I'll teach you how to be a better b2b storyteller by combining market research and screenwriting principles.
I've published thousands of pieces of content in my career. I wish I knew these 3 things after the first 10. 1. Build with a narrative in mind. Most "capital C" Content programs—blogs, podcasts, ebooks, webinars, etc— aren't cohesive. They're repositories of loosely related collections of information. Maybe they organize topics by cluster, occasionally there will be a part 1, part 2, part 3, but by and large it's disparate information with no connective tissue. Building with a narrative in mind means remembering to keep a continual throughline through everything you publish. Build up to the problem the webinar solves with blog posts. Use video to show processes more efficiently than words can. Use podcast interviews to bring in outside voices. When everything is in service to the narrative, it gives readers, listeners, and viewers more reasons to explore the content ecosystem you're designing, and has been shown to increase return visits, shorten sales cycles, and improve customer lifetime value. 2. Focus on a single set of competing values. At their heart, most stories can be distilled into a simple "this vs that." Freedom vs Security Integrity vs Glory Simplicity vs Sophistication If your content doesn't feel like it has any direction, see if you can identify a set of competing values, —and if you can't, try this: Look at the reader's decision. What tradeoff are they being asked to make? A good story often hinges on a moment of choice. Zoom out from the tactic. Instead of “how to write better emails,” ask “what’s the deeper tension behind email strategy right now?” (e.g., automation vs personalization, scale vs intimacy). Listen for the emotional stakes. Behind most business decisions is a fear of getting it wrong. What are they afraid to lose—or desperate to prove? Test the polarity. If both options seem equally good or equally bland, you don’t have a story. You have a list. Raise the stakes. Once you name the conflict, everything else tightens. 3. Know what each piece is for. After you’ve got your throughline and your values in place, the next mistake is thinking every asset has to do everything. It doesn’t. A blog post doesn’t need to sell and educate and entertain and convert. But it should do something deliberately. Ask this of every piece: Is this meant to set context? Is it meant to build urgency? Is it meant to shift belief? Is it meant to help a champion make the case internally? Is it meant to close the loop? When you know the role a piece plays, the structure gets clearer. The scope becomes manageable. And the metrics make more sense. Your calendar stops looking like a backlog of “deliverables” and starts looking like a story arc with strategic intent. ---- These are lessons I’ve picked up on the path from freelance writer to Fortune 500 consultant. If any of this hit home, I’d love to hear what you wish you knew after your first 10 pieces. Drop it in the comments.