If People Don’t ‘Get’ Your Product, Fix This Messaging (Simple Framework)

You can have a genuinely good product. Like, it works. Customers who do use it, love it.

But then you put it in front of new people and you get the same reactions over and over.

“Cool… so what is it exactly?”
“Is this like an agency?”
“Wait, do I still need to do SEO stuff myself?”
“Hm. I’ll think about it.”

And you sit there thinking. Why is this so hard to explain. It’s not even that complicated.

Most of the time, the issue is not the product. It’s the messaging.

Not in a fluffy branding way either. In a very practical, very fixable way.

Because when people don’t “get” your product, it’s usually one of these:

1. You’re explaining what it is, not what it does for them.
2. You’re using words that mean something to you, but nothing to them.
3. You’re mixing multiple promises at once, so nothing lands.

So let’s fix that. Here’s a simple framework I use to clean up messaging fast, especially for SaaS.

And yeah, this applies perfectly to SEO tools, AI content platforms, anything that has a lot of features that sound impressive but don’t instantly click.

The real goal of messaging (it’s smaller than you think)

Messaging is not about describing your product accurately.

Messaging is about helping the right person say, in their head, within 5 seconds:

“This is for me.”
“This solves my problem.”
“I understand how it works, roughly.”
“I know what to do next.”

That’s it.

If they can’t do that, they bounce. Even if your product is exactly what they need.

So the framework below is built around speed and clarity. Not cleverness.

The “Don’t Make Me Translate” Rule

Your customer should not have to translate your marketing.

If your headline says:

“AI powered SEO automation for organic visibility.”

That might be true. But it forces a translation step:

“So… will this get me more traffic?”
“Will it write content?”
“Do I need an SEO person to run this?”
“How long until I see results?”

They have to work. People don’t want to work.

You want to write messaging that already sounds like the thought in their head.

Like:

“Publish SEO content every week without hiring an agency.”

Now we’re talking.

Not perfect. But instantly clearer.

Keep that rule in mind as we go.

The Simple Messaging Framework: PROBLEM, PROMISE, PROOF, PATH

This is the framework. Four parts.

• Problem: What pain are they already feeling.
• Promise: What outcome you deliver, in plain language.
• Proof: Why they should believe you (without a wall of claims).
• Path: What happens after they sign up. The first 3 steps.

If your site, landing page, pitch deck, and outbound messages don’t have these, people will “not get it”. Even if they’re interested.

Let’s break each one down.

1) Problem: Say the messy thing out loud

Most SaaS companies skip the real problem because it sounds unpolished.

They write stuff like:

“Teams struggle to scale content.”

Okay but what does that look like in real life?

The real thing is more like:

• You know you should publish content, but it never happens consistently.
• Agencies are expensive and you still have to manage them.
• Freelancers disappear, quality is inconsistent, briefs take forever.
• SEO feels like a long game you don’t have time for.
• You have a website, but it’s not bringing leads.

That’s what people recognize.

So your first job is to mirror that. Make them feel seen.

Here are a few “Problem” lines that work well (steal the pattern, not the exact text):

• “You’re paying for SEO, but you’re still the project manager.”
• “You don’t need more SEO advice. You need content shipped.”
• “You tried content. It died after week three.”
• “Your competitors are publishing every week. You’re stuck rewriting the homepage.”

If the reader nods, you win step one.

If they don’t nod, they won’t care about your features later.

Quick test: if you removed your product name from the page, would the reader still feel like it’s written for them?

Incorporating an effective SEO content writing framework can significantly ease the burden of consistency and quality in content production.

2) Promise: One outcome. Not eight features.

This is where most messaging breaks.

Because internally, you’re proud of the feature list. And you should be. Features matter.

But the buyer can’t hold 12 things in their head at once. They just want to know what they get.

So, write a single primary promise.

Not “SEO automation + AI writer + internal linking + multilingual + images + scheduling + integrations…”

That’s a menu. It’s not a promise.

A promise sounds like:

• “Get consistent SEO traffic without hiring an agency.”
• “Turn your website into a content engine that publishes for you.”
• “Automatically create and publish SEO articles every week.”

One. Outcome.

Then you can support it with secondary benefits. But the main headline needs to be one clean win.

Example (for an AI SEO automation platform)

If I were rewriting a hero message for a platform like SEO software (https://seo.software), I’d lean into the core outcome it’s already built for:

“Hands off SEO content marketing. We plan, write, and publish SEO articles to your site.”

Simple. Not hypey. And it tells you what happens.

Then a subhead can add a bit more detail:

“Connect your website, get a keyword plan, generate articles in bulk, and auto publish to WordPress, Shopify, or Webflow.”

Now the features are supporting the promise, not replacing it.

3) Proof: Remove the “yeah right” feeling

People don’t distrust you because they’re cynical. They distrust you because they’ve seen too many promises.

So proof is not optional.

But proof doesn’t always mean testimonials. It can be any signal that this is real and specific.

Here are practical types of proof you can add quickly:

Proof type A: Specific mechanism

Show the “how” in a sentence.

Instead of: “We improve rankings.”

