B2B SaaS Messaging: Stand Out From The Crowd
Effective marketing is simple, consistent, compelling, and persuasive. The easiest way to make that happen is by developing a great messaging strategy for your B2B SaaS organization.
An effective B2B SaaS messaging strategy outlines what your organization does and how it differs from the competition. A B2B messaging strategy should serve as the foundation of everything you write from elevator pitches to website copy as well as your marketing and sales materials – to ensure that your marketing efforts are cohesive and effective.
What is a B2B SaaS Messaging Strategy and Why Does it Matter?
When someone asks what pains your organization solves, how do you respond?
Sometimes we stumble our way to an answer, however, it’s precisely where a great B2B SaaS messaging strategy saves the day. A clear and cohesive B2B SaaS messaging strategy allows you to convincingly answer that question not just on a face-to-face basis but across all marketing materials and programs.
A well-designed messaging strategy:
- Gives current and potential customers a true understanding of your business’ products and services.
- Conveys the value that your company has to offer by demonstrating how your company can solve a specific problem
- Most importantly of all, it forms the backbone of your overall marketing strategy.
How to Develop a B2B SaaS Messaging Strategy
Define Your Brand Strategy – Determine the tone and overall style you will use to convey your messages. This should be geared towards your target audience. For instance, you’d probably use different tones when addressing young adults as opposed to retirees. The same rule applies to B2B line-of-business managers vs. IT developers. They care about different things and they communicate differently, so you want to understand that and apply it to your messaging strategy.
Create a Positioning Statement – It should explain what your organization does, why it’s unique and the value you offer. Start with one that’s about 100 words in length, and then create 50- and 25-word versions to suit various materials and situations. Learn more about how to create a unique value proposition in our blog: How to Craft a Unique Value Proposition For a B2B Tech or SaaS Company.
Develop Support Points – Flesh out your messaging strategy by establishing three to four supporting points. They should identify your target audience‘s most pressing problems and state the benefits of your products or services.
Bring in a Fresh Set of Eyes- Invite new employees to discuss their understanding of your marketing message. In addition, think about inviting in an outside B2B marketing expert; an outside consultant can provide an unbiased evaluation as well as a professional marketing analysis to ensure your message is clear and simple to your target audience.
Each of the above aspects of your B2B SaaS marketing strategy should be revisited every few months for relevancy. Stay up to date on the latest marketing best practices by signing up for our newsletter here.
Tips for Effectively Using a B2B SaaS Messaging Strategy
Once your B2B SaaS messaging strategy is developed, keep these tips in mind to make the most of your plan:
- Be Consistent and Repetitive – Use your positioning statement repeatedly across all marketing efforts and materials. This will bolster your brand image and position your company as the one to trust in your particular niche.
- Show Why You’re Unique – If other companies can honestly make the same statement you’re making, take a step back and reevaluate your core competencies and try to capture what sets you apart from everyone else. Provide your audience with a statement that highlights the reasons they should trust your company (over others) with their business.
- Prove It – Ensure any claims you make in your positioning statement and messaging strategy can easily be proven. Avoiding outlandish and exaggerated claims will help build confidence in your brand.
- Make it Noteworthy – Create a voice that will make your audience listen and want to engage with your company. Make it noteworthy and memorable for ultimate impact. We tell our clients all the time to not shy away from showing a little personality. Great companies like Atlassian, HubSpot and New Relic are great at allowing their unique voice and brand to shine through in their messaging.
Your B2B SaaS messaging strategy folds directly into your sales and marketing teams work. Once you have your messaging strategy developed, check out our webinar for guidance on how to provide value and alignment for your sales and marketing teams at our webinar here.
With your messaging strategy in place, your marketing efforts will have a much bigger impact. From your company slogan to ad taglines, a great messaging strategy makes your marketing cohesive and more effective. Whether handled internally or with an external consultant, be sure you can clearly articulate who you are, what you do, and why you are different – before developing your other marketing programs.
For more tips and guidance on how to develop and implement a B2B SaaS messaging strategy for your organization, schedule a free 30-minute consultation with our B2B SaaS marketing experts. We can help your organization research, validate, and create a messaging platform that separates you from your competition.
