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A few essential B2B Marketing terms everyone uses but nobody ever defines

a lightbox shaped like a question mark lying on its side — Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

Except for the shortest-ever stint with an in-house team (where I learnt the hard way that I’m not made for days of back-to-back meetings), I’ve spent my entire career to date either agency-side or running my own B2B Marketing consultancy.

And I’ve had a few experiences with clients recently that made me realise that we marketers are guilty of the very same thing we tell our clients to stop doing: and that’s going heavy on the jargon when it comes to your own expertise. It’s the first rule of B2B tech (insert other niche as appropriate) marketing club. It’s simple: when you’re trying to sell people something, you should make it easy for them to understand your message, not make them learn a whole new language.

Owning up to jargon guilt

And yet, we marketers do the same thing when we talk about our own work.

There’s two reasons we make this mistake. The first is that a lot of the key concepts in marketing don’t feel like jargon. Positioning, messaging, content – these aren’t exactly terms that sound like you’re talking about the inside of a hadron collider (though we’ve got our share of those too).

The second is the same reason techies and other experts do it. We’re talking about our world, and it’s become second nature to us. Just like little kids, we struggle to understand that other people don’t know the exact same things we do.

I recently worked with a client who didn’t know the difference between messaging and copy. I’m going to admit that I did an inner eye-roll (not a real one as that would have been visible on zoom) first. But then I realised that I can’t assume that everyone I work with has the same experience I do. You might be working client-side, or maybe you’re an agency newbie, or you’re a non-marketer who’s been pulled into a project you haven’t signed up for. And you might find it helpful to understand a few concepts nobody ever defines because they sound so obvious.

This is the spirit in which I’ve put together this little FAQ – not to teach any of you marketing grandmothers to suck eggs (though, tbh, you all stink at egg-sucking) – but to actually hold ourselves accountable to what we promise to deliver, maybe challenge some assumptions, and hopefully, also invite some debate or pushback. So, here goes:

Positioning

This is where you define the position of your company or product in the market, i.e. the field you want to play, to use one of those sports metaphors we all love so much. You take into account things like

Your geography and any laws and regulations that might apply there (eg EMEA)
Your category (e.g. rebate management software) – if it already exists. If it doesn’t, many companies want to create their own. (This is incredibly hard to do though and I might explain why in a future post sometime)
Your target audiences (eg CIOs and COOs of small and medium enterprises)
Their pain points/the problem you solve for them (e.g data is so siloed that it can’t be used by the entire organisation)
What outcomes your product delivers for each target (e.g. deal velocity, error-free automated processes)
What outcomes your product delivers for the entire business (e.g. faster time-to-market than their competitors)
What you’re selling against, ie your direct competitors and the alternatives your prospects have to your offer (e.g. they could continue to use spreadsheets)
Attitudes like misconceptions, fears, obstacles (eg “we bought a solution like this ten years ago and it didn’t integrate and compromised all our data”)
What they stand to lose by not buying it (e.g. they’ll leave money on the table)
Your look and feel, eg does your UX blow your competitors out of the water? Is your tone of voice edgier than the incumbent’s? Are you the app store favourite?
A few other things like your price point and/or pricing model, or delivery model

Arriving at a positioning is usually a lengthy exercise that should involve at the very least competitor research, as well as stakeholder, subject matter expert, and customer interviews. It should also take into account past marketing efforts (if available) such as old messaging and performance data. Positioning is hard and gnarly and full moments of doubt and I absolutely love it. It’s my favourite marketing project to do.

A strong positioning is hugely important for both marketing and sales. First of all, it creates agreement on what your story is (though many lone wolf salespeople still make up their own), and who your best prospects are. Without positioning you can’t really create proper messaging or define a targeting strategy (eg who is a “Marketing qualified lead” or MQL; do we target them at a conference or on Linkedin?) or know where best to allocate your always-too-small budget. And it’s closely related to product development and roadmaps, too.

Having said that, you wouldn’t believe how many businesses don’t actually have a formalised positioning that’s written down and agreed on. Instead, a CEO or Chief Product Officer might have an idea of where they play and answers to all of the above, but they’ve never actually made the effort of spelling it out and sharing it with their marketing and product teams. Big mistake. Huge. Because it leads to uncertainty, misunderstanding, lack of direction, wasted budgets, and also: not enough good bloody leads. And also, it means nobody can challenge or update these ideas, and that’s never good.

Messaging and the messaging house

Positioning and messaging work hand in hand. If you’ve done your positioning work thoroughly, your messaging will fall out of that. It’ll include your key value proposition, the benefits for your audience, what that looks like, and ideally some proof points, too.

