What is Startup Messaging?
Key Takeaways
- A startup must explain a new idea quickly, to people who have never heard of it.
- Clarity beats cleverness, especially when the category is unfamiliar.
- Messaging is tested with real customers and refined as the product changes.
- It needs to work for several audiences at once, such as customers, investors and early hires.
Understanding Startup Messaging
New companies face a particular problem: nobody knows them yet. Messaging has to carry more weight, because there is no reputation to fill gaps. The words must make the problem, the solution and the reason to care clear in seconds.
Startups also change fast. The product, the market and even the target customer can shift in the first year. Messaging works best when it is kept simple and revisited, so the story keeps pace with what the company actually does.
Founders often describe the product by its features. Customers care about the problem solved. Good startup messaging starts from the customer’s situation and ties each claim to something they can understand without prior knowledge of the technology.
Related Terms
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What should startup messaging cover first?
Who the product is for, the problem it solves and how it is different. Detail can follow once those three are clear.
How often should it be updated?
Whenever the product, audience or positioning changes, and at least after each round of customer feedback.
Is it different from a pitch?
A pitch is one use of the messaging, usually spoken. Messaging is the broader foundation behind every pitch, page and email.
This term is treated at length in Startup Messaging and How to Explain What You Do Clearly.