How to Achieve Messaging-Market Fit by Dan Olsen

How to Achieve
Messaging-Market Fit
Ensuring
Message-
Market
Fit
Dan Olsen
Olsen Solutions
SF PR Summit
July 31, 2014
Dan Olsen
Olsen Solutions
Lean Product & Lean UX
August 19, 2014
Silicon Valley Meetup

My
Background
n Technical
background
n MBA,
Stanford
n Led
Quicken
Product
Management
at
Intuit
n Led
Product
Management
at
Friendster
n CEO
&
cofounder
of
YourVersion,
“Pandora
for
your
news”
n Consultant:
Box,
YouSendIt,
Epocrates,
OneMedical
Will
post
slides
to
hQp://slideshare.net/dan_o
Copyright
©
2014
Olsen
Solu7ons

What
is
Messaging-‐Market
Fit?
n Lean
Startup:
Product-‐Market
fit
n Making
sure
that
customers
like
your
product
n What
about
messaging?
n Right
features
but
wrong
message?
n Messaging-‐Market
fit
n Making
sure
that
how
you
message
your
product
resonates
with
customers
Copyright
©
2014
Olsen
Solu7ons

Dan’s
Model
for
the
Causality
Underlying
Product-‐Market
Fit
Customer
Needs
Copyright
©
2014
Olsen
Solu7ons
Target
Customer
Product
Customer
has
needs
Product
is
designed
to
meet
needs
Customer
decides
how
well
product
meets
needs
(sa7sfac7on)

Dan’s
Model
for
the
Causality
Underlying
Messaging-‐Market
Fit
Customer
Needs
Copyright
©
2014
Olsen
Solu7ons
Target
Customer
Messaging
Customer
has
needs
Messaging
is
designed
to
appeal
to
needs
Customer
decides
how
appealing
the
messaging
sounds

Key
Components
of
Customer
Experience
Func7onality
UX
Design
Messaging
Copyright
©
2014
Olsen
Solu7ons

What
Do
Prospec7ve
Customers
See
First?
• Features?
• Design?
• Messaging?
Copyright
©
2014
Olsen
Solu7ons

Really???
Copyright
©
2014
Olsen
Solu7ons

Market
Benefits,
Not
Features
n Most
companies
focus
on
features
n Lots
of
reasons
why
n “People
don’t
want
a
quarter-‐inch
drill.
They
want
a
quarter-‐inch
hole.”
n Feature-‐speak
=
non-‐benefits
speak
n 3rd
Genera7on
Intel
Core
i5
Processor
n Netgear
N300
Wireless
Router
n Infini7
JX35
(now
Infini7
QX60)
n Acer
C710-‐2055
Copyright
©
2014
Olsen
Solu7ons

Amazon’s
Press
Release
Technique
n Jeff
Bezos:
“We
start
with
the
customer
and
we
work
backward”
n At
Amazon,
they
write
the
press
release
BEFORE
they
start
working
on
any
product
n The
press
release
is
NOT
a
product
spec
n Shorter
than
1.5
pages
n Needs
to
use
“Oprah
speak”
Copyright
©
2014
Olsen
Solu7ons

Amazon
Press
Release
Template
1. Heading:
Name
the
product
in
a
way
the
reader
(i.e.
your
target
customers)
will
understand.
2. Sub-‐Heading:
Describe
who
the
market
for
the
product
is
and
what
benefit
they
get.
One
sentence
only
underneath
the
7tle.
3. Summary:
Give
a
summary
of
the
product
and
the
benefit.
Assume
the
reader
will
not
read
anything
else
so
make
this
paragraph
good.
4. Problem:
Describe
the
problem
your
product
solves.
5. Solu9on:
Describe
how
your
product
elegantly
solves
the
problem.
6. Quote
from
You:
A
quote
from
a
spokesperson
in
your
company.
7. How
to
Get
Started:
Describe
how
easy
it
is
to
get
started.
8. Customer
Quote:
Provide
a
quote
from
a
hypothe7cal
customer
that
describes
how
they
experienced
the
benefit.
9. Closing
and
Call
to
Ac9on:
Wrap
it
up
and
give
pointers
where
the
reader
should
go
next.
Copyright
©
2014
Olsen
Solu7ons

Blackberry
Torch
9800
“With
a
5-‐megapixel
camera
with
flash,
con7nuous
auto-‐focus
and
image
stabiliza7on,
plus
11
photo
modes
and
video
recording,
it's
easy
to
capture
those
spontaneous
moments.”
Copyright
©
2014
Olsen
Solu7ons
• Which
words
describe
features?
• Which
words
describe
benefits?
• What
is
ra7o
of
features
to
benefits?

