Nearly three-quarters of B2B companies do not have a formalised marketing messaging process for employees to follow, according to a new survey by Corporate Visions.
Shockingly, 10 per cent of the 500 B2B marketing and sales professionals surveyed admitted that they weren’t sure what their organisation does.
Lack of formal marketing messages has resulted in one-thirds of brands focusing their own story, rather than their customers in campaigns. Some 27.2 per cent said they focus on prospects’ stories, 32.1 per cent focus on their own company’s story and 40.7 per cent said their campaigns contain an even mix of both.
Meanwhile, when asked how brands ensure consistency across marketing and sales campaigns 34 per cent said they receive ongoing training, while 20 per cent said there was no process for ensuring consistency at all.
Tim Riesterer, chief strategy and marketing officer at Corporate Visions, commented on the findings: “The failure to follow a well-established message development process is causing many organisations to miss the mark when it comes to designing content and campaigns that resonate strongest with their customers and prospects. Company-centric messaging often leads salespeople into a competitive discussion focused on distinguishing their organisation from other vendors. As a result, prospects and customers tend to stick with their current status quo rather than making a decision to change.
“Customer-centric messaging, on the other hand, focuses on identifying customers’ and prospects’ unconsidered needs along with gaps in their current approach. This method is most effective, as it creates urgency for change that results in more closed deals.”
(Click to enlarge)
