{"id":708,"date":"2025-04-22T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-22T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hudsonpcrepair.com\/?p=708"},"modified":"2025-04-26T16:27:10","modified_gmt":"2025-04-26T16:27:10","slug":"gtm-143-why-most-ai-messaging-fails-and-how-to-actually-stand-out-in-a-crowded-market-harmony-anderson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.hudsonpcrepair.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/22\/gtm-143-why-most-ai-messaging-fails-and-how-to-actually-stand-out-in-a-crowded-market-harmony-anderson\/","title":{"rendered":"GTM 143: Why Most AI Messaging Fails and How to Actually Stand Out in a Crowded Market | Harmony Anderson"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<p>The GTM Podcast is available on any major directory, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/in\/podcast\/the-gtm-podcast\/id1369291464\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Apple Podcasts<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/2SA1dgQ2Yc5t4V5GcBLnD2?si=b9dcb3e53b2d4ad2&amp;nd=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Spotify<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=KyUVm57kpS4&amp;list=PLGXnz4Tyz3-SfJ5DPByHtUOQOFB3yJ6zZ\">YouTube<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/harmony-hickman-anderson\/\">Harmony Anderson<\/a> is an entrepreneurial marketing leader with deep expertise in building global GTM strategies at growth startups. She is currently the VP of Growth and Marketing at Superhuman, the most productive email app ever made for teams. She has also led high-performing teams at Armada, Engine, Outreach, and ThousandEyes.<\/p>\n<p>She is deeply passionate about creating world-class marketing campaigns, leveraging data-driven strategies to accelerate customer acquisition, engagement, and retention. She also drives extreme rigor around operational excellence and efficiency, ensuring GTM teams execute with precision using repeatable and predictable playbooks.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Discussed in this Episode:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>How to develop unique positioning and messaging for an AI company<\/li>\n<li>Why UGC matters for your brand and how to get users to create content about your product<\/li>\n<li>The impact of lightning marketing campaigns and follow-on \u2018thunder\u2019 campaigns<\/li>\n<li>Three core channels for launching a new B2B marketing program<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><em>If you missed GTM 142, check it out here: <\/em><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/gtmnow.com\/gtm-142-why-most-b2b-marketing-strategies-fail-udi-ledergor\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Why Most B2B Marketing Fails (And How to Fix It) with Udi Ledergor<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Highlights:\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>05:12 \u2013 <a href=\"#s1\">The #1 mistake in AI messaging: sounding like everyone else.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>07:24 \u2013 <a href=\"#s2\">Use outcomes and data to differentiate your AI product.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>11:06 \u2013 <a href=\"#s3\">Why nailing 3-5 core use cases beats going broad or too niche.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>12:38 \u2013 <a href=\"#s4\">Turning website visitors into believers with demos and interactive content.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>14:01 \u2013 <a href=\"#s5\">How to keep up with a market that changes every week (hello, agentic AI).<\/a><\/p>\n<p>15:08 \u2013 <a href=\"#s6\">Building campaigns that fuel your narrative across every channel.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>17:16 \u2013 <a href=\"#s7\">Behind Superhuman\u2019s most successful campaign ever: \u201cNew Year, New Inbox.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<p>20:04 \u2013 <a href=\"#s8\">Unlocking 60% growth through user-generated content and affiliate advocacy.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>21:38 \u2013 <a href=\"#s9\">Why webinars and virtual events still drive real results (and feedback).<\/a><\/p>\n<p>23:12 \u2013 <a href=\"#s10\">How to keep your messaging fresh while staying focused.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>25:11 \u2013 <a href=\"#s11\">The difference between brand umbrella, campaign, and program \u2014 and why it<\/a><\/p>\n<p>matters.<\/p>\n<p>27:02 \u2013 <a href=\"#s12\">Harmony\u2019s lean, high-impact program playbook for early-stage teams.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>31:06 \u2013 <a href=\"#s13\">Building a hype train: how to activate champions at launch.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>33:01 \u2013 <a href=\"#s14\">Hot take: marketing shouldn\u2019t be measured by pipeline alone.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>35:12 \u2013 <a href=\"#s15\">Why NRR (not just pipeline) should be a marketing KPI.<\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Guest Speaker Links (Harmony Anderson):<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>LinkedIn: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/harmony-hickman-anderson\/\">https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/harmony-hickman-anderson\/<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Superhuman: <a href=\"https:\/\/superhuman.com\/\">https:\/\/superhuman.com\/<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Host Speaker Links (Sophie Buonassisi):<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>LinkedIn: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/sophiebuonassisi\/\">https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/sophiebuonassisi\/<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Newsletter: <a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/@sophiebuonassisi\">https:\/\/gtmnow.com\/tag\/newsletter\/<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Where to find GTMnow (GTMfund\u2019s media