Blackberry
Torch
9800
“With
a
5-‐megapixel
camera
with
flash,
con7nuous
auto-‐focus
and
image
stabiliza7on,
plus
11
photo
modes
and
video
recording,
it's
easy
to
capture
those
spontaneous
moments.”
Copyright
©
2014
Olsen
Solu7ons
• 6
features
• 1
benefit
• 6-‐to-‐1
ra7o

Blackberry
Torch
9800
iPhone
4
“With
a
5-‐megapixel
camera
with
flash,
con7nuous
auto-‐focus
and
image
stabiliza7on,
plus
11
photo
modes
and
video
recording,
it's
easy
to
capture
those
spontaneous
moments.”
6
features
:
1
benefit
“Take
beau7ful,
detailed
photos
with
the
new
5-‐megapixel
camera
with
built-‐in
LED
flash.
The
advanced
backside
illumina7on
sensor
captures
great
pictures
even
in
low
light.
And
the
new
front-‐facing
camera
makes
it
easy
to
take
self-‐portraits.”
Copyright
©
2014
Olsen
Solu7ons

Blackberry
Torch
9800
iPhone
4
“With
a
5-‐megapixel
camera
with
flash,
con7nuous
auto-‐focus
and
image
stabiliza7on,
plus
11
photo
modes
and
video
recording,
it's
easy
to
capture
those
spontaneous
moments.”
6
features
:
1
benefit
“Take
beau7ful,
detailed
photos
with
the
new
5-‐megapixel
camera
with
built-‐in
LED
flash.
The
advanced
backside
illumina7on
sensor
captures
great
pictures
even
in
low
light.
And
the
new
front-‐facing
camera
makes
it
easy
to
take
Which
words
are
features?
Which
benefits?
Copyright
©
2014
Olsen
Solu7ons

“With
a
5-‐megapixel
camera
with
flash,
con7nuous
auto-‐focus
and
image
stabiliza7on,
plus
11
photo
modes
and
video
recording,
it's
easy
to
capture
those
spontaneous
moments.”
6
features
:
1
benefit
“Take
beau7ful,
detailed
photos
with
the
new
5-‐megapixel
camera
with
built-‐in
LED
flash.
The
advanced
backside
illumina7on
sensor
captures
great
pictures
even
in
low
light.
And
the
new
front-‐facing
camera
makes
it
easy
to
take
Blackberry
Torch
9800
iPhone
4
4
features
:
4
benefits
Copyright
©
2014
Olsen
Solu7ons

Customer
Needs
&
Benefits
Copyright
©
2014
Olsen
Solu7ons

Product
Space
vs.
Solu7on
Space
n NASA:
space
pen
($1
M
R&D
cost)
n Russians:
pencil
n Product
Space
n A
customer
problem,
need,
or
benefit
that
the
product
should
address
Example:
n Ability
to
write
in
space
(zero
gravity)
n Solu7on
Space
n A
specific
product
implementa7on
intended
to
address
that
benefit
Copyright
©
2014
Olsen
Solu7ons

Problem
Space
vs.
Solu7on
Space:
Product
Level
Problem
Space
(user
benefit)
Solu7on
Space
(product)
Pen and
paper
TurboTax
TaxCut
Prepare
my taxes
File my
taxes
Check my
taxes
Maximize
deductions
Reduce
audit risk
Copyright
©
2014
Olsen
Solu7ons

Customer
Benefits
“Ladders”
Higher-‐level
benefit
(more
abstract)
“Save
Time”
…which
means
needing
less
7me
to
manage
my
finances
…which
is
faster
than
if
I
had
to
track
down
all
those
balances
…which
lets
me
easily
see
how
much
money
I
have
Quicken
lets
me
see
all
my
financial
accounts
in
one
place
Lower-‐level
benefit
(more
specific)
Copyright
©
2014
Olsen
Solu7ons

Kano
Model:
User
Needs
&
Sa7sfac7on
User
Sa7sfac7on
Delighter
(wow)
User
Dissa7sfac7on
Performance
(more
is
beQer)
Need
not
met
Need
fully
met
Must
Have
Needs
&
features
migrate
over
7me
Copyright
©
2014
Olsen
Solu7ons

Needs
&
Preferences
vary
with
Customer:
Product-‐Market
Framework
Example
High-‐level
need:
Transporta7on
within
100
miles
of
my
home
Soccer
Mom
Speed
Demon
• Carry
kids
&
gear
• Safety
• Fuel
economy
• Go
fast
• Looks
cool
• Makes
me
look
cool
Target
Customer:
Detailed
needs:
Ideal
Product:
Soccer
Mom
Speed
Demon

