AMA: Workday Vice President Product Marketing, Tiffany Tooley on Messaging

I'm a big fan of durable messaging and not updating messaging for each launch or moment. That isn't sustainable at scale - as your product mix or sales segments and regional teams diversify. Plus, messages need time in market to be heard and build momentum. Unless the messaging no longer resonates or is no longer differentiated or needs to be updated due to recent launches or acquisitions, I think durable messaging should last for 2-3 years with refreshes taking place annually

There are 5 things that marketers can do to make their messaging impactful to prospects, customers and their sales teams. 1. Understand the problem your messaging is solving * Are you trying to drive new business? Are your attach rates low? Are your sellers and prospects unclear on the value your product or solution has? Or is your current messaging just not resonating with your target personas? Making sure you prioritize will help your message project stay on track 2. Then start with a framework * I know this may go against your nature, but you want to avoid starting with a blank page or deck. I promise! I've seen many great marketers start with a blank page and get lost in a bowl of word salad or start building a narrative that doesn't quite convey what they want to convey. So, get yourself a good framework (I'm a fan of those with a maturity model since they meet your customers where they are) and start there, keeping in mind that fewer words is better. 3. Don't start with an answer, start with questions * In other words, don't assume you know exactly the words that resonate with your customers. Also, don't assume you can build messaging without sales. The best messaging incorporates a POV from product, marketing, sales and your customers/prospects. 4. Validate your messaging and customer challenges/goals * That's right. Instead of assuming you have the exact words, ask your customers what their challenges are, what goals they're trying to achieve day to day and then once you've used that to build your messaging, ask them (and sales) for their feedback on it. 5. Map your messaging to the sales motion * Last but certainly not least, you want to make sure you map your messaging to your sales motion, in order to have a tight connection between how your sellers sell and how they'll use your messaging and content during their sales cycle

I look for a great storyteller, someone who is passionate about understanding their prospects and customers, and enjoys spending time with our sellers and partners. I seek marketers willing to think and act boldly in order to create truly differentiated, moving messages and are comfortable sharing their insights and new messaging with teams across an organization. Said simply, they are creative thinkers with a ton of curiosity and enthusiasm!

This is a great question! Why not take a gig? Offer your services up on a gig site or raise your hand for a stretch project at your current company. I've worked on many teams where we hosted gigs and welcomed teammates from other parts of the organization to join us in supporting a project. Partnering up on a messaging project would be a great way to get additional experience. If none of those are options, ask around and see if you have friends (or friends of friends) looking for marketing help. Start there or do the same by offering your services up on LinkedIn and in LinkedIn groups

I wish I had some magic answer here, but it's really a simple one. Build it with them. I think too often marketers go create messaging and then come back with a big reveal to launch it, or forget to spend time with sales so they understand the problem the messaging is solving. Keep in mind, it has to be helpful to both your prospects/customers AND sales! So, my advice is to spend time understanding the issues sales is facing. Share how your messaging will address them and ask for their advice and support while you build it. Then have them help you roll it out!

Great question! I'd say your Sales, Product, Enablement and Marketing teams at the very latest. Other teams to consider including if you have them are Competitive, Business Value, Partner, Customer Success, Analyst Relations and your Industry or Regional teams. These are a lot of teams, but everyone has a different role. Some can help you build the messaging, some are strategic influencers and some are great partners to help inform the messaging with key data. My recommendation is to build a RACI or DACI to support your project.

I know I mentioned this one elsewhere, but you have to really understand the goals they're trying to achieve, the challenges they face in achieving them, what inspires them and what keeps them up at night. People are motivated either intrinsically or extrinsically and they are typically either running to something (their goals, etc) or from something (their fears, etc) Understanding those perspectives - why they make a decision and then what drives them to take action or what holds them back will help you craft compelling messages that either reinforce their decisions to chose you so they make it faster or get them to question their indecision so again - they choose you.

By testing whether it resonates before you launch it and then again post-launch. Quantifiably, I look at how it's impacting engagement (open rates, click thru rates, web traffic, etc) and its influence on sales. Anecdotally or qualitatively, its through feedback, focus groups, etc. Both give you a strong perspective on whether your messaging is resonating and why.

Neither. Messaging is built for prospects and customers. I don't want to diminish the importance of internal stakeholders, but they don't purchase the products you're trying to sell. My advice to address this concern - conduct customer and prospect research that gives you data that not only validates your messaging, but also gives you the intel and credibility to challenge perspectives that don't resonate with those of your customers and prospects. At the end of the day, you're in a great position to advocate for your customers and I'd say those are the people your sales and product teams truly want to help, as well.