Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeMessagingEverything You Say Matters

Everything You Say Matters

This week I got an invitation from someone to connect on LinkedIn and I noticed a change in the text they are using.  The previous invitations I received had the subject line that said: “Join my Network on LinkedIn.”  The latest one I received said “John Smith wants to stay in touch on LinkedIn.”

The difference might not seem like much on the surface but from a product marketing perspective this seems like a big change to me.  There are the obvious benefits to putting the person’s name in the subject line, thus making it easier to figure out who’s doing the inviting, but the more interesting change in my view is the change from “joining a network” to “staying in touch”.  The first is passive and lets me draw my own conclusions about what the benefits are of joining someone’s network.  The second subject line is much more active and attempts to articulate the specific value of why you might want to join that person’s network – i.e. so you can stay in touch.  If you do a lot of networking and have used LinkedIn for ages  the change probably doesn’t mean much but I suspect for people who are new to LinkedIn and perhaps even new to networking in general, the new subject line makes a whole lot more sense.

In your own company you can probably think of a dozen messages like the LinkedIn subject line, that you are putting in front of your customers everyday.  Do they all reflect your company’s value as much as they could?

First time reader?  Why not subscribe or follow me on Twitter?

RELATED ARTICLES

13 COMMENTS

  1. I think the shift in the way LinkedIn is positioning themselves is interesting. They are moving away from that whole “person I can trust” thing.
    Jon

    • Thanks for the comment. I wonder how much they are just in the testing phases of this new messaging – the shift doesn’t seem to be reflected anywhere else in their marketing yet.
      April

  2. I’m not a product marketer – I lack your theoretical insight – but I’ve long had similar thoughts on twitter’s “new follower” alerts.

    Since its inception, the new follower subject line has read “So and so is now following you on twitter!” I’ve always found this interesting, and sift through my auto-filter from time to time to see if twitter’s changed their messaging.

    Through this line, they brand their service as a non-reciprocal relationship. I think a subtle shift to “So and so likes what you have to say” or “Start talking to so and so on twitter” might be a fresh move – it’s not just a semantic shift, either.

    I’ve also hoped for twitter to introduce an optional text field to explain why I’ve chosen to follow someone. An initial introduction – “Hey! I love some of the links you’ve shared on accessible design” or so forth would likely lead me to reciprocate a follow. Twitter could send this message with the email notification or as a one-off DM.

    Thanks for this post.

Leave a Reply to Maria Pontikis Cancel reply

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Most Popular

Recent Comments

Ashawndra Edwards on Choosing a New Vertical Market
marcelene28 on Startup Marketing Podcast
Name: Johanna on How to Name Your Startup
Samuel Riksfjord on A Value Proposition Worksheet
Vivian Dilberd on Startup Marketing 101
Krissie Thornton on A Value Proposition Worksheet
Krissie Thornton on A Value Proposition Worksheet
David Locke on Startup Marketing Vs. Art
Justin Graf on Startup Marketing Vs. Art
Randomarketer on Startup Marketing Vs. Art
i2i-management.com on 3 Startup Branding Mistakes
Tim Johnson on Startup Messaging
Paul Bevan on Vertical Marketing 101
Tim Johnson on Vertical Marketing 101
Tim Johnson on Vertical Marketing 101
Alex Nimson on Vertical Marketing 101
Tim Johnson on Influencers Suck
Tim Johnson on Influencers Suck
Tim Johnson on Influencers Suck
Faisal on Influencers Suck
Kerry on Influencers Suck
Jonathan Beech on Influencers Suck
Martin Stimp on A New Marketing Framework
Tim Johnson on A New Marketing Framework
Sam Title on Press/Media Pages 101
Jonathan Beech on How to Name Your Startup
Tim Johnson on How to Name Your Startup
Johnson Choy on Startup Marketing Podcast
Andy Donovan on Startup Marketing Podcast
Maggie Jones on Startup Marketing Podcast
Joseph Dill on Startup Launches RIP
mrsprpro on Startup Launches RIP
topsy_top20k on Startup Launches RIP
JonMaster on Startup Marketing 101
topsy_top20k on Startup Marketing 101
Tony Wilson on I’m the #1 PM Blogger!
Jason Serres on I’m the #1 PM Blogger!
My boss is a Flintstone on Collateral Damage: Building a Content Plan
Steve Matthews on Spam is not Marketing
Mara Krieps on Finding First Customers
Carole-Ann Matignon on ProductCamp NYC
Adam Bullied on ProductCamp NYC
Andreas on ProductCamp NYC
Stewart Rogers on ProductCamp NYC
Roger L. Cauvin on The Art of the Customer Quote
April Dunford on Making it Real
April Dunford on Marketing Penalty Cards
April Dunford on Unhappy Customers Complain