Say: “We scan your site, build a keyword plan, generate SEO articles, and publish them on a schedule.”

That’s believable because it’s concrete.

Proof type B: Visible output

Screenshots. Example article previews. Content calendar view. A sample keyword plan.

If you have a content calendar, show it. If you generate internal links automatically, show the linking preview. People trust what they can see.

Proof type C: Risk reversal

Not always refunds. Sometimes it’s just clarity.

Like: “No long contracts. Cancel anytime.”

Or: “You own the content. It’s published to your CMS.”

That last one matters more than people think. It answers the fear: am I locked into your platform.

Proof type D: Comparison that actually helps

Not a cheesy table. A simple positioning sentence.

“Like an SEO agency, but software. Fixed monthly plan. Content shipped automatically.”

This is exactly the kind of line that helps someone categorize you.

Because categorization is how people understand new things. They anchor it to something familiar.

4) Path: Tell them what happens after they sign up (Step 1, 2, 3)

If your messaging is vague about the process, people assume it will be hard.

Hard means no.

So you need a short, clean “path” section. Ideally in 3 steps.

This is especially important for anything AI related. People worry they’ll have to babysit it.

Here’s a strong generic structure:

1. Connect your site
2. Review the plan
3. Approve, publish, and let it run

And if your product is more automated, say that. Spell it out.

For example, for SEO software, the path might read like:

1. Connect your website (WordPress, Shopify, Webflow, or API)
2. Get an SEO plan (keywords, topics, content calendar)
3. Auto generate and publish (SEO articles, internal links, images, scheduled posts)

Even if there are more details behind the scenes, this removes uncertainty.

Uncertainty is what kills conversions when the product is new to them.

If you want a quick “paste this into a doc and fill the blanks” template, here:

Headline (Promise)

Get [desired outcome] without [major pain].

Subhead (Mechanism)

We [key mechanism steps] so you can [desired outcome] in [timeframe or consistency].

Problem bullets (Real life pain)

• [pain #1 in plain language]
• [pain #2]
• [pain #3]

Proof (Make it believable)

• [specific mechanism detail]
• [visible output or asset]
• [risk reversal]

Path (3 steps)

1. [step 1]
2. [step 2]
3. [step 3]

That alone, even before you redesign anything, can dramatically improve clarity.

The biggest messaging mistake I see in SEO and AI SaaS

Feature stacking.

You try to impress. You list everything. You sound “powerful”.

But the buyer is not looking for power. They’re looking for relief.

They’re thinking:

“I don’t want to manage writers.”
“I don’t want to learn SEO.”
“I just want leads.”
“I need this to be consistent.”

So the winning message is often almost boring.

“Articles published automatically to your site every week.”

That’s boring. And also, it’s what they want.

Then inside the product, you can wow them with the details.

Multilingual content, bulk generation, unlimited rewrites, auto internal and external links, AI images, video embeds. All good.

But don’t lead with the entire toolbox. Lead with the job the toolbox gets done.

A fast way to find what to fix (the 10 second test)

Open your homepage. Look at:

• Headline
• Subheadline
• First button text

Now answer these as if you were a new visitor:

1. What is this.
2. Who is it for.
3. What do I get.
4. What do I do next.

If any of those take more than 10 seconds, your messaging is leaking conversions.

And it’s not a traffic problem. You can pour ads into it, it won’t fix it.

Clarity first.

If your product is “new”, borrow an existing category (don’t invent one)

This is another subtle thing.

Founders love inventing new terms. It feels like leadership.

But buyers don’t buy new terms. They buy familiar outcomes.

So instead of saying:

“Autonomous AI visibility engine.”

Say:

“An SEO content system that runs itself.”

Or even more direct:

“An alternative to hiring an SEO agency.”

That’s a category people already understand.

SEO software (https://seo.software) does this positioning pretty naturally, because the idea is straightforward. fixed monthly plan, automated content production, publishing workflows. It’s basically “the agency process, but automated”.

So lean into that. Make it easy for the brain.

Where to use this framework (so it actually matters)

Don’t just rewrite the homepage and call it done.

Use PROBLEM, PROMISE, PROOF, PATH in these places:

• Your homepage hero section
• Your pricing page intro (yes, intro)
• Your main sales deck
• Your cold email opener
• Your onboarding welcome screen
• Your demo booking page

Consistency is what makes the message stick. People need to hear it a few times.

A subtle CTA, because you might want the “hands off” version of all this

If the main reason people aren’t getting your product is that it sounds complicated, there’s a decent chance your audience is also tired of complicated SEO.

That’s why “hands off content marketing” is such a strong promise when it’s real.

If you want to see what that looks like in practice, take a look at SEO software here: https://seo.software

It’s built around a simple path: scan your site, build a keyword plan, generate SEO optimized articles, then schedule and publish them automatically to your CMS. Basically the stuff that normally breaks because humans get busy.

Wrap up (and the one sentence to remember)

If people don’t get your product, it’s not because they’re dumb.

It’s because your message is making them do extra work.

Fix it by making your messaging do four jobs, in order:

Problem. Promise. Proof. Path.

Get that right, and suddenly your product feels obvious. And “obvious” is what converts.