Nandini Jammi

I usually have one or several resources of the following resources open when I'm developing a new messaging strategy. 1. Doug Kessler's "Irresistable Content for Immovable Prospects " [Slideshare] 2. Andy Raskin's "Promised Land " pitch [Medium] 3. Donald Miller's "Storybrand " template [Blog] - I recommend you buy his book for it to fully make sense I also developed my own product messaging framework which I use to audit/teardown existing a company's existing messaging. I would recommend using it if you know your messaging isn't working but you can't really pinpoint where or why. It's been a useful way for me to evaluate where a client's messaging falls apart, and it's definitely something you can bring a cross-functional team together to do on your own. 

Good question. I've been collecting a few examples for my inspiration board that I'm happy to share: 1. Curalate (https://www.curalate.com/) - This is clearly a powerful product with a lot of functionality, but I love how they've pared it down to what's most exciting for the head of marketing at an e-commerce store. 2. Keap (https://www.keap.com/keap ) - I first became aware of Keap through a very compelling YouTube ad. The video captured the anxiety and doubt entrepreneurs feel as they take the leap into their new small business ventures. It was emotionally resonant and for this reason, I clicked through to their website. Their product overview page focuses on 4 repeateable tasks that help you successfully run your day-to-day business. 3. ConvertKit (https://www.convertkit.com) - ConvertKit really knows its niche and have used that foundation to frame their product's features. Hope this helps!

I agree with Anthony. If you're looking to enter a space that has already been defined, what you need to do is create a niche and/or double down on the unique approach you bring to the space.A lot of this will be reflected in the product you create, but your marketing needs to work really hard to help prospects clearly position your product in their minds relative to the product leader that has already defined the game. I can think of a few examples here: -MailChimp is the market leader in email marketing, but products like Drip and ConvertKit entered the market and eventually spun off into their own category (drip software) -Zendesk is the market leader in customer support/helpdesk ticketig. Then Front came in as a "shared inbox" solution and Help Scout came in from th "customer experience" angle.

I think Dave's answer covers a lot here, so consider me co-signed. I do want to add a few things though: 1. The problem is almost always the messaging. If you have developed a clear narrative and messaging for the customer segment, it would take an extraordinarily untalented sales rep to mess it up. 2. The best way to evaluate your messaging is by sitting in on a live demo or sales call. Where is the customer falling off track? Do they have trouble understanding the value prop? Are they stuck comparing you to a competitor? Are they unable to follow along with the features you're explaining? These are all things keeping them from having their "aha" moment - and that means it's definitely a messaging problem. 3. Consider whether your core website marketing and live demo/sales pitch are inconsistent - and therefore confusing people. In my experience, a lot of salespeople who are really good at what they do often run into problems because marketing has inadequately prepared the customer for the call. Remember that something like 70% of buyers do their research online before they're willing to talk to a sales rep. So if sales is selling/communicating product differently from the marketing, then your inconsistency is leaving your customers with big question marks over their heads. Your goal should be to have an aligned narrative that both sales and marketing can use and riff off of as they pursue customers together and separately. Because sales spends so much time with customers, I recommend doing deep dive interviews with your sales reps - they will often point you in exactly the right direction. When you do develop new messaging, definitely keep sales actively in the loop. You want to work together to develop both the messaging and language that feels effective both in writing and for in-person sales meetings.