How do you format and share your messaging with stakeholders?

Stakeholder buy-in is crucial for successful messaging - I dedicate a whole chapter to this in my book, The Pocket Guide to Product Launches. Here's my approach:

1. Share the Plan: Start by outlining the core messaging elements. This could include any market or customer insights,target audience, and unique selling points. Use a clear, concise document outlining these core elements, avoiding jargon and focusing on the "what" and "why" behind your message. I love a good messaging house to visualize this.

2. Engage in Workshops: Don't just present – involve! Organize small group workshops where motivated stakeholders can actively participate (3-5 people max has been most successful for me). This allows for deeper understanding, feedback, and buy-in. Encourage brainstorming sessions and discussions around specific messaging aspects, tailoring the workshops to each stakeholder group's needs.

3. Gather Live Feedback: Following the workshops, host a live feedback session with broader groups to showcase the refined messaging and gather final input. This demonstrates transparency and inclusivity, fostering trust and collaboration with your stakeholders.

Pro Tip: Visualize your messaging! Consider using a messaging house format, a simple but impactful way to illustrate your core message, supporting messages, and key audience segments. This visual representation makes your message clear, memorable, and easily understood by everyone involved.

Remember, the key lies in seeking involvement from motivated stakeholders in small, live group settings. This personalized approach fosters a sense of ownership and increases the likelihood of successful message adoption.

When creating ANY content, think about the needs of your stakeholders. The form and format of messaging needs to suit the audience.

The audience for a messaging doc is usually internal - you're serving your marketing partners in Comms, Content, Demand Gen, AR, etc. A good messaging doc should answer these questions:

• What is the product/feature? How would you describe it in 1 line?

• Audience: Who is this product/feature for? What's your audience (persona, geo, company size)?

• Market need: what's happening at a macro level? What are the key trends impacting your customers' business?

• Customer challenges: what are the top 3 pain points your product/feature will address?

• Your solution: How does your product/feature address those 3 pain points you just named?

• Benefits: When somebody successfully uses your product, what will they achieve? What are some of the KPIs associated with those outcomes?

• How does the product work? How does the product deliver those benefits? (Sometimes, it can also help to describe known product limitations)

• Differentiation: How does this stack up to the competition. What are 3 points that make your product different? Why would that matter for the customer?

• If this is tied to a product launch, link to the launch plan -- what's your launch timeline.

With that outline, you're answering the 5 W's - who, what, when, where, how. Other information, e.g. customer proof points, SEO keywords, 25-word or 100-word boilerplate copy can be helpful as well, but those 8-9 areas cover most of the bases.

In terms of format, I find Google Docs helpful - makes it much easier for stakeholders to collaborate. I've seen table formats and prose formats. The teams I've worked with seem to prefer table formats in Google Docs -- but again, it's important to test it out with your team!

A clear and simple way to format your messaging is with a message hierarchy or message house.

As part of the message house, strong messaging addresses the following points in a clear and compelling way:

• Persona: Who is the target audience?

• Job to be done: What is their "job to be done"?

• Pain points: What's their challenge to accomplishing that?

• Differentiated solution: How can you help them solve that problem in a unique and better way than anyone else?

• Features: What technical features prove that solution?

• Benefits: What's the value they get?

These sections could differ and be formatted in different ways depending on whether your messaging is focused on product, use case, persona, segment, or industry. Typically these are in a Google Document or Google Slides format.

When sharing with stakeholders, you should have a clear objective in mind on why you're sharing it, is it to:

• Get feedback: If you want to test your messaging with internal stakeholders and get their feedback, schedule a meeting to walk through the messaging and what you'd like them to evaluate.

• Inform: If the purpose is to let folks know there's been an update in messaging. Share the updated messaging in team channels, emails, etc so sales, marketing, and let the rest of the company know where to get the latest and greatest. You should also include a call to action to tell folks to start using the latest messaging and point to any resources they can use.

• Educate / train: If you're launching new messaging or messaging that has changed due to a shift in positioning, product, or market, it's a good idea to enable sellers, marketers, and other cross-functional teams. You can do this through a self-guided training, recorded video on how to use it, or a call.

• Activate: If you want sellers to start using your messaging with buyers, the best way is to provide them with resources such as example email templates they can use, slides, demos, etc. A great way to drive adoption is to have a small group of sellers start using the messaging first and then share clips of their calls and good examples.