How to map Homepage Messaging to your Audience

Messaging based on different types of product market fit

Speaking directly to your audience

Your startup’s homepage is prime real estate.

It’s the first impression you make on potential customers, and you only have a few seconds to grab their attention and convince them to stay and try your product. That’s why your homepage hero messaging – the big headline, image, or video at the top of the page – is so critical.

It should immediately tell visitors what you do and why they should care.

But how do you craft messaging that resonates with different audience segments, especially as you are trying to find product market fit?

Understanding your audience's mindset

There are only 3 Audience mindsets based on product market fit

The image outlines three different audience mindsets, each requiring a different approach to messaging:

• Problem-Aware Time-sensitive Audience: This audience knows they have a problem and are actively looking for a solution. Your messaging should focus on how your product solves their pain points. Use strong verbs and highlight the key benefits that differentiate you from competitors.

• Solution-Aware High-inertia Audience: This audience is aware of solutions like yours, but they may be using a competitor’s product or they may not be convinced that they need a solution at all. Your messaging should focus on why your solution is better. Emphasize unique features and benefits, and quantify the value proposition with numbers or social proof.

• Unaware Skeptical Audience: This audience may not even realize they have a problem that your product can solve. Your messaging needs to educate them about the problem and how your product can improve their lives. Use clear and concise language to explain the problem and pique their interest.

Tailoring Your Homepage Messaging

The image provides a framework to tailor your homepage hero messaging to each audience mindset:

• Problem-Aware Time-sensitive Audience:

  • Market situation: Crowded. Your competitors are trying to solve this problem because there is money to be made.

  • Emphasize: "We solve this problem well with a difference."

  • Example: "Tax filing is due in 16 days. Tired of manually tracking your expenses? Our budgeting app does the tax filing for you."

• Solution-Aware High-inertia Audience:

  • Market situation: High inertia. Prospects are not willing to change.

  • Emphasize: "It's worth solving because of this 10x benefit."

  • Example: "Do you travel a lot but don’t budget well? We save 23% on international transactions."

• Unaware Skeptical Audience::

  • Market situation: Skeptical because there is a night and day difference between what your prospects do now and what you have to offer.

  • Emphasize: "Let me show you how this customer solved a similar problem."

  • Example: "Never realized you needed an automatic budgeting app? See how our customer went from financial stress to financial freedom."

By understanding your audience’s mindset, you can create homepage messaging that speaks directly to your audience and helps your startup achieve faster product market fit.