How do you quantifiably test messaging? Rather than relying on anecdotes from the revenue organization?

This is a great question! Given messaging is such a subjective topic - it's super important to quantifiably test and iterate on it to ensure it lands well in the market. Here's a few strategies and tactics you can use to quantifably test it:  1. During the process of creating the messaging, work with your market research team to test aspects of the messaging with prospects and customers. This can be both qualitative tests where you test specific aspects of your pitch and differentiated value or ...Read More

My first question is: what's the reason for not relying on your revenue org? Is there a lack of trust, challenges with prioritization, or something else? The best, most differentiated positioning means nothing if it's not being used throughout the customer journey – and since the majority of marketing orgs are focused on driving leads to a sales team, that messaging better be consistent at every stage of the marketing funnel. I view our sales partners as essential in building, validating, and ac ...Read More

There are a few ways you can validate your messaging:  I like to start by doing a customer listening tour. Spend some time getting to know your target customer and pay close attention to the way that they are describing their process and pain points. When you unveil your final messaging, it's important that you're speaking to your audience in the words that they use to ensure that your message resonates.  I also like to look at market trends and SEO insights to help inform the direction. I'll of ...Read More

In addition to great advice in other answers, there are a few other things to consider: Most message testing is artificial. People are asked to carefully read and ponder the message before giving feedback. This isn't how people process messages in the real world. There are techniques that can be get at "System 1 thinking" - the automatic and near instantaneous process people will use when encountering your messaging in the wild. This can be as simple as only displaying the message for a few seco ...Read More

You can use a slew of KPIs to measure effectiveness. Conversion rate: the percentage of people who take a desired action, such as making a purchase or filling out a form, after being exposed to the messaging. Click-through rate: the percentage of people who click on a link or call-to-action in the messaging. Engagement rate: the percentage of people who interact with the messaging, such as liking, commenting, or sharing it on social media. Customer satisfaction: the level of satisfaction and loy ...Read More

Use a messaging evaluation framework like Message Layers. The way to improve messaging is to break it down into five components, measure, and work on each separately: ↑ Clarity (I get it) ↑ Relevance (it’s for me, helps with my specific challenges) ↑ Value (I want the promises) ↑ Differentiation (I get how this is different) ↓ Friction (resistance, doubts, anxieties) When you conduct back-to-back message testing, you get to see how your copy scores on all of the above. You also see the improveme ...Read More