How to Differentiate Your Tech With Emma Stratton (Compete Week 2024 Keynote)

Niko Pajkovic

At a time when tech companies are scrambling to differentiate in crowded, lookalike markets, messaging strategist Emma Stratton offers a refreshing take: 

Differentiation isn’t about being the loudest or most unique – it’s about understanding your buyer better than anyone else. 

Today’s Crowded Tech Landscape

Stratton opened her Compete Week talk by describing the tough realities of today’s competitive tech landscape. Markets are overcrowded, categories are splintering, and copycat messaging runs rampant. 

Because of this, true technical differentiation is increasingly rare; most companies boast only marginally unique features.

For Stratton, this means the old messaging playbook – focused on product superiority – is no longer enough.

Instead, she argued, real differentiation lies in making buyers feel understood:

“Messaging is about bridging the gap between cold, unfeeling technology and living, breathing humans,” she explained.

Three Buyer-Centric Messaging Techniques

Stratton went on to share three techniques to create messaging that truly connects:

1. Translate Features Into Real-World Benefits

Most tech companies describe their products like a scientist analyzing a sunset, explained Stratton. They focus on technical details rather than the beauty that moves people. She urged marketers to avoid this, and instead “translate” their technical features into benefits that align with the buyer’s world. For example, instead of touting “actionable forecasting,” describe how your product “allows finance teams to track weekly forecast changes without manual calculations.”

2. Keep It Real: Embrace Emotion and Honesty

Next, Stratton talked about the power of authenticity. She shared how a budgeting app won her loyalty by tapping into her emotions and acknowledging a common fear: checking account balances. While B2B messaging often stays sanitized, she reminded us that buyers are humans with real fears, stress, and desires. Speaking to these emotions builds trust.

3. Clarity Over Jargon: The Barbecue Test

Stratton then urged companies to ditch jargon and buzzwords. They create unnecessary distance between brands and buyers. She proposed the “barbecue test”: if you wouldn’t say it casually over a burger and beer, don’t write it in your messaging. For example, replace “foster continuous engagement among team members” with just… “keep everyone on the team involved.”

The Takeaway: Empathy as a Competitive Advantage

Emma closed with a great call to action: “Stop obsessing over being different. Start obsessing over understanding your buyer.”

In an industry where jargon and self-importance often reign, her emphasis on human connection offers a refreshing path to standing out.

TLDR

🌶️ Hot Takeaways:

1. True technical differentiation is increasingly difficult to achieve, but buyer-centric messaging that shows deep customer understanding can be a powerful differentiator
2. Translate features by contrasting “life before” and “life after” your product—instead of saying “actionable forecasting,” try “track weekly forecast changes without manual calculations”
3. Stop sanitizing your message. B2B buyers are humans who worry, stress, and want life to be easier—reflecting this reality builds trust and drives action

🎤 Mic Drop Moments: 

1. On Tech Messaging: “Messaging’s job is to cross that divide. It’s about helping someone see how your product might fit in their life and make it a bit better.” – Emma
2. On Being Real: “Why are we afraid of touching emotion in B2B messaging? I’ve interviewed over a thousand buyers—none of them talk like robots, yet we insist on writing like this.” – Emma
3. On Jargon: “Jargon and buzzwords are like refined sugar in our industry. It’s secretly added to everything, even if you think it’s not there. Look again—it’s there.” – Emma

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