Product messaging—how you talk about your product in any particular situation—is important. And, getting it right is hard.

Product messaging should be easy. Easy to create…easy to understand…easy to repeat.

But, too often, it’s not. Messages get convoluted and confusing, and then no one has any clue why they should care about your product…sometimes including the very people selling it!

With this in mind, here is an astonishingly simple way to create better product messaging.
In fact, all it involves is answering three questions.

The catch? You can ONLY answer questions #1 and #2 in the most basic way with as few words as possible. Question #3? That can get more flowery, and, well….just wait, you’ll see.

This practice has helped me cut through the clutter to create product messages that resonate. It is simple, but not as easy as it sounds.

Most importantly, if you can master this, you will be crazy-far ahead of 98% of the world, and better messaging will become a by-product of your efforts. Trust me on this one.

Question #1: What is it?

The first thing to do is define what the product is.

That’s it. What is it?

This does NOT mean you put down what it does, explain its virtues, value, etc. Simply answer the question – what is it? Nothing more, nothing less.

When you do this for the first time, you will, no doubt, be challenged. Your answer will be too verbose; your focus will be all over the place.

It’s OK. Remove any words that are not precisely about what the product is at its core. Your answer may be as simple as mine would be for this article:

What is it? “A blog post about creating better messaging.“

Question #2: What does it do?

Now, record what the product does.

Do NOT explain what the product is, how it works, etc. And, use as few words as possible. What does it do? Period.

For example:

What does it do? “Helps readers more easily create product messages that resonate across audiences.”

Question #3: Why does it matter?

Here is where you can get into everything you wanted to put in questions #1 and #2. The key, however, is to make this section conversational.

Answer the question, why does it matter? Why should anyone care about this product, service, or offering? Since a product usually solves a problem, it’s a good idea to start this section with that problem. Give perspective. Explain the value.

The catch? Don’t get into features. Don’t get into specifics. Don’t get into ROI.

Think at the highest level about how your product impacts anyone who would consider it.

The best way to explain the “Why does it matter?” section is to show you. So, here is the entire exercise, completed with this article as the product:

What it is: A blog post about creating better messaging

What it does: Helps readers more easily create product messages that resonate across audiences.

Why it matters: Product messaging today largely stinks. It is too bogged down with complexity, too focused inward on the product or the company, and too reliant on buzzwords and jargon that add nothing other than confusion. But, what if there was a way to explain your product…your service…your features…your[insert pretty much anything you need to explain here] so quickly and easily that anyone could just get it? Anyone could just repeat it? If you can figure out a way to simply and eloquently describe not just what your product is and what it does, but why it matters to any audience, your communication efforts will be more successful, no matter the audience.

Now, if you had product information in this basic format for your offering…

Can you envision how a marketing pro could create clearer messages?

…how a sales pro would immediately understand and use those messages?

…how a prospect could better understand the product’s value?

If these recommendations seem basic, it’s because they are.

And, if you take the action and answer these questions, you’ll find this approach works.

As I have said before, as a product marketing guy who has worked at companies big and small, I see messaging issues everywhere I go. If you look, you’ll find them too.

Product messaging should be easy. Let’s make it so.

Zach Messler

Zach Messler is a guest blogger for CLIMB United. He is a product marketing guy who helps sales and marketing pros succeed. You can reach him @zmessler and read more from him on LinkedIn.

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