Best Practices For Ecommerce Messaging

Everyone talks about differentiation, but hardly anyone tells you 𝑯𝑶𝑾 to do it. Most people (especially founders) think they know, but they forget they have rose-colored glasses on. Here’s how you differentiate and communicate value to buyers. You must do all 5 things. No cutting corners. 𝐕𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐮𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬 Understanding customer pain points is crucial because it ensures your product messaging directly addresses the challenges your customers face, making your product indispensable. – Use surveys, interviews and feedback sessions to continuously gather insights. – Map pain points to specific features of your product that alleviate these issues, strengthening your value proposition. – Use customer language in your marketing to reflect their concerns and solutions. 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 Sales reps are on the frontline and often closest to the buyers. – Conduct regular debrief sessions with sales teams to gather qualitative data on customer reactions and objections. – Create feedback loops where sales insights inform marketing messages and product roadmap. – Enable GTM teams on the nuances of the value of each product. 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐇𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐃𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 If you don't know your customers, you can't determine how you're different. – Identify and monitor key competitors and analyze their product capabilities and GTM strategies. – Never publicaly bash competitors, but rather highlight strengths of your product that are competitors' weaknesses. – Update competitive insights regularly and have a process to communicate those to the team. 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐬/𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 Leverage the trust and credibility of others to extend your reach in the market. – Engage with analysts and influencers who align with your product’s niche and audience. – Provide them with detailed product demos and use cases to help them understand and advocate for your solution. – Leverage their content and recommendations in your marketing to strengthen trust and authority. 𝐌𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐄𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐈𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐁𝐮𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬 Always be testing to ensure you still have message/market fit. – Use A/B testing on different messaging elements across your marketing channels. – Gather and analyze qualitative feedback on messaging. – Iterate based on performance data, refining your message to optimize clarity, impact, and relevance.

It probably doesn't matter whether you do customer research or not... ...if all you're going to use it for is to validate the obvious value prop The obvious value prop is the one most people can think of without talking to a single customer. And it's probably the one your competitor is using in their marketing material. You won't get a gold star next to your copy that says "validated by customer research" -- The only way your research moves the needle is if it actually shows up in your copy -- if your copy is actually different Here's two techniques you can use to take it to the next level and stand out: 1) Uncover a non-obvious value prop Here's an example from when I used to market fire protection equipment: The obvious value props were protecting machines and preventing downtime (safety + productivity = save money) After talking to customers, we spotted two less obvious value props: a) Downtime could cause a machine shop to lose a customer, which means we were actually helping them protect revenue (make money!) b) Because we often sold to very busy business owners, we also addressed a psychological pain point ("I have more important things to worry about than the remote possibility of a catastrophic fire") 2) Punch up the obvious value prop with a specific detail Sometimes the obvious value prop IS valid, so you don't have to ditch it entirely Weaving in specific details will build trust by signaling to the customer that you understand their pain points from experience (not just internet research) Here we used "back up and running in as little as 45 minutes" -- which is a specific figure from a customer interview Customer research is a TON of work Don't settle for surface level intel -- keep digging to make sure the time you spend on research really pays off #b2bmarketing #messaging #copywriting

If your company’s messaging makes people say, “Wait… so what do you actually do?”—we have a problem. I’ve seen it happen too many times. A B2B SaaS company builds a great product, hires a rockstar team, and starts selling… but the messaging? It’s vague, jargon-heavy, or—worst of all—indistinguishable from everyone else in the market. Messaging and positioning are the foundation of how your entire company communicates its value. From sales conversations to investor pitches to customer onboarding—if your messaging is unclear, everything else suffers. Good messaging attracts the right audience. If you’re trying to sell to “everyone,” you’re selling to no one. It sets you apart from competitors. If your pitch could be swapped with another company’s and still make sense, you’re missing your unique value. It makes marketing and sales go faster. A documented messaging and positioning framework is like a cheat code for your marketing team. No more starting from scratch on every campaign—just pull from the guidebook and go. More speed, more consistency, better results. It strengthens your brand and builds trust. When everyone in the company—from the CEO to customer support—describes the business the same way, it reinforces credibility. Prospects hear the same value prop everywhere they turn, which builds confidence and trust. So, how do you get it right? → Talk to your customers—constantly. Your messaging shouldn’t be based on internal brainstorming alone. Interview and survey your customers to understand what they see as the real value of your product and how they naturally describe it. Then, validate your messaging with them to ensure it actually resonates. → Be painfully clear. If a stranger outside your industry can’t understand what you do, refine it. Read it out loud. Is it something you would say in an actual conversation? Would your grandmother get it? → Lead with the problem. No one wakes up thinking, “I need AI-powered, next-gen, cloud-based synergy software.” They think, “I need to close my books faster” or “I need to stop drowning in spreadsheets.” → Document it and make it accessible. Messaging isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it exercise. It should be a living, breathing resource that every team can use and refine over time. The best messaging evolves as your company grows and as you continue learning from your customers. If your messaging is solid, everything else—marketing, sales, product adoption—works better. If it’s not? Well, you’ll keep hearing, “Wait… so what do you actually do?” What’s the best (or worst) messaging you’ve ever seen? Drop it in the comments! 👇

