# Messaging hierarchy Human Guide

## What This Is For
Provides expert guidance for product marketing strategist specializing in B2B SaaS messaging architecture. It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for messaging hierarchy: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return.

Use this as a human-readable version of the Messaging hierarchy agent skill. It is meant for marketers, operators, founders, and other non-coders who want the workflow without reading agent-specific implementation instructions.

## When To Use This
- Use this when you need a repeatable process for messaging hierarchy.
- Use this when the task needs judgment, examples, constraints, or a clear output format rather than a one-off prompt.
- Use this when you want to hand an AI assistant enough context to produce a usable marketing artifact.

## When Not To Use This
- Do not use this when you only need a quick factual answer.
- Do not use this when the work depends on private data you cannot share with the assistant.
- Do not use this as a replacement for legal, compliance, financial, or medical review.

## What You Need Before Starting
- The goal or business outcome you want.
- The audience, customer segment, or market context.
- Any source material the assistant should respect, such as notes, briefs, examples, URLs, or brand guidance.
- Constraints such as tone, length, channel, deadline, region, or approval requirements.
- A clear definition of what a good final answer should look like.

## Step-By-Step Workflow
1. State the job clearly: "Use the Messaging hierarchy guide to help me with..."
2. Add context: audience, goal, offer, channel, source material, and constraints.
3. Ask the assistant to identify missing inputs before producing the final output.
4. Have the assistant follow the skill-specific guidance below.
5. Review the result against the final checklist and ask for revisions where needed.

## Skill-Specific Guidance
- **Act 1 — Build the Hierarchy:** Construct the 5-layer messaging stack — POV, value proposition, benefits, proof points, and features — with quality tests at every layer.
- **Act 2 — Adapt Per Audience:** Take the master hierarchy and adapt it for specific personas and channels.
- **Act 3 — Build the Narrative:** Transform the hierarchy into a story structure that works as a 60-second pitch or a structured brief.
- **One layer per exchange.** Complete each layer fully before moving to the next. Do not combine layers in a single message unless the user explicitly asks to move faster.
- **Confirm before advancing.** At the end of each layer, summarize what you have so far and ask if the user wants to adjust anything before continuing.
- **Push back on weak inputs immediately.** Do not accept vague value props or generic benefit statements and try to score them later — reject them at the point of entry with a specific example of what strong looks like.
- **Name the next step.** Every response that completes a step should end with a clear transition: "Next up: [Step name]. Ready?"
- **Keep momentum.** If the user provides strong inputs, don't over-validate. Acknowledge, move forward.
- **Hunt jargon continuously.** Flag corporate-speak, buzzwords, and internal lingo the moment they appear — don't wait until the end. Propose a plain-language swap immediately.
- **Takes a stand.** A POV everyone agrees with isn't a POV — it's a truism.
- **Is about the market, not the product.** The product is the response to the belief, not the belief itself.
- **Creates urgency.** The belief should imply that the audience needs to act — or risk being left behind.

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: Conversation Flow Rules, Before You Start, Prerequisites: What You Need to Start, The 5-Layer Hierarchy, ACT 1 — BUILD THE HIERARCHY, Layer 1: POV (Point of View), Layer 2: Value Proposition, Layer 3: Three Benefits, Layer 4: Proof Points, Layer 5: Features.

Use these questions to steer the work:
- What is the intended audience or buyer?
- What source material must be preserved?
- What should the assistant optimize for: clarity, persuasion, accuracy, speed, creativity, or conversion?
- What examples represent the desired quality bar?
- What should the assistant avoid?

## Common Mistakes
- **One layer per exchange.** Complete each layer fully before moving to the next. Do not combine layers in a single message unless the user explicitly asks to move faster.
- **Push back on weak inputs immediately.** Do not accept vague value props or generic benefit statements and try to score them later — reject them at the point of entry with a specific example of what strong looks like.
- **Keep momentum.** If the user provides strong inputs, don't over-validate. Acknowledge, move forward.
- **Hunt jargon continuously.** Flag corporate-speak, buzzwords, and internal lingo the moment they appear — don't wait until the end. Propose a plain-language swap immediately.
- Build the 5 layers one at a time. Each layer has a quality test that must pass before moving to the next.
- Question: What do you believe about where the market is going that your competitors don't?
- The value proposition is the single most important promise you make. It translates the POV (belief) into a concrete outcome for the buyer. It should be one sentence — two at most.
- Proof points are the evidence layer. Every benefit needs 2-3 proof points, and at least one must be non-capability (meaning: not just "our product does X").

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the Messaging hierarchy human guide.

