Messaging Hierarchy

Prioritize messaging based on what customers say matters most, not what you think is coolest

Gia Laudi
Customer-led growth | Georgiana Laudi (Forget The Funnel)

Messaging Hierarchy

"The hierarchy of messaging is really important. Generally, you can identify the hierarchy of what is important to them... It can literally be a numbers game. If you take a hundred or so survey responses, you can break that down like, 'Here's the thing they said they cared about most. Here's the thing they said they cared about second most and third most.' Not to be so paint by numbers about it, but there's art in the science." - Gia Laudi

What It Is

Messaging Hierarchy is a framework for prioritizing what to say first, second, and third in your marketing communications based on customer research rather than internal assumptions. By analyzing what customers actually say about why they chose you and what value they receive, you can rank messaging themes and lead with what matters most to them.

The core insight is that companies often lead with what they think is the coolest feature or most innovative aspect of their product. But customers may not care about that—they care about the outcome they're trying to achieve. Effective messaging reflects customers back to themselves, showing them you understand their problem and can deliver their desired outcome.

This framework produces a messaging guide (typically 5-7 pages) that serves as guardrails for all marketing materials, product copy, and customer communications.

How It Works

Step 1: Gather Voice of Customer Data

  • Survey or interview 100+ best customers
  • Use JTBD questions about triggers, influences, must-haves, and outcomes
  • Collect responses verbatim—their exact language matters

Step 2: Analyze Patterns

  • Code responses into themes
  • Count frequency of each theme
  • Identify hierarchy: What did they mention most? Second most? Third?

Step 3: Build the Messaging Guide

A complete messaging guide includes:

Component Description Example
Value Proposition Single most important benefit "Find marketing opportunities you'd never discover alone"
Competitive Advantages Top 2-3 differentiators Speed, depth, shareability
Value Themes 3-5 major benefits ranked by importance 1) Discovery of non-obvious insights, 2) Organization and sharing, 3) Time savings
Emotional Benefits How it makes them feel Confident, impressive, ahead
Functional Benefits What it helps them do Find opportunities, share with stakeholders
Product Attributes Features that deliver value Lists, exports, search filters

Step 4: Apply Hierarchy in All Communications

  • Website hero: Lead with #1 value theme
  • Email subject lines: Speak to primary job
  • Product onboarding: Guide toward high-value features first
  • Sales decks: Open with what they care about most

How to Apply It

  1. Collect customer quotes — From surveys, interviews, support tickets, reviews

  2. Count and categorize:

    • How many mentioned X as their primary motivation?
    • How many said Y convinced them to buy?
    • How many described outcome Z as what they achieved?

  3. Rank themes by frequency — The thing 60% mentioned leads; the thing 20% mentioned supports

  4. Create the guide with:

    • 1-sentence value proposition
    • 2-3 competitive advantages
    • Ranked list of value themes
    • For each theme: emotional benefit + functional benefit + product attribute

  5. Use as baseline for all copywriting:

    • Website headlines and body copy
    • Email sequences
    • Product UI copy
    • Ad creative
    • Sales enablement materials

  6. Hand off to copywriters — This guide is what you give writers to ensure consistency

Example Structure

VALUE PROPOSITION
"Discover marketing opportunities you wouldn't find anywhere else"

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES
1. Unique data sources others can't access
2. Organized, shareable outputs
3. Actionable insights, not just data

VALUE THEME #1: DISCOVERY
- Emotional: Feel confident and ahead of competitors
- Functional: Find audiences and opportunities others miss
- Product: Search engine, unique data crawling

VALUE THEME #2: ORGANIZATION
- Emotional: Feel in control and professional
- Functional: Save, organize, and build on findings over time
- Product: Lists feature, folders, tagging

VALUE THEME #3: SHARING
- Emotional: Look like a pro to stakeholders
- Functional: Share findings with teams and clients easily
- Product: Export, reports, team features

When to Use It

  • When messaging feels unfocused or inconsistent across touchpoints
  • When internal teams disagree about what to lead with
  • When website conversion is underperforming despite traffic
  • After completing JTBD research and needing to operationalize insights
  • When onboarding new copywriters or marketers
  • When updating positioning for a new market or job

Common Mistakes

Leading with Features: Starting with what the product does instead of what customers achieve

Internal Assumptions: Using stakeholder opinions instead of customer research

No Hierarchy: Treating all benefits as equally important instead of ranking

Wrong Language: Using internal jargon instead of customer-voiced language

Static Guide: Never updating the guide as the product and market evolve

Source

  • Guest: Gia Laudi (Georgiana Laudi)
  • Episode: "Customer-led growth | Georgiana Laudi (Forget The Funnel)"
  • Key Discussion: (00:51:21) - Building and using messaging guides
  • YouTube: Watch on YouTube

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