Sending the Right Message: A Guide to Product Communication
Give credit where credit is due: Trump excels at messaging. His slogans are straightforward and precise, allowing audiences to easily segment themselves based on what they hear. This is the hallmark of effective messaging. If you examine marketing across different industries, you’ll notice a common pattern: attract small communities, expand traffic and monetize it. The key to achieving this lies in crafting the right messaging and positioning.
In this article, I draw inspiration from various sources — from political campaigns and YouTube to product marketing examples — to uncover the patterns that lead to the most impactful messaging. We’ll explore the technicalities of messaging and tips in building your product marketing funnel.
What is Product Messaging?
Product messaging isn’t just about stringing a few words together; it’s about connecting with your niche audience in a snap of a finger and using that connection to drive traffic. Many directors and business owners believe their products need to be universally appealing, with messaging that’s as broad as possible. This, however, is a recipe for failure. In today’s saturated media environment, a generic message isn’t going to motivate anyone to click.
This piece is inspired by Hasan Minhaj’s interview with Senator Warren, particularly the phrase, “Fuck the potholes.” In just three words, he taps into my deep frustration with Toronto’s poor road conditions and the traffic nightmares caused by constant roadblocks. It’s the kind of message that could make me vote for any politician committed to investing in a sustainable public transit system — assuming we can find a leader capable of managing such a engineering project. This is the power of effective messaging.
No matter how well-executed your ad campaigns are, they can’t outperform strong product messaging and viral referrals. The goal of product messaging is to capture the attention of a niche community, leveraging their referrals and traffic to eventually reach a broader audience. Do note that the process does take time and marketing efforts should support these community-driven referrals. With the right communication channel, people will guide you on how to expand your reach, quite literally on Discord. By then you will probably forget about marketing and focus on managing the feedback and responses that come from meeting passionate expectations.
The Technicality of Messaging
Any marketer knows that short-term memory experiments often involve memorizing a list of words and then recalling them. Most people can hold between five to nine words in their short-term memory, though individual abilities vary. To effectively deliver your message, your positioning and value proposition must be communicated within 10 seconds or less.
Some argue that the brevity of modern messaging is a response to declining attention spans. However, podcast statistics tell a different story. An estimated 505 million people will listen to podcasts in 2024 — the highest number in the medium’s history. Since its inception in 2004, podcasting has grown into a $25 billion industry. For comparison, Spotify, a platform central to this growth, now boasts 574 million monthly active listeners globally. According to Matt Mise’s podcast research, the average podcast length is 43 minutes and 24 seconds. Clearly, people aren’t losing their patience, it’s the first contact.
So, why must messaging be short? The current market is highly emotional, and first impressions are crucial. Your initial message needs to be direct and resonate with the audience’s sentiment. If you don’t capture attention quickly, your audience is unlikely to continue engaging. This principle is evident in YouTube’s algorithm and Mr. Beast’s content strategy — he meticulously crafts the first 10 seconds of his videos to hook viewers. In those 10 seconds, you can only say up to 25 words.
This emphasis on brevity is also seen in political marketing. Political campaign strategies are probably the most researched and tested than any marketing. By studying the U.S. presidential campaign slogans on Wikipedia, I find the average slogan is just 4.92 words long:
- Maximum length: 14 words
- Minimum length: 1 word (“HOPE”)
- Average length: 4.92 words
- Average character count (excluding spaces): 23.08 characters
In summary, for effective messaging across all platforms — whether it’s landing pages, ad campaigns, or Google SEO — your pitch in messaging should be optimized as follows:
- Title Length: Contain five keywords that resonate emotionally with prospects.
- Description Length: Keep it within 25 words or 10 seconds, applicable to video descriptions, intros, and Google SEO.
5 Steps of Product Marketing
Message
Begin by crafting a pitch that directly addresses your audience’s needs and interests. Focus on selecting keywords and topics that resonate with them, ensuring your message is both relevant and compelling. An effective approach is to gather discussions related to your product and industry, then save them into ChatGPT’s memory. Use this data to generate keywords, topics, and titles that will capture your prospects’ attention. Finally, A/B test these titles and descriptions using Google Ads to determine what resonates best.
Action
Next, design a user-friendly funnel that encourages new users to explore your product without barriers. Offer free trials or provide access to features on a landing page that showcase your product’s capabilities. This hands-on approach allows users to experience the value of your product firsthand, making it easier for them to understand its benefits without having to wade through extensive descriptions or ask a sales. No one likes to wait for a salesperson.
Engage
Move beyond surface-level interactions like social impressions and clicks by fostering deeper engagement. Create opportunities for users to comment, share their thoughts, and provide feedback. Establish a dedicated space, such as a forum, Reddit or Discord, where your audience can engage in meaningful discussions and connect with one another. This sense of community enhances user loyalty and creates a more interactive experience.
Referrals
Once they have a deeper connection with your product, implement a referral system that doesn’t rely solely on URL sharing, as many social platforms restrict such method, such as Reddit and Twitter/X ( gated content is not allowed ). Instead, offer unique referral codes, free trial codes, or limited-time/quantity offers that users can easily share with others. This method not only encourages word-of-mouth promotion but also adds an element of exclusivity and urgency that can drive more conversions. Additionally, using referral code can help you track down conversions more effective than Google Analytics and any pixels. Be mindful that successful referral campaigns can significantly increase traffic to your website or platform, potentially overloading your servers. It’s crucial to inform your product team if you’re experiencing over 20% weekly growth and experiencing spikes. I’ve managed platforms where usage suddenly tripled within a few hours, causing some features to become non-functional. Proactive communication can help prevent such issues.
Mainstream
Finally, focus on bridging the gap from niche communities to mainstream recognition. Use the momentum gained from your engaged audience and effective referral system to expand your reach. By consistently delivering value and creating buzz within niche groups, you can gradually build a broader audience, positioning your product for widespread success.
