How do you test product messaging for different personas?

1 Define your personas

The first step is to define your personas, or the ideal customers you want to reach with your product. A persona is a semi-fictional representation of a typical user, based on real data and research. It includes demographic, behavioral, and psychographic information, such as age, role, industry, challenges, motivations, and preferences. You can use tools like surveys, interviews, analytics, and customer feedback to create your personas. Ideally, you should have 3-5 personas that cover the main segments of your market.

2 Craft your value proposition

The next step is to craft your value proposition, or the main benefit and differentiation of your product. Your value proposition should answer the question: why should your persona choose your product over other alternatives? It should highlight the unique value and solution that your product provides, and how it aligns with your persona's needs and goals. You can use a simple formula to create your value proposition: [Product name] helps [persona] [achieve outcome] by [unique feature or advantage].

3 Write your message variations

The third step is to write your message variations, or the different ways you can express your value proposition to your personas. You can use different formats, tones, and angles to test which message resonates the most with each persona. For example, you can use headlines, subheadlines, slogans, taglines, or elevator pitches. You can also use different emotional triggers, such as pain points, benefits, urgency, or social proof. The key is to write at least 3-5 message variations for each persona, and make sure they are clear, concise, and compelling.

4 Choose your testing methods

The fourth step is to choose your testing methods, or the ways you can measure the effectiveness of your message variations. Depending on your goals, resources, and audience, there are many methods you can use. For example, A/B testing compares two versions of your message on the same channel, such as a landing page or an email, to see which one performs better in terms of conversions or clicks. Usability testing involves observing how real users interact with your message on your product or website. Surveys and interviews are also useful for gathering feedback from target audiences and existing customers to rate or rank your message variations on different criteria.

5 Analyze your results

The final step is to analyze your results, or the data and insights you collected from your testing methods. You should look for patterns, trends, and differences in how your personas responded to your message variations. You should also compare your results with your hypotheses, or the assumptions you made about your personas and their preferences. You should use both quantitative and qualitative data to evaluate your results, and look for metrics such as conversion rate, click-through rate, bounce rate, time on page, satisfaction score, or net promoter score.

6 Optimize your product messaging

Based on your results, you should optimize your product messaging, or the way you communicate the value and benefits of your product to your personas. You should use the message variations that performed the best for each persona, and refine them further if needed. You should also apply your product messaging consistently across all your channels and touchpoints, such as your website, social media, email, blog, or video. You should also monitor and measure your product messaging regularly, and test new variations as your product or market evolves.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?