Positioning, Messaging, and Branding for B2B tech companies. Keep it simple. Keep it real.
Building a strong B2B tech brand boils down to understanding our customers and market niche, then using that insight to create actionable marketing strategies before jumping into creative tactics.
Only when we stay focused on building genuine relationships and delivering real value, are we able to elevate our brand reputation.
Keep It Simple and Real: Stay focused on practical insights that build genuine connections with your customers.
With over 100,000 software solutions in-market, it’s tough to stand out in B2B tech. Having the best product or the newest tech isn’t enough—we need to maintain meaningful connections with our customers over the long haul.
What I see happen all too often is short-term thinking gets in the way of marketing effectiveness. We jump straight into creative tactics hoping that all we need is better looking marketing materials to win. That couldn’t be further from the truth.
All great marketing stems from great insight. It’s about knowing what motivates our best-fit customers, the viability of our market niche, and the predictive and causal data that drives our decisions.
The better we know our customers, the better prepared we are when they are ready to buy.
Focus on best-fit customers. Why? Because they love us for a reason and we need to know why. What motivates them? What is their decision-making process? What is their buying cycle?
To get started, use the “Best-Fit Customer Canvas” on page 4 of my free and ungated One-Page Plans. It will help you:
Once we know who loves us the most, it’s time to understand what makes them tick. This is where qualitative research comes in.
Forget surveys. Have live conversations with your customers instead. Ask open-ended questions that encourage them to share their thoughts and feelings freely with zero pressure.
Here are some tools to help you:
TIP: People are more likely to open up when they feel comfortable. So, create a relaxed and informal atmosphere for your interviews. Be a good listener and show genuine interest in what they have to say.
Translate your research into targeted marketing strategies:
Keep it Simple: Don’t overcomplicate things. Use customer insights to create marketing that resonates with your target audience on a jobs-to-be-done level.
Insight from research helps us understand our business’s place in the market and identifies opportunities to stand out. By analyzing our specific niche and what competitors offer, we can position our brand better and make smart decisions.
This is about finding our sweet spot and sizing up our competition, not boiling the ocean. Think of it like this: Would you rather be a small fish in a big pond, or a big fish in a small pond?
“When you try to be everything to everyone, you accomplish being nothing to anyone.”
Bonnie Gillespie, Actor, Casting Director, Author
A niche is where our solution perfectly matches a specific need that others aren’t fully meeting. To find this, we need to understand our strengths and what’s missing in the market.
Use the “Positioning Canvas” on page 3 of my One-Page Plans (it’s free and ungated). This will help you identify:
Knowing your competition is as important as knowing your niche. A good analysis helps you understand the competitive landscape and how to differentiate.
SUPER IMPORTANT! Don’t forget the “alternatives.” More often than not, the status quo or the “fear of messing up” is your biggest competition. This is why so many potential deals end in “no decision.”
Once you understand your niche and competition, use this to position your brand. Highlight your strengths and the specific needs you meet that others don’t.
Here’s how:
Helpful Tools:
Use Your Insights:
Data helps us tell our brand’s story by helping us understand our customers’ behavior, preferences, motivations, and interactions with our brand.
Looking in the right places helps us build stronger relationships.
For example, predictive analytics might tell you that customers who visit your website multiple times are more likely to convert. But causal analytics can help you understand why they’re visiting multiple times. Are they seeking more information? Comparing your products to competitors? This deeper understanding allows you to tailor your website and marketing messages accordingly.
Data-driven insights can transform our brand-building efforts in numerous ways:
I am not a data scientist nor an expert in analytics. For a deeper dive into data and analytics, I highly recommend checking out the work of these two experts:
TIP: Data is a tool, not a magic bullet. The real magic happens when you combine data-driven insights with your creativity and expertise to create marketing that resonates with your audience. It’s about building relationships that last, not chasing leads.
Customer Research Mistakes
Market Research Mistakes
Data Analysis Mistakes
Building a successful B2B tech brand requires understanding your customers, market, and data. Use this knowledge to connect with your target audience, build relationships, and achieve long-term success.
Ready to take the next step? Grab my 10 One-Page Plans to help you define your ideal customer, clarify your positioning, and create a roadmap for your brand.
TIP: Brand reputation is defined by every interaction your customers have with your solution. Focus on building genuine relationships and using data to deliver real value.
If you like this content, here are some more ways I can help:
Cheers!
PS: This article is also published and discussed on LinkedIn. Join the conversation!
