Product Messaging Document Basics

Creating a product messaging document shouldn't be that hard.

Even assuming a world of conversational marketing where the masses shape your message, it's important to seed that conversation with something coherent.  A tight message shows why your solution is unique and useful, what your competitive position is, and what problem you are going to solve for a group of users.

Messaging discussions tend to fall on two sides of a spectrum.  On one hand, nebulous high-level jargon and endless wordsmithing of simple phrases can create a jumbled, confusing message.  On the other hand, slapping a few sentences together in a press release can sound unfocused and unclear.

A product manager's job doesn't end with creating a great product.  It's also our job to tell the world why they should care.  So what's the best way to create a messaging document?  And what should the document look like when it's done?  There's no one-size-fits-all messaging document or process that will solve every situation among different companies, products, and situations, but here's a few guidelines that have helped me:

1. Stick to basics - One of the classic formulations of messaging goes something like: "For [target user], who needs [reason to buy your product], [product name] is a [category] which [benefit], unlike [main competitor], which [differntiation]."  You should be able to rattle off something like this statement about your product without thinking twice.
2. Don't spend all of your time fixing words - Don't confuse messaging work with copy editing.  If you've a clear message conceptually, then the words can always be honed later.
3. Find a great template  - Whenever I do messaging, I e-mail a few of my marketing colleagues at other companies to see what they're using.  My favorite template is the Marketecture from Practical Product Management.  It starts off with a problem and solution statement, which helps you to frame how you talk about your product.  Also, the product statement is supposed to be short (under 25 words!) and I recommend making that an absolute upper bound.
4. (But adapt it to your needs) - Don't take the template as fiat.  Feel free to absorb the spirit of the document, even if you don't accept all of the details.
5. Run it past someone non-technical - this is certainly true in the consumer space, but even in enterprise software.  I realized there was a problem with "natural language search" when I had to explain it to my well-educated hair artist.  Powerset's About page now contains almost no technical jargon (and I'm happy to entertain ideas about how to make it better).
6. Avoid meaningless words - This is a corolary to the above.  Even if you think a word or phrase has meaning (e.g. "best of breed" or "highly scalable") think about a simpler way to say it that makes sense to a person on the street.  Your product is not so complicated that you can't explain it to someone else.
7. Write something functional - This could be your About page, your press release, or even try your hand at the article you'd like someone from the press to write about your product.  Some might argue that you need your messaging in place before you effectively write a press release, but I think the two are informed by each other.

I'd love to hear from other people about other general guidelines and great templates of messaging documents.

Comments

[Andraz]

I'd add number 7: Try to inspire.

Try to spur people's imagination and make them think what might future consequences of message at hand be.

bye
Andraz Tori