Sharebird
Sign Up / Sign In
Dana Foster Chery

AMA: Samsara Vice President, Product Marketing, Dana Foster Chery on Messaging

February 8, 2022 @ 10:00AM PT

View AMA Answers

  1. Can you share your tips on making a great analyst briefing deck?

    I'm about to make my companies first analyst briefing deck. I've made them in the past but want to make a really kick ass one this time around.

    Dana Foster Chery
    Dana Foster Chery

    Samsara Vice President, Marketing • 4y

    The best analyst briefing decks that I've either seen or helped build are not filled with marketing messaging. They clearly layout what analysts typically care about, which could include the following: trends you've observed in market you operate in, the challenges your product(s) solves, overview of your growth trajectory, industries you touch plus key use cases for each, unique differentiators, and insight into the product & (high level) GTM strategy and company vision.  Other elements I'd ...Read More

    22,315 Views
    2 requests

  2. What is the best product pitch (deck, video, one pager, website) you've ever seen/heard and what made it stand out?

    I'm building out a product pitch deck and curious what common qualities there might be amongst the messages that really resonated with this community.

    Dana Foster Chery
    Dana Foster Chery

    Samsara Vice President, Marketing • 4y

    What makes the best product pitch (deck, one pagers, videos, webpages, etc.) is that it is not a standalone asset. I've see lots of strong product pitch assets, however, if they exist in a vacuum/individually rather than as part of a larger journey or campaign then they can become forgettable pretty quickly.  The assets that usually stand out to me are the ones that clearly articulate the problem being solved and have captivating CTAs that lead the audience to the next relevant part(s) of the le ...Read More

    2,094 Views
    2 requests

  3. How do you ensure your entire sales team gets the messaging?

    Dana Foster Chery
    Dana Foster Chery

    Samsara Vice President, Marketing • 4y

    This largely depends on the size and distribution of your sales team. On one end, if you have a small, locally based sales team then this is managable and usually lower effort than what you'd need to do on the other end of the specturm for a massive sales team that is highly geographically distributed, and that is also aligned to customers in different segments and/or industries. In general, ruthless consistency and over-communication via multiple formats (one pagers, slide decks, websites, FAQs ...Read More

    658 Views
    1 request

  4. What has been the most useful mechanism you have used to test messaging and determine the best message?

    Dana Foster Chery
    Dana Foster Chery

    Samsara Vice President, Marketing • 4y

    Running focus groups (with a diverse collection of existing customers and another with prospects) has been one of the most useful methods that I've leveraged to test messaging. Presenting a few different narratives and messaging options directly to your target audiences, and listening to them share what resonates and doesn't resonate (and why) can provide concrete insight in what message(s) would compel them to take serious interest in your offering.

    641 Views
    2 requests

  5. Do you have any books you'd recommend to get better at messaging?

    Dana Foster Chery
    Dana Foster Chery

    Samsara Vice President, Marketing • 4y

    Getting better at messaging can entail a few things and can depend on what exactly you want to improve (ie. having strong frameworks/structure, consistency in writing styles and tone, persuasion, etc.). However, what I always strive to get better at is storytelling. A few books that either directly or indirectly offer what I've found to be great gudience for how to tell engaging and meaningful stories include: Blink, Made to Stick, Start with Why (I'd suggest watch the TED Talk), Obviously Aweso ...Read More

    1,342 Views
    2 requests