key audience insights, industry trends, data points or considerations (e.g., sales feedback) that drove the messaging (and show off all your hard work and thought leadership!) 3. Even if not fully baked out, a very simple channel plan with a timeline (and even some mocks if your brand team is so willing) can really do wonders to helping stakeholders get onboard and excited. A/B testing is always helpful, if you're in a good position to do it right! However, I oftentimes find that some marketers A/B test entirely different messages in a way that has too many variables and doesn't make for a true test.

This is where segmented messaging becomes important. You can't just assume you can apply the same messaging to different audiences. For example, in your messaging briefs, you should be break down each target audience: what are their main pain points/needs, what is the positioning+key messaging, what are the reasons to believe. Work with your channel team to determine which messaging shows up where on your properties (based on which channels are targeted to which segments)

I don't think it's an either or (qualitative vs. quantitative), it really depends on how you use those insights throughout the recommendation process. I believe both are vital as you are brainstorming and ideating. Qualitative insights (user feedback, sales feedback, etc) may help jump start some ideas and identify some high-level trends, but quantitative insights will really help you validate and refine. With qualitative, I'd encourage you to focus on key customer/user pain points and needs (rather than their recommended solutions, features, value points they see in your product). I think this will help you really empathize with your target audience by understanding their core needs and push you to think more creatively about product messaging instead of just repeating what your users/customers are saying. As you are socializing and making your recommendations, the quantative becomes increasingly important - particularly with any product or more technical counterparts who really value the quant. When you're using qualitative to make your recommendation, try to use actual user or customer quotes instead of paraphrasing yourself. People love to see what real users/customers are saying! When you're building out final messaging, stress testing with channel and sales stakeholders and getting more qualitative insights can become super useful for refining and making your final recommendation.

Messaging will really differ based on the target audience you are messaging for, so developing empathy for your target customer is key. When I joined OpenTable, I spent a lot of time with account execs and account managers, I shadowed local customer meetings, I subscribed to every industry trade, went to industry events and I even did a "stage shift" at a restaurant nearby. It's so important to understand what your audience's key pain points are, how they speak, what they actually care about (even if it's not related to the area your product delivers in). From a more professional development standpoint, I believe it's crucial for product marketers to know how to message in a way that is clear, memorable and succinct. One of the questions I often ask in an interview is to explain a product they've marketed to a 7th grader. Product marketers, particularly in tech, need to be able to translate technical, complex concepts into simple, easy-to-understand messages that resonate with their target audience. So when I'm listening to answers to this question, I look for whether they've stripped the internal jargon out, if they've demonstrated understanding/empathy for the 7th grader (e.g., maybe an example that'd resonate with the 7th grader), and if I could easily reexplain that product to a family member a day later. I really encourage you to practice, practice, practice. For every product you work on and every project you do (even if it's just internal), practice giving your one-liner exec-level, elevator pitch to your cross-functional stakeholders. Also practice cutting, cutting and more cutting down. Most poor messaging I've seen is overly verbose, and I oftentimes find that less is more. Practice breaking down the pitch to truly one line so you know what your main point is, then make sure that main point is undeniably clear. Once you build your comfort level and confidence with breaking down a product, project or offering into it's component parts, and then practice repackaging into clear, memorable and succinct messaging, you'll be in a much better place to message like a pro!

Messaging will really differ based on the target audience you are messaging for, so developing empathy for your target customer is key. When I joined OpenTable, I spent a lot of time with account execs and account managers, I shadowed local customer meetings, I subscribed to every industry trade, went to industry events and I even did a "stage shift" at a restaurant nearby. It's so important to understand what your audience's key pain points are, how they speak, what they actually care about (even if it's not related to the area your product delivers in). From a more professional development standpoint, I believe it's crucial for product marketers to know how to message in a way that is clear, memorable and succinct. One of the questions I often ask in an interview is to explain a product they've marketed to a 7th grader. Product marketers, particularly in tech, need to be able to translate technical, complex concepts into simple, easy-to-understand messages that resonate with their target audience. So when I'm listening to answers to this question, I look for whether they've stripped the internal jargon out, if they've demonstrated understanding/empathy for the 7th grader (e.g., maybe an example that'd resonate with the 7th grader), and if I could easily reexplain that product to a family member a day later. I really encourage you to practice, practice, practice. For every product you work on and every project you do (even if it's just internal), practice giving your one-liner exec-level, elevator pitch to your cross-functional stakeholders. Also practice cutting, cutting and more cutting down. Most poor messaging I've seen is overly verbose, and I oftentimes find that less is more. Practice breaking down the pitch to truly one line so you know what your main point is, then make sure that main point is undeniably clear. Once you build your comfort level and confidence with breaking down a product, project or offering into it's component parts, and then practice repackaging into clear, memorable and succinct messaging, you'll be in a much better place to message like a pro!

There are a few ways: * Arm them with customer evidence/case studies that prove the right use cases for your product * Work in close partnership with your Learning & Development/Sales enablement team to put together a training plan * Rely on your sales leadership to motivate their teams * Many sales people are visual learners. Development video walkthroughs, case studies, etc * Bring them along the positioning and messaging journey. That helps them feel bought into the decision-making! And who knows, maybe there's a blindspot you have that they can help you identify!

Obviously you want to lean into your leading value props and what makes your product uniquely not a commodity, but I understand that could be difficult depending on the situation! In this case, you can lean into proof points to really underline the key value points. Those proof points can be both qualitative and quantitative. Customer case studies and testimonials from highly influential/well-known customers can really strengthen your messaging, especially if you're in an industry where social clout is critical. E.g., "The top X companies use our product to grow their business." Creating "FOMO" becomes a really powerful tool if your product is in a leadership position to do so. Or data-driven proof points can be powerful depending on the industry. E.g, "X people are doing Y thing on our product every minute." While I typically don't like to sell on price (as I don't think it's durable, and it undercuts the product value), if really becomes increasingly important when your product is truly commoditized, particularly if you're selling to SMB customers. This doesn't necessarily just need to be focused the actual price though, as you can lean on special promos, free trials, waived fees, or included add-ons to stand out.