‘Speeds and feeds’ is a phrase we often hear from tech marketers who are conscious that using technology features or technical integration language is not going to cut it with all of the influencers and decision makers in their target audience.
The challenge with technology marketing content can be sheer breadth and depth. Unlike some other sectors, technology often has a lot that needs to be said to an audience with a diverse range of care abouts and motivations.
There’s a time and a place to talk about ‘speeds and feeds’ but not on a first-date with a customer who may be more interested in say the power of collaboration solutions than the ins and outs of Unified Communications. In fact, extending the dating analogy to the concept of ‘speed-dating’ is a good way to imagine distilling all that could be said into the things that can actually make a customer romance blossom.
Most technologies could promise ‘greater agility, productivity and efficiency’ but as an opening chat-up line it’s unlikely to create an instant attraction – especially when the clock is ticking. That’s because we’re not telling our date anything they haven’t heard before.
How to woo technology decision makers
Context is key. That means absorbing and vetting everything that can be said with an almost obsessive aim to translate what really matters to the people we need to impress. Save the TCO arguments for the CFO and the SLA promises for the CTO and you’ll cut the ice much quicker. And if you’re stuck for what to say, you can try asking questions. Social and interactive tools are a perfect way to get a two-way conversation flowing.
A ‘messaging elevator’ is also a useful tool to set the upper and lower levels of content objectives – whether that means establishing the vertical and horizontal context for content or recognising an opportunity to raise the bar by talking about the business transformation capabilities of a technology solution. And if there is a place for ‘speeds and feeds’ it will also tell you where that should be.
To find out if your content needs to take a trip on the message elevator, register for our unique M4 content audit.
