How Product Marketers Build, Test, and Measure Compelling Stories

These are all interrelated. Messaging: Includes value propositions, your story, and pitch. Also includes things like naming, alternatives, and taglines. Value Proposition: These are the top benefits you want to focus on for your product based on customer and competitive unput Pitch & Story: These should be the same. Your pitch about the world before your product, the current approach, why it’s bad, the business consequences, and the new world with your product should tell a story. This story should hit on your main messaging points and value propositions. Hope that helps!

Hey - Thanks for the question! In my opinion, the best way of telling a great story is to really have an understanding of everything you're talking about - especially the heroes of your story. And to do that, it comes down to meeting with the people who are going to use the product you're planning to tell stories about; learning their pain points, learning what they do every day, learning how your new thing can make their lives better - and building empathy around them as a human and what they're trying to accomplish. With that, there are many frameworks you can apply. Every good story follows a relatively simple framework... You set the stage, introduce the hero of the story, detail the conflict they face, and how your thing leads them to a resolution or better place. As a starting point, here's a simple flow you could use that goes through every piece of a great story. Play around with it, add more to it, and make it your own! Andrew is a... Right now, he struggles with... It's challenging for him because... And it creates a lot of issues, like... It would be so much easier for him if he could... That's where our product comes in, it helps Andrew... Because of this, it's increased/improved metrics like... Now Andrew's life is so much easier! Also, we've helped others with this too, for example...

Here are a few of my favorite storytelling frameworks. I like these because they've stood the test of time and have been flexible enough to extend to multiple different companies and circumstances. It's important to note that storytelling frameworks are different than positioning frameworks and you'll need both. Positioning is more lasting and fundamental. Storytelling is a way to bring that positioning to life in a way that reflects a moment in time. Here are the frameworks: The transformational imperative This story framework is great for when something outside of your control has shifted the culture or industry. E.g. how the pandemic forced people to change the way they approach work. Or how AI is changing how we create. To be the transformational imperative you really need an external societal shift that has happened regardless of your company. * The shift: Something major has changed about the world that necessitates a new approach. Describe it. * The consequence of business as usual: Those companies or people that don't adapt to this change will be left behind. Describe the consequence of sticking with the status quo. * The competitive advantage earned by adapting fast: Those companies or people that lean into the change and adapt will come out ahead. * How [company] can help you cross that chasm: Explain the role your company can play in helping your buyers navigate this transformation. Old Way / New Way This is a nice, simple story construct that we used a lot at HubSpot when I was there. It's similar to the transformational imperative narrative in that it centers on a new way of doing things, but unlike the transformational imperative, you can use it at any point. You don't need a crisis or a major global shift. Old way/new way simply calls into question the way that things have always been done in your field a fresh approach. In the early days of HubSpot, in the face of adblockers and general exhaustion with being interrupted by marketing we were proposing creating marketing that pulled people in. A focus on providing valuable content vs annoying ads. Challenger brand story This one works best when you've got a dominant player in the field that you're trying to unseat. It helps if that brand has been tolerated for years but not beloved. Challenger brand stories are all about calling attention to why customers deserve a better option than settling for that dominant player. It's about using that dominant player (even if you never mention them by name) as the enemy you're fighting against. Segment's choice In this narrative, you really focus on the people you're selling to. You make the story about what makes them unique. Picture a project management software solution focusing all its marketing on creative directors or designers. Picture a clothing brand focusing on empowering women in their 50s. Think about AMEX's focus on small businesses in the "shop small" campaign and holiday. This narrative approach is about making your specific segment of customers the hero. Holding them up to be celebrated and honored.

I'm not sure I can point to specific techniques exactly, but I firmly believe that people buy based on emotion. They then use things like business cases and pricing to justify and validate their decisions. That's why storytelling is so critical. To reach our buyer on an emotional level, we need to tell a compelling story that makes them sit up and listen. Here's the framework I use to structure these stories: • Start with the big picture shift: I begin with a major industry or market shift that's happening that they're potentially aware of and is impacting their business and, most importantly, their job. • Acknowledge the challenge: From there, I talk about how difficult it is to navigate this shift and the real challenges they're facing because of it. • Present the solution landscape: I touch on what solutions are available to help customers during this shift, setting the stage for why they need to act. • Position your unique value: Finally, I explain why the solution I'm offering is uniquely positioned to help them, incorporating customer stories and examples of where we've helped other companies and people just like them navigate the shift successfully. Using this framework, you can weave in emotional storytelling at each step to capture their attention and take them on a journey. The key is making it feel personal and relevant to their specific situation, not like a generic pitch.

