How do you think about the difference between messaging and copy?

Before I explain the difference between messaging and copy, let me quickly recap positioning. Since positioning informs messaging and messaging informs copy, it’s important to start there. 

• Positioning is the foundation of all product marketing activities. I love the way that April Dunford defines it — ‍"Positioning defines how your product is a leader at delivering something that a well-defined set of customers cares a lot about." Once you know your positioning (this template helps), create a sales narrative that your internal teams agree on. It follows a general pattern — define the problem, explain how users are currently solving it, show where those solutions fall short, and introduce your product as a solution to the problem (you can read more in Founding Sales). 

• With positioning in place, you can move onto messaging. Messaging consists of value-oriented pillars supporting your product positioning — with key messages / statements for each pillar and proof points to support those key messages (e.g. product features, data points). Once you have your positioning and your messaging in place, synthesize it in a document that can serve as a source of truth for your partners teams across content, brand, growth, etc. 

• Copy is the way that your positioning and messaging come to life on external communication channels. Copy should reflect the essence of your messaging but in a way that will capture the undivided attention of your target audience. It’s okay to be punchier and less nuanced than your initial positioning and messaging. For example, your website’s tagline is often not the original sentence crafted by a PMM — it’s usually simpler, more enticing, and should make potential customers think, “That’s a no brainer!” 

For example, take a look at Slack’s positioning via their website. If a Seller is explaining Slack to a potential customer, e.g. something to the effect of “Slack is a productivity platform; it’s a better way to communicate with your team than email”, that’s the positioning. And messaging helps land that positioning. Key messages center on a few key benefits, e.g. speed, collaboration, security — with value-oriented statements for each of those, alongside supporting product features and marketing claims. But it all comes to life in their channels (e.g. website, email, paid social campaigns etc) via copy.