How To Define Your B2B Target Audience
- George Khoshtaria
- Jul 23, 2024
- 6 min read
Updated: Aug 8, 2024
👋 Welcome to the 1st edition of B2B Marketing Newsletter by George Khoshtaria. Follow me on LinkedIn and be the first to enjoy a regular dose of B2B marketing frameworks and formulas, delivered to your inbox. I will answer 5 key questions:
How to identify B2B audience?
How to understand the problems of my audience?
What is the SSTP framework?
How to avoid the Shiny Object Syndrome?
How to get insights for content?
Understand Your B2B Target Audience
Most B2B marketers struggle with understanding their audience:
They create generic content
They use vague messaging
They focus on product features, not customer problems
This leads to weak market perception and poor results.
But here's the truth:
Understanding your audience is the foundation of effective B2B marketing.
Here's why it matters:
It shapes your entire strategy
It helps you create resonant content
It positions you as a solution provider
So how do you truly understand your B2B audience?
Follow this 4-step content framework:
Define your ideal customer profile (ICP)
Identify their specific pain points
Understand their buying process
Create content that addresses their problems
Let's break it down:
1. Define your ICP
Who are they?
What industry?
Company size?
2. Identify pain points
What keeps them up at night?
What's holding their business back?
3. Understand the buying process
Who's involved in decisions?
What are their evaluation criteria?
4. Create problem-solving content
Offer practical solutions
Share case studies
Provide actionable insights
→ Here's a key principle:
If your content is medicine, you need to understand the illness (audience pain points) before developing the cure (your solution).
Consider this example:
Company A: Writes generic posts about automation benefits.
Company B: Creates targeted content on lead nurturing for small businesses.
Who resonates more? Company B, of course.
Defining your target audience's problems is the foundation for effective B2B content marketing.
It unlocks powerful content creation, builds trust, and positions you as the go-to solution provider in your niche.
SSTP Framework for B2B Marketers
SSTP framework breaks down like this:
S: Segmentation
S: Segmentation+ (narrow)
T: Targeting
P: Positioning
Let's dive in:
Segmentation → Divide your market into broad categories and by general niche, such as FinTech, Marketing Agencies, Automotive, etc.
Segmentation+ → Get more specific such as revenue, company size, job title, firmographics, behavior and etc.
T (Targeting) → This is where you focus: Double-segmentation allows you to focus on the specific B2B audience with your ideal solution.
Positioning → Now set yourself apart:
How do you want your brand to be perceived?
What makes you unique in the market?
Why this matters:
You understand each segment's needs
You craft targeted marketing messages
You stand out from the competition
Remember: If you target everyone, you target no one.
📈 Specific targeting → Specific positioning → Higher-quality leads
Want to improve your B2B marketing? Start with SSTP.
Characteristics of B2B Audience
Characteristics of a B2B audience are unique:
Smaller target pool than B2C
Your solution? Part of a bigger process
Clients have niche needs
Longer buying cycles
Multiple decision-makers involved
You're not selling, you're solving pain points
Forget B2C sales tactics, they don't work here
🔥 Now, here's the real power move:
Use the SSTP formula (Segmentation, Segmentation+, Targeting, Positioning)
Identify your audience's exact characteristics
Uncover their specific problems
Generic solutions = commodity
Tailored solutions = perceived value
Focus On One Market Vertical
Focusing on one market vertical is the key to success.
Why?
You speak directly to specific pain points
Your content becomes highly relevant
You establish thought leadership in a niche
Here's what happens when you choose a focus:
Specific audience → Deeper understanding → Tailored strategy → Engaging content → Thought leadership status
👉 The result?
You attract high-quality clients who resonate with your expertise.
Avoid Shiny Object Syndrome (SOS)
Shiny Object Syndrome (SOS) in B2B marketing refers to the tendency to get constantly distracted by the latest marketing fads and tactics, neglecting proven strategies that are already working.
⛔️ Marketers with SOS jump from one new idea to the next without giving anything enough time to show results.