Case studies can help B2B tech companies overcome credibility challenges, attract future customers, and increase brand reputation. This article explains how to plan, create, and promote your customer success stories.
Case studies are an effective way for B2B tech companies, especially startups, to get closer to their customers, gain credibility with future buyers, and help build brand equity.
Oftentimes, we struggle to win over hesitant buyers who doubt our ability to deliver. Case studies are an excellent answer. They’re real-world stories of how our solution resolved challenges and delivered results. They build trust, create tangible proof, and attract more of the same customers we’re putting in the spotlight.
Integrating case studies into our marketing strategy doesn’t just help win business, it reinforces our positioning and elevates our brand reputation.
Creating effective case studies doesn’t happen by accident. It takes insight, strategy, and execution that focuses on showcasing how our customers succeed using our solution.
TIP: You don’t need to wait until you have “enough” customers. One good success story integrated into your marketing strategy is all it takes to begin attracting more customers.
Need help developing buyer personas? Check out:
TIP: Always ask. Most customers are happy to share their success stories. If a company doesn't have case studies, they probably haven't asked.
Need help interviewing customers? I highly recommend Ryan Paul Gibson’s Customer Interviews That Don’t Suck.
TIP: Every successful project, install, or adopted product is an opportunity to create a customer success story.
Here are three success stories to help get you started. If you need help, reach out.
Your case studies are valuable assets, but they won’t work if they’re hidden or buried deep in your website.
Here’s how to integrate case studies strategically into your marketing mix:
Promoting your case studies is an ongoing effort. By consistently showcasing your customer’s successes, you’ll build credibility, attract the right future customers, and gain a reputation as a trusted partner.
TIP: Turning your case study into a customer testimonial video will impact your credibility and reach exponentially.
Showcasing our impact on a customer’s bottom line builds trust and demonstrates expertise. Case studies are investments in our brand’s future, establishing a reputation for excellence and lasting relationships.
Stories about how your solutions created success for your customers create a win-win that not only elevates your brand, but can also turn customers into fans.
The path to credibility and growth begins with your first case study. Make it happen by talking to your customers.
If you like this content, here are some more ways I can help:
Cheers!
PS: This article is also published and discussed on LinkedIn. Join the conversation!
Over the last 10+ years, I’ve used various formats of B2B tech marketing plans to help my clients triple and even 10x their businesses.
I’m a big fan of how industry experts like April Dunford and Allan Dib have simplified complex planning documents into simple one-page canvases.
Being a visual thinker, I prefer to keep things simple too, so over the years, I have tweaked 10 of my favorite planning canvases.
I’m sharing them with you below in Google Slides format that you can use right away. You can also download the templates in PowerPoint format if you prefer.
Some of these planning canvases I have kept intact, like the Business Model Canvas, while others I have made my own. You can too.
No doubt you will recognize some of these one-pagers. Others may be new. Regardless, they’re the battle-tested tools I’ve used to guide countless tech companies toward marketing success.
No more guesswork or flying blind. These canvases give you a clear, visual framework to build a tech brand that resonates with your best-fit customers.
If you struggle with complexity like I have, grab these templates and start planning your next move forward with confidence.
Each canvas tackles a different piece of the marketing puzzle, and together, they create actionable steps towards building a comprehensive marketing roadmap for your B2B tech company and solution.
The template uses a hypothetical SaaS company as an example to provide context, but you can easily swap it out for your own product or service.
You can also use one, all, or any combination for your specific requirements.
1. Business Model Canvas
The classic canvas that helps you focus on the foundational aspects of your business, innovation, marketing, and revenue streams. Who is it for? What is it for? What value do you bring to the table? How will you make money?
2. Positioning Canvas
Based on April Dunford’s work, this canvas helps you clearly differentiate your solution from the alternatives and pinpoint the audience that cares a lot about what you offer.
3. Best-Fit Customers Canvas
Get to know your most valuable customers, their needs, why they love you, and why you love them.
4. Audience Persona Canvas
Develop a detailed audience persona for your buying team that speaks to their pain points, motivations, and desires.
5. Strategic Planning Canvas
Think big picture and set realistic marketing goals that are aligned with your business objectives.
6. Marketing Brief Canvas
Define your goals, target audience, key messages, and channels for creating marketing tactics that support your strategy. This canvas is especially helpful for the folks on your team or the team you outsource to.
