Common and costly product messaging mistakes—and how to avoid them [guest post]

This is our first guest post on MKT1, written by Allyson Letteri. Allyson is a marketing leader, startup advisor, and author of “Standout Startup.” She’s built marketing teams from scratch to scale at companies including Handshake, Thumbtack, and Intuit. Now she advises early-stage startups to launch effective go-to-market strategies.

We’re experimenting with ways to bring new voices to our newsletter, alongside the deep dives, guides, and frameworks you’re familiar with. This newsletter is the 1st in a 3 part series on messaging and positioning. I'll be following this post up with a deep dive on the MKT1 approach to positioning in a couple weeks.

The wrong messaging holds back user and revenue growth

Without strong messaging, your product will struggle to stand out against attractive competitors. Your ideal customers won’t understand your solution is the best option to solve their problems. Not only will your website seem off, but your sales pitch, the content you publish, and all other marketing touch points will veer off in different directions. Everyone on your team will try to figure out their own way to describe your product, and many will fall back on simply describing its features. This makes it much harder to attract, nurture, and convert prospects.  

Powerful product messaging is the backbone of a successful marketing strategy. For your marketing and sales strategy to work, you need messaging that describes the transformation your product creates for customers. You need to nail down exactly what makes your product valuable and its most desirable differentiators. 

A high-performing messaging framework aligns your team on messages that: Attract new leads, accelerate pipeline, convert new customers, generate sales, enable long-term retention, drive strong user growth, and build your brand. 

In this newsletter:

This newsletter is part 1 of a 3 part series on positioning & messaging. It covers…

• How to create effective product messaging

• Common mistakes startups make in their messaging–especially on their homepage

• How to avoid & correct for these mistakes using 4 frameworks: 

  • 3 Ps (persona, positioning, personality)

  • 5 factors to define your personas

  • 12 tone archetypes

  • Unique selling proposition formula

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Back to the post…

7 COMMON (AND COSTLY) WEBSITE MESSAGING MISTAKES 

As a marketing advisor, I often evaluate startups’ messaging. Here’s what I look for: Is it rooted in customer insights? Does it emphasize the results the product delivers? Does it highlight compelling differentiators? Does it include strong proof points?

Here are tell-tale signs that your startup needs a messaging refresh:

1. Not enough transformation: 

Problem: When a website is just a long list of features with no clear promise of results, you leave prospects thinking “so what?” Your ideal customers care a lot more about the change you’ll create in their lives than about your product’s technical details. 

Solution: Your homepage needs to describe the desirable transformation your product will create in their lives or business. Capture this in a headline statement called a Unique Selling Proposition that shares what your product is, who the product is for, and the big outcome you promise (more on this below). Your messaging needs to show how your product is a bridge out of someone’s current challenges into a much better end state. 

2. Not enough customer specificity

Problem: Many websites combine too many use cases and talking points, trying to appeal to a range of customer segments. This dilutes your messages and makes it harder for your ideal customers to see that your product is right for them.

Solution: To maximize conversion, your website needs to speak to one specific persona. The goal of your homepage is to guide your ideal customer through a narrative that ends with them believing your product is their best choice. Successful homepages directly address a specific audience’s pain points, highlight appealing results, and overcome their concerns.

Yes, you will likely have to influence multiple people who play different roles in the purchasing process. Over time, plan to create a separate messaging framework for each member of your buying committee. You may also need to craft dedicated landing pages and content for these additional personas—which is easier than ever with modern martech enabling personalization at scale. Put that on your roadmap. For now, know that your product messaging (and homepage) will be much more successful if it speaks to one specific persona.

3. Not enough benefits

Problem: When your website is too focused on features without sharing why those features matter, you’ll leave visitors wondering “what’s in it for me?” 

Solution: Your messaging needs to consistently share your top three value propositions. These statements describe the most desirable benefits of using your product. To make these value prop statements more powerful and benefit-oriented, start with an action verb (achieve, reduce, simplify, etc) or a descriptor (least, most, fastest, etc). 

Remember that your value props need to be differentiated too. If you emphasize the same messages as your competitors, you won't stand out.

4. Not enough credibility

Problem: Many websites have lofty statements, unbelievable claims, and promises without credible proof points.

Solution: You need to give your ideal customers ample reasons to believe your product can actually deliver the results you promise. Your features and functionality prove how your product drives outcomes. But that’s not enough. Also include strong customer success stories, influencer endorsements, case studies, press mentions, awards, and any other third party validation to increase your startup’s credibility. Finally, share data that quantifies results of using your product, and offer content that helps people achieve this impact.

5. Not enough personality

Problem: Too many websites sound like the exact same person wrote the copy, even when they target different audiences. Even worse, some sound like they’ve been copied and pasted straight from AI. 

Solution: A compelling brand personality that’s authentic and unique goes a long way in differentiating your brand. Your brand personality should come through in your tone of voice, the words on your website, and the descriptions of your value props and proof points. 

A consistent personality creates an emotional connection with your audience. It makes your product more likable and trustworthy, giving it an edge when customers decide what solution to buy. I’ll share how to identify your brand personality in a bit.

6. Not enough intrigue

Problem: You only have a few seconds to capture attention, and most homepage visitors bounce. This is often due to the website’s hero module, the headline of an article, or an email subject line not creating enough interest or intrigue.

Solution: You need to use captivating hooks throughout your messaging and website to motivate your audience to keep reading.