While you might work with variations of your messaging for different targets (e.g. you’ll want to prioritise messages around ROI for a CFO or COO, but go all in on the fluffier benefits and employee experience when you’re targeting HR or the actual users of your product), you should have a core overall messaging framework defined for your offer. These frameworks come in different forms, from a simple Why/What/How, to the Why change/Why us/Why now model. One of the most common ones that you’ll probably come across is the “messaging house”. I’ve always found it a little naff to squeeze all that hard, grown-up, big-girl work into a template that looks like it should come with crayons, but it’s not a bad way to present a lot of information succinctly. I can’t share any of the ones I’ve created for my clients because I work under NDA. But if you image-search “messaging house” you’ll find plenty of examples (of varying quality) online.

One of the key misconceptions I come across is that people equate messaging and copy.

Messaging is not copy. It’s a framework for agreeing on the key messages that you want to get across to your audience. It’s usually short (often bullet points, maybe all on one slide) and hasn’t been given the copywriter treatment. That means it doesn’t have all those beautiful headlines, examples, use cases and tone of voice that bring your brand to life. Very few people outside your marketing department will ever see your messaging. They will, hopefully though, see and read your copy.

So why do it at all? Again, it’s about getting everyone to sing from the same hymn sheet, and achieving internal agreement on what your story is first. It’s also useful for briefing creatives (copywriters, for instance) and approaching partners for joint value propositions.

Copy is what you create when you translate your messaging into a (usually client-facing) asset. This is where you expand on your messaging and fill in the details – the angles, the different applications, the secondary benefits, and infuse your copy with your brand tone of voice. This could be in headlines, social media posts, blog posts, ebooks etc

Here’s an example: Let’s say your product helps hospitals work more efficiently. Then one of your messaging pillars might be around cost savings, another around the patient experience and a third one about analytics on operations data. This messaging could be translated into headlines for an ad or subject lines for email (e.g. “Say goodbye to gaps in the staff roster”; “Optimise your hospital laundry schedule”); into thought leadership blog posts (e.g. “Why hospital efficiency isn’t just a funding issue: The measurable impact of optimised staff rotas on the patient experience”); into an ebook that demonstrates your authority on the subject (e.g. “7 metrics every hospital administrator should be tracking”) – you get the idea. Or if you wanted to go all in disruptor-style and coin a new industry standard, you could try and go for something like “Staff rosters don’t work. Why it’s time to embrace the continuous care operations model” (I hope that’s not a thing btw, I just made it up).

The point is, your copy will contain your messaging, but it does more than that: it will also deliver on other crucial elements of your marketing, like empathise with your audience’s situation; demonstrate domain expertise with the right industry terminology; make it easy, fun and engaging to read; and express your brand personality.

Content

Email, social media and blog posts, ebooks etc which mentioned above are all content formats. There are loads more of course, such as websites, videos and infographics, and Turtls and scroll-sites (and that mysterious thing Sales teams often demand from Marketing, the “two-pager”). All of your content should probably be copy-written (except for maybe some dry technical data where you might get away with just facts). Your content is your chance to demonstrate to your market what you know better than anyone else. While your messaging contains your key talking and selling points, content is where you expand on the claims you make in your messaging. It shows your expertise, and your belief in how to do things better. It’s where you deliver the goods.

Creating good content, that is, the sort your expert target audience won’t dismiss as “marketing fluff” is actually pretty hard, and if you’re in B2B tech should always be done using the insights (though not necessarily the writing skills) of subject matter experts.

While some stakeholders may want you to crank up the sales pitches in your content, I strongly advise against it. Fill it with valuable, actionable advice as much as you can and avoid claiming that there is only one solution to the problem you’ve identified and it’s – surprise! – yours. B2B decision-makers are being sold to morning till evening and they smell a sales pitch or thinly veiled pseudo-tips from a mile off. Content is your place to demonstrate your expertise, not just claim it.

If you’re still confused by content, don’t fret. The term ‘content’ has, over the past 15 years or so, been stretched to its limits to include everything under the sun. I would say that IRL most marketers use ‘content’ to refer to higher-investment (not just money but stakeholder and writing time, too), and longer-form pieces, such as blog posts and ebooks and video case studies. In some agencies, you’ll also find “copywriters” (for the conceptual, short-form bits such as ads and headlines and brandy, moody copy) vs “content writers” (who work on blog posts, ebooks and whitepapers). Classifying writers like that doesn’t really work for me, really, but I’m sure they have their reasons.

The funnel

One more thing to mention in connection with content is the funnel model. It’s unfashionable and outdated by now, and lots of people have (rightly) criticised the metaphor, but it’s still a concept you should at least have heard of when discussing content. The idea is that a prospect’s interest in what you have to say increases if you give them valuable content that’s relevant to their situation. But it also means you need to hook them first, and ideally with something short, snappy and sexy, before you expect them to actually read all of your longer-form stuff. You earn their attention over time.

