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Patricia Reed · · 4 min readOpinion: B2B startups need to narrow their focus, or risk appealing to nobody
Photo credit: Karolina Grabowska
When it comes to B2B businesses, there is no question that strategic, focused action is absolutely crucial. But many B2B startups make the mistake of trying to appeal to too broad a range of clients. When that doesn’t work out, they try to expand even further, diluting their message even further.
Appealing to many ultimately means appealing to none.
The importance of a targeted strategy
Recently, I spoke with the founder of a small Singaporean firm who wanted to expand into Southeast Asia. To her, that was focused. Well, with five different countries and cultures, that’s about as focused as a bag of cats.
Even if her solution could cater to all those markets, industries, and customers, a Malaysian pharmaceutical business will not see themselves in a story about an Indonesian agriculture client.
After we talked further, she realized that she had multiple approaches she could use. She needed to start by choosing some success stories per country and industry and execute one at a time.
Appealing to many ultimately means appealing to none.
Here’s another example. How many of you have received a generic message on LinkedIn offering to develop your business through digital marketing or design your webpage? How long does it take you to filter or decline these?
These aren’t personal or specific to me. They are no different from many B2B businesses that want to talk, talk, talk, rather than research, narrow, focus, tell a data-grounded story, and have a dialogue. Make your story interesting! Aside from the numbers, give it a hero or a villain!
Large businesses that launch new products and services need this approach, too. When I went to my boss in Europe with a great opportunity outside of our first target segment, I remember my black-and-white mind took a while to understand why he didn’t want me to engage a terrific opportunity outside of that vertical. The conversation went like this:
“So I should tell the AM no?”
“No.”
“So I tell him yes?”
“No. It’s not no. It’s just not yet. Figure out a way to tell them.”
Be narrow, be specific
Conclusion
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