Company messaging is important to get your point across, especially if your product is more complex than a basket or the Uber of basket tailors. But for many B2B companies, the problem is speaking to multiple audiences at once. When messages try to help everyone, they often end up empty.
To identify your core audience, look at the data that supports your business goals to make a clear story to leadership. Your target audience may be different from what you and your leadership think it is. Ask your data who buys your products regularly and spends the most money.
You may have one business client bringing in $10,000 a month, but if you also have 100 SMBs each bringing in $1,000 a month, your audience is SMBs. If, on top of that, you have a million unique creators on the free plan, your target audience is still SMBs. The right audience isn’t always the funnest or the biggest. Focus on the one that drives your income.
How Squarespace focuses on its core audience
Squarespace focuses its messaging on the audience that drives its money.
What they do well:
- Small messages.
- Physical names.
- A quick CTA to try the product.
The message “Website makes it real” is specifically aimed at entrepreneurs, small businesses and freelancers looking to build a website. Their assumption is that having a website will make the work feel more real and make it available to anyone on the web.
Squarespace doesn’t just sell websites to entrepreneurs. It has a strong business offering as well, but the same messages aimed at very small businesses will resonate with businesses, especially those that haven’t invested in a modern, well-designed website.
As of its IPO in 2021, Squarespace makes 94% of its revenue from subscription products, and most of that money comes from subscriptions for very small businesses that cost $16-$99 a month.
The home page is a beautiful, modern design to attract non-technical entrepreneurs looking for well-designed sites at a low price. While the page offers FAQs, feature lists and community testimonials, it also prompts potential customers to start building their free website now. It knows that its audience wants to try before they buy to see how easy it is and that those who are new to building on Squarespace are more likely to buy.
Your customers are searching everywhere. Make sure it’s your product he appears.
The SEO toolkit you know, and the AI visibility data you need.
Start a Free Trial
Start with
Write messages for your main audience
When you’re writing to a key audience, you must make your value proposition clear and in words they understand in their context. Companies often have a hard time being specific, especially as they grow, because they think they sound smart or sophisticated with big words. They don’t.
Keep these rules in mind when writing messages above the fold:
- No jargon.
- Intangible nouns and verbs.
- It is designed for a primary audience.
Look at your home page and pretend you don’t know anything about your company. Does your home page tell people what you do in a tangible way? Check your copy against the examples below:
| Direct messages | Jargon-filled message |
| HVAC maintenance and repair | Experts in comforting nature |
| Shipping and storage of goods for the cattle industry | Equipment support for cattle business |
Follow up your personal description with an explanation of what makes your company unique – and it’s written for a prime audience. Let’s look at Mindbody’s home page as an example.
How Mindbody targets its audience that drives money
Mindbody specializes in messaging to small business, revenue audiences.
What they do well:
- They are targeted and focused on their target – small business sustainability.
- A clear, high-impact message above the fold.
- Easy access to secondary audience.
Based on the size of the text, when you land on mindbodyonline.com, your eyes go to the headline: “More income. More clients. More growth.” The next place your eyes go is the line “Start your business with confidence,” followed by the “Get a demo” CTA button.
In quick succession, you get:
- That’s what their product can get you.
- How does it help to do that.
- Where to go to get it now.
Yes, there are other small texts on the page that elaborate on the message, but those three lines make a powerful statement.
MindBody made a clear decision to address the audience that really makes it money: small businesses. I bet if MindBody looked at their audience, they might have a lot of individual consumers visiting their website – but that’s not who they want to do business with. Income comes from helping small businesses run their fitness business with confidence.
MindBody doesn’t completely ignore consumers, however. There is a clear call to action for shoppers to navigate to pages designed for them in the main menu area. It’s a great solution to guide everyone to where they want to be.
Change your message to action
All of the examples we’ve discussed so far have clear, targeted messages. That’s not enough to close deals if the messages are buried on the page. These examples are all:
- Enter a message above the fold in the heroes section.
- Include a CTA that is specific to what their primary audience is looking for.
If you align your message with the main audience, place the first element on the page, use the font section to attract the reader’s eye (make it bigger than anything else in that section) and add the right CTA, create a hero section that is suitable for the audience.
Most people during the research phase expect to have to wait a little longer to find prices, products or a list of features. But if you prioritize the right message and the right next action, they feel it’s easy and it can feel like customer service magic. We mention the feeling of ease that the simple registration or the first navigation gives us the product itself.
How Adobe connects messages directly to action
Adobe connects its messages directly to the next step users want to take: understanding prices and plans.
What they do well:
- A shortcut to the pricing page.
- Talking to creators as individuals and business departments.
Adobe’s slogan on adobe.com, “Everything you need to do anything,” speaks directly to creators, as people in all fields buy and influence decisions to buy the Adobe suite. The message communicates with both artists and entrepreneurs who consider themselves artists.
These broad messages almost sound like cheating – are they really telling us what they’re doing? I would say yes, they do, and part of Adobe’s advantage is that everyone already knows what it does.
Even more interesting? The main CTA on the home page takes you directly to the “prices and plans” page. That shows Adobe knows two things:
- People now know who they are and what they are doing. They don’t have to sell themselves.
- People are looking to understand how much services will cost them.
Once on the price page, buyers can choose the product they need. Adobe has reduced the shopping journey on adobe.com to two clicks and is likely to experience greater sales because it makes it easier to find and buy products that consumers want.
Control your chaos with a clear message
A clear message to the right audience with the right call to action makes the audience feel seen, understood and, to some extent, wise. Those feelings of ease, ease, understanding and creativity make people feel good and create positive associations with your brand. Those positive feelings can go a long way in building brand loyalty and revenue.
