James Huddleston

The books that have had the biggest impact on me aren't always specific to messaging but provide greater clarity into the importance of storytelling and psychology. One of my favorites is Michael Lewis' "The Undoing Project". It really helped me understand the psychology that drives people to make the decisions they do and that while we'd like to think humans are rational and logical people, we actually make decisions primarily driven by emotion. That's why it's so important to frame messaging through the lens of a story and incorporate emotion into your messaging. 

For me personally, I like to use a messaging framework to help consolidate my thoughts based on the research I’ve done. There are a lot of good messaging frameworks you can utilize but the one I start with is typically the one that answers the questions ‘for’, ‘who’, ‘provides’, ‘unlike’, and ‘only’. It helps me frame up the most important elements of the message. The next thing I do is go solicit feedback from people smarter than me. My final step is to test how simple and clear it is to understand. To do that I test it on my partner (who is not in tech) and kids to see if they can understand what it is and the value it provides. It’s a great way to ensure you aren’t using too many buzzwords or tech-speak.

This is where your work on buyer personas is critical. If you’ve done your research and understand what makes a specific buyer persona tick, then you should be able to adjust your messaging accordingly based on their unique interests. I’d also say this is where partnership with your demand and digital counterparts is key because they can provide you insights on the right format of messaging for a unique audience. As an example, you might learn that a more technically literate audience is going to want to see the product and then get direct access to your product documentation, so you’ll build a 90-120 use case demo with a CTA that points to documentation versus perhaps creating a longer form blog focused on how industry trends tie into your product benefits for a less technical audience. But at the root is your knowledge of your audience and buyer personas.

From a process perspective, I'm not sure I'd draw a disctinction between the two. However, portfolio may be a little more complex in that it's multiple products. One thing I've found successful is drawing out a marketecture for how that portfolio of products fits into the broader ecosystem of our technology. You can use it to help you understand how to develop messaging that is distinct from your other products yet tied to the overall product strategy and narrative that's been developed. 

I try to keep a finger on the pulse of broad macro trends that could impact my buyer. This information can be accessed through a variety of different sources including media, analysts, or influencers in the space. To avoid the buzz words I try to break down those trends to what they really mean in layman's terms and how they might apply to the problems my company and/or product is looking to solve. 

I believe PMM should own how we articulate the value of our products or solutions to the market. That would include enabling internal teams with clear messaging and positioning and owning how we take the product to market. My expectation is that PM would own the technical documentation of the product and the enabling of internal resources on how the product works technically. Obviously this is pretty high level and there are a lot of resopnsibilities underneath this that would require ownership. I'd recommend you work closely with your product counterpart(s) to document ownership and align on what PMM owns vs. PM. You can then use that document as you bring on new PMs and PMMs into your organization. 

I’m not sure I’d draw a strong distinction between the two actually. As a product marketer, my teams and I are building the messaging framework that supports all types of external comms including PR. I work closely with my PR counterpart and/or PR agency to ensure that we are using that framework to find various angles or storylines that might appeal to the media and provide us with greater coverage and exposure. At the root of these communications is the messaging framework we’ve developed.

I probably spend more time tailoring for the audience than I do the specific channels. When thinking about different channels, I put a lot of thought into how that information is consumed. Obviously messaging in a digital ad is going to be consumed differently than via email. I work closely with my design and DG teams to ensure anything we develop is visually appealing and on brand. In terms of measurement, this is where I partner closely with my demand and digital teams to get insight into what is resonating and what isn’t. What channels are performing well and why? I can’t stress enough the importance of data to inform how you can tailor your messaging appropriately.

The approval process may differ depending on your company, but I believe it is incredibly important to get input from various stakeholders throughout the process. Not only can you uncover interesting perspectives but it also gets those stakeholders bought into the process which will help them act as champions of the messaging as you roll it out more broadly. Key stakeholders I typically work with include leaders from Sales, Customer Success, & Product specifically (and of course fellow marketing leaders as well).

Be very clear and transparent about what it is your product is and what it does. I’d give the same advice for companies with greater brand awareness as well, but I think the problem is even more acute when you don’t have the benefit of that awareness. Avoid jargon, buzzwords and make it super easy for anyone to understand who you are and what you do. Also always lead with what the value or benefit is to someone who uses your product. Again, something that applies to companies of all sizes, but often surprisingly overlooked.