Messaging in the Early Stages: Lessons From and For Startups

Messaging in Regulated Industries Means Taming Complexity

There are a number of markets that a business may serve, or operate in, where regulations can impact the way you shape the story you bring to market, even as specific as the words used. Examples: Healthcare, insurance, financial services, even legal services. In this episode of Troupe's podcast SAID DIFFERENTLY, we hear from product marketing leader Hannah Pickering of HealthEquity as she talks about how she meets the challenges to build an effective messaging plan and to keep that on track amidst the explosion of AI-generated content. Key moments from the conversation: 3:23 = Bringing a message to market in a regulated industry. Specific examples of cases she has encountered and what she had to adjust and keep in mind when making messaging choices for the story.  9:25 = The differences in getting a solid messaging framework in place in a B2B2C go-to-market motion. First, there are more guardrails to abide by. Second, there are more stakeholders involved in the process including compliance, legal, and in certain industries clinical or scientific teams. Third, the process must bring in the right input at the right time. 12:30 = Question the wording and be the “interpreter”: Nuance around language and the meaning of words. How not to get overly complicated and confuse your potential audience yet not select words that don’t work in the context of your market. 14:46 = Managing the explosion of AI-generated content: How has this changed the approach of monitoring content “in the wild” and why this keeps her up at night. Bringing people into the messaging process so they are more likely to use it with consistency and adherence. No more “my messaging vs. your messaging.” 19:18 = Activating a feedback loop with your team, so you can iterate the messaging to continue to improve it and react to changes in the market, buyers, and competitive moves. How Troupe is a solution that can help with the measurement of messaging. 22:51 = In a B2B2C situation, how do you think about the hierarchy of message, so you are striking the right balance in the buyer’s lens vs. the end-consumer’s lens? She looks for what’s universally important to both, while also still developing messaging for both groups. 27:13 = Having more personas to understand when in a B2B2C environment also requires you to think about the offering more on “human-focused” terms.  Learn more about how Troupe helps companies keep track of how aligned their messages in interactions and content are with what they should be saying: https://www.troupe.ai/use-cases Said Differently is sponsored by Troupe [https://www.troupe.ai/], the AI hub for messaging success. You can watch the video versions of these podcasts on our YouTube playlist [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSFt3eQHzbQBPXZtCbjc5x-ZHX2yhdCxn].

Product Marketing's Value Goes Up When it Shifts Left

Why Product Marketing in B2B Must Shift Left to Drive More Value In this episode of Troupe's Said Differently podcast, the show about B2B messaging and storytelling veers into more strategic territory. Product Marketing is so much more than crafting messages, managing launch plans, and developing content. Guest Tom Crist, who is a principal at product marketing consultancy Fluvio Marketing and an ambassador for the Product Marketing Alliance, talks about their team's survey finding and report about how PMMs can close the revenue gap by being brought in earlier. Key moments in the conversation: 03:41 = Product Marketing still struggles with a misunderstanding of its role. Tom acknowledges it’s not often taught in business curriculum programs and that a consumer-brand product marketer still looks different than it does in tech and B2B. 07:45 = To that end: how do you hire and manage a Product Marketing role you don’t really understand? Tom says the expectation for this position should not be to staff a glorified content creator or project manager, but someone who can understand the customer deeply and bring that knowledge back to product and GTM strategy. 10:55 = Fluvio’s report on the "PMM Revenue Gap: Why Product Marketing is Often Measured Too Late to Matter." Product Marketing still often left out of the early decision-making process around what to build, for who, why and the goals, because they aren’t valued for expertise on the buyer. 15:22 = Difficulty of a product marketer to move into that strategic influence role if there are founders in that role or someone else who has historically held that territory. The report found that bringing data and insights to the table significantly outpaced other reasons for earning that seat. 18:24 = Practical things that PMMs can do to shift left. On his list: Take the time to conduct the market and buyer research. Seek segmentation characterized by useful specificity that can inform demand generation campaigns. 23:19 = Emphasis on the metrics for PMMs, which is the output, what you are measuring. There’s been a hesitation to standardize PMM KPIs due to attribution complexity, which Fluvio highlights in their report, and solutions like Troupe are putting data metrics around measuring messaging impact. 30:05 = What are the traits of a ‘superstar’ PMM that you would hire today, what experience and characteristics do they have? Knowing the domain of the market and buyer you’re targeting, and if you don’t have it, what is your process and work in getting to deeply understand it. Need to also understand all the elements of the entire PMM umbrella, not be highly specialized in just one piece. Also being an internal champion for your role and your strategic opportunity. Said Differently is sponsored by Troupe [https://www.troupe.ai/], the AI hub for messaging success. You can watch the video versions of these podcasts on our YouTube playlist [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSFt3eQHzbQBPXZtCbjc5x-ZHX2yhdCxn].

