A while back, I was reviewing the onboarding emails for one of our products.
Every new user received the exact same message.
It explained the product, highlighted a few features, and encouraged them to explore.
On paper, it looked fine.
But something didn’t sit right.
Some users had signed up to solve one problem, while others had completely different goals. Yet we were speaking to all of them as if they were the same person.
That’s when it hit me.
We spend a lot of time personalizing products, but not nearly enough time personalizing the way we communicate with different users.
And those two things should go hand in hand.
Different Users Care About Different Things
Imagine two people signing up for the same product.
One wants to save time.
The other wants better collaboration across their team.
If both receive a message that says, “Discover our latest collaboration features,” only one of them is likely to pay attention.
The message isn’t wrong.
It’s just not relevant.
People naturally respond to information that connects with the problem they’re trying to solve.
Features Don’t Mean the Same Thing to Everyone
One lesson I’ve learned is that the same feature can create value for different reasons.
Take notifications, for example.
For one user, they’re a reminder to finish important work.
For another, they’re a way to stay informed about team activity.
For someone else, they might simply be noise.
The feature hasn’t changed.
The context has.
That’s why messaging shouldn’t focus only on what a feature does.
It should explain why it matters to that particular user.
Segment Before You Communicate
I’ve seen teams spend weeks writing the perfect onboarding email or product announcement.
But they skip an important step.
Who is this message actually for?
New users often need reassurance and guidance.
Experienced users may just want to know what’s changed.
Power users usually care about advanced capabilities.
Customers who haven’t logged in for weeks probably need a reminder of the value they originally came for.
Trying to write one message for everyone usually results in a message that resonates with very few.
Speak to the Problem, Not the Product
One mistake I made early on was describing features instead of outcomes.
“We’ve launched dashboard filters.”
“We’ve improved reporting.”
“We’ve added bulk actions.”
Those announcements explained what changed.
They didn’t explain why anyone should care.
Over time, I found that messages become much stronger when they start with the customer’s problem.
Instead of saying:
“We’ve introduced bulk actions.”
You might say:
“Managing hundreds of records shouldn’t require hundreds of clicks.”
The feature is the solution.
The problem is what captures attention.
Timing Matters as Much as the Message
Even a well-written message can fail if it arrives at the wrong moment.
Imagine showing advanced analytics to someone who hasn’t finished onboarding.
Or promoting collaboration features before they’ve invited a single teammate.
The content might be valuable.
It’s just arriving too early.
I’ve found that the most effective communication often follows customer behavior rather than a fixed schedule.
When users complete an important milestone, that’s usually the right time to introduce what’s next.
Keep Testing Your Assumptions
One thing I’ve learned is that messaging is never really finished.
Small changes in wording can change how users respond.
Sometimes a message focused on saving time performs better.
Other times, emphasizing accuracy or collaboration resonates more.
The only reliable way to know is to test, learn, and iterate.
Just like we experiment with product features, we should experiment with communication.
Final Thought
It’s easy to think of messaging as something that belongs to marketing.
But Product Managers shape customer communication every day through onboarding, feature announcements, in-app guidance, and product education.
The goal isn’t to write clever copy.
It’s to help the right users understand why something matters to them.
Because the truth is, your product doesn’t have one type of user.
So it shouldn’t have just one message.
The more your communication reflects the different problems, goals, and stages of your users, the more likely they are to feel that your product was built with them in mind.
And sometimes, that feeling is just as important as the feature itself.
Leave a Reply