5 Tips for Marketing to Technology Audiences

We spend an inordinate amount of time around here discussing how to say the same thing multiple ways. At Babcock & Jenkins most of our clients are marketing technology solutions, so one of the most common phrases you’ll hear is “Are we targeting business decision-makers (BDMs, we call them,) or technical decision-makers (TDMs)?”

As a “TDM” myself, I am particularly aware that technical audiences learn about new technology solutions differently than their less technical counterparts. I’ve seen my share of both good and bad technology marketing.

Here are a few thoughts on crafting an effective message to us TDMs.

1. Be clear about what your product is and what it does

We technology professionals spend our days pursuing the time-honored art of engineering: the practical application of technology. This is our lens on the world, and the first thing I’ll try to establish when I run across your message. “What is this thing, and what does it do?”

Make that easy for me.

2. Give me a way to find more technical information if I want it

I may or may not want more technical information to consider your product, but in case I do, help me find it easily. I don’t want to waste my time, (nor your sales rep’s) with a call, only to discover your product isn’t right for my environment.

3. Tease me a little with how it works

As an engineer, I’m overly fascinated with how everything works. I’ll happily spend time over a beer discussing the throughput requirements of our data storage infrastructure, or a new algorithmic approach, with the same fervor a teenage girl will talk about Justin Bieber’s latest haircut. So, tell me about the amazing technology under the hood. You don’t have to give away any secrets, but I’m truly interested in how it works, especially if it’s new and innovative.

4. Tell me how other companies have used the product in their technology environments, and what positive business impact they’ve experienced

You’ll still find a few technologists out there who don’t fill a business role alongside their technical one, but they don’t have any budget. Enough said.

5. Don’t make questionable claims

When I’m evaluating adding a technology, it’s going to be my problem to deal with the integration and issues required for a successful deployment. So don’t try to position your product as magical and issue-free. My business users may like the sound of “solves problems automatically,” but I know better. Instead, be specific about your product’s capabilities and the business problems you’re addressing, so I can make my own evaluation.