You’ve built something strong. The technology works. The strategy’s solid. Everything’s in motion.

But sometimes, even when everything looks right, the traction isn’t quite there. Buyers hesitate. Investors aren’t quite convinced. Everyone’s working hard, but the story behind it all feels harder to pin down than it should.

We’ve seen this play out with teams doing great work, especially when products are complex, fast-moving, or evolving quickly. And often, it’s not a sales issue or a comms issue. It’s a clarity issue.

That’s where product marketing comes in.

The warning signs

It usually starts subtly. A meeting where the other side zones out. A pitch that feels solid but gets a lukewarm response. The polite interest, followed by a quiet no.

Here are a few common signs your product story might be slowing you down:

These are more than communication challenges. They’re serious barriers to growth.

And if any of it sounds familiar, don’t worry. There are simple ways to start fixing it. We’ll share a few at the end.

The groundwork that makes everything click

Product marketing isn’t a finishing touch. It’s the work that connects what you’ve built with the people it’s for.

Done properly, it defines who your audience is, how they think, and what matters to them. It gives your product a position in the market and a message your team can rally around. It helps sales feel confident, marketing feel focused, and customers feel understood.

We saw this firsthand on a recent project with Nmblr, a powerful biopharma collaboration platform. The product had huge potential, but a complex architecture made it difficult to explain clearly. We spent time getting under the skin of the technology, clarifying how the parts fit together, and shaping a strategy and story the whole team could align behind.

One of the biggest challenges was simply mapping it all out. The platform was still evolving, and the story needed to be carefully drawn out and shaped into something everyone could rally behind. It took thoughtful digging to get to a version that felt right internally and would resonate externally. But once that clarity was in place, everything else flowed more easily.

As their chairman later put it:

“Luna 9 took a brilliant but complex product with the potential to help millions and turned it into a clear, compelling story that captured both its purpose and ambition. They nailed it, strategically and creatively.”

Without that clarity, even the best go-to-market plans and marketing campaigns can fall flat. You end up promoting something your audience doesn’t understand or want.

What product marketing unlocks

When the foundations are right, everything else performs better:

This isn’t about sounding better. It’s about aligning on what you stand for, and making that clear to the people who matter.

Common pitfalls and how to avoid them

We’ve worked with fast-moving teams where the product evolves quickly, but the story doesn’t keep pace. These are the patterns we often see:

Rushing ahead without a roadmap
Teams move fast on launches or campaigns without mapping the journey. The message isn’t tested, the plan isn’t clear, and teams end up reacting instead of steering. It feels like progress, but it’s hard to tell if it’s heading in the right direction.

Building assets before building alignment
It’s tempting to get the website and pitch deck out quickly, before fully aligning on what the product stands for. But that lack of clarity often shows up in sales and marketing, and it’s harder and more expensive to fix once you’re live.

Talking in technical terms, not human ones
This is common in deep tech and science-led teams. You know the detail, you love the engineering, but your audience needs the story. Without it, they won’t connect with what you’re offering or understand why they should care.

Losing control of the narrative
There’s a short window after launch to show people who you are and why you matter. Miss it, and a competitor might get there first, while your audience makes up their own minds about you.

What high performers do differently

In teams where product marketing really works, it’s usually because they’ve built good habits early and laid the right foundations.

The best teams start with product marketing, not just end with it. They take time to understand what their audience actually needs to hear. They align early around a clear, confident story. And they favour clarity over cleverness.

Above all, they shape messaging around what works in practice, not just what looks good on paper. It’s tested, usable, and built for real conversations.

One thing we’ve learned is that clarity doesn’t always come quickly, especially when the product is still evolving. But that’s exactly why the work matters. Nail the positioning early, and the rest of your go-to-market can grow with confidence.

How clarity drives results

We’ve had clients who were hesitant to pause for this kind of work. One founder admitted, “At the outset, committing to a full branding project felt too high-risk for our business.” But as we worked through each phase, he began to see how the structure and clarity we were building would pay off. The outcome? A 34% increase in target client acquisition within three months, and a stronger hand in both sales conversations and market positioning.

Whether or not you’re doing a full rebrand, the principle holds. Clarity early on leads to better outcomes later.

We’ve also seen how this same clarity can unlock investment. When we worked with Anaphite, a startup pushing the boundaries of EV battery technology, they had the science but needed a story. We helped them shape a pitch that brought their innovation to life in a way investors could understand and back. That clarity was instrumental in securing £10.4M in Series A funding.

That work became the foundation not just for the raise, but for their next stage of global growth. We’ve seen the same effect with other science-led businesses too, like WASE, where sharper messaging and positioning played a key role in generating £2M in new revenue.

Where to start

If your story isn’t cutting through, you don’t need to scrap everything. But it’s worth taking a step back to see what’s working and what isn’t. Here are a few ways to get started:

Clarity often starts with small, focused steps. The earlier you pin it down, the easier everything else becomes.

A reminder from an unlikely hero

We wrote recently about Henry Hoover, a product that defies expectations.

He’s not sleek, cordless, or smart (sorry, old friend). He falls over. A lot. And yet he’s in homes, hotels, and building sites across the country.

People get him. They trust him. And they remember him.

That’s what a clear, consistent and compelling product story can do. Henry isn’t winning on performance specs. He’s winning on connection.

And that’s what we’ve seen with the most enduring products — the ones that become easy to talk about, easy to choose, and hard to ignore.

You rarely get a second chance to shape how people see you. Make it count

It’s easy to get caught up in building campaigns and assets. But if the story isn’t clear, the rest won’t land.

Product marketing gives you the confidence to say: this is who we’re for, this is how we help, and this is why it matters.

When people understand what you’re offering — and believe in its value — they’re far more likely to act.

That’s how a good product becomes the obvious choice, not just a cool idea.

Read more: From inbound to outbound: When it’s time to take control >>