7. Campaign Planning Canvas
Outline your campaign strategy, tactics, timeline, budget, and dependencies.
8. Four P’s Marketing Canvas
Another classic that helps you clearly define your product, price, place, and promotion strategies.
9. Buying Stage Canvas
Based on Avinash Kaushik’s See, Think, Do, Care methodology, this canvas helps you understand how your buyers move from awareness to advocacy and tailor your approach.
10. Sales & Marketing Canvas
Based on Allan Dibs’ book, this is a concise overview that keeps everyone on your sales and marketing teams aligned.
If you’re curious how these canvases have worked for others, check out these case studies.
They’re real-world examples where I used combinations of these planning canvases to achieve significant growth for my clients.
Too often, B2B tech companies build products without customer research, leading to all kinds of waste.
They also tend to focus solely on sales and leads, neglecting brand building, which is essential for long-term success—the reputation of your business and solution depends on it.
Using planning canvases can help address these challenges by providing a structured approach to understanding your best-fit customers and building up your brand equity.
Think of these canvases as a starting point. Experiment, adapt, and find what works best for you.
Don’t hesitate to tweak or modify these one-page plans to suit your needs. Fine-tune them to craft your own unique GTM strategy.
Ready to elevate your marketing?
If you like this content, here are some more ways I can help:
Cheers!
PS: This article is also published and discussed on LinkedIn. Join the conversation!
The most valuable asset in B2B tech isn’t tech; it’s brand. Yes, AI is transforming the industry, but technology alone isn’t enough. And while product-led and sales-led strategies are important for short-term wins, they are not scaleable or sustainable on their own. B2B companies should invest more in building a brand reputation that connects with future buyers on a human level.
The turmoil in the SaaS industry, highlighted in VentureBeat’s What’s Eating B2B SaaS, reminds us that flashy features and the latest tech trends, even AI, aren’t enough for long-term success.
What sets B2B tech solutions apart is brand. Yet many B2B tech companies invest next to nothing in brand building, focusing instead on short-term product-led and sales-led strategies with little regard for customer insight.
And we wonder why products keep failing.
AI is hot right now. So are Product-Led and Sales-Led Growth. But while these strategies and technologies keep changing, it’s our brand reputation that decides if our company sinks or swims. It’s about connecting with customers, building a reputation, and earning trust. Unlike techy trends, a strong brand lasts, providing a solid base even when things get tough.
Technology is always in constant flux. Today’s focus is on AI, but remember when the Cloud or Blockchain were all the rage? While AI holds promise, we must remember that technologies continuously change, but strong brands endure.
Some see AI as revolutionary, while others, like venture capitalist Deedy Das, caution against overstating its current capabilities.
“I think too many people trivialize all the things a good SWE actually has to do. AI might increase productivity, automate a bunch of tasks, but assisting [to the point of full automation] is a huge leap of faith.”
Deedy Das, Menlo Ventures
Even as we embrace AI, it’s important to remain realistic and avoid getting caught up in the hype. While the general software industry faces challenges, companies integrating AI are already seeing success. But they’re using AI as a tool, not a crutch.
However, building a strong brand is even more important for long-term success.
Brands like Apple, which revitalized its business with its Think Different brand campaign, demonstrate the power of brand-led transformation. B2B tech companies can learn from this. Strong brands attract talent, command premium prices, and foster customer loyalty.
Facing bankruptcy in the late 1990s, Think Different was a brand-led change, driven by values and innovation, fueled internal growth and groundbreaking new products.
Think about this: Without the innovation of iTunes to combat Napster, which had nothing to do with Macs and OSX, there may never have been an iPod and subsequently an iPhone.
Think Different wasn’t a fancy marketing slogan—it was a call to action that resonated deeply inside and outside the company. It inspired the creation of innovative products that paved the way for unconventional product marketing, like 1000 Songs In Your Pocket, which ultimately led to the iPhone (Your Life In Your Pocket).
What’s interesting is that Steve Jobs decided on “1000 songs in your pocket” some months before the name “iPod” was chosen from a list of 10 options.
Today, Apple stands as a symbol of striking the right balance between marketing and innovation.
B2B tech companies can similarly learn from Apple. Strong brand marketing sets innovation apart, attracts talent, justifies higher prices, and builds loyal customers.
Brands that resonate deeply are invaluable.
Side Note: The team that created the iPod ended up leaving Apple and starting their own company, Nest. Google bought Nest after only three years in market for over $3 Billion.
