Messaging is another core component of B2B marketing and is often one of the most important things, along with buyer personas (which clearly define your target audiences), to formalize. With clear messaging, all aspects of your marketing can remain focused on key value points and benefits. Understanding the basics of messaging is critical to getting your marketing right.
In our fourth rendition of “The Basics of B2B Marketing” blog series, we cover the basics of messaging. If you missed out on our first three pieces, check out the foundations of buyer personas, the essential elements of email marketing and strategies for successful content marketing. These three basics of messaging are important to understand for your messaging and marketing efforts.
1. Guides Marketing and Sales
The messaging that you create and formalize will drive all marketing and sales efforts. Why is it important to have everyone aligned on unique value proposition, pillars and other messaging aspects? This gives marketers and sales what they need to create content, have sales discussions and convert leads into buyers. Without guidance and consistency on key points to include in content or convey to prospects, it can be difficult for audiences to understand what you’re offering and what your company stands for. As buyer personas drive who your marketing is for, messaging directs who your company and brand are.
There are a variety of assets that your messaging can be included in. Here are some examples:
- Website content
- Marketing and sales collateral
- Social media profiles and posts
- Content marketing
- Demand generation campaigns
- Emails
2. Conveys What You Do and Who You Help
As an organization, your audience needs to understand what you do and who you help. Clearly outlining what services or products that you offer and who they are intended for allows those in the awareness and consideration stages of the buyer’s journey to know if your company would be a fit for the challenges they are experiencing. It might not be explicitly obvious from your company name, so including this is necessary and important. While your ideal buyer personas and target audience are the core focus of who your products or services serve, they might not be the only ones. Considering those outside your normal base can help you reach prospects you might not have originally expected.
3. Connect with Your Audience
While messaging differs for every organization, the goal is to connect with your audience. When creating buyer personas, you consider the pain points that they have that make your offerings a fit for them. Use those pain points as elements of your messaging. Because a majority, if not all, of your buyer personas, experience these same pain points, your brand messaging, and content you create, will easily connect with them. People want to consume content and interact with brands that they feel a connection to. 81% of people reported that they need to trust the brands that they buy from and 77% of people buy from brands that share the same values as they do. Being able to connect, and gain the trust, of your prospects through impactful messaging and shared values puts your organization in good standing.
Create Your Brand Messaging
Formalized, clear messaging is a foundational element of your B2B organization. Without it, it can be difficult to keep marketing and sales efforts aligned and deliver a coherent position of what you do and who you help to audiences. By doing this, it can create more opportunities for leads, boost your marketing efforts and more. Want to know how to create your brand messaging? Check out our Craft Brand Messaging and Positioning for Better Business Outcomes course. The course guides you step-by-step to lay the foundation for a brand that’s cohesive, resonant and enduring while driving action from targets and delivering better business outcomes. Accompanied by coaching sessions and business applicable exercises, this course has everything you need to craft the brand messaging your organization needs to elevate marketing and achieve goals.
