B2B Messaging: Frameworks, Best Practices, and Tips

Effective B2B messaging conveys a company's value proposition clearly and persuasively. It influences decision-making, fosters trust, and differentiates the brand in a competitive landscape.

In this article, we’ll go over the differences between messaging, positioning, and branding, as well as a practical framework for success. We’ll also review messaging best practices, mistakes to avoid, and helpful examples.

What is B2B Messaging?

B2B messaging is the strategic use of tailored communication and language to articulate a company's value proposition. It effectively helps get potential customers to the “aha” moment faster.

B2B messaging is really the practical application of your positioning strategy. It's how your brand talks to the world, using the insights gained from your positioning to create compelling communication. 

Benefits of Clear B2B Messaging

When done right, effective B2B messaging improves key sales and marketing outcomes.

Lead Generation

Clear messaging ensures that potential leads understand the value proposition, creating interest and engagement. When messages directly address pain points or needs, prospects are more likely to convert into leads.

Conversion Rates

Effective B2B messaging guides prospects through the sales funnel by providing easily understood information. When messages are compelling and concise, prospects are more likely to take the desired action, whether it's making a purchase, signing up for a trial, or requesting more information.

Customer Retention Rate

Clear messaging and positioning play a critical role in customer retention by ensuring that customers have accurate expectations from the start. When a company communicates its unique value proposition clearly and consistently, it helps customers understand precisely what they're getting when they purchase a product or service. 

This clarity aligns the customer's expectations with the actual offering, minimizing misunderstandings or discrepancies between what customers anticipate and what they receive.

Sales Revenue

Aligning B2B messaging with customer needs and pain points influences purchase decisions positively. When messages clearly articulate how a product or service solves a problem or fulfills a need, it encourages prospects to make buying decisions, directly impacting sales revenue.

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

Clear messaging reduces confusion and ambiguity in communication, leading to more efficient customer acquisition. When messages resonate with the target audience and effectively convey the product's value, it decreases the cost associated with acquiring each new customer.

Click-Through Rates (CTR)

Clear messaging in various marketing materials, such as emails or advertisements, grabs the audience's attention and clearly communicates the benefits or call-to-action. When messages are clear, concise, and compelling, it entices prospects to click through, increasing CTR.

Return on Investment (ROI)

Clear B2B product messaging optimizes marketing and sales spend by ensuring that resources are allocated effectively. When messages resonate with the target audience, they generate better response rates and higher conversion, ultimately maximizing the ROI on marketing and sales efforts.

Sales Productivity and Efficiency

Well-defined messaging streamlines the sales process by providing sales teams with materials that effectively communicate the product's value. Clear messaging reduces confusion and objections, making it easier for sales representatives to convey the value proposition and shorten sales cycles.

Understanding Messaging, Positioning, and Branding

To truly get B2B messaging right, it’s essential to understand how it relates to positioning and branding.

Positioning is about framing your product as the best solution for a particular group of customers. It sets the stage, providing context and highlighting your product's standout qualities within its market landscape.

Messaging takes that positioning and makes it visible and understandable. It's the practical way your brand communicates that unique position to others. It's not just words on a screen; it's the tangible representation of your brand's identity, values, and offerings.

Branding is the holistic representation of a company's identity that encompasses messaging and positioning. It includes the visual elements, values, emotions, and overall perception associated with the company. 

To simplify:

• Messaging: the language a company uses to explain why it's valuable and special to customers. It highlights benefits and what makes the company stand out for specific groups of customers.
• Positioning: Where a company fits among its competitors. It's like finding a unique spot in customers' minds by showing how the company is different and better. This includes understanding the competition and showcasing why the company is worth choosing.
• Branding: It's the big picture that includes messaging, positioning, how a company looks, its values, and the feelings it evokes. It's the overall image that shapes how people see and feel about the company.

B2B Messaging Framework

Below is a framework for effective B2B messaging. I’m going to use Slack as an example to show you how to use it.

You can access Outlier Creative’s free B2B messaging template here. To use it, just click “File > Make a Copy.”

Core Premise

Your core premise is your foundational truth that resonates universally with the target audience, forming the basis for a compelling value proposition.

Example: Slack’s Core Premise

Communication is key to effective teamwork. However, the existing tools for communication like email, chat apps, and video conferencing were not designed to meet the unique needs of teams.

Positioning Statement

A positioning statement identifies the product and its target audience's perception, occupying a distinct place in the buyer's mind.

Below is rough formula for a good position statement:

Our product is for (ICPs) who are trying to (achieve a specific goal) by (doing things a current way) but (limitation of current way) which leads to (a blocker of progress). 

But with our product, they can (do specific jobs) using (specific features) so that (they can achieve the desired outcome).

Example: Slack’s Positioning Statement

Slack is for tech startups that are trying to communicate and grow efficiently by using disjointed communication tools like email, scattered chat apps, and fragmented video conferencing solutions, but these tools create communication silos, hinder collaboration, and slow down decision-making, limiting overall productivity and cohesion within teams.

