Editorial
The Gist
- Positioning mastery. Understand market dynamics to effectively position your B2B tech brand, enhancing visibility and impact.
- Strategic tailoring. Tailored content strategies, based on market position, drive deeper engagement and competitive advantage.
- Adaptable strategies. Stay agile in B2B marketing with evolving content strategies that respond to market changes and customer needs.
Ask a million B2B tech marketers how to put together a content strategy that converts, and it’s likely that you’ll get a million different responses. Everyone has their own “special sauce” when it comes to B2B content strategy, and I’m no different.
Not Just One Recipe
But I think what most “special sauces” get wrong is that they’re built on the premise that there’s only one recipe — that by applying a regimented and templated approach, the same content strategy works for everyone.
If only that were true, our jobs would be a lot easier — but a lot less interesting.
In truth, just like a good chef knows how to pull together a fantastic meal based on the ingredients they have available to them — and how to adjust for taste on the fly — putting together an effective content strategy calls for a tailored approach, executed by marketers who know what levers to pull, what to adjust and how to frame out a story.
The good news? It is possible to hotwire that knowledge — to quickly develop the skills it takes to put together masterful B2B content strategy. It takes understanding of a few key concepts, though:
- An understanding of the competitive landscape.
- A deep handle on what makes your company unique and the specific value you enable.
- Understanding of your customers and their needs.
- A handle on the market context and the tailwinds and headwinds that will hasten or hinder your company’s growth.
But before anything else, it starts with positioning. Here’s where our “special sauce” recipe pulls from one of the best names in industry: April Dunford, a modern master of positioning.
B2B Content Strategy: Nailing Positioning to Nail Content
Positioning is the critical phase where a brand's narrative begins to take shape, influenced heavily by its market standing and competitive landscape. It’s a multi-faceted process, involving the identification of a company's unique place in the market. Dunford breaks it down into three distinct categories: head-to-head, where businesses compete directly in an existing market; big fish in a small pond, focusing on dominating a niche market segment; and creating a new game, which involves carving out an entirely new market category.
Each of these positioning strategies demands a tailored approach. For instance, a head-to-head competitor must constantly innovate and communicate its superiority over its rivals.
In contrast, a company adopting the big-fish-in-a-small-pond strategy focuses on elevating the importance of its niche, addressing specific, often overlooked customer needs.
Meanwhile, creating a new game is an audacious move, requiring a pioneering spirit and a readiness to invest substantial resources to define and lead a new market category.
Related Article: Mastering B2B Marketing Strategies in a Digital Age
Tailoring Content to Market Position
Your content strategy will differ based on your company’s market position.
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If you’re competing head-to-head, then you’re already an established leader. You’re trying to protect your turf. Think about how Amazon Web Services is loud and constant about why their cloud is better than Microsoft’s or Google’s, and how they constantly try to change the buying criteria in their favor.
Understanding the nuances of your positioning helps in crafting a narrative that speaks directly to your audience. For a head-to-head competitor, content that highlights innovative features or superior service can differentiate your brand in a crowded market. This might involve creating detailed comparison guides, customer testimonials or data-driven reports showcasing your product's effectiveness.
If you are or want to be a big fish in a small pond, you need to make the small pond matter. You have to zero in on a big problem and bring that to life. Going back to the AWS example: if you’re an independent cloud platform chipping away at AWS' market share, you’re best served by being a different cloud — say, a composable one. And you need to tie yourself to a growing ecosystem of like-minded vendors — like the MACH Alliance for modern enterprise tech providers.
For those adopting the "big fish in a small pond" approach, content should emphasize the unique value your niche offering brings to the table. This could take the form of deep-dives into niche problems and how your solution uniquely addresses them, or thought leadership pieces that establish your brand as the go-to expert in this specific area.
Content that Educates and Builds
Creating a new game requires content that educates and builds the market, transforming target industries and buying criteria. Here, the focus should be on helping potential customers understand why current approaches are no longer enough, why a new world order is needed and how buyer expectations need to evolve.
You start with an established category, but change the perception of what success looks like.
Related Article: Creating Content in B2B: How to Avoid the Substance Gap
Crafting a Compelling Story Arc
Moving beyond positioning and market awareness, it’s imperative to construct a compelling story arc. A strong narrative is the thread that binds all elements of a content strategy. Taking inspiration from Firebrick’s story arc structure: It starts by reframing or identifying a significant problem, then journeying through the promise of a solution, setting the criteria for purchase and culminating in the revelation of the brand as the answer.
That answer is then validated by brand differentiators and a strong connection between the story and your solutions. This narrative should be more than just a sequence of events; it should be a persuasive, coherent story that resonates with the target audience and inspires them to action.
Related Article: Content Marketing: Develop Your Omnichannel Strategy in 9 Easy Steps
Adapting and Evolving
B2B marketing is ever-changing. Content strategy is, too. There isn’t one content framework here that you can just lift and shaft for your business. This means that B2B content experts need to be ready to pivot based on new market insights, competitive moves, or changes in customer behavior. A flexible, responsive approach to content strategy ensures that your marketing efforts remain effective and aligned with your overall business goals. The steps above, however, represent a tried-and-true starting place.
While there's no one-size-fits-all recipe for B2B content strategy, positioning is the fundamental foundation that all good content campaigns sit atop. From there, tailoring your content to your positioning, engaging your audience effectively, and leveraging insights and technology to adapt and evolve your strategy can create a powerful pathway to conversions.
In the complex world of B2B tech marketing, the ability to craft a nuanced, responsive content strategy is not just beneficial — it's essential for standing out and driving success.
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