How Do You Create B2B Content Customers Actually Care About Instead of a 'Glorified Pamphlet'?

Nick Centera (00:02) I, I hate when content is just a glorified pamphlet. You know what I mean? Like a blog or, or, or, or social media posts or whatever. Like it, I guess in the right circumstance, it makes sense to push that. But when I go to talk to SME internally to get information, I'll ask a question and sometimes I get the answer back. Well, I think we do XYZ at our company. I'm like, no, no, no, I don't want to know like what about us. Cause I can talk about us all day. Nobody cares about us. They would care about themselves. So what can I tell them to make them care about Benjamin Ard (00:05) Yeah. Welcome back to another episode of Content Amplified. Today I'm joined by Nick. Nick, welcome to the show. Yeah, Nick, I'm excited. This is gonna be a fun subject. I think a lot of people are working on the balance that we're gonna talk about here. But before we dive in, Nick, let's get to know you, your background, all that fun stuff so everyone listening can know who you are. Nick Centera (00:59) Hey, thanks for having me, Ben. Sure. Yeah. So, you know, in a previous life, you know, uh, I'd like to say I used to work in movies and film and, and was, uh, had my eyes set on becoming a cinematographer. Um, got a chance to work on some cool shows, a of student productions, um, but just decided to kind of, uh, take a different path. And I think I had had some internships at the time, marketing internships, and you know, it just was a natural, uh, bridge to go from storytelling and movies and short films to storytelling and inside of a business. And that's when I also made a transition into renewables, which is a business sort of the industry I'm in today. And, you know, I've been here 10 or 12 years. can't remember. I don't like to count. But, but I've definitely fallen in love with marketing and, and, and renewables. And I think I'm really just on this path that I I want to be on for the rest of my career. Benjamin Ard (02:04) I love it. Plus that industry is not going anywhere anytime soon. If anything, it's more relevant every day that goes by. Nick Centera (02:08) No, yeah, that's right. We need power, you know, and that's, I feel wonderful going to work every day, not only just doing marketing, but also Powering America. That's the campaign, one of the campaigns I came up with. It's a cool thing and feel proud and feel happy to share it with my family. Benjamin Ard (02:13) That's true. love it. And honestly, anytime a marketer is passionate about what they're doing, the business, the industry, it shines through in the conversation. It shines through in their work because there is that belief and there's that motivation behind it because you know what you're doing is good. You know what you're doing is impactful. And so I love it makes me even more excited for this conversation. I think it's going to be amazing. Nick, you and I were emailing before this episode. Nick Centera (02:41) Yeah. Benjamin Ard (02:51) To figure out a subject and you have this really cool concept where you focus on the intersection between what your customers are interested in and what your campaign goals are. And it is true. There's sometimes is kind of a, little bit of a bypass where you're like, which one should I focus on all that kind of stuff? So what, what is this philosophy of knowing this intersection and what does that intersection actually look like when you're, you're looking at content? Nick Centera (03:00) Mm-hmm. Yeah, I think, you know, to kind of break those two down, I think you've got, you know, you're, you, you want to have enough assets, resources in the market so people can consume things. Right. I mean, I think I'm in B2B and And it's not enough to have a pretty social media, post. You've got to have more. we try to have thought leadership content. So for me, I'm thinking we need volume. We've to produce and produce. but you know, on the other flip side of that is that your customer has needs and you know, what do they, what do they care about? What do they need to know? And if you spin your wheels, producing a ton of content that's ultimately irrelevant to your, your target audience. Have you done anything or have you just kind of done work for the sake of doing work? So matching those two up, I think is so critical. You know, I do think you need volume, but I mean, core marketing principles, no matter what B2C, B2B, you know, you're selling a dollar value good or a hundred million dollar good. You know, you've got to know what your customer wants and you've got to tell them that story. And maybe that means one solid asset, like a podcast or like a I don't see him as much anymore, but the ultimate blog on XYZ, they just totally informs them like those could be solid, but you might need more, but that intersection is critical to make sure you're balancing both sides of the coin. Benjamin Ard (04:38) I love that. So let's kind of walk through this process a little bit, because I really do love this concept of, you know, it's not all 100 % just on the customer side. It's not 100 % on what the business needs are. It is the intersection, the combination of those two things. So let's start on the consumer side. When you're looking at their interests and you're trying to discover their needs for content and what you can do for them, what's your process look like? How do you find those insights? How do you get that information? How do you know what they're craving to help impact