brand):<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Website: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/redirect?event=video_description&amp;redir_token=QUFFLUhqbmcxckl6eF81ZDRfWEVBVlcwVk9jWG83TnVHd3xBQ3Jtc0tsckJpcWdFRVdVdU9DVUVESEU2RkJXVTRnZEdTVHBfUmR0NFFSTkJ5UmRmaU5ENFZKQi01YjlOVEoyeE9JVVhMR1JoOWR0NUpYbERCbUdOWG80eFRNTlQ2RWhaenY4Y1h1MVc3TnVEVVBXM2hOdndaYw&amp;q=https%3A%2F%2Fgtmnow.com%2F&amp;v=K8ttdq7ujX0\">https:\/\/gtmnow.com\/<\/a><\/li>\n<li>LinkedIn: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/gtmnow\/\">https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/gtmnow\/<\/a><\/li>\n<li>X\/Twitter: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/redirect?event=video_description&amp;redir_token=QUFFLUhqa0hmdzJ0aWpraGZLdjN0eXUyUm5aSGdRQl9Gd3xBQ3Jtc0trb2NuSXpMNFZDVWJJZmpZckJxM3hPY01wUFNuZTVzVThxVWhyVGhodG9IUGlKeEdaRlN0OFlOYk5LUEZWU2Y3QXJXeUVMWWVmWU9ydFNKSWtXU2hyNVRYY2pkYkRWLVlFMlA2MndxXzNzRW1ubkpsQQ&amp;q=https%3A%2F%2Fx.com%2FGTMnow_&amp;v=K8ttdq7ujX0\">https:\/\/x.com\/GTMnow_<\/a><\/li>\n<li>YouTube: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCGQM23b5lZbcfLtHAe87J_A\"> \/@gtm_now <\/a><\/li>\n<li>The GTM Podcast (on all major directories): <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/redirect?event=video_description&amp;redir_token=QUFFLUhqbEJEanVaM0Y3ZDhaeGxrUkdsdWhJZ0F1ZGdrZ3xBQ3Jtc0ttc25YR01iVTV5Y3hKNU03eV83VWcxZkROYUVVblY3RW84X1lLa3ZqQjBQY2FNSkFLclloZnV5UWJHTVd6eF92U05BOG4xcG9jaEdYdldIeUoweUxuUUJydVZnSngtLXE1ck1SWmdhd2RFb1B1OUdCRQ&amp;q=https%3A%2F%2Fgtmnow.com%2Ftag%2Fpodcast%2F&amp;v=K8ttdq7ujX0\">https:\/\/gtmnow.com\/tag\/podcast\/<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Sponsor:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>ZoomInfo\u2019s GTM25 Virtual Summit\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Wednesday, May 7th 2 PM \u2013 4:30 PM EST | 11 AM \u2013 1:30 PM PST\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This is your moment to rewrite your Go-To-Market playbook with AI-powered strategies. Join ZoomInfo CEO Henry Schuck and top industry leaders to learn how to accelerate pipeline, boost close rates, and transform your revenue teams. The future of GTM is here.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Sign up here: https:\/\/www.zoominfo.com\/gtm25-virtual?camp_id=7017y00000wIvGCAA0&amp;utm_source=gtmfund&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=virtual&amp;utm_content=gtm25-lightning-st<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>The GTM Podcast<\/strong> <br \/>The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>GTM 143 Episode Transcript<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Harmony Anderson: <\/strong>With storytelling and messaging and positioning, like it\u2019s never done. You\u2019re constantly trying to make it better. The more you invest in building champions within your users and your customers, more demand you\u2019re gonna drive in the future. I\u2019ve honestly like never had a campaign that was this successful ever in my career. I think it was because we really were thoughtful about what the message was and when we launched it. But one of the big things that made it so successful was we have a lot of amazing users. My advice for a lot of brands when they\u2019re thinking about their messaging and positioning is what are the outcomes and ensuring that you have data to back up those outcomes.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sophie Buonassisi: <\/strong>Hello, and welcome back to the GTM Podcast. This is Sophie Boni, VP of Marketing at VC firm GTM Fund and our media brand GTMnow. I\u2019m joined by a fellow marketer, Harmony Anderson. Harmony, welcome to the podcast.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Harmony Anderson: <\/strong>Thanks so much for having me. It\u2019s so great to be here chatting with you today.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sophie Buonassisi: <\/strong>Super, super happy to be chatting with you here and it was great to see you in person in San Francisco recently. Been looking forward to this conversation for a while.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Harmony Anderson: <\/strong>It\u2019s gonna be fun.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sophie Buonassisi: <\/strong>Definitely. And before we dig into it, always like to do a quick bio for the listeners. Harmony is an entrepreneurial marketing leader with deep expertise in building global go-to-market strategies at growth startups. She\u2019s currently the VP of Growth and Marketing at Superhuman, the most productive email app ever made for teams. She has also led high performing teams at Armada, Hotel Engine, Outreach, and ThousandEyes. She\u2019s deeply passionate about creating world-class marketing campaigns, leveraging data-driven strategies to accelerate customer acquisition, engagement, and retention. She also drives extreme rigor around operational excellence and efficiency, ensuring GTM teams execute with precision using repeatable and predictable playbooks.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Harmony Anderson: <\/strong>Thanks for the intro. Appreciate it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sophie Buonassisi: <\/strong>Absolutely, and thank you. We actually got connected by us becoming Superhuman customers, which is kind of the long and short\u2014maybe the behind-the-scenes for everyone listening\u2014though I know you know Max and folks at the Fund for a long time, dating back to Outreach.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Harmony Anderson: <\/strong>Yeah, it\u2019s such a small world. Max actually hired me at Outreach way back when and was one of the best people I\u2019ve ever worked with. So it\u2019s good to be connected in a different capacity now, and it\u2019s a lot of fun to see what you all are doing right now.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sophie Buonassisi: <\/strong>100%. And likewise, we appreciate it. I mean, back in\u2014gosh, time flies\u2014it was probably Q3, Q4, we were at a point where we just said, you know, we need to figure out some kind of email productivity. So we went around, ran a few tests, and did our bit of due diligence and ended up finding that Superhuman was kind of highest performing, best fit. It\u2019s been a lot of fun and we\u2019ll dig into some examples. But what I really wanted to connect on today is a very, very common inquiry, and I thought you\u2019d be the perfect person for the topic. Because both of us as marketers, you have to pay extreme attention to messaging and the attention to detail around messaging. And now, you know, how to market AI is such an interesting topic because everyone\u2019s claiming to have AI. So how do you actually market something that everyone\u2019s claiming to have? And that\u2019s what we\u2019re gonna be digging into today.