The outputs from a great story or narrative can take many forms, including a pitch deck (probably the most classic form), a keynote, customer story or use case, even web pages! My recommendation is not to fixate on the number or even the style of value propositions, but rather the resonance of the story or statement for your target audience. For example: * If you're launching a new or category defining product to the market, help your audience by defining clear and specific use cases for when and why this product is valuable to them. I took this approach when launching a data product to an audience that doesn't typically buy data. We made it clear why the product was valuable and contextualized use cases within our target buyers' existing workflows. * If you're building a story for a product or company in a particularly crowded space, you'll want to spend time really defining what makes you different. Here, I wouldn't spend so much time on the value props -- because they risk sounding generic -- but rather spend time on why people choose your product over the many other options. Do you have the best customer support? Are you the best choice for a specific persona? Or maybe you have a strong brand reputation? While you should still showcase what's great about your product, your story and outputs need to emphasize what makes you truly unique. * Of course, the classic approach to value propositions is a good one, but wherever possible quantify or qualify the value. Do you save people time -- how much time and on what? What type of results will your product create for customers? Do you have an awesome customer story? If so, how can you package it and help other customers understand how to replicate those results? I know that in some cases you only have a few lines to tell your story, but understanding your anchor points will help you craft more authentic and resonate messaging that gets people excited about your product.

Early in my PMM career, I focused too much on technical depth and value statements while losing sight of the human element. Coming from a background as a classroom teacher and then PR, when I first moved into product marketing, I felt I needed to prove my technical credibility. I overcompensated by focusing heavily on technical details and efficiency values, trying to meet what I thought was the bar for great PMM work. In this effort, I lost sight of what matters most - what the product means for the customer and the humanity behind our work. Whether you're selling to IT, security, marketing, or consumers, there's always a person on the other end of your message. My first attempts at pitch decks missed this mark completely. My manager kindly suggested we try again and encouraged me to talk directly with customers to understand the language they actually used, which was quite different from my technical jargon. This experience taught me that authentic human connection should always be at the center of our storytelling, regardless of how technical the product might be.

There are so many ways to test messaging, but here are some of my favorites: 1. Work with your Sales and Customer Success teams to reach out to your customers with an offer to give you feedback on your messaging via a phone or video call. This works better than you'd expect, but if they don't engage for some reason, offer an incentive (gift card, discount, etc.). This is even easier if you're Customer Marketing team has already pre-qualified customers who want to give feedback on messaging, product betas, etc. 2. Offer to join prospect calls with your Sales Team as a product expert. For example, if you're the PMM for your new AI product, and the salesperson is new to the subject matter, offer to run the demo. While on the call, test your new slide deck with the customer to offer context before the demo. This is by far my favorite way to test messaging, as so few PMMs do it, and your sales teams will love you if you can help close a deal. Plus, you'll developer greater empathy for how hard sales is. 3. Use a service such as Respondent, Wynter, or Usertesting to reach non-customers who are getting paid to give you feedback. This costs money, but not that much for what you're getting — and it's so easy. 4. A/B test different messaging on your website, in the product, etc. This is more difficult to do in small startups, as the busy engineering team will often roll their eyes because they're just trying to get the MVP out the door. So, in smaller companies, I recommend testing via channels you control such as email and social media. Testing via social media — something recommended by Dave Gerhardt — is probably what I'm using most frequently before I test somewhere riskier that I can't take back (e.g., email). Of course, as you get bigger you'll want to consider testing software such as Optimizely. 5. The good ol' survey. With an incentive, you can create a short survey in Google Forms or Typeform that will get you lots of results at scale — in minutes. 6. Connect Claude/ChatGPT/etc. to the MCP for your favorite call-recording software. Ask Claude to comb through call recordings to learn how customers are responding to messaging used by your sales reps/CSMs. Ask Claude to cross-reference its view with CRM data (did the call that you think didn't go well actually convert to a deal? etc.). There's so much you can do with MCPs now when it comes to examining customer sentiment and how it translates to sales, churn, etc.

The metrics I care about most are the ones that show the story actually changed something whether that's a behavior or a deal. Message recall. Ask prospects and customers to retell your story in their own words. If they can't, the narrative isn't landing. Sales feedback is equally valuable here — are reps hearing your key messages echoed back in conversations? That's the clearest signal that the story is sticking. Funnel conversion rates. Does engaging with your storytelling assets actually move people forward? Track whether case studies, white papers, or narrative-led content converts prospects from consideration to decision. If it's not influencing the pipeline, then something is missing the mark. Sales cycle impact. Is the story making it easier and faster for reps to close? A tighter, more resonant narrative should shorten the path from first conversation to signed contract. Sales team adoption. If your own sellers aren't using the story, that's a red flag. Are they incorporating it into pitches? Are they finding it actually helps address objections? Adoption rate is a leading indicator of whether the narrative is doing its job. AEO (Answer Engine Optimization). When someone asks an AI about your category or the problem you solve, does your narrative show up accurately? If your story is well-structured and credible, it should be. A story that's too vague, jargon-heavy, or undifferentiated won't get cited. One that clearly articulates a real problem and a distinct point of view will. Third-party review platforms. On G2 and Gartner Peer Insights, don't just track volume or star ratings. Make sure you read what customers actually write. Are they describing your product using your narrative language? Are they citing the outcomes your story promises? When your positioning is landing, it shows up in how buyers talk about you unprompted. Community conversations. Monitor places like Reddit, Slack communities, and industry forums where buyers talk candidly. Are they framing the problem the way you do? Are they using your language without being prompted? Organic adoption of your narrative in unmoderated spaces is one of the strongest signals that your story has actually taken hold. A/B testing. Run tests on different versions of headlines, narratives, and calls to action.