A few techniques to create engaging copy include:

1. Open a loop: Ask a question or hint at a secret that makes someone want to know more. This will encourage someone to keep reading to find out the answer. Content starters: “the secret to solving X” or “the best way to overcome Y”

2. Say the unexpected: Highlight something about your ideal customer that they may be surprised you know. Or share a unique point of view and stir up a little controversy to capture interest. Content starters: “why the old way is broken” or “the warning sign you’re missing”

3. Create contrast: Show a before and after picture of changes your product has created in someone’s life or business. A “from → to” scenario creates a sense of possibility. 

7. Not enough consistency

Problem: Messaging is often inconsistent across touchpoints (like your website, sales deck, and emails). It’s sometimes even very obvious that these were created at different times. This is confusing and distracting for your audience.

Solution: Regularly update your messaging framework and periodically refresh your website and other customer touchpoints. Plan to iterate frequently on your homepage since it’s the most prominent version of your company’s best messaging–you can even think of your website as your messaging source of truth. Your messaging framework becomes the touchstone for your entire team as they align messaging in their own channels and campaigns too.

4 FRAMEWORKS FOR AVOIDING THESE MISTAKES—AND WRITING BETTER MESSAGING

3 Ps

To fix messaging problems, you need to take a step back and develop your startup’s go-to-market foundation:

• First define your 3 Ps: persona, positioning, and personality

• Next, take these insights to create effective product messaging

• Finally, define the content you need to attract leads and convert customers

Knowing your 3 Ps will not only help with your messaging, but these insights guide many of your sales, marketing, and product decisions, too. Developing this go-to-market foundation is some of the most strategic work that your team can do. As a founder or early stage marketing leader, you likely already have the insights you need to create your persona, positioning, and personality. You just need the frameworks and the steps to pull it all together.

5 factors to define your personas

Many startups’ websites don’t speak to anyone in particular. You need to define exactly who you’re talking to in your messaging, which you’ll capture in a persona (the first P). You’ll then show empathy for your persona’s pains and challengesand explain the valuable outcomes your product will create in their lives.  

To define your persona, first identify the type of company that is your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), and then the buying committee within that company. Your website needs to talk to the primary buyer or champion within that buying committee (the person who will advocate and align their internal team to buy your product). 

When developing personas, make sure you capture all five of these factors (not just the demographic and firmographic details of the persona): 

• Pains: The pain points and challenges that your ideal customer needs to solve

• Gains: The desirable outcomes and results that your ideal customer seeks

• Shifts: The changes that lead someone to consider a new solution

• Blockers: The objections and obstacles that hold someone back from buying

• Motivators: The factors and influencers that give someone the confidence to buy

When you understand these factors, you can speak to exactly what someone cares about when considering solutions like yours. In the best-case scenario, your prospect will think, “Is this company reading my mind? They completely get my struggles and their product sounds like the best path forward.”

12 brand archetypes

You also need a clear, appealing brand personality (the third P). To do this, define your brand archetype and tone of voice. The right personality depends on how your product solves your customers’ problems and the tone that motivates them to take action. This will help you create a unique and resonant brand personality.

I suggest identifying with a brand archetype as a shortcut to a high-impact personality. Psychoanalyst Carl Jung defined twelve archetypes that people intuitively understand. They summarize well-understood patterns of behavior and communication. When your brand embodies one of these archetypes (or combines two), people will immediately know what to expect from your content and company. Each archetype has a different tone and way of creating change in customers’ lives. 

Here are a few examples:

• Jester: Helps people enjoy the moment, communicating in a funny, lighthearted way

• Hero: Motivates people to achieve ambitious goals, communicating in a bold, action-oriented tone

• Sage: Guides people with wisdom and expertise, communicating in a knowledgeable and informed tone

• Ruler: Solves problems with structure and order, communicating in an authoritative, confident tone

Here’s an overview of the 12 archetypes and their unique tones of voice:

Messaging framework

With your 3 Ps defined, you have all the insights you need to create powerful product messaging. (Emily will write more about the 2nd P–positioning–in 2 weeks in the next MKT1 newsletter). You understand your ideal customers’ challenges and the outcomes they need from a product like yours. You’ve defined the transformation your product needs to create in your ideal customers' lives or business. You also understand what differentiators make your product stand out.

Next you’ll create a messaging framework with these three components:

1. Unique selling proposition (USP): Craft this headline statement based on your positioning. This punchy description of your product and the value it creates will appear in the hero module of your website. It also becomes the elevator pitch that your team uses to explain your product. The formula I use is:

[Product] is a [what/category] for [who/ideal customer] that delivers [outcome] through [differentiators].

2. Value propositions: Next, you'll create three value propositions. These statements convey the most desirable, differentiated benefits of using your product. Think of your value props as three legs of a stool, supporting the big promise in your USP.  Narrowing to only three value propositions will make it easier for customers to remember the shortlist of important messages about your product. 

Each value prop needs to be distinct (don’t say the same thing three different ways),  durable (last for 6-12 months), and differentiated (from what competitors deliver).

If you could copy and paste your messaging onto a competitor's website and they would accurately describe that product, then you've missed the mark!

3. Proof points: Finally, develop a set of proof points that will support each of your three value propositions. Make it clear that your product can deliver the results you promise. Strong proof points fall into three main buckets:

   1. Features and functionality that generate the benefits and deliver a delightful user experience

   2. Social proof and endorsements that show your product is credible, including customer testimonials, case studies, press, and awards 

   3. Data and information that quantify the results your product delivers and show people how to get the results they desire

More from Allyson

Now it’s time to refresh your messaging and update your website. Download my free guide, “10 Steps to Value Props that Convert” at allysonletteri.com/resources to get started. My book, “Standout Startup: The Founder’s Guide to Irresistible Marketing” offers even more step-by-step guidance and templates to develop powerful product messaging. Cheers to your growth!

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