{"id":7940,"date":"2015-09-09T16:45:36","date_gmt":"2015-09-09T23:45:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intercom.com\/blog\/?p=7940"},"modified":"2020-07-30T13:02:19","modified_gmt":"2020-07-30T12:02:19","slug":"effective-messages-goals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/effective-messages-goals\/","title":{"rendered":"Effective messages have real goals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Knowing precisely what you want to achieve from a message before you send it is key. Not only to crafting the right kind of message but also to getting the response you’re looking for.<\/p>\n

Different messages require different levels of interaction and commitment from your users. Whether you’re circulating a questionnaire or launching a new product line, you need to be clear on the goal of your message from the outset. Having a clear goal in mind will inform the focus of your message, and Intercom’s Message Goals<\/a> feature allows you to see what impact the message has had in your product.<\/p>\n

Let’s face it, without a clear goal, how will you know if your message has been successful or not? You simply can’t communicate without a stated goal.<\/p>\n

In an age of metrics wrangling and unbridled growth hacking, it’s fair to ask what constitutes a real goal for any message? Well, what it isn’t about is open rates or click-through rates. Both are valid intermediate steps in themselves, but never the final goal. It’s unhelpful to obsess about the stats that dictate how users interact with your message.<\/p>\n

Real goals should focus instead on the change you’re trying to elicit in your users. Is it more frequent usage of your product? Is it to get them to update their billing details? Do you want them to try out a new feature?<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s look at some different scenarios where you want to message users and the goals that those messages might have.<\/p>\n

Onboarding and engagement<\/h2>\n

The goal here is to get your users to experience getting value from your product, or a specific part of your product. In a lot of these cases you are talking about users who are trying your product for free but who you hope that after two weeks, a month or a quarter, will convert to paying customers.<\/p>\n

In the SaaS world the only contact you have with these customers may be messages you send during this free trial period so it\u2019s essential you make them count<\/a>. Getting this right can hinge on an often overlooked strategy of:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. asking users what they are trying to achieve with your product, and<\/li>\n
  2. tailoring your messaging for the different types of user goals.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    It\u2019s the low hanging fruit of onboarding<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    New product\u00a0improvement<\/h2>\n

    \"\"
    \nThis may appear to have a very similar goal to onboarding or re-engagement but there is a very important distinction which will inform your messaging. In this case you are trying to get people to try something brand new they haven\u2019t seen before. You need to explain how they will benefit from using it, not the great lengths you have gone to in order to build it. The two most common goals in this scenario are:<\/p>\n