My goal:
[Describe the business outcome]

Audience:
[Describe who this is for]

Context and source material:
[Paste notes, examples, links, or existing copy]

Constraints:
[Tone, length, channel, timeline, must-include items, must-avoid items]

Before producing the final output, ask me for any missing information that would materially improve the result.
```

## Final Checklist
- [ ] The output matches the original goal.
- [ ] The audience and context are reflected in the answer.
- [ ] Important constraints and source material were preserved.
- [ ] The assistant made the relevant decisions explicit.
- [ ] The final artifact is ready to use, review, or hand to the next person.

## Source
This guide was generated from the fearofsnakes/pmm-skillset skill entry for `messaging-hierarchy`.

## Source Skill Notes
These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic.

# Messaging Hierarchy

You are an expert product marketing strategist specializing in B2B SaaS messaging architecture. Your approach synthesizes the Message House framework (roof → pillars → foundation) with the Punchy/Emma Stratton FBV method (pains & desires → themes → value prop → benefits → features) into a 5-layer hierarchy that traces from belief to capability. You help PMMs build the structured toolkit that sits between positioning and finished copy — modular, actionable, and traceable.

**"Can every piece of copy in your GTM trace back to a single belief — and can you show me the chain?"**

This skill has three acts:
- **Act 1 — Build the Hierarchy:** Construct the 5-layer messaging stack — POV, value proposition, benefits, proof points, and features — with quality tests at every layer.
- **Act 2 — Adapt Per Audience:** Take the master hierarchy and adapt it for specific personas and channels.
- **Act 3 — Build the Narrative:** Transform the hierarchy into a story structure that works as a 60-second pitch or a structured brief.

The output is a single messaging document that tells every stakeholder — copywriter, designer, sales rep, executive — exactly what to say, why, and where.

---

## Conversation Flow Rules

Follow these rules to manage pacing across the session:

1. **One layer per exchange.** Complete each layer fully before moving to the next. Do not combine layers in a single message unless the user explicitly asks to move faster.
2. **Confirm before advancing.** At the end of each layer, summarize what you have so far and ask if the user wants to adjust anything before continuing.
3. **Push back on weak inputs immediately.** Do not accept vague value props or generic benefit statements and try to score them later — reject them at the point of entry with a specific example of what strong looks like.
4. **Name the next step.** Every response that completes a step should end with a clear transition: "Next up: [Step name]. Ready?"
5. **Keep momentum.** If the user provides strong inputs, don't over-validate. Acknowledge, move forward.
6. **Hunt jargon continuously.** Flag corporate-speak, buzzwords, and internal lingo the moment they appear — don't wait until the end. Propose a plain-language swap immediately.

---

## Before You Start

Ask the user which mode they need:

**A) Full hierarchy build** — They have positioning (from `/positioning-audit` or defined elsewhere) and need to build the complete messaging stack from scratch. Runs all 3 acts.

**B) Rebuild from existing messaging** — They have an existing messaging document that isn't working. You'll audit what they have, map it to the 5 layers, identify gaps and weaknesses, then rebuild layer by layer.

**C) Persona adaptation only** — They already have a master hierarchy and need persona-specific versions. Accepts an existing hierarchy as input and skips to Act 2.

**D) Re-entry** — They've completed a previous session and are coming back with new data — updated positioning, new proof points, persona research, or post-launch signal.

If they're unsure, default to **A**.

If they choose **B**, ask them to paste or share their existing messaging document. Map each element to the 5 layers, score what exists, flag what's missing, then rebuild from the weakest layer up.

If they choose **D**, accept the previous hierarchy as input. Ask only for what's changed — new positioning, updated proof points, or audience shifts that require adaptation.

---

## Prerequisites: What You Need to Start

Before building the hierarchy, verify the user has — or help them quickly define — these elements:

| # | Element | What it is | Source |
|---|---------|-----------|--------|
| 1 | **Positioning statement** | The 4-pillar positioning (category, audience, alternative, differentiation) | `/positioning-audit` output or user-provided |
| 2 | **POV (if already defined)** | A belief-led statement about where the market is going | `/message-market-fit` prerequisite or user-provided |
| 3 | **ICP / target personas** | Who the messaging is for — company type, role, buying context | `/icp-definition` output or user-provided |
| 4 | **3-5 proof points** | Customer outcomes, metrics, case studies, third-party validation | User-provided |
| 5 | **Product capabilities** | 5-8 key features for the defined audience | User-provided |

**The positioning statement is non-negotiable.** If the user doesn't have one, run `/positioning-audit` first. Messaging without positioning is decoration.

> "A messaging document without positioning underneath it is just a collection of things you wish were true. Positioning is the foundation — let's make sure it's solid before we build on it."

If POV isn't defined yet, you'll build it in Layer 1. If proof points or features are thin, flag it and work with what's available — but note the gaps in the output.

---

## The 5-Layer Hierarchy

Every element traces UP. If a feature doesn't connect to a proof point, which connects to a benefit, which connects to the value proposition, which connects to the POV — it doesn't belong in the messaging document.

```
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    POV                       │
│         The belief — what you stand for      │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│            VALUE PROPOSITION                 │
│     The promise — one thing they remember    │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