Reaching the right audience with the right messages is fundamental for B2B marketing success. Clear and consistent messaging and messaging framework make this possible. Effective messaging engages ideal buyers and highlights why your solution is the best to solve their challenges. A brand messaging framework is a tool that helps communicate your story. It also provides an easy way to visualize the various messaging elements. A successful framework produces coherent and consistent messaging that resonates with target audiences, differentiates your organization from the competition and communicates key value propositions. Let’s dive into the four components of a messaging framework and why it matters for small businesses.
Highlight Your Brand with Company Messaging
Company messaging gets to the heart of what customers need and how your product or solution meets those needs. Company-level messaging includes your brand promise, positioning and mission statement. These components speak to who your brand is and what you want to accomplish. Company messaging should also include brand pillars, which are the 3-4 most important selling points for your offering. When crafting these pillars, think of words that differentiate your brand from competitors. For example, “revenue-centric,” “proven,” or “reliable.” You should be able to speak to each pillar with 3-4 supporting points that explain how your brand embodies this benefit.
It’s important to remember that company messaging should be the big picture and related to your organization as a whole. Consider interviewing key team members to build an understanding of the vision that went into creating the company. Imagine your brand pillars and supporting messages appearing on a website such as the “About Us” page or a “What We Do” section. Messages should be succinct but also detail what your company does and what your values are.
Connect with Your Audience with Persona Messaging
Persona-level messaging takes product messages and customizes them to persona pain points and needs. These can also be talking points your sales team leverages when meeting new prospects. To develop effective persona messages, you must first have solid buyer personas. They should include demographic, firmographic, psychographic and behavioral characteristics. These characteristics give you the information needed to alter messaging for each persona. With your buyer personas put together, you have the green light to create effective persona messaging.
Showcase Your Offering with Product Messaging
Product messaging focuses on the key value propositions of your products or services. Product messaging should be unique to each of your offerings. In your messaging, describe the individual features, but also the benefitsusers can expect from your solutions. Prospects want to know how your product or service will benefit them, so ensure you are crystal clear on this in your product messaging. For instance, if you offer 24/7 live chat services, one of your messages might be: “Expert technical help, whenever and wherever you need it.” It is also important to convey what makes your solution stand above other options. To do this, you need to know where your competitors stand. Complete competitor research and benchmark key details to understand how your solution outshines alternatives.
It’s important to note that even if your solution is unique from competitors, you should still incorporate key terms and phrases that resonate with your industry. Imagine your future customers researching potential solutions. Are you using industry language that prospects would search for? It needs to be clear to buyers what space you’re playing in without sacrificing your unique selling points.
Engage Audiences and Boost Conversions with Your Messaging
Solid messaging illustrates your knowledge of how your product or service will impact your customer. As B2B buyers turn more to individual research, it’s more important than ever to prioritize strong messaging that meets them in their research and gets right to the heart of what they need and how you can help. This allows you to engage audiences and boost your conversions.
Developing a reliable messaging framework that intrigues buyers ensures your messaging aligns across channels. A strong framework could be the difference between a sale and a lost deal. Keeping your messaging customer-centric will start more conversations with prospects and help advance leads through the funnel.
Looking for more details on B2B messaging for your small business? Check out our Craft Brand Messaging and Positioning for Better Business Outcomes course. On-demand, online and at your own pace, this course provides you with proven B2B best practices and actionable strategies for messaging and gives you the foundations to develop your effective messaging framework. Ready to get started? Sign up for the course or contact us today.
