The Flywheel / Marketing / 09 Messages
Messages
Say what the new thing does for its people, in their own words, in one breath.
The tool for this step
The Newsroom
Say it in their words. Find the one line that says what the new thing does for its people, in their own words, and that they repeat back without being asked.
What it is
Messages finds the one line that says what the new thing does for its people, in their own words, in one breath. It is the first step of Marketing.
A message is not a slogan or a feature list. It is what a hero would say to a friend about what happened to them. It is also where we first speak: how we help, the simple plan we offer, and the one thing we ask. Every tool is partly their side and partly ours.
How to run it
What you produce
The Newsroom: say it in their words. Find the one line that says what the new thing does for its people, in their own words, and that they repeat back without being asked.
Examples
A letter worth opening
The team's draft said “a curated monthly correspondence experience”. An early reader had said, “It's the one thing in my mailbox I open standing up.” That became the message.
Where it goes wrong
- The company's voiceWords nobody outside the building would use. If a customer wouldn't say it, nobody will repeat it.
- Describing the productWhat it is, rather than what happens to the person who has it.
- Writing for everyoneA message for everyone moves no one. Write it for the hero.
- Promising more than you'll deliverWrite what the message doesn't say, so nobody adds it later.
What it hands on
The Giftbox gives people something to hold while they hear it.