If there’s one point I wish every B2B company and marketing team would grasp, it’s this: YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE ISN’T THE STORY YOU NEED TO TELL.
Yet it’s exactly what most Most B2B websites concentrate on. They’re full of ‘what we do.’ The websites that generate serious leads say something else.
What you do is rarely interesting or surprising. HOW and WHY are where the profit lies.
Disclaimer: when I talk about ‘why’ I’m not endorsing Sinek’s ‘find your why’ navel gazing.
‘How and why’ actually matter to prospects
The how and why that matter are all about your customers. They’re rooted in market realities and based on a sound value proposition. They’re about how you help customers achieve their objectives and solve problems.
The ‘why’ that matters is why you deliver and support your product or service in the way you do. And why any potential customer would give two figs about that. ‘
Why’ says, ‘because we do it this way, you get…‘
How and why must be fine-tuned to the needs and circumstances that switch passive market potential into active prospects. Marketers refer to these circumstances as category entry points. It’s important to know what they are for your business.
The assumption that website content is to describe what you do explains why B2B companies opt for a DIY approach. A professional will tell it more elegantly but it’s essentially the same well worn tale.
The ‘how and the why’ that adds value needs more exploration and more skilled presentation. (This is my ‘how and why,’ if you like.)
Tell a more engaging tale that prospects will relate to and engage with. After all, your website is for prospects, isn’t it?
How to tell if your marketing story is meaningful
Is there a simple test you can apply to see if your marketing content says anything worthwhile? Try this…
A journalist whose name I forget invented the principle of reverse absurdity. He suggested it as a way to assess whether aims and claims of politicians were meaningful. It also applies to your marketing story.
If the opposite of a claim is plainly absurd, it isn’t worth making. For example: we aim to shrink the economy and increase social injustice would hardly be vote winners. So why bother saying the opposite?
You can apply the principle to marketing.
‘We aren’t customer focused and everyone gets the same service no matter what’ are the absurd inversions of the tailor-made services everyone seems to offer.
Warm and fuzzy terms like that condemn you to fighting over the same turf in the same way as your competitors. So why would a prospect favour you enough to give you their business and maybe even pay a bit more for it?
Be better than your competitors
Aim to step above the easy, obvious and usually trite words your competitors scatter carelessly throughout their marketing. Be better!
It’s a bit harder to do but well worth the effort. A good copywriter will help you tell a better marketing story if you’re not sure where to start.
Be more thoughtful and get into the nitty-gritty of precisely how you deliver more value to your customers. Illustrate why you’re different instead of just saying you are.
Sometimes, market differentiation and preference are just a case of a clearly stated and evidenced value proposition. Vague claims certainly won’t cut it.