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Product Message Testing: How B2B Product Teams Craft Messages that Drive Market Success

Drive Product Adoption With GLG Message Testing
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Your B2B product is engineered to solve critical customer challenges. But in today’s fiercely competitive landscape, are your messages truly cutting through the noise to drive adoption and secure market success, or are they falling flat and costing you valuable opportunities? 

Moving beyond assumptions to ensure your product messages resonate deeply with your target audience is paramount. The answer lies in robust product messaging development, testing, and optimization, powered by expert-led market research. 

GLG helps clients solve critical challenges in their product life cycle by employing diverse research methodologies to develop, test, and refine messaging strategies. This article explores the types of research used in B2B product message testing and the real-world use cases GLG helps clients address, ensuring their messages are clear, credible, urgent, unique, valuable, and relevant. 

Use Cases: Solving Critical Messaging Challenges 

GLG’s message testing solutions address a variety of key client needs across the product life cycle, providing crucial customer insights: 

  • Early-Stage Messaging Development: GLG assists in developing potential message houses, core messaging pillars, or lists of messaging statements. This qualitative phase focuses on shaping the initial product value proposition. 
  • Prelaunch Buildout: GLG partners closely with product and product marketing teams to align on go-to-market strategies. This effectively creates an organizational playbook for communicating product features, helping to minimize market risk and maximize launch ROI. This quantitative phase focuses on identifying winning messaging themes and refining statements pre–launch. 
  • Message Selection: Clients often seek to identify the single most resonant messaging pillar (with proof points) or to narrow down a long list of specific messaging statements based on their resonance. This typically involves quantitative methods or a blend of quantitative and qualitative approaches GLG employs via an online discussion board, ensuring alignment with buyer personas. 

Research Methods Used to Craft and Refine Effective Messaging Strategies 

Effective product message testing requires a blend of qualitative and quantitative research techniques, designed with pre–defined questions to uncover insights into messaging clarity, credibility, urgency, uniqueness, value, and relevance. GLG offers a comprehensive suite of methodologies to address various stages of messaging development and optimization. Here are four key approaches and market research strategies: 

  1. 1:1 Interviews Moderated by an Industry SME: These in-depth qualitative conversations allow for nuanced exploration of buyer perceptions, pain points, and message resonance. GLG’‘s experts can probe specific areas for rich, verbatim responses and transcripts, crucial for early-stage messaging development. In one case, a large technology client with GLG was able to leverage the help of an industry SME to gather and analyze the qualitative insights of 15 phone interviews with IT decision makers in key segments, ultimately leading to a clear consensus on which way to steer their product messaging. 
  2. Focus Groups Moderated by an Industry SME: Ideal for understanding group dynamics and uncovering shared perspectives, focus groups facilitate discussions around messaging strategies. These are valuable for early-stage messaging development and for exploring compelling messaging strategies when product value propositions and features are well-understood. 
  3. Online Discussion Boards: These provide a flexible platform for gathering qualitative feedback from a targeted audience over an extended period, allowing for deeper engagement and iterative feedback on messaging concepts. This method is highly effective for early-stage messaging development and exploring strategic messaging approaches. For example, a GLG client leveraged a discussion board to test six vision statements to better understand what kind of messaging resonates with their target audience’s future expectations.
  4. Quantitative Surveys, including MaxDiff Analysis (Maximum Differential Scaling): These surveys gather statistically robust insights into message resonance, appeal, and clarity from broad audiences, providing data files, cross-tabs, and interactive dashboards. MaxDiff, often integrated, measures the relative importance of features or benefits by forcing trade-offs, providing a clear hierarchy of preferences. GLG uses MaxDiff to identify compelling product features from long lists and integrates it into its proprietary ““Demand Space”“ solution to pinpoint unmet customer needs, guiding future product enhancements or launches.

    Method Use when… How you’ll use it…
    1:1 Interviews Moderated by an Industry SME Early stages of messaging development, exploring potential message houses, core messaging pillars, or lists of messaging statements. Conduct in-depth qualitative conversations to explore nuanced buyer perceptions, pain points, and how potential messages resonate. Experts probe specific areas for rich, verbatim responses and transcripts.
    Focus Groups Moderated by an Industry SME Understanding group dynamics and uncovering shared perspectives; valuable for early-stage messaging development and exploring compelling messaging strategies when product value propositions and features are well-understood. Facilitate discussions around messaging strategies to identify areas of improvement.
    Online Discussion Boards Gathering qualitative feedback from a targeted audience over an extended period; highly effective for early-stage messaging development and exploring strategic messaging approaches. Provide a flexible platform for deeper engagement and iterative feedback on messaging concepts.
    Quantitative Surveys, including MaxDiff Analysis Validating message effectiveness, identifying winning themes, and refining messaging statements before launch. MaxDiff is ideal for obtaining a clear, reliable hierarchy of preferences, identifying compelling product features from long lists, and pinpointing unmet customer needs. Gather statistically robust insights into message resonance, appeal, and clarity from broad audiences, providing data files, cross-tabs, and interactive dashboards. MaxDiff, integrated into these surveys, measures the relative importance of features or benefits by forcing trade-offs, providing a clear hierarchy of preferences and informing product enhancements or new launches via the “Demand Space” solution.

Conclusion 

Effective product messaging is not a guessing game. By leveraging diverse market research methodologies, accessing verified B2B audiences, and embracing innovative analytical techniques like MaxDiff, companies can move beyond assumptions to craft messages that truly resonate. GLG provides the expertise, methodologies, and end-to-end support to help B2B organizations develop, test, and optimize their product messaging, driving stronger market engagement and, ultimately, business success by delivering actionable insights and measurable ROI. 

