Ever feel like your buyer personas are useless? You’re not alone. Too many B2B marketers rely on demographic snapshots—age, job title, geography—to guide content strategy, only to find these details barely influence real engagement. Demographics might shape tone and format, but they don’t explain why someone interacts with your content or what problem they’re trying to solve.
If your content isn’t resonating, the issue may be your perspective. Today’s buyers research quietly, move unpredictably, and expect brands to understand their world. They want content that speaks to their challenges, goals, and roadblocks—not generic profiles. Build personas that capture what buyers are trying to achieve and what’s standing in their way, and your content becomes instantly more relevant, more human, and far more effective.
Shift from personas to needs-based segmentation
Traditional segmentation often stops at age, job title, or location. But needs-based segmentation goes deeper—uncovering what motivates buyers and what obstacles stand in their way.
For example, instead of writing for “Leah, 45, Communications Director,” create content for the overwhelmed communications leader who needs plug-and-play assets to stay ahead of deadlines. Or instead of targeting “IT managers,” focus on the team navigating shifting compliance requirements under tight budget pressure.
Marketers can surface these insights through surveys, social listening, conversations with customer-facing teams, and behavioral analytics. Instead of capturing static characteristics, you build a dynamic picture of emotions, priorities, and challenges. These details make your content feel more personal and aligned with what buyers truly care about.
Apply the jobs-to-be-done mindset
Buyers engage with content because they are trying to accomplish something specific. The Jobs-to-Be-Done (JTBD) framework helps clarify these motivations. A person might seek content to:
- validate a decision for leadership
These motivations are the true drivers behind content consumption, and when you write with these jobs in mind, your messaging becomes both practical and supportive.
Using this framework also prevents generic content. Instead of offering broad advice, you anchor your content in the reader’s underlying goal. This makes your work more likely to influence buying decisions because it’s actually actionable.
Focus on situational triggers, not just identity
Relevance is shaped more by context than by who the audience is. Buyers respond to content that reflects what’s happening in their world right now. This may include budget cycles, new regulations, revenue pressure, membership declines, shifting customer expectations, industry disruptions, or event-driven deadlines.
When your content addresses these timely triggers, it instantly resonates and automatically adds value. A piece on “improving reporting workflows” is helpful but reframing it around “streamlining reporting before annual planning season” makes it timely and urgent. Situational context transforms general information into meaningful guidance when it matters most.
Build relatability through emotional resonance
Personalization is no longer about dropping a first name into a subject line. Buyers don’t want content that pretends to know them—they want content that reflects their reality and offers meaningful solutions. When you do that, you build relevance, trust, and authority.
Emotional resonance grows when content mirrors the reader’s experience. For example, a membership director dealing with churn doesn’t need cheerleading. They need actionable strategies like retention tactics, renewal incentives, and loyalty programs tailored to member behavior. Similarly, a tech leader evaluating vendors isn’t looking for fluffy marketing. They want hard facts like performance benchmarks, security compliance details, and total cost of ownership comparisons.
When your content validates their reality and helps them move forward, it stops feeling generic and starts feeling indispensable.
Create targeted content that aligns with intent
Anonymous research is a defining characteristic of modern B2B buying. Buyers explore solutions quietly and leave subtle indicators of what they need. Intent signals come from behaviors such as:
- revisiting a particular topic
- engaging deeply with educational resources
- downloading tools that indicate evaluation readiness
When your content aligns with these shifts in behavior, it guides the buyer naturally from problem awareness to confident decision-making. You no longer push content onto your audience; you meet them where they already are in their journey.
Trust is earned by solving real problems
Creating targeted content means understanding people as whole individuals navigating real pressures, not as demographic snapshots. It requires paying attention to what motivates them, what stands in their way, and what situations shape their decisions. When you root your strategy in empathy, intent, and context, your content becomes more valuable, more memorable, and more trustworthy.
As you strengthen your ability to create targeted content, we can help. Our team uncovers what your audience is thinking, feeling, and seeking so you can deliver content that resonates with your audience.
If you are ready to create targeted content that resonates with your audience and supports long-term growth, we would love to partner with you. Contact us today.