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"s1\">The #1 mistake in AI messaging: sounding like everyone else<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Harmony Anderson: <\/strong>It\u2019s such a fun topic. The last few companies I\u2019ve worked at have been very AI-focused. I had this realization last year\u2014I was kind of in between jobs, took some time off, and I was researching kind of cool companies like, okay, where could I potentially wanna go in-house? One of the things I noticed was I was doing research on LinkedIn and every time I went to a company profile, they all used the same words. Literally, I could not figure out what the companies did. It was all \u201cdo AI,\u201d \u201cwe do AI in different industries\u201d or different types of products, but they all sounded exactly the same. I think that\u2019s the hardest part as a marketer\u2014it\u2019s like, set yourself apart now in the world of AI, which is just everywhere.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sophie Buonassisi: <\/strong>Definitely. Yeah. I used to do a lot of message testing actually, back in the past life around conversion optimization and seeing kind of top of funnel impact all the way through to retention and revenue. And it was so interesting \u2019cause you\u2019d strip back, you know\u2014for example, all the messaging from a page and see, you know, what does it actually articulate? How does it speak from imagery? What if you blur it over? You know what, if you take the messaging without the other context, can people understand it? So always an interesting exercise.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Harmony Anderson: <\/strong>It\u2019s fun. It\u2019s a fun challenge as marketers, right? Like it\u2019s never ending. There are 101 ways to write something. I was actually working with my CEO the other day trying to write copy for our homepage and he was like, \u201cI will rewrite it 22 times until I get it right.\u201d And that\u2019s the hardest part\u2014it\u2019s subjective, really. It is. But I think it\u2019s one of the most challenging parts of being a marketer: storytelling and writing and positioning and just making sure it fits with your audience and resonates.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"s2\">Use outcomes and data to differentiate your AI product<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Sophie Buonassisi: <\/strong>Absolutely. And so in a crowded AI market, what would you say are the key components to actually helping people stand out from a messaging and positioning perspective?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Harmony Anderson: <\/strong>Yeah. So, there are two things I\u2019ve learned over the last few years of trying to build positioning, messaging, and storytelling for brands. One: focus on the outcomes. Really be thinking about the pain that your market has\u2014your prospects, your customers\u2014and how your solution actually solves the pain and drives outcomes for the business. Really focus on value selling, value positioning versus just feature selling.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Harmony Anderson: <\/strong>So for instance, like we just did this huge survey study over the last couple of months, focused on AI productivity, which is what Superhuman does. We\u2019re an AI native email app, and we learned that leaders across multiple different industries\u2014specifically within tech and then within professional services\u2014are expecting basically 300%, I mean, gigantic productivity gains through AI over the next few years. They feel like they\u2019ve only gotten to around 20% of that over the last year and a half since AI became much more popular, and they have no idea what it really means and what they need to do to actually get to those productivity gains.<\/p>\n<p>And so we looked at that and we said, okay, as a marketing team, do we fit within that? Like how much gains, and what are the outcomes that our solution has and solves within the market? And we basically updated\u2014and are still in the process, honestly\u2014of updating all of our messaging and positioning to align to that. So it\u2019s very data-driven. It\u2019s outcome-based. We\u2019re an AI solution that actually saves your sellers time managing their email, and therefore they have more time to drive revenue, close deals, or go to amazing events and network. They don\u2019t have to be constantly triaging their inbox.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s a great example of how we\u2019ve leveraged it. But my advice for a lot of brands when they\u2019re thinking about their messaging and positioning is: what are the outcomes? And ensure that you have data to back up those outcomes. It\u2019s one of the first things I would think about.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sophie Buonassisi: <\/strong>And I love the data tied in there. It\u2019s almost a framework in terms of the messaging, the data, the outcome.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Harmony Anderson: <\/strong>Yeah. And then, the next thing I always tell people too is show don\u2019t tell. What I learned through talking to a lot of buyers and doing the survey and doing a ton of research is people still don\u2019t understand AI. They really don\u2019t. They don\u2019t deeply get how AI\u2014or the vision of how AI\u2014can be integrated into their day to make their lives better. And so, one way to set yourself apart is: we don\u2019t just do AI, we show them what it actually means within their workflows or within their day-to-day.<\/p>\n<p>So my second tip is: show, don\u2019t tell. Of course, you need to have your positioning, your messaging, your storytelling upfront\u2014and then back it up with videos, demos, and putting it into perspective for them as a user and for their particular use case. That is so incredibly valuable for them being able to see the vision of, \u201cOh my gosh, I didn\u2019t even think I could use AI to do X, Y, Z.