Translate a finished positioning document into a messaging system: champion → value matrix → messaging house → core narrative → homepage → rollout. Pulls Pierri's 7-step homepage framework, YLP's 3-phase workbook, and Kramer's positioning-to-copy pipeline.
When to use
After positioning is locked. Before any homepage rewrite, sales-deck refresh, or paid-channel push. Re-run after major ICP, product, or competitive shifts.
Inputs required
- Completed positioning document (canvas, statement, house skeleton)
- 5–10 customer interviews
- Competitive analysis with win/loss patterns
- Product demo/docs
- Site analytics (for rollout prioritization)
Steps
1. Lock the champion. Person closest to the problem, not the budget holder. Map company type, persona, and JTBD situation.
2. Run JTBD interviews. Use Moesta's switch-trigger frame (JTBD interviews surface the customer's actual language and the switch trigger). Capture verbatim language for headlines.
3. Map the champion's situation. List functional activities, cross out what the product doesn't address, narrow to the exact pain.
4. Document current-way limitations. What breaks, what's slow, what's manual today. This is the "old game" half of the strategic narrative (Run a monthly narrative-drift audit across decks, homepage, and release notes).
5. Pick product type and comparator. New category, 10x better, new way, or incumbent (Kramer).
6. Build the value matrix. Per persona: Pain → Product Benefit → Feature/Attribute → Message.
7. Write overall positioning paragraph. Unique Belief, Value Provided, Who Cares, One-Liner.
8. Map the capability layer. For each feature, define what the user DOES. The capability bridges feature to benefit; copy hangs off capabilities, not features.
9. Build the messaging house. Overall value prop on top, exactly 3 pillars, supporting features under each.
10. Write the core narrative. One paragraph: problem, stakes, solution, outcome. This is the seed for every channel.
11. Generate 3+ angles. For each, map anchor type × persona × emotional driver. Pick based on ICP alignment, not novelty.
12. Write navbar micro-messages. One-line value prop per page or section.
13. Structure the homepage. Hero (problem-led) → Social Proof → Problem Section → Solution by Persona → Trust → Closing CTA. Apply Pierri's 5-second test (B2B homepages must communicate use case, alternative, and result in five seconds) and the pain-solution-proof interleave (Pitch a vision as pain → solution → proof, interleaved per beat — not three sequential acts).
14. Apply LP writing style. Hemingway sentences. Conversational. Problem → Solution → Outcome. Features linked to outcomes via capabilities. No revenue-speak in the hero.
15. Use Before/After framing. Two-column visual contrast: current state vs. product state.
16. Embed social proof per persona section. Specific metric + named person + named company. Interleave after every 2nd or 3rd benefit claim, never segregated to a single testimonial section.
17. Add industry/vertical panels if horizontal product. Pain + solution + proof per vertical.
18. Build the rollout tracker. Phase every page. Score by traffic × CVR × strategic impact. Assign owners + ETAs.
19. Test live. A/B test headlines. Track CVR shifts post-rollout.
20. Enable the org. Sales decks, product alignment, channel consistency.
Quality gates
- Messaging hits the champion's exact pain. No "increase revenue."
- Every value-matrix message traces to a real interview pain.
- Features shown through capabilities (verbs), not abstract benefits.
- 3+ angles generated and evaluated before choosing.
- Every section passes the ONE check (Outcome, Narrative, Evidence).
- Every feature section uses 3W (What it is, Why the benefit, So what outcome).
- Sales can use the matrix at 4 levels: persona → pillar → sub-point → talking point.
Common failure modes
- Hero leads with aspirational outcomes (every sales tool says "build pipeline").
- Targeting the budget holder instead of the champion.
- Too many segments on one page.
- Feature overload, no capability bridge.
- "Guitar teacher" anti-pattern: too many new concepts in one scroll.
- Treating positioning/messaging/copy as interchangeable. They are three distinct layers.
- Skipping the rollout tracker — messaging gets written but never systematically deployed.
Outputs
1. Champion profile.
2. Value matrix per persona.
3. Messaging house (3 pillars).
4. Core narrative.
5. Angle comparison sheet.
6. Homepage wireframe with copy.
7. Before/After frames.
8. Rollout tracker.