Data sheets … sell sheets … technical specifications …
Whatever you call them, they are an important part of any B2B salesperson’s toolkit. However, many B2B marketers load their data sheets with too much text and visual clutter. This not only causes your core message to get lost, but it also overwhelms your readers.
Here are five data sheet dos and don’ts that will help you turn more leads into customers:
1. Address the pain points. B2B marketers frequently talk about their customers’ main challenges on their websites and in other marketing materials. However, these issues often get missed in sell sheets, as many marketers jump right into talking about the product. While explaining the product is essential for a data sheet, you should still mention your customers’ main challenges and needs. This will provide context for the rest of the data sheet and demonstrate that you understand their situation.
2. Don’t forget the benefits. Many B2B marketers discuss their product’s benefits on their landing pages and its features in their sell sheets. However, you should include both features and benefits in your data sheets, as this will make your copy more compelling and provide customers with more reasons why they should purchase your product. A standard data sheet format includes a benefits list on the front page and features on the back page. However, you can also mention the benefits along with your features.
3. Do explain why customers should partner with you. In addition to features and benefits, you may want to include a sidebar or section that explains why you are different. This section can include your brand messages or proof points, such as a customer testimonial.
4. Do aim for two pages. Ideally, your data sheets should be a two-page document that prints on a single sheet of paper. This makes it easy for your sales representatives to give copies of it to prospective customers.
5. Don’t fill your data sheet with visual clutter. Many customers today don’t have time to read a document – whether printed or on the web – word for word. That’s why you should format your data sheet for easy scanning. I see a lot of data sheets that cram too much into a tiny space. So, even if the copy is good, many customers won’t read it. Be sure to include compelling headers and sub-headers, as well as bullets, bold text and lots of white space. If you find that you need to cut text to give your data sheet a clean appearance, focus on your top three core messages and drop the rest.
You should also link to your data sheets from your product pages, so potential customers can learn more about each product. However, I wouldn’t recommend asking leads to complete an opt-in form to download a data sheet. Most people wouldn’t trade their contact information to look at a data sheet, so you’ll get more eyes on your content if you leave your data sheets ungated.
What about you? What do you think makes a good data sheet? Feel free to share your thoughts below.