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Email for us is so intrinsic. Before I even had heard of Superhuman, I used ChatGPT or Claude all the time to write content, write messaging, paraphrase big thoughts, or pull up notes. But I didn\u2019t actually realize that I could use AI to do things like triage my inbox. I don\u2019t need to do anything. I just log in, and it\u2019s basically done for me. Half my emails are written, it\u2019s prioritized my inbox, it\u2019s helped with my calendar. It totally changes your mindset of how you can integrate AI into your day-to-day.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sophie Buonassisi: <\/strong>What kind of advice would you have, or what are your thoughts on website messaging and positioning around the \u201cshow, don\u2019t tell\u201d concept? Because you made two really good points there\u2014focus on outcomes and show, don\u2019t tell\u2014but use cases can be so nuanced. What can companies do to kind of show, don\u2019t tell, knowing that everybody has different use cases?<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"s3\">Why nailing 3-5 core use cases beats going broad or too niche<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Harmony Anderson: <\/strong>Yeah, I mean, I think that\u2019s a really great question, and it depends on what your product does and who your market is. Who\u2019s your core ICP? Really deeply understand who you\u2019ve built your product for.<\/p>\n<p>I think a lot of companies either generalize too much and say, \u201cMy product fits for everybody.\u201d Everyone kind of has rose-colored lenses when it comes to their product. And so, it can be way too broad and therefore doesn\u2019t resonate with anybody. That\u2019s one thing that can really trip you up as a marketer.<\/p>\n<p>Or they go too detailed\u2014too pigeonholed into one very specific use case that isn\u2019t actually going to help you drive substantial demand because it\u2019s too narrow and too niche.<\/p>\n<p>So that\u2019s one thing. I mean, this is just marketing 101\u2014I know you know this, Sophie\u2014but it\u2019s really about being thoughtful and strategic about who your market is and who you\u2019re talking to. And then taking that and saying, \u201cOkay, what are the top three to five use cases?\u201d I wouldn\u2019t go deeper than that.<\/p>\n<p>Whether it\u2019s for a function, a vertical, a user, or a buyer persona\u2014everyone segments their market differently. But focus on those first three to five, get those live, and then track, measure, optimize, and iterate from there.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sophie Buonassisi: <\/strong>That\u2019s great advice. That\u2019s fantastic. Well, we\u2019ll definitely see a rise in videos.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"s4\">Turning website visitors into believers with demos and interactive content<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Harmony Anderson: <\/strong> Yeah, for sure. Videos. And then there\u2019s a lot of different demo-type software out there\u2014where there\u2019s videos, product walkthroughs, and even interactive gaming where you can build simplified versions of your features and solutions that people can actually get their hands on. I think with AI, it\u2019s really important to think about all of the unique, creative ways you can build this into your collateral\u2014whether that\u2019s on a website, in an email, or even in-product.<\/p>\n<p>But I think the big thing is just understanding how people research. How do they actually discover and learn about a product? One thing I always try to go back to is: AI is a really interesting space right now. There\u2019s AI, there\u2019s AI-native, AI-powered, agentic AI, AI agents\u2014there are all these buzzwords around AI. And most people don\u2019t know what they mean.<\/p>\n<p>Again, it goes back to educating the market. You have to have your story, talk about your outcomes, and then you need to be able to show how your product actually fits in. That\u2019s another key point\u2014don\u2019t lose sight of that. Make sure you truly understand how educated your market is about what you\u2019re trying to sell, because they may not be at all. And so, you kind of have to start from the basics.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"s5\">How to keep up with a market that changes every week (hello, agentic AI)<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Sophie Buonassisi: <\/strong>And what do you use when you\u2019re looking to assess how educated buyers are?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Harmony Anderson: <\/strong>Yeah, so we talk\u2014we\u2019re constantly doing customer calls, calls with customers, calls with prospects. We do surveys, like the one I was mentioning\u2014the productivity and AI survey we did last month. I also do SEO research\u2014are people searching for these things? Are they clicking on articles about it? How often do we see it listed in PR and press?<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s truly about doing a market analysis. And there\u2019s so much changing in AI right now. Like two weeks ago, a lot of our messaging and positioning\u2014actually for the last six months\u2014was \u201cAI-powered.\u201d I use that as an example. About a month ago, we decided \u201cAI-powered\u201d isn\u2019t explicit enough for what we\u2019re actually doing, which we believe is better described with keywords like \u201cAI-native.\u201d That was a month ago\u2014and then even a couple days ago, we were like, now people are talking about \u201cagentic AI.\u201d So we\u2019re asking, where do we fit that into the overarching narrative?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sophie Buonassisi: <\/strong>So quickly.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Harmony Anderson: <\/strong>Literally changes week over week. So it depends on what industry you\u2019re in and what you\u2019re selling. But going deep into that and recognizing that people start out at very different levels of knowledge on things like AI\u2014it\u2019s up to you as a marketer to educate, inform, and then really talk about how you drive outcomes and success.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sophie Buonassisi: <\/strong>Makes sense, Harmony. And I mean, those are two fantastic tips: focus on outcomes, show\u2014don\u2019t tell. Once you have that pain point, the messaging, the outcomes for those personas, and a good understanding, how do you think about actually leveraging that? It almost feels like you\u2019ve created it into more of a storytelling component. And you\u2019ve emphasized the necessity of storytelling in this age of AI. How do you actually translate that into a demand gen engine?