Author: Shira Abel Category: Enterprise Marketing URL: https://hunterandbard.com/resources/blog/making-content-marketing-segmentation-simple
I love mentoring. It gets me up close and personal with issues that startups are having right now, keeps my skills sharp by solving a multitude of problems,...
I love mentoring. It gets me up close and personal with issues that startups are having right now, keeps my skills sharp by solving a multitude of problems, and allows me to give back.
This week I mentored at 500 Startups and worked with two companies on content marketing and segmentation. One was a company that sells to a dozen different verticals. The marketer was trying to sort out how to reach each vertical through content marketing, and he was getting overwhelmed with the idea of designing specific content for each. Later that day I worked with another company that had one product, and was about to add a second selling to a similar, but not the same, market.
This blog post is to explain how to simplify your message and marketing so that you can tell a clear story to 2 groups.
Of course, with the first startup we didn't know there were 2 groups, so I started by asking questions:
This didn't get much of a response, as it turned out that the verticals didn't have a lot in common in terms of the markets they were after (some were B2C, others B2B)
Here we had more success. There were 2 use cases on how the product was being used. With that knowledge we can narrow things down. This product was being used inside organizations to build a community inside the company and it was being used outside (as in literally outside) as a way of advertising. It's bought by 2 different departments for 2 different purposes
i.e. Two use cases:
\tBuilding a community inside of an organization, aka company culture
At the second company, I already knew 2 groups were being sold to - he needed to know how to divide up his message. His product is group purchasing for sports. This means you can buy a monthly pass to different classes or soccer club matches. The first product is for soccer, and the second is for gym classes. Here the questions were about the demographics of the two groups. I sat with the company and we mapped out the Behavior Engineering Canvas. In this case, the benefit for the customer is the same, but the customer is different.
To recap: Company One had multiple verticals but 2 use cases. They need to simplify things down to 2 themes to work with the 2 use cases and aim their content as helpful information for those needs. Company Two had one vertical but two similar (but not necessarily the same) target market. They need to send one message to both, while showing they understood the needs of both.
I'm assuming in this post that you already understand some of the basics regarding good content. Namely that the content isn't about your company, but instead focuses on delivering valuable information to the market that you are interested in engaging. In other words, don't write about you.
CTA stands for Call To Action (a button asking people to do something, typically leading to a landing page.)
I had 30 minutes with each company, so the recommendations are limited.
Segment content into two subjects: 1) Culture and 2) Advertising
→ Asking for a demo (this is often like proposing to someone on a first date, but if your prospects come to your site only later in the decision cycle it makes sense - you won't know until you test it)
→ Dividing the main slider into 2:
→ A Culture CTA on the slider
→ An Advertising CTA on the slider
This company was smaller and had fewer resources. It was also a simpler sale (you could purchase from the site) and a lower price point. They couldn't do a lot of tests on the homepage so I suggested segmenting the homepage to the two products. When I met with them the homepage showed the new product, but you had to scroll to get to the other offer. That could end up leaving people looking for the original offering confused (most people don't scroll - you'll know if it's the wrong thing to do if bounce rates go up after). Putting the original offer in the slider and ignoring the new one would keep people from knowing the new one exists - hence the solution for both in the slider.
Having 2 target markets means you may need to work on segmenting the:
The landing pages should also be segmented according to the buying stage your prospect is in, but let's keep that for another blog post. Do you have a question you'd like me to answer in a blog post? Leave me a question below in the comments.
Hunter & Bard is a San Francisco-based B2B strategy consultancy founded in 2011 by Shira Abel. We help deep-tech and enterprise SaaS companies fix their positioning, sharpen their messaging, and close $100K+ deals.
We work with B2B leaders who are tired of being overlooked, underestimated, or mistaken for their competitors. Our specialty is turning complex, technical products into clear, compelling stories that win enterprise deals.
We believe that perception drives revenue. If your buyers can't tell you apart from the next vendor in 30 seconds, you have a positioning problem — not a marketing problem. We fix that.
Perception = (Story × Visibility) ÷ Noise
This framework drives everything we do. Your story has to be sharp. Your visibility has to be strategic. And you have to cut through the noise — not add to it.
Shira Abel — Founder & CEO. Kellogg MBA. 20+ years in B2B marketing. Former CMO. Keynote speaker. Published in Forbes, HuffPost, and Wired. Specialist in enterprise positioning and perception strategy.
Daina Reed — Founding Designer & Partner. 15+ years in product and brand design. Former Senior Product Designer at Dun & Bradstreet. Specialist in enterprise UX, visual identity, and design systems.