With Slack, they can centralize team communication by integrating various channels and tools within a single platform using chat, voice calls, and video conferencing, coupled with robust search capabilities and a user-friendly interface, so that their teams can experience enhanced collaboration, faster decision-making, and improved productivity across all levels of the organization. 

Value Proposition

A concise statement that communicates the unique benefits, solutions, or value that a product, service, or brand offers to its customers

Example: Slack’s Value Proposition

Slack centralizes team communication, integrating diverse tools into one platform to eliminate communication silos and enhance collaboration. With features like unified chat, calls, and video, coupled with robust search, teams experience improved productivity, faster decision-making, and enhanced collaboration.

Brand Promise

Your brand promise represents the ultimate commitment to end-users and encapsulates the essence of the organization's values.

Example: Slack’s Brand Promise

Slack makes work life simpler, more pleasant and more productive.

Value Pillars

Value pillars are concise, one or two-word descriptions of the key benefits customers gain from the product or service.

Example: Slack’s Value Pillars

Pillar 1: Unified Communication: Integrating diverse tools for cohesive collaboration.

Pillar 2: Efficiency: Streamlining workflows and decision-making.

Pillar 3: Enhanced Collaboration: Fostering teamwork and productivity.

Messaging by Persona

Tailors messages according to different roles within the audience, addressing their specific needs and preferences.

Example: Slack’s Messaging by Persona

Team Leader/Manager: Slack emphasizes features like channel management, reporting tools, and integrations to streamline workflows, boost team productivity, and facilitate oversight without micromanaging.

IT Administrator: Messages highlight Slack's security features, compliance standards, and administrative controls, focusing on data protection, user management, and integration capabilities for seamless technology management.

Remote Worker: Tailored messages focus on Slack's mobile accessibility, flexible communication channels, and virtual workspace capabilities, emphasizing the platform's ability to bridge distances and maintain team cohesion.

Project Manager: Slack highlights project-specific channels, task management integrations, and real-time collaboration tools to emphasize how it streamlines project communication, task tracking, and team coordination.

Customer Support Agent: Messaging centers around Slack's ability to integrate with customer support tools, offer swift response times, and centralize customer inquiries, ensuring timely and efficient issue resolution.

Tone of Voice

Establishes the brand's personality in communication, determining the style and manner of messaging.

Example: Slack’s Tone of Voice

Clear: Clarity is a courtesy to our readers. We respect their time and their intelligence, answer questions before they’re asked, and don’t get in the way of their actions. We recognize the weight of the written word. Saying what you mean is the best way to say something meaningful.

Concise: We give every word purpose. We’re thoughtful and intentional with our words. We don’t get carried away with ourselves.

Human: We are characterful. But we never let character overwhelm content. What we have to say is infinitely more important than being admired for the way we say it. We like the people we’re talking to, so we keep things warm and conversational. We add delight when the moment is right, and we reward the curious with pleasant surprises.

Elevator Pitch

A brief, coherent summary combining core premise, positioning, brand promise, and value pillars.

Example: Slack’s Elevator Pitch

Unlocking efficient teamwork starts with effective communication. At Slack, we revolutionize how tech startups collaborate by replacing scattered emails and disjointed chat apps with an integrated platform. 

Say goodbye to siloed conversations and hello to unified chats, calls, and video—all in one place. We empower teams with a user-friendly interface and robust search, ensuring enhanced productivity, faster decisions, and seamless collaboration. Because at Slack, we believe in simplifying work, making it not just productive but also pleasant.

Proof Points

Proof points provide evidence that your product can solve specific pain points and substantiate your competitive advantage.

Example: Slack’s Proof Points

Below are some fictional proof points for Slack.

• Reduced Email Overload: Slack users report a significant decrease in internal email traffic, with an estimated 32% reduction in email usage, streamlining communication and reducing inbox clutter.
• Enhanced Team Collaboration: Teams using Slack experience a 25% increase in collaboration efficiency, evidenced by quicker decision-making and a reduction in the time taken to resolve issues due to improved communication.
• Productivity Gains: Customers note a 30% boost in overall productivity after adopting Slack, attributed to quicker access to information, reduced meeting times, and faster resolution of queries.
• Improved Remote Work Support: Organizations using Slack report a 20% improvement in remote team connectivity and engagement, mitigating the challenges associated with remote work and ensuring seamless communication across dispersed teams.
• Faster Onboarding and Knowledge Sharing: Slack accelerates new employee onboarding by 40%, facilitating easy access to historical conversations and knowledge repositories, thus reducing ramp-up time.

B2B Messaging Mistakes to Avoid

1. Messaging Without Clear Positioning

Before you start messaging your product—before you jump into crafting those compelling lines and stories—having a clear understanding of your product's positioning is crucial. It's like establishing the context for a conversation. Without this context, your messaging might lack direction, clarity, or resonance.

Positioning always comes first because it lays the groundwork for your messaging efforts. It helps you craft messages that are targeted, impactful, and meaningful to your audience. Without this strategic positioning, your messaging might lack focus and fail to effectively communicate why your product matters.

