Effective messaging is crucial for technology solutions, as mere creation of a product is insufficient for success in a competitive market. Common mistakes include overly broad claims, verbose presentations, and failure to connect technology capabilities to real business value. To improve messaging, marketers should focus on understanding their target audience, clearly articulating benefits, using customer testimonials, and distinguishing their solutions from competitors.

1. How to develop an effective messaging of your
Technology solution?
Haim Oren-Global Chief Marketing Officer- TBK Consult
Being able to develop a creative and state-of the art technology solution is a necessary but
not sufficient condition for succeeding in today's crowded marketplace—you must be able to
message your solution positioning and differentiated value proposition to your key target
audiences;
Technology marketers spend a lot of time developing their technology features and
competencies but often fail to effectively messaging their solutions to their key target
audiences.
The end result is inability to achieve a buy-in from the venture capital firm, or the analyst, or
the prospective buyer.
Thus, software vendors should regard messaging as a core competency that is mission
critical and not nice to have.
What are typical messaging mistakes to avoid?
Usually software companies invest months in planning, developing and crystallizing their
marketing pitch, be it to a VC in trying to raise investment funds, to an analyst–attempting to
get on "their radar" or to managers at a prospect client organization. They do it via a Power
Point presentation typically called "the deck"
I often see following typical and primary mistakes show up in the deck:
 Solutions that claim to solve all problems for all people.
Technology marketers are often tempted to portray their solutions as the be-all and end-all of
business IT problems". Their claims are frequently too broad and un- specific which results
an ineffective messaging.
 Long and self flattering arguments that never get to the point.
Marketers present long & tedious presentations that are self-boasting forgetting the true
adage that; "Less is more" and that a succinct and distilled arguments backed up by
professional research reinforces the vendor's messaging and positioning.
 No clear cut relationship between Technology Capabilities to business value.
I often meet Product managers that are totally absorbed with their product technical
achievements and features. But Are the technology 'bell & whistles' translated into tangible
benefits to the end users pain points?
 No effective technology positioning
AL Ries and Jack Trout defined positioning is their seminal book " Battle for your mind" as
what you do to the mind of the prospective customer of your product. Finding a
differentiated position for product in the prospects' mind is the key. This is difficult because all

2. prospects are over communicated- they got to much information coming at them about many
similar solutions…and there is only so much room in their mind.
Too many times, marketers are too mesmerized by their own technologies' features
neglecting to focus on what their target audience perceived their business and how to
carve out a differentiated position in their prospective customers' minds.
Like for example, a company that has developed security software that protects against zero
day threats. The Company positioned itself as a virtualization security solution which is
feature driven positioning while it should have positioned itself as; Protecting against zero day
threats which is based on its value proposition for its primary target markets: consumers and
SMBs.
To avoid the above mistakes , I have distilled down the essence of an effective messaging by
a series of questions that each marketer should ask himself as he develops his/her marketing
messaging presentation.
 Who is your target audience?.
A compelling message for a data center operations executive will likely not resonate well
with a CTO. Define upfront who are the primary decision-makers and stakeholders for
your product or service. Do you know exactly which are the buyers and other individual
stakeholders, by roles or job titles that you are targeting?
if you are planning to reach multiple audiences across IT and line-of-business stakeholders,
customize your message; thus develop several different versions of your presentation to
address the various business roles.
 What is the tangible and immediate business problem or "pain points" your
technology addresses.
You should ask yourself whether the communication clearly describe benefits that the
customer realizes as a result of adopting your solution.

3. Moreover, it’s much easier to sell a solution to a specific problem that pains your prospect
NOW than to sell an opportunity for them to make things better later. If you position your
solution to address the prospect's present pain point, you will be much more effective in
moving your audience along his decision making process towards adoption. Are the
benefits articulated in business terms? Increased revenue, decreased costs, better
customer satisfaction, longer retention, reduced churn etc.
 Does the communication mentions real customer testimonials including the benefits
accrued?
Support your key business value propositions with testimonials from existing customers,
analysts and industry experts; those will support & legitimize your propositions and move
your audience further in its decision making process.
 How is you technology going to solve the business problem—your value proposition
in business terms.
That technological innovation at the core of your solution might be really cool, but
unless you can translate it into concrete & measurable business benefits, your call to
action will be un-answered.
Business value is defined by what the customer's stakeholders perceive as being valuable for
their jobs and their organizations. Presenting case studies and/or Proof-of-concept tests with

4. quantitative metrics like ROI, TCO ( total cost of ownership) are particularly effective to signal
you business value.
How is your solution different from your competitors?
Usually, vendors like to boast off the benefits of a new class of technology but this may
be risky. The key to winning deals is your ability to convey a clear message about how
and why your offering stands out from the 'crowd'. How does your solution stack up with
competing products?
Does the messaging articulate user benefit differences between your company’s product
and competing products?
 What is your company’s positioning strategy for success.
Company Positioning
Once you have developed your company’s competitive analysis and presented it in the
appropriate table format, one should next use this same information to position your
company and its product offering in the market. This is best accomplished by developing
a “perceptual map” – a two axis graphic which is based on the two key attributes that
differentiate various successful product offerings in the relevant market. As an example,
two key attributes for the microprocessor market can include speed and power
consumption. These two key attributes are then used to position your company and its
product offering with regard to your competitors. This “perceptual mapping” exercise is a
key to developing an identified market position with regard to your start-up company and
its product offering and the other various competitor product offerings in the market.
When determining your company’s product positioning you should ask in what quadrant
does your company's product offering fit in.
This “perceptual mapping” positioning analysis will provide your customers and investors with
clearly identified market position that differentiates your company and its value propositions
from the competitors in the market.
 How is your 'deck' structured in terms of Communication style
And last but not least, make sure that your deck is stated in a straight Forward
communications Style,
 Avoid acronyms, buzzwords and complex technological terms,
 Use simple & understandable visual elements; slide deck, handouts, Web site
 Include a short summary (three sentences or fewer) that succinctly articulates the
business value of the solution (”elevator pitch”)
 Define how the customer can buy the solution : distributors, internet, etc.,
A leave- behind thought
Being able to develop a creative and state-of the art technology solution is a necessary but
not sufficient condition for succeeding in today's crowded marketplace—you must be able to
message your solution positioning and differentiated value proposition to your key
target audiences; that will get you closer to the fulfill your technology business potential.
Haim Oren
haim.oren@tbkconsult.com
Office: 972-3-9031623