B2B technical messaging – making the complex simple
10 May 2019
Whether you operate in construction, manufacturing, engineering or tech, you need to get complex information across to B2B professionals who are bombarded with messages every day. Your customers may be technical, but they are also very busy. They may need to read through all the details before making an order or specifying your products, but they will only read the details if you can grab their attention in the first place. Getting your marketing communications right is crucial.
Even once they get to the nitty gritty detail, you are going to stand out against your competitors if the information is easy to digest and the most important facts and figures are highlighted, rather than lost in the detail. No matter how technical we are, research shows we can all suffer from information overload.
Also, bear in mind that there may well be non-technical people involved in the buying process who can scupper your sale, sometimes after your product or service has been specified. Purchasing personnel are often measured on savings, so you need to explain in simple terms why your offering is better than your cheaper rival’s.
Using the customer’s language
One common mistake B2B companies make in their technical communications is to use the same words they use, day in, day out without considering if it is the language that customers use and understand (e.g. using their own acronyms or using product codes as navigation options on their website). If your audience doesn’t immediately understand the message they will switch off and move onto the next supplier. Think about how a customer sees your product or service, what would they be searching for? How would they describe what you do? Obviously, you still need to stand out and your own branding and product names must be prominent, but so must the words a customer will immediately recognise.
Using your customer’s language will also help you with your SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). No one is going to search for “PIU1907-1”, unless they are already considering purchasing it and need more information, but they might search for “durable acrylic render” or “electric actuator high accuracy”. If you use paid search such as Google AdWords (I will cover this in a later blog) or Google Search Console, you can find out what search terms are used to find your web pages which will not only help refine the language on your website but will help you understand what type of language you should be using in other communications.
Simplifying messages to gain attention
Whatever marketing communications tool you use to promote your business , you need to keep things as simple as possible. If you have a fantastic product it is tempting to list every feature and benefit no matter the importance to the customer or to send out detailed datasheets complete with every specification and engineering drawing as a matter of course, after all you know how important every detail is, why wouldn’t it be to the customer? Well, it might be, if you can convince them they want to look at the detail further down the line in the purchasing decision process.
Try to start with the benefit to the customer or the problem it can solve before jumping into the solution. Talk about things like time savings or reduced maintenance – matched to common industry KPIs, or even better, issues they don’t know they have that make them sit up. Tell a succinct story about how you can help the customer with your product or service and concentrate on the most important benefits to the customer.
Where possible utilise graphics to help tell your story with graphs, images or the product in action or even infographics to make what is important to the customer really pop out for them. This will really help them understand why they should look at you in more detail, or even better, speak to you and your sales team.
Simplifying the detailed specifications
For most B2B companies in technical and industrial sectors, the technical detail is always going to be important. In some cases, there is not only an industry standard for what needs to be there and/or how it is displayed, there is a legal requirement. This doesn’t mean you cannot optimise how you display your technical information.
Consider reducing information overload for the customer by splitting out the technical information, such as having a technical datasheet with the most salient details and a separate full specification document where a customer can look for more information as and when required. Similarly, look at having deeper levels within the navigation of your website for more detailed information so that your customer can find the level of information they actually require.
Just like your awareness marketing communications, your datasheets and specifications should be well designed and utilise graphics well. A good graphic designer will be able to optimise your customers’ experience by drawing their eyes to the most important information and turning data into engaging graphs and charts. Also, just because you are communicating the details it doesn’t mean that images are not important. Images of the product or of someone carrying out the service helps break up the text and numbers as well as help bring them to life.
Don’t be afraid to cut information out. If it isn’t something that impacts the product performance or isn’t something that has relevance to the customer – take it out! While some customers might want every detail, even if ultimately it doesn’t impact them, for the majority it will just get in the way. For those customers that do want that extra info, it is a good excuse to talk to them.
Don’t forget the call to action
Many B2B companies forget that even the full specification document is a sales tool. Make sure you prominently display your phone number, email, website and any information that they need to make an order, as these are likely to be the last documents the customer is viewing before they decide to specify your offering. Make it easy for them to do it straight away.
If you need any help with your marketing communications and making your complex simple call me on 07791 521439 or email me at samantha@labrakita.co.uk