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Here’s my simple rule for effecrtive marketing messaging: The first 80 percent of your message should be about your value: that is, how your product or service improves people’s lives or work. It should focus on lifestyle, emotion, business improvement and results. The first 80 percent should feature your thrilled customers — in testimonials, case studies, in text, audio and video — describing how much they love your products or services, and why. (Nothing you can say about yourself can be nearly as powerful as what your happy customers say.)
The last 20 percent of your message should the how. It should focus on your technology, specifications, methodology, process, steps, approaches, etc. Include these details, but bury them behind what motivates people to buy from you: the powerful, emotional, simple description of how you improve their lives.
Bonus Reading: My new book, Evangelist Marketing, is 288 pages detailing this very process. It reached #1 in its category on Amazon.com recently. Here is a book review that just ran in Forbes.
The Evangelist Marketing Institute is a private strategy and marketing consulting and coaching practice with clients that include Logitech, TiVo, and Sprint, as well as a wide range of startups and mid-market firms. Details about my work are here.