Why use GLG For Product Message Testing: Unparalleled Access and Actionable Intelligence

At its core, effective B2B message testing hinges on direct feedback from verified B2B buyers. GLG provides unparalleled access to this critical audience through its global expert network of over 1.2 million professionals, adding 11,000 new members monthly and meticulously screening for specific primary research needs. This unique reach to specialized buyer populations (e.g., IT decision makers, medical professionals, trade professionals, and B2B customers) differentiates GLG as a leader in B2B market intelligence.

GLG offers end-to-end support for message testing engagements, managing everything from design and fieldwork to comprehensive synthesis. Clients receive detailed, actionable deliverables including data files, interactive dashboards, recordings, and transcripts, ensuring data-driven insights and strategic recommendations for optimizing product messaging. 

Ready to optimize your product messaging with data-driven insights? Connect with GLG’‘s experts today to discuss your specific needs.

 

Other Recommended Resources:  

GLG eBook: Message Testing: Best Practices  

What Is Message Testing and Why Does It Matter? 

How to Conduct Message Testing 

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Speaker Biographies

Hilary Malone PhD, has over 25 years of experience in global drug development, regulatory &government affairs, manufacturing and commercialization within the biopharma industry. Hilary hassignificant board level and executive committee experience including large scale organizationalrestructuring/transformation/integration, major M&A, biotech start-up, capital raising, investorrelations and pre-IPO.​

Hilary is currently CEO of Stylus Medicine, a private genetic medicine biotech company. Previously sheserved as CEO of a Series-A neuroscience company. Prior to these roles, Hilary served as COO & EVP atValo Health Inc., Chief Regulatory Officer & SVP at Sanofi Inc., and Chief Regulatory Officer & SVP atPfizer and Wyeth. Previous experience also includes senior regulatory and drug development roles atReata Pharmaceuticals Inc., AstraZeneca plc and GlaxoSmithKline plc.​

Hilary also serves on the Board of Directors of Hansa Biopharma and Adthera Bio. Hilary holds a PhD inMolecular Neuropharmacology and a BSc in Physiology.

Dr. Thomas Lönngren is Director at his own company PharmaExec Consulting AB. He is the Chairman of the Board of directors at Egetis Therapeutics AB, Sweden. Dr Lönngren also serves as board member at Compass Pathways PLC, London UK and NDA Group, Sweden. He acts as advisor to the following companies and organizations: NDA group, Sweden, Sweden, Artis Venture, San Francisco, US, Fujimoto Japan, Skin2Neuron Pty Ltd, Sydney, Australia, US, Special advisor to the Centre for Innovation in Regulatory Science (CIRS), London UK. From 2001 until2011, Mr.Lönngren served as the Executive Director of the European Medical Agency. He was previously Deputy General Director of the Swedish Medical Product Agency until 2000. He has a degree in pharmacy and MSc in Social and Regulatory Pharmacy from Uppsala University. He is also an Honorary Member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in Great Britain, Honorary Doctorate from the University of Uppsala, Honorary Doctorate from University of Bath, UK.

Speaker Biographies

Marie-Anne Aymerich

Marie-Anne has built a portfolio of senior advisory and non-executive roles, following a successful international career in the FMCG and Luxury sectors. She is a non-executive director of Haleon, a FTSE100 company listed in 2022 after the demerger from GSK. She is also chairwoman of Haleon Environment and Societal Sustainability committee. She is the executive director of the Pierre Fabre Group where she also sits on the Strategic Committee, and she is a Board Member of The Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, one of the world’s most prestigious chamber orchestras. She is also an angel investor and focuses her time and investments on start-ups with the strongest purpose and impact.

Marie-Anne is also a regular lecturer at HEC Paris on purposeful leadership, and she has created a serious game called “Planet Purpose” to upskill people on sustainability and purpose. Throughout her 35year executive career she delivered a strong track-record of business performance and growth in brands and portfolio in both developed and emerging economies.

As a senior leader with Unilever, she led a number of different personal care categories across France, Spain and the USA – including managing the Dove brand worldwide and culminating in leading Unilever’s global Oral Care division. She also worked for LVMH as Brand General Manager of Dior Perfumes and Cosmetics worldwide. Marie-Anne was also Vice-President of Imagine for Margo – Children with Cancer for ten years, a charity she helped found in 2011 with the goal of eradicating children’s cancer. The charity is the #1 charity focused on child cancer in France and has fundraised more than €14m since its creation. Marie-Anne is a graduate from HEC Paris. She is married and has two children aged 29 and 26.

Patrick Jephson

Patrick Jephson is a consultant, journalist, broadcaster and New York Times bestselling author, based in Washington D.C. He is a published authority on corporate and personal branding and crisis communications, addressing conferences worldwide as well as events at the U.S. State Department, the American University and the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

With more than twenty-five years’ experience in the government, luxury and family office sectors, Patrick’s portfolio has included globally admired brands as well as national agencies and NGOs. He has also worked on reputation and legacy briefs with European, Middle Eastern and Asian families, including royalty. He now writes, presents, and advises on factual and drama TV programs, appearing on every major American and many international networks. He was recently an expert consultant to the award-winning Netflix series The Crown and provided live commentary on the Coronation of King Charles.

Patrick owes much of his practical communications and protocol experience to Princess Diana, who chose him to be her equerry and only private secretary/chief of staff. He served the Princess for eight years, responsible for all aspects of her public life, global humanitarian initiatives, and private organization. Having worked for an internationally high-profile woman (and as the father of two professionally successful daughters) he feels a special affinity for cross-cultural, gender and perception issues.

Patrick was born and raised in Ireland and holds a master’s degree in political science from Cambridge University. As an officer in the British Royal Navy, he served all over the world before being selected for royal duty. He is a citizen of the U.K., U.S.A., Ireland, and Canada.