The biggest mistake in consulting firms’ messaging is copying consumer brands.
I know.
Who doesn’t want to be inspirational like Nike?
Who doesn’t want to influence buyers with a strong mission like Patagonia’s?
But think about it.
These are consumer brands.
They sell commoditized products.
A jacket is a jacket.
No matter what brand you buy from, the product functionally does the same thing.
So to differentiate themselves, consumer brands have to give intangible meaning to their tangible products.
They have to represent an identity.
And consultants buy from these brands as consumers.
They buy Patagonia vests to protect the environment.
They buy Rolex watches to feel they’ve made it in life.
So they buy the identity before the product.
That’s why when it comes to branding their own businesses, they want to do the same.
They want to inspire their buyers.
So when you go to their website or read their content, everything feels like a consumer brand.
They have taglines that don’t mean anything — inspired by Nike’s “Just do it” or Apple’s “Think different.”
They have mission statements with big words.
But this never works to influence buyers.
Why?
Because for consulting firms, the nature of the business is different.
They already have intangible products and services.
So making everything even more abstract with mission statements or vague taglines falls flat.
Their buyers have a problem in their business.
And they are looking for the best way to fix it.
Imagine you are entering a new market and need expertise to navigate regulations.
You don’t care if somebody is transforming an industry.
All you care about is if they can help you.
So buyers don’t get inspired when they read aspirational statements.
They get annoyed.
And they become less likely to take the next action.
That’s why consulting firms have to do the opposite with their messaging.
They should try to make everything as concrete as possible.
They should relate everything to the real problems of their buyers to influence them.
Don’t get me wrong.
Consulting firms can take away many lessons from consumer brands.
You know I like using stories from consumer brands myself.
And we’ve also talked about cross-industry innovation.
But leading with inspirational messaging is not one of them.
Consulting firms’ messaging has to lead with clarity.
Especially if it’s a growing firm.
Because they can’t spend billions over decades to make inspirational slogans like “Just do it” mean something to their buyers.
Their best bet is to get understood by buyers as quickly as possible.
Let’s make it concrete with an example.
Imagine a consultancy firm that helps logistics companies cut delivery delays.
Look at these two different approaches to explain what they do:
Which one is clear?
Which one would be more likely to influence buyers to take the next step?
Now imagine this clarity on every marketing channel.
Your home page.
Your ads.
Your content.
Buyers would know exactly what your brand does, how you do it differently, and why they should buy.
You’d handle their objections step by step and make each step of your funnel convert better.
So if you sell to businesses and your messaging imitates consumer brands, think again.
Nike can get away with “Just do it.”
Your firm can’t.
Because your buyers don’t need inspiration.
They need clarity.
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