Getting personal in your B2B tech marketing messaging

Value-based messaging

As a B2B technology marketer, you’ve probably put some energy into revamping your sales messaging to better align with your company’s true core strategic value. The trend away from the features/benefits style of traditional sales messaging toward true customer value-based messaging is an important one—strengthening your ability to position and differentiate your offerings in a manner that resonates more quickly with your target customers. 

Most strategic sales messaging revamp efforts will focus on establishing your strategic value messaging first and foremost, followed by your product/solution value messaging. But there’s a middle layer of messaging that is often overlooked: your personal value messaging.

What do we mean by personal value messaging?

It’s a simple concept, really—based on the assumption that selling is easier when you’ve found someone with both the authority and desire to champion your products or services within their company. And while you believe your customers are truly motivated by the need to do what is best for their company, the effort they’re willing to make to advocate for your company and its products or services is strengthened when they believe they will not only accelerate key company strategic goals, but will also accelerate one or more of their personal goals.

In other words, if Sam Customer believes your solution is the best fit to help solve a key company challenge or reach a key company goal, they will advocate on your behalf to help drive acceptance for your solution within the company. But if Sam also believes your solution will help reach a personal goal (e.g., gain more executive-level attention, get that next promotion, reduce job stress, finally have the time to take that vacation), they will work even harder to champion your solution within the company.

And so, as you revamp your sales messaging, it’s important not to overlook the personal value you bring to your customers. Make sure you understand what drives their behavior beyond the desire to help the company achieve its strategic goals, and ensure your sales messaging maps address how your company—and its solutions/services—can best help accelerate both the company’s strategic goals and your customer’s personal goals.