I’ve been immersed in health and safety services marketing recently, researching landing pages in this sector. It’s for a client who wants to improve conversion rate optimization (CRO) on their landing page. As usual with B2B technical services, I found a great deal of competition, large and small. I also found a great deal of similarity between the players in the industry and what they offer.
I’m often asked to create compelling messages that will convince a web visitor to click on a demo or sign up for a sales meeting. I do create more compelling content, but I have an issue with that word as a common understanding for ‘compel’ is ‘to force’. Some business owners think there is a magical combination of words that will turn leads into demo-clicking automatons. There isn’t. Instead, I rely on my usual focuses (foci?) of specificity, relevancy and ideal customer profiling.
Safety data sheet management, environmental safety software, and hazardous goods labelling tend to start their marketing funnel with a list of features like ‘secure online database’ and ‘up-to-date hazardous chemical information’. You do need these features and benefits in your marketing. But remember, you are just rehashing basic service-level agreements. Statements such as this one don’t help you stand out:
“ [Our] solution helps organizations comply with regulations for chemicals and product data by evaluating materials for harm, maintaining accurate inventories of substances used, and communicating proper handling information to those who may be at risk.”
This is a technically correct statement repeated across every competitor’s website plus a weak promise. Not very compelling at all.
Go beyond ‘features and benefits’ marketing
If you have a product or service with nothing remarkable about it, it is easy to get stuck repeating these tropes. Often owners and CEOs miss their service’s value due to familiarity. Luckily, for my client, his service has some elements of differentiation. We’ve pursued this in the landing page copy and on the pricing pages.
I also recommended we address issues found across most B2B services marketing, not just the compliance sector. Issues such as positioning based on market orientation, differentiation and encapsulating your product ecosystem.