Like this episode? Clicking Like and Subscribe go further than you know. Thank you 💛 On the show today, I have Ryan Yackel, Chief Marketing Officer at Databand.ai Ryan is a former sales engineer, turned product marketer, turned chief marketing officer. Also, a children’s book author with an animated version available on Youtube. This was a phenomenal conversation. Ryan came prepared with props, in the trenches product marketing stories, frameworks for narrative design and book recommendations. Plus we had a lot of good laughs. // During our conversation, we discuss * Why product marketers make natural CMOs, and why founders trust leaders with a product marketing background * How narrative design helps teams avoid feature dumps and instead tell a differentiated “old way vs. new way” story * Real-world examples of narrative design applied at Tricentis, KeyFactor, Databand, and IBM * The role of “sales narratives” in equipping reps to tell memorable stories instead of commodity feature checklists * How Ryan uses Google Gemini and Notebook LM to accelerate competitive research with frameworks like Obviously Awesome * Why AI is a useful starting point for research but dangerous to rely on for final messaging * The major shift in product marketing from startups (new logo focus) to enterprises (internal seller mindshare) * Three tactics for influencing large sales teams: AMA sessions, “What’s New” newsletters, and quick-turn collateral * Why “great go-to-market beats a better product every time,” with lessons from competing against HP Quality Center * Cautionary takes on PLG in enterprise software, and why not all SaaS playbooks translate to technical products And so much more. // In this episode, you’ll find 00:00 – The “secret sauce” in messaging: telling a story buyers remember 00:35 – Intro to Ryan Yackel, CMO at Databand 01:31 – Why product marketers make great CMOs 02:17 – From sales engineer to product marketing leader 03:43 – Why recruiters seek CMOs with product marketing backgrounds 06:02 – Product marketing as the headlights guiding demand gen 08:21 – Analogies that explain the role of product marketing 09:36 – Narrative design: framework for product launches 12:29 – Case study: Continuous Testing at Tricentis 13:26 – Case study: Machine identity management at KeyFactor 14:22 – Case study: Data observability at Databand 15:30 – Bringing narrative design into IBM product launches 17:44 – Where narratives live: sales decks, messaging docs, and pitches 21:36 – Using reference points like Datadog to simplify complex products 22:07 – Building narratives for multi-product organizations 24:40 – Using AI (Gemini + NotebookLM) for competitive research 28:05 – Prompt engineering for category deep dives (Collier Rosin Kranz example) 30:12 – Framework mashups: April Dunford + corporate visions + AI research 32:27 – The “Red Box vs. Green Box” exercise for sales differentiation 36:35 – Teaching sales teams to sell stories, not features 38:17 – How messaging shifts from startup to enterprise companies 43:28 – Three tactics to win sales mindshare in large enterprises 46:52 – AMA sessions, newsletters, and internal podcasts for sales enablement 50:11 – Contrarian opinions: AI for messaging, PLG caution, GTM beats product 55:46 – Why go-to-market strategy beats having a “better” product 58:23 – Ryan’s #1 piece of messaging advice: define your secret sauce 1:00:56 – What life is all about: gratitude, faith, and perspective 1:03:38 – Where to find Ryan and his children’s book Pancakes and Mr. Bear // Where to Find Ryan (and more links): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanyackel/ * Why A Product Marketer Should Be Your Next CMO * Defeat Your Prospect’s Status Quo with Unconsidered Needs * How narrative design works in product marketing * April Dunford Books * My Book | Watch for Free // Where to Find Josh: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-chronister/ Follow On Messaging: Subscribe, like, and share if you’re a product marketer crafting messaging in B2B SaaS. New episodes drop every other week 💛 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit onmessaging.substack.com