A person holding a Sticky note reminder "Don't forget" about their work responsibilities.

 

What in the world is going on with messaging? Over the past few months, I have had numerous conversations where it seems that the responsibility for creating messaging has been upended. Messaging development has sprawled across too many areas within B2B teams, which has led to multiple, disparate — or even competing — versions of messages that get communicated to buyers and customers. Confusion is almost guaranteed, leading to frustration for both the provider and their buyers and customers.

Product and portfolio marketing should own buyer-focused messaging. It has always been a core responsibility, as high-performing product and portfolio marketers are experts on understanding markets and buyers. They are uniquely qualified to develop effective messaging that resonates with buyers, helping buyers connect their needs to product offerings throughout the entire decision-making process. But results from Forrester’s Portfolio Marketing Survey, 2024, indicate that portfolio marketers are neglecting this crucial messaging responsibility. The survey gathered insights from product and portfolio marketing decision-makers based on their responses to questions about core responsibilities and key activities. Our research uncovered these alarming data points:

  • Message creation ranked lowest as an important skill. Portfolio marketers have a broad remit, so it’s no surprise that they work on a variety of things and require a vast skill set. But when the survey asked respondents what skills are most important for being successful in their role, they ranked message creation dead last across all options, with only 11% selecting it as an important skill.
  • More than 25% of portfolio marketers outsource messaging development. There’s nothing more important than understanding buyers and developing value propositions and messaging that connect a buyer’s needs to the capabilities of an offering. Yet one out of every four respondents indicated that they outsourced the development of messaging and value proposition to third parties. There are many things that are smart to outsource — messaging is not one of them!
  • Messaging is not deemed as important in helping achieve business goals. Among eight key activity areas ranging from identifying new market opportunities to orchestrating product launches, messaging was at the very bottom of the list. Only 5% of respondents said that crafting messaging for buyers or offerings is the most important activity in helping the organization achieve its business goals.
  • Portfolio marketers are spending time on non-core activities. It can be difficult to prioritize what to work on for a function that shoulders such a variety of responsibilities, but the survey results showed that portfolio marketers are spending just as much time on non-core activities, such as brand awareness and demand generation, as on messaging. Thirty-six percent of respondents indicated that they own or lead demand generation and 36% own or lead brand awareness efforts; this is compared to just 34% owning or leading messaging development.

Portfolio marketing leaders need to take notice and respond quickly — make sure that your teams invest time for messaging development. Forrester clients can leverage The Messaging Nautilus®: Buyer’s Journey, a model made of four steps that helps portfolio marketers build concise, specific, and relevant messaging that motivates buyers throughout the purchase process. And if you would like to have a more detailed conversation with me, you can request a guidance session or inquiry — let’s chat!