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A datasheet is a technical document that provides detailed information about a product or service. It offers a concise way to let prospective customers learn about your company’s offer and evaluate if it’s the right option.
Whether you’re showcasing a new product or service, a datasheet can go a long way in concisely communicating your offer. The best ones usually follow best practices to make sure they’re effective.
In this article, we’ll discuss the benefits of using datasheets, 11 elements to craft an effective one, and tips to nail it on the first go.
Datasheets serve an important purpose in the buyer’s journey. Apart from being an excellent tool to communicate your offer, here are a few other benefits they offer:
Your website is among the most critical touch points in the buyer’s journey. While you might have a host of blog posts, case studies, and whatnot—your customers still need a clear understanding of your actual offer.
A datasheet lets you do that in 30 seconds or less by stating the following:
This clarity and way of framing the message communicates what you do, how you do it, and what outcomes the customer can expect. Distilling complex information into an accessible format reduces confusion and any misinterpretation.
These sheets also act as a tool for repurposing, as you can use this information in various ways.
For example, you can provide this to new marketing team members to help them understand the product at a glance. Or you can hand them out to potential customers at trade shows or sales meetings to help them learn about your offer quickly.
It’s common for sales representatives to send datasheets to prospects if they’re learning about your offer or are in the consideration stage. Typically, it answers the following questions:
When prospects get this information upfront, they’re more likely to engage with your reps further if they can see the tangible benefits from the get-go.
It’s common advice to avoid talking about your product or service directly at the top of the funnel. But if a prospect shows interest in your brand, this datasheet can subtly introduce them to your offer. As concise as it is, the content is in-depth, letting you loop prospects into your funnel and build credibility.
Not sure what to include in your datasheet? Here’s a list of must-have elements with examples:
Include your company’s official name, address, and contact information in the datasheet. Some prospects may not be familiar with your brand, which also gives them the necessary context.
In the example below, DocuSign also includes the publishing date to show the recency of the content. It builds credibility, and if it’s too old, they might reach out for an updated version, indicating interest.
Source
The company’s logo should be prominently displayed on the datasheet. It serves as a visual identifier for the company, enhancing brand recognition. Plus, it avoids misrepresenting information as the reader knows it’s from your company.
Depending on how technical your product is and who it’s catered towards, include the following:
You can also add interactive elements to create another layer for engagement.
“The incorporation of dynamic elements, such as QR codes linking to video demonstrations or further detailed content, adds an interactive layer to the datasheet that has become increasingly appreciated,” says Ryan Esco, the chief marketing officer of FireRock Marketing. “Ensuring that your datasheets are informative, engaging, and interactive can set you apart from competitors.”
Highlight what sets your product or service apart from competitors. This could include aspects like:
For example, Veritas, a data protection platform, knows that backup and recovery options are top of mind for its customers. So, the team tabulates similar options for different platforms—providing ease of mind.
Provides a clear, understandable explanation of how the product functions or the service is delivered. Depending on the complexity, this could be a brief overview or a step-by-step guide.
For example, Palo Alto Networks, a cybersecurity platform, uses infographics to explain how its product works within your technology ecosystem.
Think about the tangible benefits your product or service offers. The best way to do that is to review customer support tickets and emails from existing customers who have given you feedback.
Alternatively, look at third-party review websites to mine data and use it to turn features into benefits.
In the example below, DocuSign, an e-signature solution, does precisely that. It addresses the needs of enterprise customers by focusing on issues they face at work while performing agreement activities and implementing new solutions.
Use cases differ between departments and job roles. If you have a product that works across multiple ICPs, consider mentioning their use cases.
Alternatively, you can create dedicated datasheets for each use case or ICP. This approach also helps sales representatives tailor their pitches, making engaging prospects easier.
Here’s an example of how DocuSign explains its versatility across teams:
Include some social proof to solidify your prospect’s trust in the offer. You can do that in the form of:
Example of social proof on Trend Micro’s datasheet
The goal is to keep the reader moving through the buyer’s journey. In most cases, it’s best to add an email address to contact for further questions or link back to your website. But if you send it to a buyer in the consideration or decision stage, add a demo button or phone number.
If there are brochures, detailed technical documents, white papers, or links to further resources, mention these and provide ways to access them. This helps interested readers delve deeper into specific product or service aspects, offering a path for further engagement.
