With HR-tech investment booming, selling-in your brand may get trickier. Here are 5 big issues.

The HR market is brimming with new products, services and technologies that promise exciting opportunities to support the way companies’ work. 

And despite disruptions from COVID-19, evidence suggests the pandemic has not entirely halted HR buying. In fact, it’s likely to have heightened HR’s need for products that support issues brought on by structural changes and remote working. Not only have global HR tech investments exceeded $1.65 billion in Q3 of 2020, Q3 has actually been the second largest quarter for HR tech investments since 2017, pointing to evidence of increased need.

So if priorities and needs are changing, why are some companies facing problems selling to HR? To answer, we’re going to review five common issues faced by HR-suppliers in their marketing and sales processes. 

1. HR is busier than ever now

It’s no secret that HR’s had a turbulent year. And this turbulence has come with a LOT of work. In fact, according to research from Reward Gateway, 71% of HR leaders across the UK, US and Australia agree that 2020 has been the most stressful year in their career. 42% also stated they need to do more with less time, money and resources. This extra work and stress means that even if HR is interested in your product, perhaps you’re not the first on their to-do list.

This doesn’t mean they don’t care - working on positioning your product can help you to be a top priority for their organisation.

For this, you need a few things. Firstly, have a keen understanding of the top problems HR are facing and the ability to demonstrate how your service supports their overall aims and strategies. Understanding hot HR topics and displaying the value you add is essential. 

The second thing you need? Patience. Positioning yourself as a priority can take time. Highlighting your importance, expertise and credibility requires consistent reiteration of key messages across several platforms, carefully targeting (i.e. not nagging) HR in different ways (More on this in point no.5).

2. Failing to satisfy all of HR’s key buying considerations

When HR buys a product/service, there are some key aspects they review to ensure this investment is worthwhile for their organisation. This article from Unleash does a great job examining this, but to summarise, here are six aspects HR consider before making a purchase:

• Business impact - what effect will your solution have on their workforce and how can they measure this?

• Scope - is your product/service an app, a single purpose solution or a broader platform? Is it for all employees or only certain groups?

• Complexity - how easily does your offering benefit users or integrate into their everyday experiences?

• Relationship to other HR technology - Can your solution integrate with other HR tech? How can it do this?

• Employee experience - How will your product/service affect employees?

• Price - How much does your offering cost and is it good value for money?

If you aren’t able to adequately answer these questions, buyers will struggle to prioritise you for their company. It’s important to identify the key features of your product and communicate these aspects in clear and concise messages in your marketing approach.

Great communication strategies in the HR market always aim to educate and provide audiences with clear understandings of your work and how it helps organisations and employees. Our PR approach is always to guide and inform - and never use overt, salesy messages. 

Which brings us to our next problem…

3. Using pushy/inauthentic sales techniques 

A regular problem faced by HR is being bombarded with sales messages and calls from HR-suppliers. Not only this, but the messages sent are often templated and show little authenticity or any effort for personalisation.

If you don’t take time to send a meaningful, genuine message, why would they take time out of their schedule to listen to you?

Another crucial aspect is to avoid naggy-sounding or inappropriate follow ups that aren’t differentiated from your previous messages. 

We’ve heard from HR people that having LinkedIn direct messages can be annoying as poor email communications or phone calls. Being useful is key.

When speaking with potential clients, you must build meaningful relationships that show care and support. And the key to this lies in overcoming the next common problem...

4. Not taking time to research and understand the needs of an organisation and their people

Failing to take time to understand your target customers can really damage your chances of making a sale.

If your sales, marketing or PR messages attempt to use a blanket strategy and target large and completely different groups of customers, you may appear inattentive, lacking attention to detail and uncaring - none of which reflect well on your brand.

Staying on top of key market issues is essential here - read industry specific publications and improve your social listening - what are the biggest problems facing HR leaders right now? Which companies are these problems likely to affect? These are the businesses you should focus on, understand and attempt to genuinely help.

By understanding a company and its likely issues, tailor your messaging to show understanding and how it can be resolved.  

This, right here, is the key to forming great messages: listen and help.

5. Not targeting them in the right ways

To better target HR, create a strategy that reinforces your product offering on a variety platforms. If you don’t, you’ll miss out on opportunities to build visibility and credibility for your brand.

A well-rounded strategy should utilise different platforms because each is good at different things. Getting messages in the media, for example is amazing for expanding reach, building trust and highlighting expertise. Social media marketing enables you to build a following, engage and create good relationships with potential customers. Content marketing can position you as a thought leader, improve your SEO strategy and ensure you’re more readily found online. Winning awards shows you solve issues effectively. The list goes on… but, essentially, to amplify your marketing and sales results, you need a versatile targeting strategy.

Of course, this strategy should not be so broad that it lacks structure or practically. Use the best platforms and techniques to reach your audiences. 

HR people talk to each other, share ideas and collaborate, so aim for your information to be shared easily and your brand to be discussed positively.

Truly understand your audience, their needs and issues, points of interest and where they can be reached. And then, create an educational messaging strategy that positions your product as an authority and priority, aiming to inform and help them in the ways they need helping. 

If you want to build a messaging strategy that works for both HR and your business, get in touch - we’re always happy to have a chat. Or, get your free PR audit - we’ll let you know the key areas your marketing strategy should focus on to highlight your brand to HR leaders.