From B2B Company To Media Company: How We See The World At Influence Podium

I don’t mean to sound dramatic, but PR is dead. The times of being controlled by Forbes, or Inc., or Entrepreneur Magazine… Those days are over. And that’s a good thing – no more asking for permission, no more attention-middlemen, no more overpaying fake PR agencies to buy you some fake credibility no one believes in anymore.

Just like if I told you B2B companies should buy radio and TV spots you’d tell me I’m crazy, PR has become outdated and democratized.

If you want your B2B company to reach and communicate with your market (prospects, potential employees, investors, influencers, etc.), you now need to turn your B2B company into a media company that has a content flywheel.

In five years, every B2B company will be a media company, but those that see and execute on that today will be the ones that drive inbound opportunities, lower customer acquisition costs, attract A-talent, own their category, and win on brand.

That’s a 10,000-feet view of how we see the world. This is the reason why we do what we do, why I started this company, and why my team helps a dozen of hand-picked B2B companies become media companies.

The best B2B companies are already doing this: Outreach has Sales Hacker. Zapier has Makerpad. Stripe has Indie Hackers. Hubspot has The Hustle. Salesforce has Salesforce +.  Mailchimp, Datadog, Docusign, MicroAcquire, even us at Influence Podium… we’re all building our own. You should be on this list too. 

But let’s pause here. At this point, we have to draw a line in the sand. You either see the world like us and you’re bought in, or you think we’re crazy. If you’re with us, keep reading to see how to turn your B2B company into a media company.

How To Define Your Strategic Narrative

Intuitively, when we think of media companies, we think of content. And that’s fair – media companies need a content flywheel – but it’s also premature. You need to define a strategic narrative first. Without it, most companies end up with a bunch of freelancers that put out a bunch of content that is purposeless and doesn’t move the needle.

This is, in fact, the first thing we do with our clients. Your strategic narrative guides your content strategy. It aligns your efforts, it gives direction, and it’s the North Star your content moves towards. You’re lost and wasting resources without it.

Defining your strategic narrative doesn’t have to be a complex process. It’s about being clear on why your company needs to exist, what problem it solves, why should people care, what’s the old world you’re leaving behind, and what’s the new world that you’re moving towards.

To give you an example, our strategic narrative is that we fiercely believe PR is dead (old world) and we have moved to B2B companies needing to become media companies (new world). This guides our content – but also our sales pitch, our hiring, and everything else that we do.

Now, it’s not enough to say: “this is our strategic narrative” and hope the market listens, cares, or learns about it. You need to constantly and consistently reinforce it if you want it to make an impact and win on brand. And you achieve that through content.

Your strategic narrative connects the old and the new world. Your content makes that a reality.

How To Create A Content Flywheel

When it comes to content, we’re a channel-agnostic creative shop. Helping B2B companies become media companies to win on brand is the outcome, but how we get there is a tailor-fit process. It depends on your ICP, competitive advantages, current marketing efforts…We’ve found it’s best to audit each situation individually and reverse-engineer what content channels will drive the most impact and where your market’s attention lives.

As of 2022, and we will update this as it changes, we’ve found LinkedIn, Twitter, and podcasting to be the places where most B2B find success. Again, this is a generalization, but from insights across our clients, that’s where the Most Probable Success Path often comes from.

What’s key is to not treat content as something we just “have to do.” Content is how you communicate with your market (prospects, recruiting, investors…), so it needs to be consistent, at scale, and aligned to your strategic narrative. It’s important, essential, and, if done well over a long period of time, transformational.

If you’ve read all this way, you either think we’re insane or you believe in us. If that’s you, I’d love to chat and see if we can help do this for you and your company. I’d recommend reading this article first about what it’s like to work with us to see if we’re a good fit.

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