How to Improve B2B SaaS Messaging for Higher Conversions

How to Improve B2B SaaS Messaging for Higher Conversions

When marketing teams are driving traffic to their B2B SaaS website but have problems with converting visitors into demo signups, free trial users, or paying customers, chances are that it’s because of confusing, unclear, or weak messaging. How can they craft high-converting B2B SaaS messaging that will resonate with the target audience?

That’s why we’re talking to Chris Silvestri (Founder & Conversion Copywriter, Conversion Alchemy), who shared some proven strategies on how B2B SaaS marketers can achieve strong message-market fit. During our conversation, Chris explained why effective conversion copywriting is more than just clever words – it’s about capturing insights from customer research, team alignment, and understanding buyer psychology. He also provided some actionable tips on how to improve B2B SaaS messaging conversions, common copy mistakes to avoid, how to leverage AI as a tool, and the value of surveys and jobs-to-be-done interviews.

https://youtu.be/lfO4EsIJPts

Topics discussed in episode:

[1:43] Why high-converting copy goes far beyond words

[3:27] Common pitfalls to avoid in B2B SaaS copywriting:

• Lack of a clear and compelling value proposition
• Focusing too much on product features
• Creating messaging that is too generic or unclear

[10:51] Untapped messaging opportunities in B2B SaaS marketing:

• Strengthen your point of view in your copy
• Match the above the fold copy with the visitors’ motivation
• Create a system that consistently collects, organizes and makes use of your research data

[14:25] The framework that B2B SaaS marketers can use to conduct competitor research:

• Motivation
• Value
• Anxiety
• Call to action

[22:48] How to align cross-functional teams through effective message research

• Start with the language research
• Analyze the user experience on website
• Understand the decision making process

Companies and links mentioned:

• Chris Silvestri on LinkedIn

• Conversion Alchemy

• Matt Lerner

• The “Growth Lever” Book

• Hotjar

• Joanna Wiebe

• Copy Hackers

• Ethan Mollick

Christian Klepp  00:00

Every company in the B2B world wants to make sure that traffic they’re driving to their website isn’t squandered by confusing, unclear or weak messaging. They also want to see more people sign up for demos, trials or purchases. So what does it take to ensure you’re turning B2B messaging into gold? Welcome to this episode of the B2B Marketers in the Mission podcast, and I’m your host, Christian Klepp. Today, I’ll be talking to Chris Silvestri, who will be answering this question. He’s the founder and conversion copywriter at Conversion Alchemy, who has been helping B2B SaaS (Software as a Service) companies find their message market fit. Find out more about what this B2B marketers mission is. All right, I’m gonna say. Chris Silvestri, welcome to the show. 

Chris Silvestri  00:46

Hey Christian. Pleasure to be here. Excited for this.

Christian Klepp  00:50

Really looking forward to this conversation, Chris, because you know, before I hit record, we were having a lot of good discussions about, well, the right and wrong things to do when it comes to copywriting, so let’s dive right in and get this started. 

Chris Silvestri  01:05

Yeah, totally. 

Christian Klepp  01:06

Okay, fantastic. So Chris, you’re on a mission to help B2B SaaS companies make their value impossible to ignore and join the conversation already happening in their customers heads. So for this conversation, let’s zero in on the topic of how B2B SaaS marketers can achieve the right message market fit. So I’d like to start the conversation off with two questions, and I’m happy to repeat them. First one is, why do you believe that high converting copy goes far beyond words? And the second question is, where do you see a lot of B2B SaaS copy falling flat.

Chris Silvestri  01:43

Very good question. So to the first one. Why does copy go beyond just words? That’s also kind of the premise of my own Conversion Alchemy brand. Let’s say so. I say the words are just the base metal, and then you need the alchemy of psychology, UX, decision making to actually make those words convert. And the way, the reason I say this is because users don’t just read words, if you think about it, they need to do some work, some unpacking work. When they read those words, if you imagine one of your customers reading your copy, they come to your whether it’s a landing page or an email or an ad or even just a sales stack, or during a presentation, they come to it with some kind of past experience. Maybe they have been using a competitor. Maybe they’ve tried similar products. So when it comes time to actually read those words. They have a lot of work to do to kind of deconstruct what you are saying and see if it matches the conversation that they already have in their minds, whether it’s expectations or perceived value. So that’s what I mean by words are not enough. It’s not just about writing words, the grammar, the clarity, yes, it is about that, but then there’s much more going on in the background. 

Christian Klepp  03:10

Absolutely, words are not enough. It sounds like a love song like you, you need to put in some action as well. Yeah, absolutely, yeah. And to the next question, where do you see a lot of B2B SaaS companies falling flat with their copy.

Chris Silvestri  03:28

One big problem that I see, which probably the most evident, which actually tells you that there’s issues throughout the copy or through other messaging, is probably lack of a clear and compelling value proposition. And by that, I mean mostly, if you look at any homepage, the above the fold copy that you see on the homepage, that’s basically the first thing that a user sees, unless they land on a landing page. But in general, when you land on a homepage, you’re a prospect. You see the main headline, the main subhead, and the call to action. That section is what I see being the weakest, which is pretty critical, because if you think about it, that’s the first step. Then after that, users need to scroll, need to take the next action. So that’s probably the biggest one. Companies struggle to actually express their positioning and their messaging strategy in that specific, concise piece of copy. 

Chris Silvestri  04:24

The second one is probably the balance between features and benefits. So there’s a lot of talk about you should use benefits and not features, right? But in SaaS, it’s a bit more complex, and what I see is that, yes, benefits have a lot of value, especially if you’re a SaaS or B2B company that’s been writing copy mostly centered on features, you also need to express that value, what’s in it for users. But it’s also important to match that value with the actual technicalities, the features, the specs that especially more sophisticated, advanced prospects might be looking for, especially if they’ve been using a competitor, or if they are very sophisticated and higher in awareness about the product that they are looking for, the problem that they’re trying to solve, they might be looking for specific technical features, technical names, so you want to emphasize those as well, and it’s all about visual hierarchy. 

Chris Silvestri  05:26

The probably the third one, it’s a lot of companies, especially those that have a pretty complex and technical product. For example, I worked with data integration and quality B2B SaaS enterprise as well a couple of months ago, and they had this specific problem. They tried to simplify their message rather than being clear. The problem is, when you simplify message, you remove the complexity entirely. When you are clear, you actually make that complexity understandable, which is totally different, because some, some of your ICPs (Ideal Customer Profile), your personas, might need that complexity in your copy. It’s just a matter of understanding how much of it in what places, and kind of balancing it out.

Christian Klepp  06:17

Absolutely, absolutely. Some fantastic points there. And to your I’ll start with the last point. This is part of the reason, because I do a bit of copywriting myself, but this is part of the reason why I don’t believe in writing messaging, where it’s just like one word like, it’s like a one word sentence. So it’s like, it’s like, rinse, repeat, redo, or something like that, right? You know what I mean? Because it’s, oversimplifying something, especially in B2B, that you put yourself in the customer’s shoes, or you wear the customer’s lens, as they say, it’s very hard to actuall