Defining and Measuring the Role of Chief Storyteller

How Do You Define and Measure the Emerging Role of Chief Storyteller? In this episode of Troupe's podcast SAID DIFFERENTLY, fractional head of storytelling for OWOW Agency Elliott Rayner digs into the increased attention being given to crafting and bringing winning stories and narratives to market. Elliott has authored books and runs workshops applying his specific framework that helps to align teams from the outset so that your messaging isn't just consistently practiced, but is connected to commercial outcomes. Key moments in the conversation: 02:07 = Buzz around creating roles and teams for storytelling, but how do you define the role and its responsibility.  06:21 = Connecting your story and messaging to commercial success. 08:31 = Lessons from B2C applied to B2B dynamics, especially with information overload and shrinking attention spans.  11:10 = His go-to framework with three components for helping teams reach an improved and confidently-aligned narrative to tell the market.  16:04 = Head of storytelling can't just be externally oriented, but needs the trust and buy-in of the teams. 18:21 = How solutions like Troupe can help "prove it" with the data that measures and improves alignment and shows the connection to pipeline and revenue outcomes. 21:20 = Is this a full-time role or just an area of ownership for an existing role? Elliott sees two possible paths for the role, either an evolution of the brand role or it will have more of an emphasis on narrative and its consistency. 23:49 = How does the new world of AI accelerating product feature-shipping velocity impact the shelf life of messaging and your narrative? For more resources, visit Elliott's website for his free ebook "Product Marketing: The Story Engine" and more: https://www.productnarratives.com/ Finding winning messages with Troupe: https://www.troupe.ai/stories/product-news-winning-messages #messaging #storytelling #chiefmarketingofficer #productmarketing #b2bmarketing #marketingstrategy #positioning  Credits: Troupe.ai for sponsorship: https://www.troupe.ai Graphic and production support: 24 and Up Music: https://pixabay.com/users/backgroundmusicforvideos-46459014/ Said Differently is sponsored by Troupe [https://www.troupe.ai/], the AI hub for messaging success. You can watch the video versions of these podcasts on our YouTube playlist [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSFt3eQHzbQBPXZtCbjc5x-ZHX2yhdCxn].

Messaging in the Early Stages: Lessons From and For Startups

#messaging  #startups  #founders  #b2bmarketing  #entrepreneurship   #b2bstrategy  Messaging at the Early Stages: Lessons From and For B2B Startups In this episode of Troupe’s podcast show SAID DIFFERENTLY, the focus is on messaging challenges and opportunities at the early stages for a B2B company. With guest Deirdre Mahon, who is VP of Marketing at startup venture studio super{set}, she and host Jennifer Sikora (advisor to Troupe) discuss their experiences and lesson learned working at and advising pre-seed companies. The conversation is filled with their real-world examples of how to evolve the founder’s way of telling the story to the market; finding the market feedback signals that help you adjust your message; the risks in thinking about creating a new solution category too soon; and more. Key timestamps in the episode: 02:30 = Differences in thinking about messaging at early stage vs. more established companies 05:22 = Evolving the founder’s way of telling the story 06:24 = Daily GTM feedback standups 08:10 = Preventing knee-jerk, premature messaging changes; What is the insertion point to lead to conversion; finding patterns 13:36 = The allure and distraction of wanting to do category creation, lessons learned 19:50 = Examining if it’s time to adjust messaging, looking for the outside-in signals 23:21 = Messaging strategies around “building in public” – how to stay authentic and effective Read more from Troupe's blog about how to make new messaging succeed: https://www.troupe.ai/stories/why-new-messaging-fails-and-how-to-make-it-succeed Credits: Troupe.ai for sponsorship: https://www.troupe.ai Graphic and production support: 24 and Up Music: https://pixabay.com/users/backgroundmusicforvideos-46459014/ Said Differently is sponsored by Troupe [https://www.troupe.ai/], the AI hub for messaging success. You can watch the video versions of these podcasts on our YouTube playlist [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSFt3eQHzbQBPXZtCbjc5x-ZHX2yhdCxn].

Why Empathy Means a Stronger Messaging Connection

We've all experienced "cold" marketing or sales messaging from a company or their representative. Many of us have even been responsible for creating and/or delivering such messaging. You know it when you experience it: It feels clinical; just-the-facts; hard to relate to; and often like a giant deposit of information. It's even worse when it is rife with word salad. Our guest on this episode of Troupe's Said Differently program, Leilani Garrett, is on a mission to bring "radical empathy" to work cultures. She's a speaker, workshop facilitator, and published author who has harnessed her long experience as a sales executive and client services manager for some of the largest software brands in the world. In this discussion, Leilani talks about applying empathy to the messaging that B2B companies bring to market in order to develop pipeline, sales, and growth. Topics covered: * What is "radical empathy" in the context of a working environment? * Why is so much of our messaging lacking the human touch? How did we get here? * How can we start to bring empathy into our B2B storytelling: what are some practical examples? * Real stories from her background that were strong "lessons learned" -- including the pitfalls of over-preparation * Specific actions you can take to increase empathy across your interactions and content You can download the "Radical Empathy Playbook" for free from her website at: https://www.leilani-garrett.com/ Credits: Troupe.ai for sponsorship: https://www.troupe.ai Graphic and production support: 24 and Up Music: https://pixabay.com/users/backgroundmusicforvideos-46459014/ Said Differently is sponsored by Troupe [https://www.troupe.ai/], the AI hub for messaging success. You can watch the video versions of these podcasts on our YouTube playlist [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSFt3eQHzbQBPXZtCbjc5x-ZHX2yhdCxn].