✨ Who will find today's article 100% helpful
1. Senior marketers who want to train their team's new hires in B2B content marketing
2. In-house content marketers who have just entered the world of B2B
3. B2B marketers searching for the voice of the customer
If asked to name the most essential competency for a B2B in-house marketer, I would unhesitatingly choose the ability to understand the customer. Hit rate is crucial in B2B marketing. It is a world where the performance of attracting 15 customers by reaching 100 people is valued more highly than attracting 10 customers by reaching 10,000 people.
I am a B2B content marketer who has recently joined the Elifunt team. I am also a B2B marketer with an 80% F personality type. I possess an extremely developed sense of empathy, reacting exactly as the creator intended when watching movies or dramas, without exception. 😅 The reason an F marketer like me was able to survive in the B2B world, where rational thinking is crucial, is that I have perfected my accuracy in identifying customer needs .
Essential consideration for extracting content: what customers need and whether our service can be the answer ! Open this article every day before work and get closer to your customers.
Questions to understand the industry and organization: 1 month after joining
A 'Guide to Understanding Industry and Organization' That
B2B In-house Marketers Must Know
The first month acquiring domain knowledgeand understanding the organization. The B2B sector, in particular, often involves many lesser-known specialized fields, and you must grasp the technical terminology and culture of a specific industry within a short period. Even if you attempt to Google to identify competitors or market trends, it is difficult to uncover knowledge or practices that are understood only internally.
Therefore, during this period, you must thoroughly understand the organization and business through questions such as, “What kind of company is ours?” , “Who possesses the most domain knowledge?” , and “Which department is key to collaboration?”
1️⃣ Understanding the Company and Service
The first thing to do in B2B marketing is to accurately understand the company's core product or service . This is because a proper understanding is essential to clarifying the Unique Selling Proposition (USP) that persuades customers and to effectively convey the brand message
- What are the core features and differentiators of our service? You must be fully aware of the problems our product (service) aims to solve, our target customer base, and our points of differentiation from competitors. For a startup, the key would likely be optimizing logistics processes, whereas for a manufacturing SaaS, process management or automation technology is likely to be highlighted as a strength.
- What domain is our service based on? In the B2B industry, 'technical terms' specific to a particular domain are frequently used. Since each field—such as marketing, construction, and manufacturing—has its own unique expressions, it is helpful to organize these terms beforehand. Quickly acquire core domain knowledge connected to the content you will be writing by reviewing specific seminars, practical books, and internal materials.
🚨 Please pay close attention to this!
Information publicly available (brochures, websites, press releases, etc.)may differ from the actual information shared internally. Since there are internal capabilities and development roadmaps unique to an organization that cannot be found through Googling, you must contact relevant departments or in-house experts to obtain accurate information.
2️⃣ Identifying Organizational Structure and Key Figures
If you do not grasp the organizational structure and key personnel early in your career, it is easy to wander around aimlessly just to obtain one or two pieces of information. In particular, the B2B sales department, product planning department, CS (Customer Support) team , and to build rapport with them.
- Who are the in-house experts with domain knowledge? It is highly likely that the longest-serving employees or team members with extensive experience in a specific industry are the "hidden masters." Through voices from the field, you can concretely identify the specific problems the company aims to solve in its target market.
- What do collaborating departments expect from the marketing team? Generally, even within a single company, different teams have different goals and KPIs. The planning department is highly interested in message alignment between product planning and marketing. Sales requires lead acquisition and the sales funnel, while Customer Service needs content that enhances customer satisfaction. If you anticipate what each department expects or needs from marketing, you can identify clues that are advantageous for collaboration in advance.
The first month after joining a company is the time when a new B2B in-house marketer the most questions. Questions such as “What exactly does our company do?”, “Who will I collaborate with the most?”, and “Where can I obtain domain knowledge?” may seem like basics, but they are essential for understanding the organization and building collaboration.
In the same vein, to the needs of in-house experts and specific departments. B2B content marketing is not merely about producing content; it is meaningful only when the strengths of the company and its products (services) are accurately expressed. To achieve this, one must fully understand the company's goals and internal voices.