Your messaging to create demand IS DIFFERENT than your messaging to capture demand. Here is how to think about the difference. ↳ And how to craft messaging for each. (using Fletch’s value prop model) 1️⃣ 𝗠𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱 (ie. demand generation) 99% of your market is not actively shopping for your product. So explaining your product’s value to this audience in your top-of-funnel marketing won’t be effective. Instead, you should be messaging around the activities this “non-shopping” audience is doing (ie. use cases) AND spotlighting problems they are experiencing. Using the framework, here are what the messaging elements look like for Calendly: 🟤 Use Case → Scheduling meetings This is the activity supported by Calendly’s product. If the audience isn’t doing this activity, then they are completely outside of your market — and you should ignore them. ⚫ Competitive Alternative → Sending back and forth emails This is how non-Calendly users are currently carrying out the use case. 🔴 Problem of the Alternative → This is annoying and time-consuming This is the pain point of doing things in this alternative way. To apply these messaging elements, you’ll translate the core ideas into copy that lives in your marketing assets. (social posts, blogs, ads, webinars, podcasts, etc.) Here is what the hook of an ad or post might look like: “Here’s how much time you’re wasting coordinating meetings over email…” ——— 2️⃣ 𝗠𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱 Assuming you’ve created awareness of the problem your product solves, you can then message around the value of your product. But remember, you’re just trying to get them to take a closer look — not convince them to buy the product. To do this, you should be clear about the unique capabilities of your product and the expected benefit they would get. Here are what the messaging elements look like for Calendly: 🟠 Capability - Send a single link to schedule meetings This is the new unlock for prospective buyers. It tells them what they would be doing differently compared to the alternative. 🟢 Feature - Booking link  This is what powers the main capability and is usually applied as supporting context to help a user understand how the product works. 🔵 Benefit - eliminate the back-and-forth emails This is the positive outcome of using the capability + feature. It’s usually the elimination or reduction of the product. In most cases, you’ll translate these elements into different marketing assets (Home pages, landing pages, sales deck, partner enablement materials) — These are your demand capture assets. ——— Remember, your market has different levels of awareness about your product and the problem you solve. You can’t message the same way to create and capture demand. 📨 Demand 𝗖𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 messages spotlight the problem. 🪤 Demand 𝗖𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗘 messages spotlight your solution. #productmarketing #demandgeneration

Want to see the exact process I use for messaging? No? Oh well, I am going to share anyways. If you want to write great messaging, you need to answer two questions first: 1. Do you understand the customer? 2. Have you discovered the most compelling way to express your point You don't need to follow a boring messaging template to get there. You just need to develop a process for answering those questions. Here's my step-by-step messaging process: 1️⃣ Start listening ➖Have chats with 5-7 customers ➖Record the exact words describing their problems ➖Note when their tone changes or they get animated ➖Capture screenshots of their current solutions or workarounds 2️⃣ Experience what they do ➖Use your product for half a day ➖Document your honest reactions ➖Use competing products to identify differences 3️⃣ Test ➖Create headlines using customer language, not marketing-speak ➖Ask salespeople which messages they'd use in conversation ➖Record yourself explaining the product different ways ➖Share recordings to see which explanations resonate 4️⃣ Write story ➖Start with the customer problem in their exact words ➖Develop analogies that connect your product to familiar concepts ➖Create before/after scenarios that feel real 5️⃣ Adapt ➖Tailor your core narrative for different channels without diluting ➖Develop a messaging hierarchy with what to lead with in different contexts ➖Create conversational responses to likely questions or objections ➖Create a message evolution plan for changes post-launch