Do you think the Nest team learned a thing or two about balancing innovation and marketing from Apple?
In B2B tech, focusing solely on sales is understandable. Aggressive tactics and discounts bring quick revenue.
However, this approach has downsides:
Brand building, on the other hand, is about the long term, building trust, loyalty, and a strong reputation.
This takes time, but the benefits are worth it:
In B2B tech, trust and credibility are what get us on the shortlist. Building a brand is essential for long-term success. It sets us apart as a valued partner, not just another vendor. Investing in our brand reputation is investing in our company's future.
In the end, while B2B tech continues to evolve, the brands that endure are those that build a solid foundation and grow their reputation over time.
Questions to ponder:
The choice is ours. Our brand reputation is the one constant we can rely on.
Think about your company’s brand. Are you investing in it for the long haul?
If you’re ready to prioritize brand building, here’s what you can do:
Building a strong brand takes time and effort, but the rewards are worth it.
If you like this content, here are some more ways I can help:
Cheers!
PS: This article is also published and discussed on LinkedIn. Join the conversation!
B2B tech companies often prioritize sales and product features over understanding customer needs. This leads to failed product launches, copycat marketing, and missed opportunities. To succeed with product-led growth, companies need to be customer-obsessed and deliver frictionless value at every touchpoint instead of betting on the “PLG Field of Dreams.”
I remember listening to two sales calls recently: one from a vendor and one from a client, both SaaS solutions. Each rep started with pleasantries, then asked about the prospect’s biggest challenge. As soon as they got an answer, they jumped into a product demo. Feature after feature, they bored everyone.
Ironically, the vendor pitched their product to this same client, who then proceeded to slam the vendor’s approach, only to do the same thing themselves a few days later.
Why do we think demos solve everything?
When we love our products more than our customers, we fail.
Product-led growth isn’t about pushing features, it’s about understanding and solving real problems with a seamless customer experience. We can’t solve problems we don’t understand.
We must put our customers first at every touchpoint, or product-led and sales-led strategies won’t work.
And while both strategies have their place—depending on the solution, pricing, client size, and sales cycle—neither will succeed without first starting with customer insights and maintaining a customer-centric focus.
Product-led growth (PLG) is a go-to-market strategy where the product itself drives customer acquisition and growth.
Lured by the success of Slack and Dropbox, many B2B tech companies chase PLG in the hopes of getting bought out for Bazillions. The idea seems simple: build an amazing product, let users experience its value, and watch them become paying customers.
But many companies misinterpret PLG as a cure-all. They focus only on building a great product and ignore the need for a smooth customer experience.
Sales-led approaches often work better in enterprise organizations with longer sales cycles and complex solutions. Yet, both sales-led and product-led approaches fail if they don’t prioritize customer insights and keep sales and marketing customer-centric.
Haste Makes Waste
We often get caught up in our own innovation and forget to ask, “Who is this actually helping?” And when marketing is only responsible for part of the revenue, they face immense pressure from Sales and Leadership teams to generate leads, which can further distract from understanding and addressing customer needs.
PLG companies must understand their customers deeply. Customers are at the center of everything: product, marketing, sales, and CX. Without customers, we’re just making products, not building a business.
Throughout his excellent book, Product-Led Growth, Wes Bush constantly advocates doing customer research.
Many B2B tech companies gloss over this point.
Instead of communicating their differentiated value, they create free trials or freemium models without investing in the infrastructure needed to deliver a frictionless customer experience. They assume a great product will automatically lead to happy customers.
Slack Gets PLG Right
Slack is a SaaS product that focuses on solving real problems for teams by focusing on their unique value: better communication and collaboration tools. They conducted extensive research to understand their best-fit customers and designed a simple onboarding process for their intuitive app. They constantly get feedback to maintain continuous improvement. This customer-centric approach helped Slack grow organically and exponentially, with users becoming brand advocates and driving widespread adoption. Salesforce acquired Slack in 2021 for $28B. Did I mention Bazillions?
The constant pressure to deliver leads in B2B tech often hurts companies. Marketing and sales teams get tunnel vision, focusing only on hitting their numbers. It isn’t scalable or sustainable.
Pressure to Meet Quotas
Overemphasis on Features and Demos
Insular Thinking and Lack of Differentiation
The Bottom Line
Sales pressure often causes B2B tech companies to cut corners and neglect essential steps. This can lead to product failures, copycat marketing, and missed opportunities.
