Video
Measuring Message–Market Fit: Beyond Lead Generation
Go beyond lead spikes to assess message–market fit via sales, pricing and market signals, so teams align, cycles shorten and growth becomes efficient.
Summary
As growth accelerates, complexity creeps into messaging, metrics and priorities. What once felt clear starts to tangle under one-size-fits-all campaigns. The answer isn’t more activity; it’s a two-track decision lens for in‑market and out‑of‑market buyers. Give teams one coherent picture, and conversion and trust follow. Clarity becomes capability.
Watch The Video
In this video, Dipendra Mistry (CSO & Managing Partner) examines how your messaging may be ignoring buyer readiness — and the risks that follow.Our Perspective
What this means for leaders navigating growth, change or transformation in their organisation.
The Hidden Split
Most organisations speak as if every prospect is on the brink of a decision. That’s the quiet driver of rising costs and thinning margins: the message tries to do two jobs at once and does neither well. 6sense Research reports that in any quarter only about 9–11% of a typical B2B market is actively buying, which means most of your audience is not ready for a sales push. When one message is forced across both groups, today’s pipeline looks busier while tomorrow’s demand erodes unnoticed in the background.
The remedy isn’t louder claims; it’s acknowledging two buyer states and designing for each without diluting your story.
Two Tracks, One Brand
Run two message tracks under one narrative: the same North Star, tailored signals. The in‑market track should help people complete a choice; the out‑of‑market track should help people make sense of a space before they have a trigger. Keep the language, proof, and point of view consistent, but change what you emphasise and when.
- In‑market: decisive proof, pricing context, risk removal, clear next steps.
- Out‑of‑market: a sharp problem frame, useful ideas, category context, credible future outcomes.
This separation reduces pressure on prospects and creates cleaner measurement. Conversion rises without trading away long‑term preference.
Operating Guardrails
Translating the idea into day‑to‑day practice needs a few non‑negotiables. Define the trigger signals that move a contact from education to evaluation—intent, timing, fit—so handovers are timely and respectful. Keep the measurement distinct: in‑market teams own pipeline velocity and win rate; out‑of‑market teams own mental availability and lead quality over time.
- Set an explicit resource split between the tracks and review it quarterly.
- Build shared briefs, with one narrative and modular assets adapted to readiness.
- Keep a governance cadence where brand, marketing, and sales align on signals, not slogans.
In our experience with mid‑market organisations, this is where friction falls: plans stop competing and start compounding.
Leadership Implications
This is ultimately an operating choice, not a copywriting preference. Treat messaging as a portfolio with two time horizons. Fund both from one plan so they complement rather than cannibalise. Align incentives so sales isn’t chasing short‑term offers while brand is teaching a longer story. Hold a single point of view that can flex—same argument, different emphasis.
The longer you maintain the split, the more your category sense‑making turns into trust, and the more your proof accelerates decisions when the trigger hits. Over time, organisations that respect buyer readiness compound preference while preserving margin, and that’s the quiet advantage competitors struggle to read until it’s already working.
Sources:
- About 10% of Your Potential Customers Are Ready to Buy This Quarter — 6sense Research
Further Resources
If today’s topic resonates, we invite you to continue the dialogue — sometimes one conversation reframes the challenge. Start the conversation.
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Messaging