Why you need to stop writing to Job Titles.
- Vivien
- Dec 5, 2025
- 4 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
Too many B2B teams still write like this:
“Dear CEO…”
“Attention: VP of Operations…”
“Message for the Procurement Lead…”
We obsess over titles.
We segment and target by title.
Writing to job titles is the fastest way to get ignored.
Titles don’t read your messaging.
People do.
When you write to a job title, you make three big mistakes:
❌ You assume everyone with the same title thinks the same way.
But no two CIOs have the same:
risk tolerance
political environment
technical debt
personal goals
relationship with their CEO
appetite for change
Titles are labels.
Humans are messy.
❌ You write for the “role” instead of the real buying situation.
The job description might say: “Own digital transformation.”
Their real situation says: “I'm firefighting the same integration issue for the sixth week straight.”
❌ You forget they’re juggling competing priorities, not waiting to decode your message.
The VP of Ops isn’t reading your messaging in a quiet moment with tea and jazz music.
They're:
behind on emails
putting out fires
pleasing multiple stakeholders
trying not to look incompetent
making decisions under pressure
Real people make decisions emotionally first, then justify rationally.
Nobody wakes up thinking, “Today, as a VP of Ops, I will…”
They wake up thinking, “Crap, I’m already behind. What do I need to fix first?”
They have fears, pressures, blind spots, and goals such as:
Fear of looking incompetent.
Pressure to deliver before quarter-end.
Desire to impress their boss.
Avoiding blame.
Avoiding risk.
If your messaging doesn’t speak to that, it won't keep their attention.
What Happens When You Write to the Human Behind the Title
When you write to the human behind the title, everything changes:
You go from: “Another vendor saying generic things.” to “This person gets our situation.”
✔ Your message lands in their world, not yours
✔ You speak to what they’re trying to solve
✔ You influence how they think… not just what they read
✔ Your message travels through their buying committee because it’s repeatable, not role-specific.
The Powerful Shift: Write for the chain of decision-making, not the first reader.
Titles don’t make decisions.
People with different motivations do.
Your message should be something someone can repeat in a meeting without you in the room.
Because in B2B, the real decision happens when your buyer has to explain your value to:
their boss
IT
Finance
Procurement
Risk
That skeptical board member who always says no
If your message only works for one title, it dies there.
When you speak to the human behind the title, your messaging travels.
So… How Do You ‘Write for the Human’?
Here’s a simple framework:
1. Start with their pressure, not their Job title.
Why this works: When someone is under pressure, the brain prioritises threats, deadlines, and unresolved problems above all else — it’s survival mode.
So when your message opens with their immediate pressure, their brain says: “This is about me.” and it's a feeling that'll stay with them.
Pressure activates:
Attention
Emotional focus
Decision-making urgency
Titles don’t trigger urgency to seek a solution. Real-life pressure does.
For Example:
Title: “CFO”
Pressure: “Management wants the figures yesterday.”
"End of quarter is coming. Everyone wants budget approval yesterday.
And you’re somehow expected to deliver accurate numbers while chasing half the organisation for updates.
Here’s how to get real-time financial clarity without adding more reporting work to your plate."
You're entering the conversation already happening in their mind — not creating a new one they must work to understand.
2. Use their world, not yours.
Why this works: Most B2B messaging fails because it forces the buyer to translate what you’re saying into their world.
When you describe your solution in their reality, two things happen:
You remove cognitive friction.
They don’t have to interpret your terminology, framework, or pitch. You’ve already done the hard work for them.
You build instant credibility.
Nothing builds trust faster than someone describing your situation better than you can.
Write for their context, not your content.
Your world = features, frameworks, methodology
Their world = problems, bottlenecks, fires
Write how they would describe their challenges over the family dinner table, not what you say in your sales pitch.
Example: "You’re blamed for every security issue… even the one you warned everyone about. And every new tool becomes your responsibility.
Here’s how to strengthen security without buying out your team."
3. Speak to motivations, not responsibilities.
Motivations drive 90% of buying behaviour.
No one ever wants to admit this but People buy based on:
Social risk
Personal risk
Avoidance of blame
Desire for competence
Identity (“I’m someone who…”)
Political capital
Fear of making the wrong move
Pressure from above
Wanting to look good in front of their boss
Responsibilities are what they should care about.
Motivations are what they actually care about.
For example:
❌ Responsibility: “Deliver operational efficiency and Control vendor risk.
✔ Motivation: “Don’t slow the business down and get blamed for delays.”
Example: "Your CEO wants faster reporting. Your teams want fewer tools. And you’re stuck refereeing in the middle. Here’s how to simplify your data stack without ripping everything out."
The real job of B2B messaging.
If your message is written for a role, it dies at the first reader.
If you can make someone feel seen, understood, and supported in their pressure-filled world…your message becomes unforgettable.
The companies that win aren’t the ones who shout the loudest.
They’re the ones who communicate with empathy, precision, and respect for the messy reality of human decision-making.
When you speak to the human behind the role, everything becomes simpler: they feel understood, their path gets clearer, and their confidence grows.
This is how your messaging stops feeling like “another vendor pitch”…and starts becoming the thing buyers rely on to make decisions.
2 questions to ask your team:
Does our copy focus on the situation someone is in right now (e.g., urgency, frustration) or their role label?
What emotional drivers are we assuming our reader has — and are those real?
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If your multi-audience messaging is getting stuck, I help you build one that creates movement.
🎯 Hi, I'm Vivien,
I specialise in psychology-led, layered, multi-audience message survival and work with Heads of Communications, CMOs, and B2B teams
I keep your messaging intact as it moves through stakeholders, decision-makers, and high-stakes moments and prevent message distortion before it costs you critical decisions.
Because you're not selling to 1 person. You're selling to 10.