<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"s6\">Building campaigns that fuel your narrative across every channel<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Harmony Anderson: <\/strong>The kind of approach I usually take\u2014and the philosophy I have\u2014is to take the storytelling, package it up into a campaign, and then leverage that campaign across all of your different channels. Like, where do you actually put it in-market? Make sure you can push it as far and as fast as possible.<\/p>\n<p>One of the big things I always think about\u2014and what I do when I go into new companies\u2014is try to schedule a large Tier 1 or marquee campaign launch as fast as humanly possible. It could be focused on a specific story or message. It could be a major product launch. It could be seasonal. There are a lot of different types of campaigns, and a lot of businesses and marketing leaders define those differently. So I\u2019d say: make sure you\u2019re all speaking the same language as you\u2019re building a campaign framework and structure.<\/p>\n<p>Take the messaging, the positioning, the outcome-based stories that you\u2019ve built, and package them into a really thoughtful campaign with aligned programs\u2014and then put it into market.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m a firm believer in the \u201clightning strike\u201d strategy, where you package everything up, create a big splash moment in time, and then follow it up with \u201crolling thunder.\u201d I know it\u2019s a bit of marketing jargon, but it actually really works. I\u2019ve seen tons of success doing that. Just make sure that you don\u2019t stop after the first strike\u2014you\u2019ve got to keep going. What\u2019s the fast follow? What are the aligned campaigns for the next month or quarter? What product launches will support it? That\u2019s so incredibly valuable.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"s7\">Behind Superhuman\u2019s most successful campaign ever: \u201cNew Year, New Inbox\u201d<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Sophie Buonassisi: <\/strong>A hundred percent. You guys had a really cool campaign at the beginning of the year, and I remember seeing it because we were pretty fresh customers at that point. And I was like, that is so clever\u2014New Year, New Inbox. How did you think about the planning process around the messaging and packaging of that campaign? If we want to get really tactical for people listening, what went into the campaign and the thunder afterward?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Harmony Anderson: <\/strong>That\u2019s a really great question. I started at Superhuman at the end of November. We had an executive offsite, and I remember our CEO and one of our leaders saying that we usually see a spike in new users in January because of New Year\u2019s resolutions\u2014people want to be more productive and efficient, better at their jobs. We called it the \u201cgym effect.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So I had this lightbulb moment\u2014if they usually see a spike, can we make it bigger? It was perfect timing because I like to launch a campaign really quickly after I start. So I went to the team and said, \u201cI\u2019ve heard this is a thing\u2014let\u2019s make it a bigger thing and lean into this seasonal New Year\u2019s resolution angle.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then we asked: what data do we have to support the narrative and pain points? We had great product data around time savings\u2014you can save four hours per week with Superhuman. We know that if you use Superhuman AI, you\u2019re 35% more efficient and productive in your day, in your email, in your inbox.<\/p>\n<p>We used that to build a brand-new, end-to-end campaign. It included long-form strategic content, a virtual event, a customer webinar (which I\u2019ll come back to), a video, and very thoughtful ad messaging across all channels. We did a big social takeover, increased paid programs across Google, ran both organic and paid social, and ramped up affiliate advertising.<\/p>\n<p>We just put it everywhere. We increased spend, had a really thoughtful story, great creative\u2014and it was seasonal. It was almost the perfect storm of a campaign. We did it all at once, and honestly, I\u2019ve never had a campaign that was this successful in my entire career. This was the best. I think the reason it worked so well was we were really thoughtful about the message and the timing. Timing was everything.<\/p>\n<p>One of the biggest things that made it so successful was that we have a lot of amazing users\u2014tens of thousands\u2014who would literally do anything for Superhuman. They love the product. They talk about it constantly. We don\u2019t even need to ask them to share content; they just do it. On Twitter, on LinkedIn\u2014it\u2019s mostly organic.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"s8\">Unlocking 60% growth through user-generated content and affiliate advocacy<\/h3>\n<p>So we said: what if we gave them just a little more of a push, a bit of incentive to share? That was a key reason it was so successful. We heavily increased user-generated content (UGC) and affiliate reach. It drove a 60% increase in new seats month-over-month throughout that campaign, which is really incredible.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sophie Buonassisi: <\/strong>Wow, that\u2019s incredible. That almost feels like an elongated lightning strike in a way. The thunder itself just kept going\u2014driven by UGC and more after the campaign.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Harmony Anderson: <\/strong>It kept going and going. The thing about seasonal campaigns is\u2014they\u2019re seasonal. So there\u2019s an end date, especially with something like New Year\u2019s resolutions. I gave it six weeks. We had six weeks for this campaign.<\/p>\n<p>As we planned for it, we were also planning in real time for when it would become irrelevant\u2014when we\u2019d be too far past that New Year\u2019s momentum. So we planned a transition. Around week five or six, we removed the seasonal positioning and made the campaign evergreen\u2014and it kept going.