In 2018, Katelyn Bourgoin, a well-known expert on customer research and product messaging for DTC brands, discovered something most startup founders don’t want to admit: they’re building for a customer they can’t define.
They thought they had a “messaging” problem. But what they really had was a “no clear customer” problem.
And without clarity, nothing works.
Not the ads. Not the site. Not the sales.
There’s been many instances where e-commerce brands burned through $50K+ on paid traffic… and still had bounce rates over 80%.
The product wasn’t the problem. The message was.
That’s why startups don’t die from lack of funding – they die from lack of clarity.
1. Speaking to Everyone Instead of Someone
The fastest way to kill your conversion rate is trying to please everyone. When your message is broad, it becomes invisible. It doesn’t speak to anyone’s real pain.
Great brands don’t cast wide nets – they aim bullseyes. Katelyn Bourgoin calls this “narrowing the bullseye,” and it’s the first step toward what I call Message-Market Fit.
You don’t need everyone to love your product. You need the right people to instantly “get it.” If your ideal customer doesn’t feel like your brand is for them, they’ll assume it’s not.
2. Selling the Product, Not the Problem
People don’t buy products. They buy solutions to problems they deeply care about. Yet most e-commerce messaging leads with what the product is instead of what it does.
Apple didn’t sell gigabytes – they sold “a thousand songs in your pocket.”
This is how you close the Clarity Conversion Gap: make the problem obvious, emotional, and urgent.
When you sell the problem, the product becomes the no-brainer answer.
3. Failing to Create Emotional Stakes
Buying is emotional – even in e-commerce. Whether it’s the confidence of wearing a better fit or the relief of solving a nagging issue, emotion drives action.
Yet most founder-written messaging reads like a spec sheet: flat, logical, forgettable.
Here’s a prompt that works: “I just want to feel ____.” Let your customer fill that blank. That’s your emotional hook.
Think about brands like Oatly – their tone, their attitude, their weirdly wonderful copy feels something.
When your messaging triggers emotion, it stops being ignored.
4. Being Inconsistent Across Channels
Your customer doesn’t separate your website, your ads, and your emails. They see a brand.
If your IG bio says one thing, your PDP says another, and your TikTok ads target someone else entirely – you’ve created confusion.
Confusion kills trust. And in e-commerce, trust is everything.
Build a Message Map – a single source of truth that captures your core offer, value prop, and tone. From there, everything is just remixing the same sharp message across platforms.
A messy message across channels is like sending mixed signals on a first date: it’s a guaranteed “no.”
5. Neglecting the Post-Purchase Message
The sale isn’t the end. It’s the beginning of the story. Post-purchase messaging is one of the most underutilized (and highest-ROI) opportunities in e-commerce.
Great brands use this moment to reinforce the why behind the buy. They deepen emotional connection and set up the next sale.
Think: thoughtful unboxing, onboarding emails, product education, even a “we see you” thank-you note.
Allbirds nails this with eco-conscious storytelling long after checkout. It’s brand building disguised as retention.
Post-purchase is where average brands stop – and legendary ones begin.
Message-Market Fit Is the New Product-Market Fit
If your e-commerce brand is stalling, it’s not always a traffic issue. It’s often a translation issue – the message in your head isn’t what customers are hearing.
You’re speaking too broadly.
You’re skipping the problem.
You’re leaving emotion out of it.
You’re inconsistent.
You’re going silent after the sale.
But all of this is fixable.
When your messaging clicks into place, everything downstream gets easier – ads convert, loyalty grows, referrals flow.
Find your Message-Market Fit. Or risk dying with a great product no one ever understood.
If this resonated, here’s what to do next:
→ If you’re tired of content that fills space instead of driving sales, let’s talk. Schedule a quick demo.
→ If you’re ready to turn product pages, email flows, landing copy, and more into silent salespeople for your brand, subscribe to either our Unlimited Standard Plan or Unlimited Professional Plan to get started.
Your story deserves better than generic copy.
We make it unforgettable.