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- š How to find the right messaging
š How to find the right messaging
3 tactics, 2 traps and 1 tool to find the right messaging
Hello founders!
Welcome to āTactical Tipsā by Jerel and Shuo at DECODE, where we cover one new idea to help you build and grow your startup ā every week in <5 minutes!
Today, weāll be answering the question, āHow to find the right messaging?ā
And hereās the advice from Matt Lerner, Founder and CEO at SYSTM, who ran B2B growth teams at Paypal and was previously a Partner at 500Global.
If youāre struggling to craft marketing copy that resonatesāand still searching for product-market fit, then todayās newsletter is for you.
š„ Inside this issue:
ā
3 tactics to find the right messaging
ā
2 traps to avoid
ā
1 tool to leverage
šLetās dive in.
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3 tactics to find the right messaging
šÆ Uncover goals, struggles and triggers
Find users who recently tried solving the problem you address and ask them to walk you through their decision step-by-step
Uncover their struggles, the solutions they tried, and what didnāt work (Eg. What will this purchase allow you to achieve? Why is that important to you? What other options did you consider?)
Clarify vague answers (Eg. If they say ābetterā, āflexibleā, āconvenientā or āall-in-oneā, ask what it means for them)
Dig into triggers (Eg. What prompted you to act on that particular day?)
š¢ Turn specific goals and struggles into headlines
Goals:
Headlines should complete the sentence āNow you canā¦ā, āI wish I couldā¦ā or āSomeday I hope toā¦ā
Listen to users saying āI was trying toā¦ā, āI needed a tool that canā¦ā or āI wish it were easier toā¦ā
Struggles:
Best for cases where people are reluctant to act (Eg. weight loss)
Listen to users saying āI hate it whenā¦ā, āIām tired ofā¦ā or āWhy canāt Iā¦ā
Use first-person and skip rhetorical questions (Eg. None of my clothes fit anymore, and I think about food constantly.)
Follow with a clear āNow you canā¦ā goal in the sub-headline.
Avoid vague terms that signal unclear value like āall in oneā, āfasterā, ārevolutionaryā or āconvenientā
š Validate comprehension before A/B testing at scale
Flash the headline for 5-seconds, then ask:
What did it say? (Readability)
What would it do for you? (Clarity)
What does it mean in your own words? (Interpretation)
Do this with 4 people per headline. If they canāt explain, messaging needs work
Scale with A/B tests after messaging is clear. Use Meta ads for faster feedback vs landing pages
2 traps to avoid
šØChasing product features while ignoring messaging
Great product, wrong words = no traction
Stop everything else and fix messaging firstāitās a prerequisite for product-market fit
Small messaging tweaks can unlock big conversion wins, especially with low-intent traffic
šØEducating the market too early
Educating the market is toughāit requires attention, belief shifts, and behavior changes
Focus on grabbing attention with simple messaging first. Save education for after youāve gained attention and built trust
1 tool to leverage
š Best practice on measuring messaging
Conversion rates range from 8ā40% with the right messaging, but drop to 0.5ā3% without it.
Use tools like SEMRush, Ubersuggest, or see āpeople also searched forā¦ā at the bottom of Googleās search page, to iterate on messaging
Bonus: 1 trend to spark startup ideas
šµ Usage-based pricing is reshaping billing infrastructure
AI is killing seat-based modelsānow itās all about performance and usage
Real-time tracking, flexible billing, and deep data observability is key
Sales, product, and finance canāt treat billing as back-officeāāBillingOpsā / āFinOpsā is now strategic
Startups with agile billing infrastructure can iterate faster, monetize smarter, and outpace slower rivals on product and pricing innovation
Startup Knowledge CheckWhen refining your product, whose feedback should you prioritize above all? |
Hint: Read our past newsletter on how to find product market fit.
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