these decisions? Nick Centera (05:07) Yeah. Well, I think, you know, the first thing that came to my mind was, you know, top of funnel, middle funnel, you know, bottom of funnel, like where are you at? the, what is it? Tofu through the, the both who kind of thing, you know, but when I'm thinking about the, answering that I think we've got to, you've got to just know what your, customer cares about. And I guess what I'm saying is, is that we've got to, you've got to, talk to people or go and listen in my business, there's not a lot of people on Reddit going and talking about my particular thing. but, but I think there's a lot of opportunity depending on the business you have to go and see what are people complaining about or talking about, right? or in LinkedIn, what are people commenting about if it's a business side? But I think you got to get that voice of customer and just know what are people talking about? What do they care about? What are they seeing? Where are they seeing it? ⁓ and starting with that base level, again, I think that's, that is agnostic to the type of business you're in. so for me, I'm trying to do that as much as possible in, my business. And we're a really, high value contract, and a really long sales lead, time. So we're not doing, we're not getting leads on our website for what we're doing. we're trying to. create a more emotional connection outside of just a transactional relationship that they might have with sales. So we're trying to kind of hear what they're saying from our sales team and joining sales calls when we can. so then we've got that base of a voice of customer. Okay. So where are they at? We're coming back to the first thing I said, the tofu through the both who thing, you know, where are they at in the buying process? Do people know your brand exists? ⁓ okay. And, and do they know that they, that they don't, are they problem aware? Right. Like, so once we kind of know, what do they care about? Then we're seeing, okay, where are they out in this buying process or where, where are people at? And like mapping that out. Once you have a sense of kind of where they're at, then you kind of see, okay, well, when they're at the top of funnel and they don't really know about our brand or they're not really problem aware, we need to just create some high level content that serves that. Right. But again, again, we can create a lot of volume, but we need to come back to what do they need to know? to be able to move to the mid and then ultimately the bottom of funnel. but I think the core piece is just what do they care about? what are they, what are they fear? I love asking the question, what keeps you up at night? You know, if you can ask that question directly, you're trying to find some way to get to that answer because, so often I, I just don't want to create another pamphlet. I just have to go off a tangent here. I, I hate when content is just a glorified pamphlet. You know what I mean? Like a blog or, or, or, or social media posts or whatever. Like it, I guess in the right circumstance, it makes sense to push that. But when I go to talk to SME internally to get information, I'll ask a question and sometimes I get the answer back. Well, I think we do XYZ at our company. I'm like, no, no, no, I don't want to know like what about us. Cause I can talk about us all day. Nobody cares about us. They would care about themselves. So what can I tell them to make them care about Benjamin Ard (07:33) Yeah. Nick Centera (07:57) so. I think if I summarize that as much as you can, as often you can getting voice of customer, or at least trying to figure out, you know, why people are or are not buying and where they're at, and then trying to map that on the funnel, or the customer journey, pick your, and I'm sure I'm using terms interchangeably when I shouldn't, but you know, know that yeah, they've got a timeline that they move through and they care about different things at different moments. Try to do your best to map it. Benjamin Ard (08:17) It's all the same analogy in the end. Nick Centera (08:25) along that journey. So that way you focus on creating content that's high value at each point, as opposed to only focusing on something at the top or the bottom or putting all your eggs in one basket. Benjamin Ard (08:36) I love that. So you're mapping the customer journey out. You're tying things into the specific stages, making sure that there's content there based off of their interests, based off of their needs, based off of the things, and I love how you said it, things that keep them up at night. What do they worry about? What's making them having anxiety and what are problems that they actually need solved? I also love your talk in the whole story brand concept. This is their story, not ours. And how do we do that? Nick Centera (09:01) Yeah. Benjamin Ard (09:01) Now, obviously you got to tie in the business side, right? Like it's cool to tell our customer stories and talk about everything they need and want and all that kind of fun stuff. How are you marrying that with the business needs? Is it about the alignment of the journey or is it some other clever way of getting kind of your business message as a part of that? How do you kind of find that intersection? Nick Centera (09:24) Sure. Well, you know, when you think of like, are they problem aware? You know, this is where we're Mark, we're kind of sneaky as marketers because you know, the problem is what we created. Like, Hey, we have a product that's sol solves XYZ problem. So we want you to be