B2B messaging should clearly explain the unique selling propositions (USPs) and myriad advantages of your solution to everyone participating in purchasing process. Sometimes, that just isn’t achieved.
Fail 1 - The “too-broad” B2B messaging
General marketing blah-blah is not appreciated. Technology products are very rarely designed for general use, and the more specific you message to your personas, the better. Messaging must make it immediately apparent who benefits from your product and how.
Fail 2 - The vague, fluffy, or written-in-the-wrong-tone B2B messaging
Your technical buyers can easily spot the wrong jargon, marketing fluff, words strung together nonsensically, wrong contexts and tone - and quickly dismiss your product. Professionals don’t appreciate an amateurish approach. Prevent this from happening by deeply understanding your buyer personas, having a tech person carefully edit your messaging texts, and always clearly defining and addressing the specific problems your solution is supposed to solve.
Fail 3 - The uninformed, unresearched B2B messaging
B2B marketers whose messaging has failed usually didn’t perform their due diligence. After all, answers to questions such as, “What are your prospects struggling with?” “Why are your immediate competitors outselling you and lesser competitors nipping at your heels?” are all critical to your messaging.
Fail 4 - The can't-cut-through-the-clutter B2B messaging
There are myriad cybersecurity solutions, countless cloud migration platforms, and unlimited smart home technologies, and so forth. How do you write a crisp, compelling message that won’t get lost?
Solution: speak to the individual, not the business. Create detailed personas for each target customer. When you have their backgrounds, demographics, goals, challenges, fears, motivators, frustrations, even which social media they us, you’ve armed yourself with the data to compose unique messaging that they’ll respond to.
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Fail 5 - The estranged-from-the-brand B2B messaging
When your customers receive your messaging, do they see a stand-alone solution, or one that’s part of a family of offerings? Messaging that relates your product to your brand not only strengthens both, but it also promotes credibility, consistency, customer recognition and loyalty, and brand equity - people who are loyal to your brand are naturally interested in any new product it offers.
Fail 6 - The badly executed B2B messaging
Weak grammar, poor punctuation, misspellings, awkward sentence structures, cliches, and jumbled vocabulary prevent customers from clearly seeing the benefits of your solution and moving ahead in the sales funnel. The number one rule is clarify, don’t confuse.
Write simply, clearly, in terse phrasing, and prioritize in order of importance - main idea first, supporting ideas next, etc. Make sure your work is appropriately edited by the right members of your team – native English speakers for the basics and technical team members to ensure the messages are correct.
Fail 7 - The boasty, buzzword-y, “we’re the best” B2B messaging
Grandiose, sweeping claims are a major turn off. Same for hyperbole. Also, using general marketing buzzwords signals that your solution may be very short on substance - or you don’t really know what their pain points are. Always focus on your solution’s value and how it addresses your customers’ needs.
Fail 8 - The copycat B2B messaging
Using a similar message as your competitor is a non-starter. It’s a waste of valuable resources to create and communicate messaging that does nothing to differentiate you from your competitor vendors, give customers a reason for choosing you, or create positive perceptions of your brand in their minds. Some might hope to piggyback on a competitor’s success by mimicking, but they will be quickly dismissed as being derivative and lacking in creativity and character.
Successful Messaging
Develop a unique voice that no other competitor has and ensure your B2B marketing message is complemented by sales efforts. Effective research reveals the who, why, when, where, and how that helps create impactful messaging - one that resonates with your target audience.
Talk to K2 to avoid messaging fails. Our years of experience in the B2B arena have taught us how to tell your story and get your messages across to the players that need to hear them.