<\/p>\n<p>Honestly, momentum slowed a little, but it carried us through to our next major product launch, which happened about eight weeks after the campaign started. That timing worked out great.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sophie Buonassisi: <\/strong>That\u2019s incredible, and that\u2019s a helpful timestamp for anyone listening\u2014just thinking about the volume or kind of size of splash and the impact on that timeline between your next campaign too.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"s9\">Why webinars and virtual events still drive real results (and feedback)<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Harmony Anderson: <\/strong>One thing we did too, which I tell marketers as well, is that there are programs that I\u2019d consider somewhat old school but still have a lot of legs. One of those is virtual events or webinars. You hear the word \u201cwebinar\u201d and you\u2019re like, \u201cUgh, do I actually have to attend a webinar?\u201d It can sound annoying.<\/p>\n<p>But our webinar strategy\u2014in Q1\u2014we drove, gosh, 5,800 registrants for our virtual events and well over 2,000 attendees. That was both customers and prospects. One of the best things was we got so much great customer feedback from those events.<\/p>\n<p>Webinars and events don\u2019t necessarily need to be just about driving direct demand\u2014they can serve a greater purpose too. Getting feedback from your users, thinking about the product roadmap, having that extra connection point. I wouldn\u2019t underestimate it. Virtual events are still alive and well, so I highly recommend keeping them as part of your strategy.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sophie Buonassisi: <\/strong>You heard it here, everyone\u2014digital, live events, webinars\u2014they\u2019re here to stay.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Harmony Anderson: <\/strong>Here to stay.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sophie Buonassisi: <\/strong>And that\u2019s fantastic. It is a feedback loop in itself, right? And one that you can actually run at scale, as opposed to the one-to-one interviews. Like you said, you\u2019re always talking to customers, so I\u2019m sure that\u2019s just a different format, different kind of narrative, different feedback loop. In the spirit of feedback loops\u2014earlier you mentioned the language is changing so quickly now. The latest is \u201cagentic workflows.\u201d How do you think about the packaging speed and execution of campaigns in respect to the quickly evolving timeline? Because it does feel like now things are shifting quicker than ever before. How do teams\u2014founders, marketers, anyone listening\u2014how do they keep up from a campaign perspective?<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"s10\">How to keep your messaging fresh while staying focused<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Harmony Anderson: <\/strong>I mean, that\u2019s a really great question, and it\u2019s not easy. I\u2019m not going to pretend like there\u2019s a silver bullet. I\u2019d say the big thing is\u2014you have to constantly be listening and evolving.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m a firm believer that storytelling and messaging and positioning\u2014it\u2019s never done. You\u2019re constantly trying to make it better. Whether there are new buzzwords emerging in the market or you\u2019re launching new product features, the narrative changes. It\u2019s just constant iteration, improving and refining.<\/p>\n<p>I will say\u2014I don\u2019t like doing large overhauls of messaging and positioning more than once or twice a year. And honestly, that\u2019s even a lot. But campaigns are how you can take your foundational umbrella narrative and messaging, and make sure it\u2019s relevant in the market at a given time.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s the great thing about campaigns\u2014they don\u2019t have to live forever. You can have evergreen campaigns that tie into your core narrative and keep going. But you can also react to the market with campaigns. That\u2019s something important to think about\u2014when you put in the time and effort to build positioning, know it\u2019s not set in stone.<\/p>\n<p>If you want to change something\u2014like we did a month ago\u2014we changed everything from \u201cAI-powered\u201d to \u201cAI-native\u201d almost overnight. You can do it. And that\u2019s okay. Especially in the world of AI, which is changing literally weekly\u2014it\u2019s okay to evolve.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sophie Buonassisi: <\/strong>Very cool. Great advice. And you know, we\u2019ve talked about campaigns and the outcome-focused emphasis and overall narrative. How does that fit into a program perspective? What does that really mean for the overarching program?<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"s11\">The difference between brand umbrella, campaign, and program \u2014 and why it<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Harmony Anderson: <\/strong>Yeah. So, my definition of a program is the channels and the plays that drive a campaign narrative. You\u2019ve got your overarching messaging and positioning as your major brand umbrella. Then you have campaigns underneath that. And within campaigns, you have programs.<\/p>\n<p>You can\u2019t have a successful campaign without programs that fuel it.<\/p>\n<p>One of my general philosophies for marketing end-to-end is that everyone consumes content in different ways. They care about different things. Some people are really deep on digital and see ads. Others aren\u2019t surfing the web, so they need emails. There are just a bunch of different ways to drive demand and awareness.<\/p>\n<p>So you need a healthy breadth and depth of programs to fuel your campaign and narrative.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"s12\">Harmony\u2019s lean, high-impact program playbook for early-stage teams<\/h3>\n<p>A few programs I always recommend\u2014and consider low-hanging fruit\u2014are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Paid social<\/strong>: Especially in tech and startups, LinkedIn is key. You need organic and paid.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Account-based content syndication<\/strong>: If you don\u2019t have a super healthy buyer database yet, get your content into the right communities.