Is your messaging ready for the tech market of tomorrow?
With the proliferation of new types of technology into nearly every market, a steep and steady increase in competition, and technology becoming an ever-present part of daily life, the messaging required to sell technology has transformed.
Messaging allows you to position your company in a competitive market with clarity and consistency. By solidifying your brand messaging, you’ll be able to speak to a wide variety of audiences about who you are and what your company can do for the customer. Effective messaging goes beyond facts, figures and solution specifications to make an emotional impact and tell a compelling story that makes customers want to buy your products and use your services.
As a Riverbed partner, now is the perfect time to revisit your own messaging and align it with our changing world. Here are some actionable ideas and useful tips to keep in mind while working on your brand messaging.
Nail down your value proposition
The CEO of a prominent technology company once told a story at a town hall. As a young intern, he worked as a database analyst for a shoe manufacturer. The VP of his division came to him on the first day and asked, “What is your job?” He replied that he was a database admin, and that he wrote scripts. “Wrong,” the VP said. Each day, he asked this intern the same question, and each day, the intern tried to answer with more depth about the technical nature of his job. Each day, he was told he was wrong, until the day he finally got it: The VP asked, “What is your job?” and the intern answered, “I make the shoes that people want to buy.”
Your company has a unique vision for solving business challenges by using Riverbed solutions. Your value proposition carries that message to the market and sets you apart from your competition. With 74% of the B2B buyer journey completed online, and 57% of the purchase decision made prior to the customer ever contacting your sales team, having a strong value proposition is critical for winning business over your competition. Your messaging platform that is built on top of your strong value proposition will help generate market awareness and recognition and will provide a foundation for aligning your entire organization around the intrinsic value that you bring to your customers.
Need help defining an impactful value proposition? Explore the resources and concierge services of Riverbed Reach.
Involve stakeholders who have a vested interest in your success
Before you solidify your value proposition and messaging platform, be sure to solicit the advice and ideas of those who share a stake in your company’s success. Talking to your executives, product experts, sales and marketing teams and even customer advocates can illuminate the differentiators that make your products and services unique and compelling.
To begin the messaging process, make a list of people to interview, starting with your CEO. If you’re unsure of who would be the best to interview, talk to your leadership team. Ask them if they would like to be interviewed, and to recommend the most effective members of your team or knowledgeable advocates outside your company who would be willing to contribute to your messaging project. Also, your Channel Sales Manager (CSM) and Regional Marketing Manager (RMM) are potential resources who have a vested interest in your success, and who can provide valuable messaging information and inspiration.
Make a connection with customers
You might think you’re selling B2B technology to a company, but in reality, you’re asking people to make a decision to choose your solutions over those offered by competing vendors and their partners. Your customers are spending their company’s money, while at the same time risking their reputation, and quite possibly, their job if they make a wrong decision. The surest method to assuage fear is to make an emotional connection with your buyer.
Showing your customer that you understand their struggles, and then demonstrating tangible examples of your solutions solving those problems can go a long way toward making an impact on a prospective buyer. Messaging that makes a prospective buyer laugh or feel excited or safe provides gateways to building brand trust.
Build a deeper connection with buyers by aligning your messaging with these five key characteristics:
- Demonstrate Understanding: Show customers you understand them and their needs;
- Cut Through the Noise: Let buyers know exactly how you’re different from the competition and why you’re better;
- Be Flexible, But Consistent: Craft messaging that can be used consistently across all sales channels and for a variety of audiences;
- Go for Emotion: Tell your brand story with your customer featured as the hero;
- Make it Share-worthy: Actively engage with customers on social media and tune your messaging based off what gets liked and shared.
Impactful messaging that leverages emotional connection will give your prospects and customers a tangible connection to the value proposition of you as a partner, which will pique their interest and increase the likelihood that they’ll reach out to your sales team.
Building a messaging platform that carries your business into the digital-performance-driven market of tomorrow will take time, effort and skill, but the results will be worth the effort. Today’s IT customer is educated and ready to hear how you’re going to solve their unique and specific problems. Make sure you’re ready with strong messaging that aligns with Riverbed while demonstrating your unique value, so you can connect with more customers and be their trusted advisor who overcomes their toughest business challenges.
For more information of value proposition and messaging guidance, explore the resources and concierge services of Riverbed Reach.