Why Copywriting & Storytelling Are Key To Product Management (With Drift's Dave Gerhardt) - Build with Maggie Crowley Recap

Podcast: Build with Maggie Crowley

Published: 2023-01-03

Duration: 29 min

Guests: Dave Gerhardt

Summary

Copywriting and storytelling are crucial for product management. They help articulate the 'why' behind product features, motivate teams, and ultimately connect with customers more effectively.

What Happened

Dave Gerhardt recounts his brief stint as a product manager at Drift, highlighting the importance of storytelling in product management. He argues that internal marketing is an undervalued skill in companies, crucial for rallying teams and ensuring everyone understands the 'why' behind their work.

Gerhardt emphasizes the need for simplicity and clarity in communication, suggesting that saying what you mean is more important than adhering to grammatical rules. He shares that his learning came from working closely with mentors who critiqued his writing, pushing him to be clear and direct.

A significant part of the discussion focuses on using customers' own words for effective copywriting. Gerhardt suggests gathering insights from customer reviews or direct interactions to understand and use the language that resonates with them.

The conversation also touches on the importance of storytelling frameworks, especially in writing specs or one-pagers for products. Gerhardt shares a five-step framework: tell a story, pose a problem, state the solution, show examples, and conclude with a call to action.

Books on advertising and copywriting are recommended as resources to learn from past effective marketing campaigns. He highlights titles like Ogilvy on Advertising and Cashvertising for their practical insights into persuasive writing.

Gerhardt also discusses the importance of a swipe file for product managers, encouraging them to collect and learn from existing examples in their field. This helps in understanding the competitive landscape and refining their own approaches.

Finally, the episode wraps up with a focus on the importance of focusing on outcomes rather than just features in product management. By tying every small bug fix or feature to a larger narrative, product managers can maintain motivation and clarity within their teams.

Key Insights

• Internal marketing within companies is vital for aligning teams and ensuring everyone understands the purpose behind their tasks, according to insights from Drift's product management practices.
• Effective copywriting in product management involves using the language of customers, gathered from reviews or direct interactions, to resonate with the target audience.
• A five-step storytelling framework for product specifications includes telling a story, posing a problem, stating a solution, providing examples, and concluding with a call to action.
• Maintaining a swipe file helps product managers learn from existing examples, understand the competitive landscape, and refine their strategies, enhancing their ability to focus on outcomes rather than just features.