How do you get alignment across the org in the story and messaging?

Alignment across the org is critical to having strong internal and external messaging. I take these steps to gain org-wide alignment: Identify executive/key stakeholders & goals Determine which executives will be part of the development process, which will be informed, and the elements they feel are critical to convey Understand the goals of the teams that will use your messaging and the components they need for their work streams Support messaging with data Research the latest market trends ...Read More

A critical yet incredibly hard part of messaging--especially in fast-paced industries like tech where it feels like things are always changing AND "shiny object" syndrome is a real thing where leaders get excited about specific use cases. Which is great as a "hook" for sales, but can lead to messaging whiplash and identity crises imo.Some tips I like to use to build, manage, and KEEP that alignment across the org: Focus on shared goals: Remind the team of the common objective—crafting messaging ...Read More

If your executives and cross-functional stakeholders can see their fingerprints on the narrative and messaging as it develops, they will be more likely to endorse and adopt your final product. The knock on Marketing, PMM or otherwise, is that they are in a silo and disconnected from the realities of the rest of the business.  Product feels you don’t understand “product truth,” Sales feels the messaging is unrealistic to use with customers, and the C-Suite feels it’s not in touch with what they h ...Read More

Note: I give a much more detailed answer on how we recently approached this at SurveyMonkey here: https://sharebird.com/h/product-marketing/q/what-strategy-do-you-use-to-ensure-everyone-internally-agrees-on-what-differentiates-you-from-competition?answer=ynNZUqMNnX&utm_source=questionanswer&utm_medium=share Here are my tips for getting alignment on your product messaging: Have a single driver: This is likely the head of PMM or even head of marketing. But it can't be a shared ownership (e ...Read More

This is an excellent question because the answer seems easier than the reality. It's easy for PMM to think, "We're PMM, so we get to decide our messaging, and we don't really care what other stakeholders think." While messaging is a core part of PMM, and ultimately, PMM is responsible for it, oftentimes, successful messaging lies in stakeholder buy-in of that messaging. Why is that the case? It's because if the messaging PMM builds differs from the messaging that stakeholders, such as sales, are ...Read More

Bring in cross-functional teams early in the process—Sales, Marketing, Product, Customer Success, and Executive Leadership—so they have a say in shaping the story. Engaging them from the beginning builds ownership and ensures that all perspectives are considered. May consider holding workshops or brainstorming sessions where each department shares their views on the product’s value and customer needs. This creates a sense of shared purpose from the outset. While the core narrative remains consis ...Read More

Aligning the organization on story and messaging comes down to collaboration, clarity, and consistency. Here's how to nail it: Get everyone involved early and often. Bring in product, sales, and customer-facing teams from day one. Workshop the key pain points, value props, and differentiators together to ensure everyone’s voice is heard. Coalesce your thoughts in a framework Lock in core pillars—like, "Connect, Capture, Grow." This becomes the single source of truth that every team can adapt for ...Read More

Eileen, Jeremy, and Michele have given strong process frameworks here. What I'd add is the pattern I've seen fail repeatedly in enterprise orgs, even when all the right process steps are followed. The failure mode is messaging by committee veto. Every stakeholder gets a review window. Someone in legal softens a competitive claim. A VP in sales wants to include their favorite customer story. Product wants to add a caveat about the roadmap. Each individual change seems reasonable. The aggregate re ...Read More