Here are a few examples of datasheets that you could use as inspiration for yours:
Workday, a recruitment platform, uses a 2-page datasheet to explain its product, Workday Recruiting. In a snapshot, you can see four things that make it easy for the reader to grasp what it does:
This makes it easy to visualize the product and see what it can do for you.
Calendly, a meeting scheduling app, takes a slightly different approach. On the first page, the company has offered a lot of social proof—with metrics and testimonials from similar customers.
But on the second page, its team mentioned favorite features that sales teams use. This approach lets their ICP (sales teams) see how other sales reps use and benefit from the product. They end it with a strong CTA to reach out to an account executive to get the conversation going.
Instead of sticking with PDFs, Trend Micro, a cybersecurity platform, created an interactive page to explain its product.
The team has focused on the benefits developers get from the platform. To make it easier to visualize, they’ve also created an interactive graphic that shows how it works. This approach allows developers to look at the product’s inner workings without having to reach out to sales—and if needed, they can take a free test drive, too—solidifying product understanding.
Here are a few tips to get the right message across in your datasheet:
It’s hard to decide what information goes into the datasheet unless you know who you’re speaking to.
Start by identifying the characteristics of your audience:
Once you have definitive answers, you can choose the right messaging, content, and visuals to communicate your value.
Here’s how Alex Taylor, the head of marketing at CrownTV, went through a similar process and created an effective datasheet:
“I was part of the team that launched a SaaS platform for project management and collaboration. Our datasheet focused on enabling users to communicate and collaborate seamlessly across devices and locations,” says Taylor.
“We highlighted features like automatic syncing across mobile and desktop apps, seamless file sharing, and built-in team messaging. This messaging spoke directly to the pain points of a distributed workforce and emphasized the ‘Aha’ realization that teams could now work together easily from anywhere. The result? The datasheet was a hit, and customers immediately grasped the value of our platform.”
Don’t underestimate the value of a good template. Create templates for your team if you have multiple products or plan to launch in different markets.
The end result is that you have a repeatable process for the creation process and consistent branding and messaging throughout. It also saves you time in the long run—letting you focus on what to include, not how to make it appear.
Also, use the 3-30-300 rules to create more impactful datasheets. Dylan Cleppe, Co-Founder & CEO of OneStop Northwest LLC, explains:
“The concept is designed to grab attention in 3 seconds, provide key information in 30 seconds, and offer in-depth details if the reader wishes to engage for an additional 300 seconds. This method ensures that regardless of the customer’s time or interest, they receive the information most relevant to them in a scalable manner.”
Every datasheet has non-negotiable items like the following:
If you miss any of these, it’ll result in lackluster results like low engagement rates with the content.
“These factors are what customers care most about and will refer back to when they start comparing their options,” explains Milo Cruz, SEO and content lead at BuddyCRM. “Make sure these details are quickly visible and easy to interpret in your sales datasheet to help prospects along the buyer’s journey and persuade them to choose your business.”
A datasheet is a result of cross-functional collaboration across the entire go-to-market team. For instance, if you want accurate information on the product, you’ll have to talk to your product team (development and marketing) to understand the following:
This will let you hone in on actual differentiators that set your offer apart from the rest.
It can be tempting to include too much social proof, like case studies and testimonials, to show the value of your product. But you can do that without pushing too much of it in the datasheet.
The goal is to be informative—not pushy. In the initial stages, prospects want to learn more about your offer. They’re not ready to buy yet, so limiting what you add and keeping it short is important.
You must encourage them to take the next step—maybe consume a piece of content or contact your sales team to learn more.
Don’t let your datasheets sit in a random shared drive folder. It’s one of the most critical pieces of content you’ll create. Plus, if you have to manage different versions and provide access across multiple teams—collaboration will become harder down the line.
Use a sales content management system that enables you to provide controlled access, add notes for context, and add tags like product type and industry.
Datasheets have come to be known as a modern version of the specification sheet. As prospective customers are looking for simpler content formats to learn more about a company’s offer, it offers an excellent way to achieve that.
Instead of going through multiple product pages, blog posts or case studies, buyers can now access everything in one place. This is why companies should focus on creating datasheet templates to build an inventory of datasheets for each market, ICP, and product. It’ll help your sales and marketing teams do a better job of building trust right from the get-go.
And if you need a content management tool to store these datasheets, try Content Camel for free.
Get the most out of your content and deliver trackable results
Content Camel is a sales enablement tool used for sales content management. High-growth sales teams use our system to quickly find and share the right content for each specific sales situation and measure content use and effectiveness.