Marshall McLuhan coined the term “the medium is the message” in his 1964 book, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man.
While McLuhan was being somewhat tongue-in-cheek, too many high-tech marketers still think the medium is more important than the message.
There is a widespread focus on how many Tweets, Threads, Facebook posts, LinkedIn messages, and so forth are being generated, and how many “hits” or “likes” these dispatches get.
While there is nothing inherently wrong with using these media to get your message out, there is a whole lot wrong with spending valuable time generating busywork and noise rather than actual sales.
Rather than being just another commoditized voice trying to scream over the roar of everyone else, spend some time crafting a better message that includes:
• Reasons why customers should buy from you
• Problems (preferably big, expensive problems) you solve and how you solve them
• Results customers get from you that they can’t get from your competitors
• Proof that supports your claims
• Risks that you reduce—or eliminate—for customers
• ROI that customers can expect
Having a clear, compelling message is especially important given that the high-tech audience you’re trying to reach is well-educated, sophisticated, and skeptical. They don’t want hype. They want results.
Whether you’re reaching out to a customer technologist who will use your product, or a customer executive who will sign the purchase order for it, you need a clear, differentiated message that gets attention, creates curiosity, and starts a conversation that leads to a sale.
The bottom line? Spend more time and energy on figuring out why customers should buy your products and pay your prices. If you run that message consistently through your marketing and social media posts, your voice will carry above the crowd—regardless of the medium.