What
is
Your
Product
Value
Proposi7on?
n Which
user
benefits
are
you
providing?
n How
are
you
beQer
than
compe7tors?
Compe9tor
A
Compe9tor
B
You
Must
Have
Benefit
1
Y
Y
Y
Performance
Benefit
1
High
Low
Med
Performance
Benefit
2
Low
High
Low
Performance
Benefit
3
Med
Med
High
Delighter
Benefit
1
Y
-‐
-‐
Delighter
Benefit
2
-‐
-‐
Y
Copyright
©
2014
Olsen
Solu7ons

Posi7oning
n What
is
Posi7oning?
n How
you
communicate
to
customers:
n What
your
product/service
is
n How
it’s
beQer
than
others
n Specifies
n What
category
your
product
is
in
n Your
target
market
n The
core
benefit/value
your
product
provides
n Why
it’s
beQer
than
compe7ng
products
(unique
differen7ator)
Copyright
©
2014
Olsen
Solu7ons

Posi7oning
Template
n <Product
name>
is
a
<Product
category>
for
<Target
market>
that
<Core
benefit>
by
<Unique
differen:ator>.
n Google
is
a
search
engine
for
everyone
who
uses
the
internet
that
helps
people
quickly
find
relevant
informa7on
by
having
the
best
algorithms
that
deliver
the
fastest
and
most
relevant
results.
Copyright
©
2014
Olsen
Solu7ons

Messaging
n Posi7oning
is
important
but
is
not
meant
for
use
in
customer
marke7ng
“as
is”
n Messaging:
the
specific
words
you
use
to
convey
your
posi7oning
n Brainstorm
messaging
ideas
from
customer
benefits
n Divergent,
itera7ve
thinking:
“Agile
for
Messaging”
n Write
copy.
Need
different
length
messages:
n Tagline
n Sentence
n Paragraph
n Page
Copyright
©
2014
Olsen
Solu7ons

Principles
of
Good
Messaging
n Good
messages
are:
n Easy
to
understand
n Focused:
1
or
2
concepts
max
n Short
(less
is
more)
n Clearly
convey
benefits
to
customer
n Sound
differen7ated
n Ownable
(by
you)
Copyright
©
2014
Olsen
Solu7ons

How to Achieve Messaging-Market Fit by Dan Olsen

• Does
the
ad
men7on
any
features?
• Does
the
ad
men7on
any
benefits
(explicitly)?

Deconstruc7ng
the
Message
1,000
songs
in
your
pocket
Copyright
©
2014
Olsen
Solu7ons
• large
#
of
songs
• all
of
your
songs
• portable
• small,
light
• can
listen
anywhere
Storage
capacity
5
Gigabytes
Size
4”
x
2.4”
x
0.78”

5 gigabytes in just 4” x 2.4” x 0.78”!

Large storage capacity, small size!

Lets you listen to a large number of
songs when you’re on the go!

Copyright
©
2014
Olsen
Solu7ons
Message
Benefits
Features

What
Didn’t
Apple
Message?
n Easy
to
Use:
Click
wheel
&
screen
n Auto-‐Sync
n Firewire:
30
7mes
faster
than
USB
n BaQery
life:
10
hours
of
listening
n Earphones
“With
iPod,
Apple
has
invented
a
whole
new
category
of
digital
music
player
that
lets
you
put
your
en7re
music
collec7on
in
your
pocket
and
listen
to
it
wherever
you
go,”
said
Steve
Jobs,
Apple’s
CEO.
“With
iPod,
listening
to
music
will
never
be
the
same
again.”
Copyright
©
2014
Olsen
Solu7ons

Copyright
©
2014
Olsen
Solu7ons
Message
Posi7oning
Benefits
Features

Other
Messaging
Examples
n Fly
the
friendly
skies
n Zoom
zoom
n Finger
lickin’
good
n The
happiest
place
on
earth
n Let
your
fingers
do
the
walking
n Eat
fresh
n Have
it
your
way
n Keeps
going
and
going
and
going
Copyright
©
2014
Olsen
Solu7ons

Qualita7ve
vs.
Quan7ta7ve
Research
Qualita7ve
interviews
Quan7ta7ve
data
Oprah
Spock

Itera7ng
Your
Messaging
Through
Qualita7ve
Customer
Feedback
Problem
Space
Solu7on
Space
(your
mental
model)
(what
users
can
react
to)
Mockups
Customer
Feedback
Copyright
©
2014
Olsen
Solu7ons