So when you hear people talking about “top of the funnel” (or TOFU) content, they mean something attention-grabbing and relatively quick to consume, that’s interesting enough for the prospect to want to learn more (and click through to more, or leave an email address). Maybe a short video, or a manifesto. Middle-of-the-funnel (MOFU) content is typically longer-form (eg an ebook) and substantiates the bold claims you made in your TOFU pieces. Bottom-of-the-funnel (you guessed it, BOFU) content usually delivers proof points (eg case studies, which we’ll talk about shortly). The reason it’s the bottom of the marketing funnel is because the idea is that by that point, if your prospects are still engaged, they’re ready to talk to a human, ie a sales rep. They’ve become a Sales qualified lead (or SQL) and can be handed over to that department.

Unfortunately, the real world isn’t quite as neat and logical as this, and I wouldn’t hammer the funnel metaphor too far, but the model is still quite useful when you’re thinking about your content strategy, ie the content you should be offering to your prospects, where your biggest gaps are, which of your low-performing pieces to tweak first, etc.

Case study

Case studies, sometimes called customer stories or client success stories, are pieces of content where you tell the real-life story of your product or company improving another business. They’re hugely important in B2B, because that’s where your marketing rubber hits the credibility road. You use actual customers to substantiate your claims and give their verbatim testimonials. This is huge because few things hold more weight than a product endorsement from a peer. Common formats are pdfs (yawn) and talking heads videos.

I believe that case studies are often wrongly given the step-child treatment and created as an afterthought, with not enough production value, when really, they’re some of the most hard-working content you’re likely to produce. Many years ago I wrote a blog post about the boringnesss of B2B case studies, which, if you’re interested, you can read here.

Use case

One of the reasons I wanted to include case studies in this FAQ is because people tend to get them confused with “use cases”. It makes me feel petty to have to insist on the correct usage, but we’re talking about completely different things here. A use case is one of several applications for your product. A digital twin for instance, might be used to optimise the placement of wind turbines in the North sea, or to do predictive maintenance on a supermarket freezer, or to monitor drilling operations on an offshore oil rig, or to simulate the performance of a prosthetic limb before you actually build it. They are different applications of the same core product that often need explaining because just saying “it’s a digital twin” won’t make that obvious to everyone. If yor create a piece of content that explains each of these applications, you could call that a “use case”, I guess. And you could, of course, always create a case study or two for each of those use cases.

2500 words and we’ve barely even scratched the surface

That’s enough for today. Marketing has loads more terms in dire need of explaining, but for now, I’ve focused on some of the areas I know best. There are loads of obscure (also to me) terms in some areas of marketing where I’m not an expert (such as Demand Gen and Measurement) so I’ll leave it to others to identify and define the key concepts. But for now, I’d love to hear your thoughts – has this been helpful at all? What did you miss? Do let me know on the usual channels (and here) and I’ll be happy to update this to keep it alive, kicking and – hopefully – useful.

Update: if you’d like to ask me an anonymous, marketing-related question, you can do it here:

Ask me a question

7 signs we’re the perfect match

I believe in the power of a sharp positioning. That means knowing who you want to work with/sell to, under what circumstances, and why. That may sound arrogant, but it really isn’t – because if you’re considering hiring me, you need to know this, too.

A good positioning goes both ways. If you’re an ideal client for me, then I can provide bulls-eye expertise and you’ll get maximum value out of hiring me. If you’re too far removed from that sweet spot, I can try my best and might still disappoint you.

That’s not to say that we can’t work together unless we’re a perfect fit. But if you’re in the business of selling things, then you know that there’s a wide spectrum of customer-vendor relationships. Some sales are easy — and feel exciting for both parties — while others drag on, and doubt keeps lingering. The buyer is constantly worried they’re not getting their money’s worth, and the vendor is losing the will to live.

Nobody wants that. I’m looking for businesses who are excited to work with me, and you should look for the same in any vendor. I get excited about companies who are eager to move the needle with their Marketing story. I know I’ll do my best work when I’ve spotted a content/messaging situation that I can find a solution for. And it gets even better when I sense my clients trust me because they like my approach. It’s a bit like dating actually – if we’re both really keen, I just know it’ll be great.

So, at the risk of being swiped out of your consideration set within the 3 minutes it’ll take you to read this, here’s what my ideal client looks like:

1. A B2B tech or services company

Your company sells complex products or services to other businesses. I’ve been planning and writing for B2B tech for most of my career and I have a ton of experience in that weird, niche-y, unapologetically geeky, and often awfully corporate space. I work with small and big tech companies, startups, and agencies, so I get to observe market challenges and trends, and how businesses are responding to them. I get to see different creative approaches and develop ideas for cutting through the noise. And, when I work with agencies, I catch glimpses of new and shiny digital marketing tools and how smart digital marketers are using them for B2B. All of that is the strategic capital I’ll bring to the table when we tackle your specific challenge.

