How do you incorporate customer pain points and challenges into your messaging strategy?

I spent ~5 years at Google, and their product marketing mantra is 'Know the User. Know the Magic. Connect the Two'Starting with awareness. Especially in AI, a user who is 'unaware' (doesn't know they have a problem) is a completely different persona than one who is 'solution aware' (actively comparing tools). I let the awareness level dictate the persona profile. If I know what they understand, I know who they are. This ensures I’m not pitching a 'Level 10' solution to a 'Level 1' buyer. Add to ...Read More

Incorporating customer pain points and challenges is honestly where good messaging literally starts. You can’t build meaningful product messaging without getting really clear on the problems the product is solving. The easiest way to do that is to just ask! There’s nothing more valuable than hearing it directly from the customer in exactly their own words. Some PMMs shy away from those conversations, but I think it’s critical. It's why former sellers tend to make good PMMs, they really understan ...Read More

This is something that we do a lot at Etsy! We focus all of our launches on how they're solving customer pain points or challenges and it's critical that we consistently evaluate our messaging strategy through that lens. We do this by following a specific process: Gather insights: Our team leads our Voice of the Customer reporting to have a strong pulse on the top issues our customers are facing. We regularly review and analyze surveys and research, partner with our customer service teams to rev ...Read More

Vishal's benefit ladder and Zarmina's point about starting with direct customer conversations are both the right instincts. The structural problem I'd add is one I've seen at every enterprise company I've been in: the disconnect between where pain point data actually lives and where messaging gets built. At most companies, the richest source of customer pain is in sales call recordings and win/loss interviews. Product managers have roadmap conversations that surface deep frustration. Customer su ...Read More