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Co-marketing<\/strong>: Like our partnership with GTMfund and GTMnow. Think about companies with similar audiences that aren\u2019t competitors\u2014how can you partner to get your name out there?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Those are the kinds of programs I focus on. I ask, what can I do to drive the biggest impact without the largest budgets? Then I go hard and heavy on those before expanding elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sophie Buonassisi: <\/strong>I love it. Always a perspective, especially in the startup world\u2014looking at the ROI and getting every bit of juice from the squeeze.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Harmony Anderson: <\/strong>Yeah, exactly. Quality over quantity though, for sure. I always believe that. So keep that in mind\u2014it\u2019s a best practice.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sophie Buonassisi:<\/strong><strong><br \/><\/strong> Great advice. And this has been super tactical, really helpful. Now, I\u2019d love to transition over to a bit more of a story from your career\u2014because you\u2019ve had an incredible, incredible career building marketing programs at multiple fantastic companies. What are some of the key learnings, or was there a pivotal moment throughout your career that stands out most for you?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Harmony Anderson: <\/strong>There\u2019s one thing\u2014this is more of a professional development learning that I\u2019ve had over the last 15 years-ish. I\u2019ve worked at a lot of great companies, with a lot of great people. I always come in owning large budgets and spending a lot\u2014because I\u2019m a marketer.<\/p>\n<p>So the biggest thing with that is bringing leaders in\u2014making friends, building relationships within the company, with your business stakeholders. Make sure you bring them along the journey with you. You\u2019ll have a lot less friction as you scale, hire, learn, pilot, and test new things.<\/p>\n<p>But one of the things I\u2019ve learned early on is: every single company I\u2019ve gone into\u2014except Superhuman\u2014I\u2019ve known someone who worked there previously. They\u2019ve all come through referrals. And I used to put a lot of stock into the feedback people gave me about who to talk to\u2014who\u2019s the right person, what they like, what they care about, especially when it comes to senior leadership.<\/p>\n<p>And I\u2019ve had it happen once or twice, but Outreach was the most extreme example. I came in and the people I knew were like, \u201cOh, you know, this senior leader\u2014super intense. Be careful with them.\u201d It was the CRO at the time. So I was really nervous. I decided to steer clear.<\/p>\n<p>And it really hurt my success in the beginning\u2014like the first six months of my tenure at Outreach. That person I was warned about? They\u2019re now one of my closest mentors. She is incredible\u2014she\u2019s helped me in my career many times. We have a really close bond and connection.<\/p>\n<p>So my learning was: come in with a completely open mind. Don\u2019t put too much stock into the feedback you\u2019re getting about who you should work with, what to think about messaging, or what does or doesn\u2019t work. Build your own perspectives as you enter a new company, or as you build new things or launch campaigns.<\/p>\n<p>What worked then doesn\u2019t always work now from a program perspective. And you never know when it comes to people. So make friends, build relationships, and focus on data\u2014that\u2019s what\u2019s going to make you a really incredibly successful marketer.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sophie Buonassisi: <\/strong>Great advice. Always keeping a blank canvas. I think it\u2019s very easy and common for there to be some paint on that canvas from other people\u2019s opinions and perspectives\u2014often well-intentioned. But there\u2019s a reason that you\u2019re entering fresh: to bring a fresh perspective. And like you said, everything changes. That is fantastic advice.<\/p>\n<p>Well Harmony, I\u2019d love to end with two questions here\u2014always the same. What is one tactic or strategy that is working for you right now?<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"s13\">Building a hype train: how to activate champions at launch<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Harmony Anderson: <\/strong>I mean, to put it simply: user-generated content (UGC). Your customers are your best advocates. They should help you sell your product. Lean on them to help you story tell. The more you invest in building champions within your users and your customers, the more demand you\u2019re going to drive in the future. The faster you\u2019re going to grow. So lean into that. If you have amazing users, you have champions\u2014help them help support you as a brand and as a business.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sophie Buonassisi: <\/strong>And how would people go into that? Let\u2019s break this down even more tactically. For a company that hasn\u2019t yet dabbled in user-generated content, what would be your first-step recommendation to get started? How do you actually encourage that?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Harmony Anderson: <\/strong>Yeah, a couple of the things we do\u2014which are very tactical\u2014when we launch new products or have betas, we allow our best users into the betas with the expectation that we\u2019ll review their data and they\u2019ll give us feedback before we go GA. One of the things we do with all launches is run \u201chype trains\u201d with our beta users.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s say we allow 1,000 users into the beta\u2014we give them a few days, then run email campaigns and programs to them. We even do exec outreach via email and social to encourage them to talk about it publicly. Sometimes we offer incentives, like fun swag.<\/p>\n<p>But a lot of the time, just communicate. A lot of people already love your product and are willing to talk about it. Don\u2019t be afraid to ask. If you have product data, use it to identify those champions, and encourage them to speak on your behalf.