This approach leads to:
Wasted resources
Inconsistent messaging
Poor ROI
So, how do you overcome SOS and focus effectively?
Choose your ideal customer profile (ICP)
Research their unique challenges
Develop a targeted strategy
Create content that speaks directly to them
Stick with it long enough to see results
Remember: Consistency beats shiny new tactics every time.
Understand The Problem Of Your B2B Audience
You need to find the answers to the 3 questions:
Why are they making this purchase?
What are they buying to cover this 'why'?
How are they buying to access this 'what'?
With broad (and inefficient) targeting you will always find:
"they want to boost revenue"
"they want to 10x their growth"
Because of that, you'll write platitudes in your headlines like "10x your revenue with our product"
Do the opposite:
Specific ICP → Specific answers → Specific Positioning → Specific Messaging → Attract high business IQ clients → More success 🎉
Solve the PUR Market Problem
When you’re solving a problem for your target audience, the problem should be any of these 3:
1. Painful
2. Urgent
3. Recognized
Painful → means that your audience really wants to solve this, because either they’re losing money or time, or any other operational thing that should improve performance for business.
Urgent → means that it should be solved right now, ASAP.
Recognized → means that it should be already recognized by your audience, otherwise you have to spend a lot of time, money, and energy to educate your market about the problem they’re not aware of yet.
How to Get Insights [For B2B Marketing Strategy]
You need insights for your strategy.
But how do you get them?
Here are 5 methods to fuel your marketing strategy:
1. Customer interviews & surveys:
Ask about pain points
Discover preferred content formats
Uncover industry trends they care about
2. Social listening:
Monitor industry conversations
Track brand mentions
Analyze competitor discussions
3. Industry reports & publications:
Reveal trends and challenges
Highlight new opportunities
Provide analyst insights
4. Competitor content audit:
Analyze their strategy
Identify content gaps
Find inspiration for your approach
5. Internal team insights:
Tap into sales team knowledge
Gather product owner perspectives
Learn from developer experiences
Checklist - how to get insights:
☑️ Run interviews for deep understanding
☑️ Use Semrush for keyword research
☑️ Analyze audience on LinkedIn
☑️ Apply Brand24 for social analysis
☑️ Record and review sales team calls
☑️ Gather insights from product and tech teams
Use the WHY Technique to Understand the Problem
Here's a powerful technique to gain deeper insights: The WHY Technique:
Start with a broad statement
Keep asking "Why?" to uncover specifics
Continue until you reach actionable insights
This insight reveals:
The specific task causing issues (payroll processing)
The root problem (manual data entry)
The scale of the problem (500 employees)
Now you can craft targeted messaging:
🚀 "Automate payroll data entry for 500+ employees. Save HR managers 80% of their time."
Benefits of the WHY Technique:
Uncovers precise pain points
Reveals scale and urgency of problems
Informs product positioning
Guides messaging and copywriting
To use this technique effectively:
Apply it during customer interviews
Use it when talking to your sales team
Repeat for different segments of your ICP
Remember: Vague insights lead to vague marketing. Specific insights drive results.
Checklist: Define your B2B target audience
1. Focus on One Ideal Customer → Don’t try to solve problems for everyone.
2. Listen to your Audience → Interviews, Social Listening, Insights, Keyword research, and Sales feedback.
3. Define a PUR of your Audience → Solve a PUR problem of your audience to become advantageous over your competitors.
4. Use the SSTP framework → Divide your target market into distinct segments based on narrow niches and criteria.
5. Avoid Shiny Object Syndrome → Focus on one ideal customer profile and be consistent to meet your ROI.
➕ Bonus Lesson:
Collect the Right Information for the Targeting Process
That’s the end, you made it!
I hope this was helpful to you.
P.S. No one goes to school for B2B marketing. That’s why I decided to put together this guide to help you level up your vision and marketing expertise.
Looking for more in-depth proven marketing systems?
Join the practical course with hundreds of B2B marketers around the world – Build your marketing strategy & grow your revenue.
Until next time,
Happy growing,
George Khoshtaria / B2B Marketing Strategist
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