TL;DR: if you need help selling handbags on Insta, I’m probably not right for you. Might buy one, tho.

2. A startup or scale-up

I work with a few B2B agencies here in London and help them with content strategy for demand gen, lead gen and ABM. But to be honest: my favourite client is a direct one, i.e. a tech company that needs help with positioning, messaging, and content.

I’m ideal for startups and scale-ups because I’m really good at this – but cheaper. They get the niche expertise they’d usually only get from a specialist B2B agency – but I can offer it for less because I don’t have the overheads of those guys.

Full reveal: that also means I can’t offer a full-service marketing program that includes design, development etc. But you may not be looking for that (yet).

That is to say: We’re a great fit if you need a B2B tech marketing pro, but don’t have an agency budget. Or: if you have design covered, but need help with the positioning, messaging and content side of things.

3. A degree of marketing maturity

I sometimes work with startups that haven’t yet hired anyone to help with Marketing – like a digital marketer, a marketing manager, etc. That doesn’t technically stand in the way of my work. I can still develop a positioning, messaging and content strategy for you. But as a business you’ll get less out of it because you don’t have the resources to get those messages in front of the right eyeballs, to manage campaigns and measure them, and to own your marketing data.

So if you’re not ready to professionalise Marketing to some degree, that’s a bit of a red flag for me. Of course, I can help you create content, write your website, etc. But B2B tech is all about your niche, and these days, you need someone who knows how to reach that niche digitally. I really don’t believe businesses should outsource that data and knowledge anymore – they’re huge assets that are worth owning. Digital marketing is a completely different skillset from mine, and there’s no way any magic will happen if we have spot-on messaging but can’t marry it with the kind of targeting a good performance or digital marketer can engineer.

In short: Hire someone smart to manage your marketing performance for you and I’ll come running.

4. You’ve identified a positioning, messaging or clarity problem

The best situation for me is one where my client knows they need help with messaging. Maybe because your funnel is leaking. The fish aren’t biting. You’re diluting your sales stats with bad leads. I’m running out of water-based metaphors…

I’m right for you if your website is unclear, or your prospects don’t understand what you do (or why they should care), or how your offer is different from vendor X. That’s kind of my bat signal.

If your message is hunky-dory, and your content is already hand-delivering salivating, money-clutching SQLs into your Marketing Automation system, you don’t need me. You need an IPO consultant or something.

5. You appreciate the power of content

I believe that great content will help you sell. And it works when you’re proud of what you know, and willing to share that knowledge and all those opinions that got you to where you are.

If you believe in offering up your expertise to customers you respect, then we’ll do great work together. Because we both know they’re smart people who’ll see through thinly veiled, value-free pseudo-content in no time at all and will penalise you for it. But they will reward you if you help them solve a problem.

If you’re willing to invest the time and resources into letting me find your content sweet spot, your angle and your message, I can help you go to market with something unique.

Content is a long(ish) game, but it’s worth it. If you think you can hack your way to success without being useful, entertaining or honest, then we’re not on the same page. You’ll end up disappointed because I can’t give you the quick fixes you expect from me.

6. You’re willing to invest budget into content creation

This follows from the above. If your content is going to be worth anything, it’ll cost ya something. Good B2B tech writers aren’t easy to find. It really helps if you can add visual zing to your smart words, too, so you’ll need some switched-on designers as well.

I know how daunting this may sound, but it’s money well spent. And ultimately, whether you consider my strategy a success or not will depend on your ability to translate it into assets and tactics. I can build a great plan – but it will fail if we can’t execute on it. I’d just rather be upfront about that.

If you only have a budget for strategy, but no resources for execution, you’ll probably think investing in my work was bloody useless. If you’re worried about exploding costs, let’s talk upfront.

7. You’re up for trying new things

If you’ve worked in B2B tech marketing, you know how boring it can be. Unfortunately, for many businesses, the default MO still is to talk about important-but-inherently-unsexy things like efficiency, productivity, compliance and the like in bureaucratic language that makes absolutely no-one feel anything at all.

If you understand the power of non-generic language, and the energy that empathy, good copy and smart thinking can transport, then we’ll get on. And if in addition to that, you’re up for experimenting with channels and formats, and ready to try out what works and what doesn’t, then I think I may have found a keeper.

That is to say the B2B rulebook isn’t entirely stupid, but a few of its top rules are. If you’re undogmatic about them, we’ll love working together.

Is there… is there anyone still here?

Yes?

Then you’re either up for challenging me on some of the above (please do!), or this must be fate ❤️. In either case, I think you should get in touch this minute.