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sophie Buonassisi: <\/strong>That\u2019s great. Love the hype train verbiage too. Influencer strategies are commonly talked about now, but the deepest connections come from your best users\u2014your greatest advocates. It\u2019s fantastic that you\u2019re tapping into that.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Harmony Anderson: <\/strong>Yeah, absolutely.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sophie Buonassisi: <\/strong>And what is one widely held belief that revenue leaders have that you think is bullshit\u2014or is no longer serving us?<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"s14\">Hot take: marketing shouldn\u2019t be measured by pipeline alone<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Harmony Anderson: <\/strong>Marketing goes through these big swings. Like 20 years ago, it was super brand-centric. Brand was hard to track, but that\u2019s what marketers did. It was more visual, storytelling, strategy.<\/p>\n<p>Then it shifted into demand gen\u2014marketing should own pipeline, so now we needed pipeline numbers. Then we completely shifted away from brand, from storytelling, from customer success and retention.<\/p>\n<p>My biggest thing now: marketing should not only be measured on direct pipeline attribution. That shit is not the end-all-be-all.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, I don\u2019t think you should really ever be talking about attribution\u2014unless it\u2019s for budget and ROI on actual spend. Marketing plays a massive role in brand growth. How people perceive you in the market, driving top-of-funnel, supporting sales conversion, driving retention, expansion\u2014the entire customer lifecycle. Marketing should own that journey end to end.<\/p>\n<p>So don\u2019t just focus on pipeline. It\u2019s a narrow view of what marketing can do for a business.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sophie Buonassisi: <\/strong>Oh Harmony, my heart is singing right now. I\u2019m so passionate about this too. I love that you said that. I think this is step two for us\u2014first we nailed top-of-funnel. Now we\u2019re progressing down the funnel. Like you said, that\u2019s just the beginning. The real game is in efficiency metrics, brand sentiment, conversion, retention\u2014all of it.<\/p>\n<p>Pipeline is just a small slice of the pie. It\u2019s more about momentum in the right direction.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"s15\">Why NRR (not just pipeline) should be a marketing KPI.<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Harmony Anderson: <\/strong>Exactly. One example\u2014our executive team has key results that each of us are accountable for. Sure, we have managed pipeline metrics, SALs, things marketing needs to support. But the metric I\u2019m personally held accountable for as the marketing leader? Net revenue retention for a very specific part of our customer base: 5+ self-serve NRR.<\/p>\n<p>It just depends on your business priorities. But pipeline is only part of the picture. You can go so much deeper into the funnel.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sophie Buonassisi: <\/strong>That\u2019s fantastic. Sounds like you\u2019ve got great alignment, which is key\u2014especially to connect marketing into the broader GTM engine. Any advice for leaders trying to encourage that kind of alignment or shift toward NRR or other metrics beyond pipeline?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Harmony Anderson: <\/strong>Yeah. The big thing is to look at where your business is at\u2014its growth, its lifecycle. Are you early-stage? Do you have tens of thousands of customers? Are you self-serve, product-led, or sales-led?<\/p>\n<p>Ask those questions. Figure out where marketing can make the most business impact and where that hits the funnel. Make sure you\u2019re aligned with the rest of the leadership team. If something feels off\u2014ask. It probably is.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s my biggest advice. Alignment depends on where your business is, but asking the right questions early on ensures success.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sophie Buonassisi: <\/strong>Communication\u2014always key.<\/p>\n<p>Well Harmony, this has been fantastic. Really appreciate your time and all the tactical advice. Where can people find you and connect with you?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Harmony Anderson: <\/strong>Find me on LinkedIn, please! I love networking and connecting with people. We\u2019re also hiring across almost every org at Superhuman. So find me\u2014I\u2019d love to connect. Don\u2019t be shy.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sophie Buonassisi: <\/strong>Perfect. Well, wonderful. Thank you again, Harmony. To all the listeners\u2014thank you for hanging out with us, and we\u2019ll see you next episode<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/gtmnow.com\/gtm-143-why-ai-messaging-fails-harmony-anderson\/\">GTM 143: Why Most AI Messaging Fails and How to Actually Stand Out in a Crowded Market | Harmony Anderson<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/gtmnow.com\">GTMnow<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The GTM Podcast is available on any major directory, including: Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube Harmony&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":278,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sales"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.hudsonpcrepair.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.hudsonpcrepair.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.hudsonpcrepair.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hudsonpcrepair.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hudsonpcrepair.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=708"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.hudsonpcrepair.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":709,"href":"http:\/\/www.hudsonpcrepair.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708\/revisions\/709"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hudsonpcrepair.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.hudsonpcrepair.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hudsonpcrepair.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hudsonpcrepair.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}