Remember the good ol' days when TV first burst onto the scene? It was a wild, uncharted territory, much like the unexplored realm of B2B marketing today.

But guess what? History has a fascinating way of repeating itself, and we're at the brink of a major shift that's turning B2B marketing into a deja vu of TV's golden era.

B2B marketing is undergoing a rebirth. Like the phoenix rising from the ashes, the spotlight has shifted to the virtual stage: LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and others.

It's a battle out there, a fierce contest for the prized resource: Your Audience's Attention.

Just like the TV commercials once wrestled for your focus between those riveting shows, today we're in a tug-of-war for every scrolling thumb stop.

But peel back the layers, and you'll discover that the core essence remains the same. At its core, it's about forging connections, stirring engagement, and planting seeds of trust that'll blossom into brand loyalty when the time comes.

We are about to embark on a journey where old and new meet, and the lessons of the past illuminate the road ahead. Remember to turn the social media battlefield into a place of trust, growth, and game-changing triumphs.

New Way Vs Old Way: B2B Marketing

The way buyers interact with brands is undergoing a seismic shift in B2B Marketing.

Rather than seek solutions to their problems, consumers are increasingly seeking trusted advisors to help them make decisions in a "who" economy.

With the advent of digital media, the nature of communication has changed, resulting in a change in influence. The amount and quality of information provided by a brand largely determined its influence in the past.

Today, influence is determined by how well a brand can build relationships with its audience.

Therefore, if you want to dominate the market, you must change the way you approach marketing to your target market.

Instead of chasing spikes and long tails of leads, you want to move your audience count up and to the right. It is probably the biggest mindset shift the marketing organization will make.

It’s a move to think beyond Demand Generation, and not just focus on capturing the 5% of people who are in the market to buy your product. Rather it is Edutainment (Education + Entertainment) at a scale, and you are building a larger audience that goes way deeper into the 95% who are not yet ready to buy but have established a solid brand affinity with you.

This way you are securing a spot in the buyer’s mind, and when they are ready they are compelled to reach out to you.

By using a media-first approach to marketing, you can build an audience. Simply put, media is the method that enables you to reach your target audience.

That's where B2B Creator-Style Marketing comes in - it's not just a strategy, it's a playbook!

You need to shift gears, evolve, and reinvigorate your B2B marketing strategy now.

The key to winning the hearts and minds of your target market is building your audience.

Audience building isn't just a buzzword - it's the key to building trust with your audience. Trust orchestrates success in the grand symphony of commerce. And guess what else?

You cannot buy trust - you have to earn it, nurture it, and cherish it, which is where the media-first approach to content plays the biggest role.

Building shows is the most important part of the media-first strategy. You attract an audience based on a given topic or outcome, then you entertain and educate them about that topic or outcome episodically.

Brand affinity is driven by episodic content, which gives audiences a predictable reason to return. Think of it like “Late Night Talk Shows”, all of which follow a fixed format and are aired on a set schedule. Audiences know when the new episode will air, and what they can expect.

That’s how you should think of your episodic content - fixed episodic content formats.

A Real-World Example of Media Series

In the B2B world, there is this shift happening where more and more companies are moving their marketing efforts to audience building.

Audience building is only possible if you are using the media-first approach to your marketing.

In short, Media is that system that helps you reach your target market.

However, we are just barely scratching the surface. One thing that many people get stuck on is a lack of creativity.

They don't know what type of media content they should be building.

For inspiration, I suggest you look at Creators who create series on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram.

Here is a real example: Meet Hannah Williams.

She runs a TikTok channel called Salary Transparent Street.

She interviews people and asks them 3 questions:

- How much money do they make?

- What do they do for a living?

- How many years of experience do they have in that position?

In 2022, she earned $458,000. Although I don't know the details, I do know she signed a 6-month partnership with Indeed for $280k in September.

Hannah basically runs a media company.

Despite her great ability to build a huge following, she doesn't yet have a great product to monetize it. As a result, she partners with companies such as Indeed to create content for them.

But the point is this is a perfect idea that a B2B company could have implemented.

Don't sleep on opportunities to forge deep relationships with your audience by finding ways to deliver value in creative ways.

Interesting Thing That I Read This Week

Tweet That I Noticed This Week

Parry Headrick is a tech PR expert. If you need help, hit him up!

What Do You Think?

This concludes this edition of Fresh Salmon.

I would like to hear what you thought of today's newsletter.

Also, let’s connect on Twitter, LinkedIn, or TikTok.

Cheers,

Vivek

PS. I love you ❤️