2. Overemphasizing Generic Revenue-Driven Outcomes

While saying your product “maximizes revenue” can be a compelling narrative, it's usually not the primary reason customers seek a solution. The trap many companies fall into, like PandaDoc (above), is fixating on a broad, revenue-centric message without highlighting their unique value proposition.

Often, customers are seeking a solution not because they expect it to directly boost their revenue, but because their current solution lacks efficiency or has shortcomings. In this case, PandaDoc's core isn’t really about maximizing revenue for customers, but rather streamlining the contract creation process—a crucial distinction that should take center stage in their messaging. 

In short, don’t default to the broad, overused promise of revenue generation. Instead, focus on showcasing what truly sets you apart—your unique features that address specific pain points or deliver a better experience compared to competitors. Understanding what truly matters to customers and aligning messaging with those needs creates more impactful and resonant communication.

It's about highlighting the real value proposition that solves a customer's immediate problems rather than touting a one-size-fits-all promise of increased revenue that usually doesn’t directly correlate with the customer's needs.

3. Overcrowded, Vague Messaging

Companies often aim to include a lot on their home pages to cover every possible aspect of their product or service, believing that more information equals better understanding. However, this approach can backfire as it leads to overcrowded, vague messaging.

Imagine if Zoom's homepage just said, "Revolutionize Communication." It sounds cool, I guess. But what exactly does it do? Does it improve remote collaboration, enhance virtual meetings, or simplify team communication?

Without specifics, visitors get lost, lose interest, and move on. Now, picture if Zoom got specific, highlighting how their platform makes virtual meetings seamless, offers high-quality video conferencing, and integrates smoothly with different devices. That kind of clarity would grab attention and get people curious.

Vague messaging can drive visitors away, as people prefer clarity over ambiguity. So, opt for clarity by offering a few specific examples. This approach not only clarifies your offering but also makes visitors want to explore further. 

Remember, your homepage is not a detailed encyclopedia; it's your prime marketing real estate visited by many. Avoid the temptation to cram every product detail into a vague phrase—this approach creates confusion rather than engagement. 

4. Confusing Your Investor Pitch with Your Sales Pitch

Companies often make the mistake of blurring the lines between their pitches to investors and their messages to customers. But investors and customers have very different priorities. Investors want to see long-term potential and growth plans, while customers are looking for immediate solutions to their problems. 

This means an investor pitch might talk about future markets and how huge the company could become, while customer messaging needs to focus on solving their current issues and showing real, immediate value. If a company mixes these up and starts talking about future plans to customers or immediate problem-solving to investors, both audiences won't be happy, and the company might miss out on both investments and sales.

5. Overly Complex Messaging

Complicated, jargon-filled messaging can alienate rather than engage audiences. Simplify language and focus on clarity to ensure your message is easily comprehensible across different stakeholders.

6. Neglecting Storytelling

Messaging devoid of storytelling elements can lack emotional appeal and fail to captivate. Incorporate storytelling techniques to create narratives that resonate and build stronger connections.

7. Lack of Adaptability

Remaining rigid in messaging without adapting to market shifts or customer feedback leads to stagnation. Stay agile and be open to refining messages based on evolving trends.

B2B Messaging Best Practices

Below are some B2B messaging best practices to help guide you.

Get Crystal Clear on Positioning First

Positioning is your strategic anchor, defining your company's unique value proposition and competitive differentiation within the market landscape. By crystalizing the company's position, understanding its strengths, and identifying the most relevant market frame of reference, it provides a clear roadmap for developing consistent, compelling messaging. 

A strong positioning anchor ensures that all communication efforts—from marketing to sales—are aligned with a unified understanding of the company's strengths, effectively resonating with the target audience and enabling more impactful messaging that addresses customer needs and sets the company apart from competitors.

Create a Messaging Document

A messaging document serves as the central repository for approved messaging. Ensure it encompasses the brand's value propositions, core messaging, and key talking points. Regularly update this document to reflect market changes, new offerings, or evolving audience needs, guaranteeing uniformity and clarity in communication across all touchpoints.

Monitor the Market and be Ready to Pivot

Use customer surveys, social media listening, and competitive monitoring to understand customer opinions and industry trends. It's crucial to collaborate across different teams, such as marketing, sales, and product, to share insights and prepare for potential changes. 

Anticipate scenarios like new competitor products or shifts in customer needs to create response plans and ensure quick adjustments to messaging. Experiment with different messaging approaches to gather feedback, refine strategies, and stay adaptable to market shifts, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and readiness for change.

Final thoughts 

B2B messaging isn't just about words; it's about weaving a compelling narrative that resonates with your audience on a deeper level. It's about understanding their needs, aspirations, and pain points, and using this knowledge to create clear, concise, and emotionally resonant communication.

If you need help with your B2B messaging and positioning strategy, Outlier Creative can help. Get in touch today to set a solid foundation for your sales and marketing efforts.