A few minutes ago I wrote LinkedIn ads and webpage openers for a very typical Dean Waye client — a company that makes something complicated and sells to businesses.
In this case, they re-architected Apache Spark into a more cost-efficient version, to drive down cloud compute costs.
See, I wasn’t lyin’…
So let’s talk about getting attention when you sell something complicated.
Getting attention requires some kind of powerful message.
Most of the time you need to figure out the Safety Question first*. A prospect who doesn’t think you’re a safe choice won’t go further than that.
But once you’re safe (you’ve been around a while, you’ve sold to some customers, you have a brand name customer, you belong to a bigger company, etc.) then you need a message made for smaller smarter competitors.
Which is what you are.
The best way to create a powerful message is with a story or a mental image.
Let’s say you make injection molding machines for manufacturers, our tried and true example of boring.
And let’s say your machines aren’t the cheapest, fastest, or prettiest but they ARE reliable.
You have options…
#1: You can be 100% informational and make a claim.
#2. You can be informational but stick the word ‘your’ in there, to make it reader-centric (I mean, you shouldn’t because it’s lazy writing, but many do).
#3. You can push the mental imagery with a story (a machine winning an employee award).
#4. Or you can push the mental imagery with a literal mental image (wall socket).
(my compliments to Google AI for the possibly inaccurate image of an injection molder)
In B2B the levels for powerful messaging look like this:
Level 1: “Without a logo I don’t know which company said it.”
Level 2: “I recognize this, now that I’m seeing it again.”
Level 3: “It popped into my head during my commute.”
In the above examples, the ID Badge version might be Level 3, the Wall Socket one is probably Level 2, and the others are Level 1.
There’s nothing wrong with Level 1. It’s the most common Level, by far.
Though if you’re paying someone outside your company to write your first-touch messaging, you should expect Levels 2 or 3.
So let’s recap:
- The first thing you say to a prospect must always be true, but should also be **memorable**. Ideally, so memorable that prospects remember it whether they want to or not.
- You can create a story in someone’s head with **very** **few** **words**
- If no story is possible, a **clear mental image** is the next best option
Notes:
- The Safety Question in B2B is “how do I know it’s safe for me to vouch for you to my boss?”. Sometimes you can get a meeting with just the Safety Question, but usually being safe is table stakes and only keeps you from being eliminated at the jump.