AMA: ServiceNow Director, Platform and AI Product Marketing, Sharadhi (Gadagkar) Patel on Storytelling

Here are a few frameworks I've either used or seen to help tell a compelling company and product story: The HERO's Journey: this framework positions the customer as the hero and your product as the guide or tool that helps them overcome obstacles. It works well because it keeps the focus on the customer’s challenges and how your product can lead them to success. FAB (Features, Advantages, Benefits): this framework ensures that your storytelling focuses on what your product does (Features), why t ...Read More

For a high-level strategic initiative like Storytelling or Narrative development, I've found that creating a consistent touchpoint with a small cross functional team is foundational to the success of the project. I've typically included stakeholders from Product, GTM and the exec team, and set the expectation up front that while we will take feedback from others throughout this process, this core team are the final drivers and approvers of the story we tell. Initially, I collect inputs on compet ...Read More

The way I would approach this changes based on the size of the company where I'm working. When I've been at larger companies like Salesforce or ServiceNow, this is done in partnership with our Brand team, and oftentimes even led by the Brand team and Product Marketing provides the product messaging and expertise layer. However, when I've been at smaller companies where there may not be an established Brand Marketing team, Product Marketing takes the lead on personifying the brand through our mes ...Read More

Even with a highly technical product and audience, I've found that it's important to remember that attention spans are limited and that budget holders don't always need or want a ton of detail, at least upon the first intro to the product. I'd approach this in a couple ways. First, I'd focus on the higher level messaging. This is to help build awareness of this product across any channel. Here you want to focus on the customer outcome that helps build a bridge for your audience on the technical ...Read More

In an increasingly competitive and crowded market, there's naturally going to be high overlap of product offerings between companies. Here are a couple ways to standout: Prove Outcomes, Validated by Real Customer Stories Too often, brands focus solely on features, which can blur the lines between competitors. Focus on the outcomes and value your product drives, using real customer stories. Use data, case studies, and testimonials to showcase the measurable impacts your product delivers. Prove yo ...Read More