Read online Welcome to Unpacking Meaning. If you received this from a friend and enjoy it, subscribe here. The two signals that actually convert B2B prospects A potential client recently told me why they reached out after hearing me on a podcast: “You gave the feeling you did what you were talking about and could give us value. And also that you had a clear messaging for your target.” They didn’t hire me for my frameworks or insights. They hired me because I signaled two things: I’ve done the...
5 days ago • 3 min read
Read online Welcome to Unpacking Meaning. If you received this from a friend and enjoy it, subscribe here. How to scale messaging without losing control It’s a question I get a lot, and a problem I see all the time. Usually the reason is twofold: Marketing, Product, and Sales keep passing the ball on who owns messaging. They struggle to manage it across the entire customer journey. It’s like a highway where alignment depends on everyone knowing their lane. Except no one knows where their...
12 days ago • 3 min read
Read online Welcome to Unpacking Meaning. If you received this from a friend and enjoy it, subscribe here. Last week we talked about turning raw buying triggers into category entry points. But once you have them — how do you know which one will actually move buyers? That’s the question I keep getting on podcasts. “How do you test messaging fast, cheap, and without a full campaign?” It’s a fair ask. Because message validation is the biggest black box in B2B. Teams either A/B test blindly or...
19 days ago • 3 min read
Read online Welcome to Unpacking Meaning. If you received this from a friend and enjoy it, subscribe here. Forget channels. Focus on entry points. I’ve run 50+ messaging projects, and the same blind spot keeps showing up: what does it take for a prospect to even create space in their brain for you? Not to choose you over a competitor, or to justify you to a board. But to start thinking about a solution like yours in the first place. That’s the most underappreciated stage of the...
26 days ago • 3 min read
Read online Welcome to Unpacking Meaning. If you received this from a friend and enjoy it, subscribe here. My system for turning ICPs into actionable messaging One question I get asked a lot on podcasts is some variation of: “How do you create messaging and copy that work for different decision-makers?” The biggest misconception most marketing leaders have about B2B decision-makers is thinking they are their ICPs. If you’re selling a project management tool for agencies, you might say, “Our...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Read online Welcome to Unpacking Meaning. If you received this from a friend and enjoy it, subscribe here. How I diagnose and plan messaging with 3 questions At the most fundamental level, what makes a piece of SaaS messaging effective? Is it clarity, emotion, differentiation—or some combination? On a recent podcast, someone asked me this question. My answer is, it depends. To determine whether clarity, emotion, or differentiation matters most in messaging, we first need to understand their...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Read online Welcome to this week's issue of Unpacking Meaning. If you received this from a friend and enjoy it, subscribe here. The research mistake that kills good messaging On a podcast recently, someone asked me: What’s the biggest mistake product marketers make when researching for messaging? It’s tempting to point to obvious traps—confirmation bias, talking to the wrong users, skipping research altogether. But the deeper issue is simpler: Teams confuse collecting data with doing...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Read online Welcome to this week's issue of Unpacking Meaning. If you received this from a friend and enjoy it, subscribe here. The hidden "architecture" rules that decide if prospects say yes Last week I ended up in a YouTube rabbit hole. The video featured Steven Harris, a New York based architect known for blending modernist design with livable comfort. He walked through the five non negotiables he uses when designing his own home. On the surface, it had nothing to do with messaging. But...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Read online Welcome to this week's issue of Unpacking Meaning. If you received this from a friend and enjoy it, subscribe here. What craft means (and why you should care) When I first started learning copywriting, my “practice” looked pretty old school: I’d sit down with a notebook and hand copy sales letters word for word. Page after page, until my wrist ached. It was boring, sure, but it drilled into me the rhythm and flow of persuasion in a way no shortcut ever could. Today, you can ask AI...
2 months ago • 3 min read
Read online Welcome to this week's issue of Unpacking Meaning. If you received this from a friend and enjoy it, subscribe here. When AI learns to empathize… what’s left for us? The last couple of years, marketers have reassured themselves with the same line: "AI can crunch data, but it can't empathize. It can't truly understand what makes people tick." I'm not buying it anymore. I recently interviewed Sam Woods for my podcast (episode dropping soon), and he told me about AI agents that...
2 months ago • 2 min read