The domain understanding and organizational networking you build during the first monthwill serve as a solid foundation for implementing B2B marketing strategies going forward. Quickly identify key figures and grasp key performance indicators (KPIs) to define your work direction. Do not be afraid to ask questions and actively listen to voices from both inside and outside the organization! It is the fastest shortcut to gaining marketing insights.
to understand target customers and
refine content direction: 3 months after joining
A 'Customer Understanding and Content Direction Setting' Guide That
B2B In-house Marketers Must Know
The first three months after joining the company are a time to define your target audience and refine the direction of your content . If you have spent the first month understanding the company and the organization, you should now begin to seriously consider "who you will provide what value to." Since success rate is crucial in B2B marketing, your content must target the needs of your audience to increase the likelihood of actual purchase conversions.
1️⃣ Defining Customers and Setting Personas
In B2B marketing, the customer can be the entire company or a specific team (or function) with decision-making authority. For example, if you are selling a SaaS solution, the customer might be the "IT team manager + finance team" making decisions together.
- What are the key roles, job titles, and industries by customer segment?: Segment your customer base by looking at factors such as startups vs. mid-sized/large enterprises, and operational staff vs. team leaders/executives.
- What are the personas for each customer segment?: Creating the most characteristic personas for each group (job function, needs, decision criteria, etc.) is of great help when planning content.
- Based on the created personas, what problems are the hypothetical customers experiencing?: You can gather specific examples through sales team interviews, meetings with client representatives, market research, and more.
🚨 Please pay close attention to this point!
If you portray personas solely as 'fictional characters' and do not sufficiently reflect the voices of actual customers, the content is likely to become difficult to apply in practice. Be sure to secure direct insights through field and sales department interviews, customer surveys, etc.
2️⃣ Redefining Service Value in the Customer's Language
It is necessary to rephrase the product (service) USP identified in the first month into customer language . Since B2B purchasing often involves conservative decision-making, practical cost savings or operational efficiency become the primary USPs, along with technical specifications
After re-verifying differentiators compared to competitors (price, features, service quality, etc.), check whether these differences are clearly defined using industry terminology. At this stage, also ensure that you are not overusing internal jargon that is not commonly used in the industry. Since excessive technical focus or internal slang can cause reader fatigue, generalized termsand intuitive expressions.
3️⃣ Specifying content direction
Next, customized messages for each persona are refined. Since the desired information, reference cases, and decision points differ for each segmented target, the content planningalso varies. For instance, differentiated strategies can be employed, such as appealing to startups with low costs and rapid execution, while emphasizing stability and scalability for large corporations.
Additionally, in the third month, you can experiment with specific content tones and styles. You can test the tone and manner of content preferred by your customers, such as maintaining a high level of professionalism for LinkedIn, a social media platform open to potential customers, and being slightly more casual for email newsletters sent exclusively to customers.
Now is the time to focus on 'customer understanding and content planning'
The greatest achievement a marketer in their third month can make is clearly identifying "who we provide what value." Present essential information from the customer's perspective and refine your content in a way that resolves their pain points. The customer understanding gained during this period will serve as a reliable compass in subsequent channel strategy and performance measurement stages
3-Month-Old B2B In-House Marketer,
Time to Face 'Real' Customers
I designated the first month after joining the company as a phase to understand the company, identify key figures within the organization, and build 'domain knowledge' and 'internal networking.' The third month is a time to define the customer (target) and concretize their operational pain points and needs. During this process, you must focus on redefining service value in the customer's language and establishing the direction for content planning
From now on, the company expects more sophisticated content creation capabilities from B2B in-house marketers in their third month . They hope to grow into individuals who can identify the information customers want and communicate in their language . In particular, they place great importance on the ability to clearly design "why this customer needs this content."
In the next installment, we will pose questions designed to yield tangible marketing results— such as establishing full-scale channel strategies, improving the buying journey, and nurturing leads—through a roadmap covering the first six months and one year after joining the company. If you are curious about questions that penetrate the industry and services, please look forward to the next post!
