In part 1 and 2 of
this series on messaging we investigated assembling the core capabilities of
your product or service and started the work of grouping these into logical
buckets. In the middle we want to start the hard work of messaging.. Creating
the key points to a story that answer the "so what" question for the
user/purchaser.
That’s right, we
have to speak to value not just capability. So you have a 16mgz processor, what
does that mean for me in my job? This is where we have to start targeting a
specific role.. Or personna that we want this messaging to sell to. You have to
know what is important to them to be able to message your great product, in a
way that makes them want to buy.
And yes, it is
appropriate, based on how you will be going-to-market, to modify your
positioning for certain sub-segments.
The key goal of the
middle is to identify three to five memorable points that speak to value, that
when taken together represent your product or service. Think of each of these
points as a hook on the coat-rack of your story that you will hold a group of related
capabilities.
The reason for no
more than five is that no one can remember or effectively communicate more than
this from memory.
Start in the middle
if you have an idea of the key points you need to make to be successful. But
make sure you have capabilities to back it up. Otherwise you start to fall back
on buzz-word-bingo to sound valuable… when you have nothing to back it up.
A really important
point in messaging, is that your job is not to dress up a "pig" and
try to pass it off as a "princess." Your job is to bring to light how
great tasting bacon is!
This should be an
iterative process that you tweak and experiment with. Advanced elements you can
look for include,
- Balance - are all the points at the same level
- Completeness - when taken together do these points allow you to tell your story?
- Differentiation - Could any of your competitors use your same messaging?
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