Wallet company giving you investing advice — why all product marketers should cringe.
How it all started…
I was flabbergasted to get this email a few weeks ago. Everyone loves investing advice. But nobody would expect it from a wallet company.
That’s right — this email comes from my favorite wallet.
(insert: *horrific horror sound*)
It just doesn’t make sense.
Your brand. Your business lives and dies on obvious product messaging.
A sudden shift without warning risks to alienate your most loyal customers. The ones who spend without question.
I bought them for their aesthetics alone. Their slim design left no seam-busting bulge in my backpocket.
The financial position they sought to claim did not resonate with why I bought this wallet — it’s slim design.
So their well-intended aha missed the mark.
That’s what happens when your product messaging does not connect to your current position. It felt inauthentic to who they were and why I shopped their brand.
Why every product marketer cares about messaging and positioning?
Messaging and positioning are cornerstone principles of product marketing. Messaging is what you say, while positioning is how it makes your core audience feel.
(Messaging + Positioning = authenticity)
If even one is missing, you can lose trust fast, alienate best-fit customers, and fail to attract new ones.
Content you create can build trust and grow sales, as long as your target audience views you as a trustworthy source on said topic. Otherwise you’re cruising in choppy waters with no harbor in sight.
What you need to know before you create new positioning?
You need to create space in the buyer’s mind for your intended message to maximize impact you want (sales). What do you do if your message is different from what your target audience knows you for?
You must draw an explicit connection between the new and existing one.
So how do you do that?
You’ve gotta reposition yourself based on what your core audience already knows and feels about you.
Build the bridge from what they know to what you want them to learn. Don’t leave it to chance — make it explicit why you deserve their attention.
Here are four suggestions on how that could be done.
#1 Frame YOUR MESSAGING from an existing problem your customer bought you to solve.
I bought this wallet for its slim design. My previous one was a briefcase in my backpocket. This wallet encouraged me to be minimal in what I carried.
That was my need — to carry less in my pocket.
If you choose to create content to educate, it needs to speak to that need. Connect the dots. Education can’t build trust without starting from what your core audience knows.
So, that’s why I’d rephrase the blog headline to read “5 tips to carry less in your wallet”.
Your wallet works to carry your cash, but how is your cash working for you? Here’s 5 super-easy investing tips to put your Benjamins to work.
It intrigues you to learn more and creates an opening to introduce investing advice to your reader. Weave it into your product story.
Don’t start from scratch. Build from what they know.
#2 Partner with well-known industry expert to establish credibility.
This is a common practice to familiarize your brand to new subject matter your core audience does not know you for.
Think “pro athlete or celebrity endorsements”.
Something like “5 investing tips from our sit-down with [Warren Buffet, Ramit Sethi]”
You don’t know the product but more likely to try it because your favorite celeb or subject matter authority endorses it. Their presence extends a halo effect to your brand.
Be seen in a positive light. Don’t leave your customers in the dark. Make your new position clear with an industry endorsement.
#3 Advertise against your product to do something else.
That’s right.
Be the devil’s advocate to your product. This is a copywriting tactic designed to grab attention and pique curiosity.
It’s the “sales version of writing” and it works.
The headline could be: “Don’t put money in your wallet, do this instead.” You want to sell a new idea not known to your target audience.
Go against the grain. You can’t reposition if you don’t challenge the status quo.
#4 Poke at a weakness of your product category to sell your new position.
Think of what product category your product sits in. McDonald’s is fast food, while Nike is fitness apparel.
Next, what’s an inherent weakness of that product category?
Fast food is unhealthy. Fitness apparel will not give you god-like athletic abilities.
(if only… *emphatic sigh ensues*)
SO WHAT? Give a reason for your audience to give a damn.
Fast food is unhealthy. So is screen time on your smartphone.
Nike guarantees our apparel will not give you god-like athletic abilities. Effort is required.
State a relatable, undeniable statement. One that makes them think. And say, “Well, they got a point”.
Wallets don’t keep spare change.
That’s an inherent challenge of that category.
Use it to introduce your new position. The headline could be “What to do with your loose change?”
This gives you an opening to introduce your new position on investing.
Put your money to work for you, rather collecting dust in your pockets.
Be careful to not pick a weakness unique to your product alone. You don’t want your audience to second-guess your product.
Signing off…
Messaging helps you build credible positioning. The former is what you say, while the latter is how your customer feels about your product or brand.
You’re just trying to push the envelope enough with your messaging to introduce a new idea (position).
Build that trust. You need it to sell your new idea to your core audience.
Own your weakness. You’re being transparent. Nobody is perfect — your brand included.
Leave an impression beyond the first sale to keep your customers coming back for more. Your impressions shape the brand.
Your brand lives and dies by obvious messaging your customer gets.
Your position within their mind depends on it.