To get PLG right, we need to do more than just build a great product. We need to obsess over our customers and deliver value at every touchpoint.
“Value is always determined by prospects and customers. No matter how cool you think your technology is.”
Alan Hale, Consight Marketing Group
It’s harder than it sounds, but here’s how to get started:
PLG is an effective strategy, particularly for SaaS products, but it’s not a magic bullet. To succeed, we need a balanced approach that combines customer obsession, exceptional product design, and a frictionless customer experience.
In B2B tech, it’s easy to get caught up in our own hype. Tunnel vision only leads to missed opportunities, frustrated customers, and stunted growth.
Whether you follow a sales-led or product-led approach, stay focused on your customers. Keep developing great products, but create marketing that speaks your customer’s language and sales pitches that tell your unique story and differentiated value.
Obsessing over our customers forces us to understand their needs, learn, and improve. That’s a good thing.
If you like this content, here are some more ways I can help:
Cheers!
PS: This article is also published and discussed on LinkedIn. Join the conversation!
B2B tech marketing success isn’t achieved by guesswork and chasing shortcuts. It starts with a deep understanding of your customers (aka Insight). Real-world conversations and smart data analysis can help us escape common marketing traps and build a B2B tech brand that builds trust and drives long-term growth.
You’ve developed a B2B tech solution you’re proud of. But are the right customers finding it?
Who are the key decision-makers?
What are their motivations and priorities?
What influences their buying decisions?
Before redesigning your website or launching another campaign, consider this: Do you truly understand your customers?
Great marketing stems from deep customer insights. The most effective way to gain these insights is through meaningful conversations with our customers, the decision-makers behind complex purchases.
If marketing feels like a hamster wheel, you’re not alone. Many B2B tech companies struggle because they don’t treat marketing as a core business function, and they don’t ask their customers what they need on a regular basis.
Leading to more of this:
In the long run, we end up chasing our tail instead of gaining insights that can point us in the right direction.
A shift in mindset can be the difference between winning and losing.
Instead of assuming what customers want, ask them directly. Regular, honest conversations reveal what’s really happening.
Believe it or not, your customers will tell you what to say, how to say it, and how to make your solution the obvious choice.
When and how often you reconnect with your customers depends on the size of your customer base and the size of your team. Once a quarter is ideal but aim for at least once each year.
You can use the process I have followed over the past 10+ years; it has worked very well for me.
TIP: Prepare ahead of time and don’t boil the ocean. Focus on the ONE thing you want to accomplish with your interview. Schedule follow-ups if you have more than one topic to cover.
You can also customize your own process by using the following resources:
I’m not a data scientist, but after 20+ years in B2B tech marketing, I’ve seen one mistake made repeatedly: neglecting to invest in proper measurement.
Data is abundant, but it’s easy to get overwhelmed or misled. Guesswork is not the answer; it only perpetuates outdated stereotypes.
B2B tech buying journeys are complex and lengthy. To be effective, we need to understand the entire customer journey.
As we build our brand reputation as a trusted source, customers will begin interacting with us through multiple touchpoints. That can take many months or even years before a decision is made. We want to make sure we show up on their radar when they are ready.
How can we unravel these multi-touch journeys? How can we identify the marketing efforts that truly impact our bottom line?
Predictive analytics and multi-touch attribution models offer potential solutions. However, approach vendors’ claims cautiously, as some overpromise and repackage legacy tech as new tech.
“What you see determines what you understand, and that, in turn, drives your decisions.”
Mark Stouse, CEO, Proof Analytics
You’ve done your research: talked to customers, analyzed data, and identified the pitfalls and opportunities. Now what?
Customer research is the starting point for achieving market success. The most successful B2B tech companies are the ones that deeply understand their customers.
Talk to your customers regularly. Find out what they really need; what’s changed. Use that insight to help them get what they need.
Don’t guess or chase shortcuts. Markets change slowly and buyers take their time. Focus on consistent effort and adding value at every touchpoint.
Use data to track and validate what’s working and what’s not. But don’t just measure, understand. Why are some things working better than others? What patterns do you see?
Try new things like brand storytelling. It works wonders in both B2C and B2B. Just don’t expect instant B2C results. B2B marketing is still a marathon.
Need help making sense of it all? Let’s talk.
If you like this content, here are some more ways I can help:
Cheers!
PS: This article is also published and discussed on LinkedIn. Join the conversation. I would love to hear from you.
