Hello, everyone. It's Fresh Salmon, your favorite B2B marketing newsletter that will help you hone your marketing skills in less than eight minutes.

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Odds of Success with Category Design

Recently, I joined a community focused on Category Design, and someone asked an interesting question -

Any markers that can help with estimating the "odds of success" with Category Design?

This got me thinking, and here's what I have to say:

It seems like every Tom, Dick, and Harry wants to create a new product category or sub-category these days, but here's the kicker: most of 'em don't have a clue why they should bother in the first place.

Well, let me break it down for you.

In all honesty, I am fairly new to the Category Design game only a few years under my belt, but I have noticed at least one very prominent scenario when there is a good chance of success.

Here's a situation that should be as clear as day. Imagine you're stuck in an industry full of chaos and confusion, where different companies are all crammed into one category by industry analysts.

It's like a circus, I tell ya!

But here's the deal: when you find yourself in this mess, that's when you better start thinking about category design, and I mean go all in!

Why, you ask?

Simple. It's a flashing neon sign, my friend—a signal you can't ignore.

When you see a fragmented industry with folks desperately trying to fit into a single category, thanks to industry analysts and experts, that's your golden ticket. That's when you grab category design by the horns and charge ahead full force because, let me tell ya, your chances of success are through the roof!

When you're surrounded by chaos, when the industry is all tangled up in misclassification, that's your cue. Embrace category design like it's the best damn thing since sliced bread and watch your success soar to new heights.

Trust me, it's a game-changer!

Not Building an Owned Audience Is Criminal 

In the last edition of Fresh Salmon, I shared the secret to mastering B2B growth. 

It is all about building an audience on platforms YOU own.

External forces can quickly disrupt your ability to reach and connect with your audience, ultimately hindering your business' growth.

However, don't completely ignore social media.

Complement your owned platforms with it as an amplification tool. Smart B2B brands are doubling down on their control of channels to take charge of their fate.

The key is to develop a platform that enables you to deliver your message directly to your audience, without intermediaries interfering. 

To this, my friend and reader of Fresh Salmon, Josef, shared a very interesting opinion - 

Respectfully, I disagree with his viewpoint. In my experience, the notion that building an owned audience can be divorced from other endeavors is misguided. 

In fact, social media and rented channels should act as amplifiers for distribution and assist in building owned assets. However, one should constantly work on building and fortifying their owned assets.

Let me explain the two distinct approaches to cultivating an owned audience. Firstly, capturing attention is a pivotal avenue for audience acquisition. Mastering the art of grabbing people's attention will undoubtedly enhance your social media presence. However, the creation of a solid owned audience cannot be achieved solely through this means.

The second avenue involves the establishment of genuine relationships, which may not always occur within the realm of social media or digital platforms. Building meaningful connections with individuals, be it through face-to-face interactions or other means such as podcasts or at happy hour or events, is an indispensable aspect of audience cultivation. 

It is worth acknowledging that if one becomes adept at capturing attention on social channels, it can certainly contribute to the growth of their owned audience. 

By captivating the interest of users on these platforms, you increase the likelihood of channeling them toward your owned assets. And that should always be the goal of it because not building the owned audience is just criminal.

The Art of Strategic Storytelling

Prepare to be amazed because I'm about to drop a truth bomb about the strategic narrative that might catch you off guard:

Believe it or not, when you're crafting a strategic narrative, fretting over differentiation shouldn't be your primary concern. In fact, obsessing over differentiation might even divert your attention from what truly matters.

Instead, your focus should be on nailing down the story itself:

Crafting a narrative that is crystal clear and utterly authentic.

If you can achieve that, chances are no one else is spinning the same tale.

And when nobody else is telling the same story, it means nobody else is building the same company.

In other words...

The story becomes the very essence of your strategy. Differentiation naturally follows as a byproduct.

Mind-blowing, isn't it?

Interesting Thing That I Read This Week

Tweet That I Noticed This Week

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 ❤️