Quan7ta7ve
Tes7ng
n Comparing
conversion
rates
of
different
messages
on
n AdWords
ads
(4-‐Hour
Workweek)
n Landing
pages
(Newlix,
Smoke
test)
n Emails
n A/B
tes7ng
(aka
split
tes7ng)
tools:
n Op7mizely
n Unbounce
n Visual
Website
Op7mizer
-‐>
VWO
n Google
Website
Op7mizer
-‐>
Google
Analy7cs
Content
Experiments
Copyright
©
2014
Olsen
Solu7ons

Product-‐Market
Fit
Case
Study:
Marke7ngReport.com
n My
consul7ng
client,
CEO
of
TrustedID,
had
an
idea
for
a
new
product
n Team:
me,
CEO,
head
of
marke7ng,
UI
design
consultant
n Goal:
n Validate
product-‐market
fit
quickly,
cheaply
without
wri7ng
a
single
line
of
code
n Determine
if
there
was
a
business
opportunity
here
Copyright
©
2014
Olsen
Solu7ons

Product-‐Market
Fit
Case
Study:
Developing
Product
Concept
n Product
Concept
was
“marke7ng
report”
that
let
consumers
control
the
direct
mail
that
they
receive
n Concept
was
fuzzy
with
various
components,
so
I
broke
it
into
2
different
“flavors”:
n #1
“Marke7ng
Shield”:
Service
to
reduce/stop
junk
mail
n #2
“Marke7ng
Saver”:
Opt
in
&
receive
money-‐
saving
offers
Copyright
©
2014
Olsen
Solu7ons

Clustering
Poten7al
User
Benefits
to
Create
Product
Concepts
“Shield” Concept “Saver” Concept
Reduce
Junk Mail
Find out what
“they” know
about you
Money
Saving
Offers
Compare
Yourself
to Others
Social
Networking
Marketing
Report
Marketing
Score
Marketing
Profile
Save
Trees
Copyright
©
2014
Olsen
Solu7ons

Product-‐Market
Fit
Case
Study:
Recrui7ng
People
n Telephone
recruit
of
prospec7ve
customers
n Wrote
phone-‐screen
ques7onnaire
to
create
rough
target
customer
segmenta7on
n Wanted
users
who
work
full-‐7me
&
use
internet
n Fit
for
opt-‐in
offers:
use
coupons,
Costco
membership
n Fit
for
an7-‐junk
mail:
use
paper
shredder,
block
caller
ID
n Paid
each
person
$75
n Scheduled
3
groups
of
2
or
3
people
to
discuss
each
product
concept
for
90
minutes
n Moderated
each
group
through
the
paper
mockups
to
hear
their
feedback
Copyright
©
2014
Olsen
Solu7ons

Product-‐Market
Fit
Case
Study:
Findings
on
Concepts
&User
Benefits
Reduce
Junk Mail
Find out what
“they” know
about you
Money
Saving
Offers
Compare
Yourself
to Others
Social
Networking
Marketing
Report
Marketing
Score
Marketing
Profile
Save
Trees
Legend
Strong appeal
Some appeal
Low appeal
“Shield” Concept “Saver” Concept
Copyright
©
2014
Olsen
Solu7ons

Product-‐Market
Fit
Case
Study:
Learnings
from
Research
n Learned
that
“Shield”
(an7-‐junk
mail)
concept
was
stronger
than
“Saver”
n People
didn’t
like
many
of
the
“Saver”
concept
components
n Learned
users’
concerns
/
ques7ons
about
“Shield”
concept
Copyright
©
2014
Olsen
Solu7ons

Product-‐Market
Fit
Case
Study:
Summary
n 4
weeks
from
1st
mee7ng
to
validated
product
concept
with
zero
coding
n Reasonable
cost
n 1
round
of
itera7on
on
product
concept
n Iden7fied
compelling
concept
that
users
are
willing
to
pay
$10/month
for
n Trimmed
away
non-‐valuable
pieces
n You
can
achieve
similar
results
Copyright
©
2014
Olsen
Solu7ons

Messaging-‐Market
Fit
Summary
n Avoid
feature-‐speak
n Clarify
your
target
market
n Understand
which
benefits
your
customers
care
about
&
apply
Kano
Model
n Define
your
value
proposi7on
&
posi7oning
n Brainstorm
ideas
messaging
&
write
copy
n Test
messaging
with
customers
n Learn,
iterate
and
improve
Copyright
©
2014
Olsen
Solu7ons

Ensuring
Message-
Market
Fit
Dan Olsen
Olsen Solutions
SF PR Summit
July 31, 2014
hQp://olsensolu7ons.com
hQp://slideshare.net/dan_o
hQp://linkedin.com/in/danolsen98
@danolsen
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How to Achieve Messaging-Market Fit by Dan Olsen

How to Achieve Messaging-Market Fit by Dan Olsen

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