Navigating Messaging to Buyers, Users, and Hidden Influencers

During my analyst days, I witnessed a conscious transformation from writing to the “vustomer” (i.e. trying to address the needs of vendors and customers simultaneously) to writing each document for a specific vendor, buyer, investor, or end-user audience. 

This makes obvious sense. End-users might not have much patience for reading about market context. Business buyers and investors may tune out of documents that get deep into technical specifications. From the analyst firm’s perspective, it is more productive to segment services and publications by audience – and open new revenue streams.

I’ve noticed a similar dynamic in my product marketing career. Many technology companies struggle with balancing messaging between their technical and business marketing personas (not to mention the increase in hybrid personas!). 

While enterprise technology companies typically have the ability to run parallel marketing programs for different business and technical audiences, smaller firms often face a trade-off.  For them, it can be tricky to determine the balance between technical versus business messaging and content. 

With constrained time and resources, the natural push-pull that arises when marketing to these different audiences can create significant frustrations for frazzled marketers. This blog dives into how to navigate the audience divide and produce more versatile content. 

Vendors Excel at Speaking to IT

Outside of MarTech, few tech founders set out to create a marketing company. The typical scenario consists of a visionary founder (or team) pulling together teams of engineers and developers to solve an old or emerging problem with innovative hardware or software. And as a result, many tech companies are outstanding at speaking to IT audiences. That’s a good thing – according to TechTarget, 92% of tech buyers are more likely to engage with a tech vendor who has helped educate them on a particular subject or technology concept.

…But Sometimes Stumble at Speaking to Business Stakeholders

However, as tech companies grow, they can struggle with developing messaging and content for decision makers outside of the IT department. Buying committee members from finance, procurement, and other business functions often desire less technical content. Instead, they want to know, in plain terms, how the solution will affect their day-to-day work. 

And despite many vendors’ passions for their creations, some buyer stakeholders are not interested in reading or hearing about technical specifications at all.

That said, many business buyers will learn to love the inner workings of a solution that makes their lives easier. However, to start them on the journey to purchasing and using your product, you must connect and speak to what they care about today.

Let’s talk about how to succeed with a unified message that resonates across business and IT.

Succeeding at Marketing to Different Audiences

Most IT solutions, especially in software, require both technical and business justification for adoption and long-term success. But far too many tech companies don’t connect technical richness to business value. Some don’t bother speaking to business audiences at all while others have marketing messaging that is completely divorced from their technical differentiation. 

So, how do tech marketers captivate both audiences without sacrificing the integrity of either message?

Start with the problem to be solved. 

A common mistake in product marketing is overdoing product-centric messaging. As a company, you should be proud of what makes your solution different, but outside audiences don’t typically have the same level of attachment. 

Does your product…

• Automate a painful process?

• Close a critical security gap? 

• Eliminate a friction point for clients’ end customers? 

These are examples of leading value propositions. Even better, go one step further and illustrate the competitive differentiation that your solution allows customers to achieve. These messages often speak to the “why” that both audiences care about.

Bridge gaps with case studies and testimonials

One of the many benefits of case studies and testimonials is that when used correctly, they bring your solution’s problem solving abilities to life. Often overlooked is their value at illustrating the relationship between business and technology. 

Case studies are an excellent vehicle to display business and technology teams working together while illustrating their overlapping needs. Good case studies present quantifiable changes brought about by the product. When possible, connect tech KPIs to business KPIs to really drive the unified story across.

Moreover, leverage panels and breakout sessions at marketing events to reach both audiences live - and generate additional case study content.

Avoid unnecessary jargon 

This is good advice in general, but is especially meaningful in this context. Every function within lines of business and technology groups has tons of language that isn’t understood outside that group. If you use too much technical jargon upfront, much of your business audience is going to tune out. 

There are times when you can’t completely eschew jargon. In that case, build a compelling narrative up front and give your audience a reason to keep reading. 

Engage the imagination

Showing your audience the possibilities of what your solution can do is a great way to transcend communication barriers. Content that enables your audience to see what the future could look like (with your products, of course) has the potential to unify disparate stakeholders around a powerful vision.   

The Role of Thought Leadership

Business and technical audiences both find themselves subjected to cliched, undifferentiated messaging. They hear brand promises, value propositions, and even customer proof points that sound interchangeable among companies. For this reason, it is critical for tech vendors to master a unique thought leadership message and voice.  

You might believe that thought leadership is a buzzword describing self-appointed experts pontificating about the trending topic of the day. True thought leadership promotes new ideas and paradigms that content consumers can use to more effectively reach their goals. 

Importantly, thought leadership can be leveraged to build a bridge between technical and business messages. In practice, searching for the common ground between these functions yields promising thought leadership topics. 

Thus, it is not surprising that thought leadership is thought to pay off. According to Edelman and LinkedIn’s 2025 B2B Thought Leadership Impact Report, 73% of respondents agree that thought leadership is more effective than conventional marketing at demonstrating potential value.

Going to market with a unified message not only can build a bridge between different buyer and user audiences, but can also create a compelling narrative for industry analysts and journalists. This is even more the case when adding a captivating thought leadership angle.

Quick Notes of Guidance for Cross-Audience Messaging

That said, there are many good reasons that companies run parallel IT and line of business messaging tracks as they scale. Ultimately, there are vastly different questions to answer and boxes to check to get buy-in from each side. For the marketing team that is speaking across stakeholder groups, here are some best practices to keep in mind:

• Don’t lose sight of technical documentation. Small vendors sometimes find themselves so laser-focused on solutions marketing that they might fall behind on things like making tech docs accessible or keeping data sheets up to date. These assets are table stakes and must always remain a priority.  

• Develop distinct messaging tracks as the company scales. As customer counts increase and your organization grows, segment marketing more granularly by tech and business personas. However, the foundational storyline should continue to cut across audiences while infusing relevant thought leadership. 

• Leverage the voice of the customer. Messaging shouldn’t be disconnected from customer reality. Whether building granular persona-based messaging or cross-functional narratives, ensure that you’ve gotten to know the challenges, desires, and everyday experiences of your customers.

Conclusion

In the end, marketing that solely talks about tech only goes so far. Markets mature and technical differentiation becomes more difficult. On the other hand, speaking only in business terms doesn’t create consensus across buying committee members. Growing vendors must seek balance in speaking to technical and business audiences to maximize their marketing efforts. By showing both groups how your solution can lead to collective success, you can make your company stand out in competitive markets.

Looking for ideas about messaging across audiences? Contact Greenefield Consulting for a free consultation about building a standout storyline.