Nearly Three-Quarters of Companies Lack a Formalized Marketing Messaging Process, Survey Finds

The Startling Findings Result in a Lack of Consistency and Customer Focus Across Marketing Campaigns and Sales Content

Corporate Visions, Inc., a leading sales and marketing messaging, tools, and training company, announced the results of a survey polling more than 500 business-to-business (B2B) marketing and sales professionals worldwide regarding the alignment of their marketing campaigns and sales content development processes. The data revealed that nearly three-quarters of companies do not have a formalized marketing messaging process for all employees to follow. This lack of process results in inconsistency and an abundance of product- or company-focused content, which impedes an organization’s ability to connect with customers.

Survey Findings

Respondents were asked how they would describe their company’s marketing campaigns and sales content development process. The results showed:

• ​28.7%: Everyone follows a well-established message development process
• ​35.1%: There is an established process, but it is not applied consistently
• ​13.2%: There is a process, but it is rarely followed because people are unaware or feel unaccountable
• ​12.2%: No formal process; employees are expected to do the right thing, but execution is hit-or-miss
• ​10.8%: Respondents are unsure what their company does

This lack of consistency and customer focus has also led to one-third of companies focusing their campaigns on their own story rather than that of their customers:

• ​27.2%: Customer-centric messaging (focus on prospects’ story)
• ​32.1%: Company-centric messaging (focus on company’s story)
• ​40.7%: Campaigns contain an even mix of both

Tim Riesterer, chief strategy and marketing officer for Corporate Visions, commented that the failure to follow a well-established message development process causes organizations to miss the mark in designing content and campaigns that resonate with customers and prospects. Company-centric messaging often leads to competitive discussions focused on distinguishing the organization from other vendors, which can result in prospects sticking with their current status quo. In contrast, customer-centric messaging identifies customers’ and prospects’ unconsidered needs and gaps in their current approach, creating urgency for change and resulting in more closed deals.

Ensuring Consistency

When asked how companies ensure consistency across their marketing campaigns and sales content, the results indicated:

• ​58.3%: Depend on templates and tools to reinforce training and guarantee consistent messaging company-wide
• ​50.8%: Provide training to content creators and expect them to apply the messaging approach consistently
• ​44.3%: Depend on a brand guide to set parameters for consistency
• ​34.3%: Rely on coaches to provide oversight, quality control, and feedback for content creators
• ​18.7%: Believe it’s a free-for-all and everyone just does whatever they think is best

Riesterer emphasized the urgent need for companies to develop a marketing methodology rooted in customer-centric messaging and underscored by a unified approach to message and content development. Implementing a consistent, structured methodology that focuses on identifying customers’ unconsidered needs and creating a buying vision that defeats their status quo bias will help marketers prepare their salespeople for the most important conversations. This approach also provides the tools and confidence needed to convert qualified leads into real opportunities, which is the most important metric for demand generation performance.

For more information and analysis of the survey findings, an infographic is available: http://win.corporatevisions.com/Infographic-Leaving-Story-Chance.html