problem aware of that particular problem. So, you know, where you're intersecting, not just what the customer cares about, but also tying in your business as you go, okay, well, I'm trying to sell XYZ product. So I want them to know at the top of funnel that this is a problem, you know, so that way they're aware of it tied to that. So to take your, saying, and step back, know what you're trying to sell, know what problems it's solving potentially, and then get that also that, that firsthand research or understanding of your customer. And then find the, the marriage as you put it between those. So once you kind of know, Hey, these are the, these are the problems that we're solving. Here's like the benefits that we're bringing along that same journey. You try to weave it in and, is there a way to do that? Like one over the other? don't, maybe it's chicken or the egg a little bit. I guess if I had to pick, would say, know what your customer problems are because. You you don't want to build a, I think building a better mousetrap doesn't bring everyone to your door. Right. So. I think know what they want and make sure that you have the right messaging for your product. I guess this is also assuming that you've got product market fit. Yeah. If you're a startup, you're probably doing a little bit different process here, you know, but for an established business and you've got a new thing coming out based on market research, you know, you're going to try to match your business goals along that process. Benjamin Ard (10:58) I love it. That's awesome. So you're mapping it on the process. You're looking at the needs, all of that fun stuff. But what I want to dive into now is really how you're doing the storytelling, if that's okay. To double click here. I feel like every business has a different philosophy in how they're going to tell their customers' story. Hopefully everyone's bought into that methodology, like you talked about, like the anti-pamphlet move it, like... Nick Centera (11:08) Hmm. Benjamin Ard (11:24) Hopefully we're not just talking about ourselves the whole time. How do you, mean, obviously I love that you're looking at the different sources for customer insights. You've got these cool questions, including what keeps you up at night. So you get the insight, you get the nugget of knowledge. How are you telling the story? Like, is it always the same format? You talk about being a filmmaker and all of that. How are you finding in today's market for people listening today? Nick Centera (11:27) Yeah. Benjamin Ard (11:50) the best ways to tell your customer's story in a way that they care about, can pay attention to, and genuinely connect to it. I feel like content's changed all the time with AI and everything, so I'm always fascinated what's the right way to tell those stories in today's market. Nick Centera (11:59) Yeah. Sure. I won't profess to have the right way because that would be a pretty, extreme of me, but I think you, what I think consistent over, let's call it decades of, if you think of advertising and everything is, is there's gotta be that emotional hook, which is so cliche to say, but I think it's, I think, especially in B2B. And then when you get into the, in the vertical that I'm at, where it's just as high dollar value, millions of dollars in the line. you know, people lose the emotional side. think it's very clinical and very, you know, engineer focused, right? And, and when so much money's in the line, yes, like you have to have a certain level of due diligence and bankability reports and all this kind of stuff. But in the end, there is still a person who's buying from another person, not the other end. They're advocating for you and they've got to have an emotional connection to your, to your, to your solution, your brand, whatever. So finding that emotional connection and then also trying to just again marketing like one-on-one, translate your feature into that benefit. You know, we have XYZ solution, but that means this benefit for you. Like always coming back to that, like what's in it for you. that is something that I try to keep off of mind or from working on a project and, before asking me to support, you know, it's like, or my team, it's like, well, what, why does this matter to the customer? worked on a product a few years ago and they really wanted to push this. And I was just asking these basic questions like, what is the benefit? Like I see the features, but why does the customer care? And there was a struggle for them to give any answer. And I had, if I don't get that, I have a really hard time getting behind it. As you mentioned, if you're passionate, you, yes, I'll raise the flag, but if you're not, like, I don't know what the story is here. so I think, you know, trying to kind of weave this back a little bit, knowing what's in it for the customer and then making it emotional, really kind of hitting on those, those pieces of like, you know what, like this is you know, the classic one is like, this is going to make you better at your job or something like that. I'm trying to come off the cuff here with something, but getting to that emotional state of why this matters, not just that this is going to save you time. It's like, you know, you're going to, you're going to look better in front of your boss. Like, you know, I'm just spiffing or riffing here. but knowing how to kind of push on that emotional button that we're all emotional creatures. care so much about that and finding that that thread. Benjamin Ard (14:22) you Nick Centera (14:30) ⁓ and if not, if you can't find it, you know, just easily, you have to kind of develop it. And again, you go back to that customer research. Like what do they care about? What it keeps them up at night? You know, you're afraid of in my world, we have a COD commercial operation date. You're terrified about hitting that because there's a huge amount of penalties that are going to hit you and your company. You know, you want a partner that's going to make that happen with, with time to spare, you know, and, finding ways to just really. Benjamin Ard (14:37) Yep. Nick Centera (14:58) push that home and we have the abilities and solutions XYZ internally to do help you avoid those, we call them LDs, but we help you avoid these and make it emotional. And I think you can make a poor product much better than a great product that doesn't have that same story. You know, I love thinking about Apple and Apple is, I forget what the word is. It's like they're a late, they always seem to have features after Android or whatever other phone or, think of it, right. But that's okay. That's, that's a great way to put it. and, but Benjamin Ard (15:28) Yeah, they sell to the late majority. Yeah. Nick Centera (15:37) The way they sell it, and if you go to their website and stuff, they're not like sitting like, we finally created it. like they've created sliced bread every time that they're launching something. And I think of the classic 10,000 songs in your pocket. They sell with the benefit ahead, rather than like, hey, you're going to get 37 gigabytes. Who cares? It doesn't mean anything. So making it matter to you is so important. Benjamin Ard (15:59) Yeah. Nick Centera (16:01) It's not as easy to do that as you get in bigger and, and, you know, B2B world, but finding that and translating it and making them care and making it emotional is, how you get people to listen and you keep doing that and people will continue to listen. may not buy right away, but they will listen more, more than if you just put up, we have this great feature. Benjamin Ard (16:20) What I love is that last phrase right there. If you're doing a good job, they will listen. And I do think that when it comes down to it, content is about getting people to listen. And if they're listening, they may take action at some point, but at least they're a part of the journey. If they're not listening, you've lost. And I think that's really impactful. I also love this story of how you were trying to promote a product and feature. Nick Centera (16:25) Yeah. Yes. Yeah. Benjamin Ard (16:45) That you didn't hear the origin story about why it came into the market, right? This benefit. What's crazy is, you know, hopefully with any business, these new features or releases are coming from a need from the market. And regardless of who's creating these products or features or whatever, doing the research, deciding that this needs to be done. I think it's really important to make sure they're a part of the process for someone to say, Hey, Nick Centera (16:58) Yeah. Benjamin Ard (17:13) I was talking to customer X, Y, and Z who was having this pain and I thought, Hey, wait a minute. We could solve that pain by creating this. That's, that's exactly what people need to hear. And that's why you created it in the first place. Don't lose those stories. And I think that there's something really cool there that you're talking about. Nick Centera (17:14) ⁓ That's right. Yeah, I think of Shark Tank pitches and they always seem to come from this place of frustration or whatever. And it's always so like I believe in, I love that, you know, people like buying that so well. And I feel like we think when you get into B2B that we were different, you know, we don't do that. We have to be, you know, T's crossed and I's dotted and give you a tangent example. gives a sense. wrote this post a while ago about how much we scroll in a day and we scroll the equivalent of like the Statue of Liberty. Benjamin Ard (17:48) Yep. You Nick Centera (18:02) Like roughly in a day or a week, I forget exactly what I had said before, but you know, and I thought if you make one little post, you know, on LinkedIn, you are four inches tall. You're about a bit on the toe of the Statue of Liberty. And if that's all you do, how are you going to stand out amongst all of that content? And I think how are you going to be remembered? Number one, you should not just do a one and done. Benjamin Ard (18:12) you you Nick Centera (18:25) But two, if you want to stand out in a statue of Liberty of content, you've got to be emotional. You know, I always feel like I get so invested when I'm creating content and I'm like, this is, I love this and people are going to, I get so like, this detail here. I gotta make sure this is perfect. Then I remember like, cares. Nobody cares about what I'm doing. Right. Unless I can make them care. And so, you know, investing in that, I think that emotional piece is, Benjamin Ard (18:42) You Nick Centera (18:50) the first step to standing out on the Statue of Liberty. Benjamin Ard (18:53) I love that, and I love that analogy. The first step to standing out on the Statue of Liberty. I think that's cool. I love the visualization. can see, I was picturing my own face as like the toenail right there. I love it. Nick Centera (18:59) You Yeah, right. Benjamin Ard (19:06) Nick, we have run out of time. This has been amazing. I really do love the conversation that we had today. The intersection of the customer needs and the business needs, how you can find and tell the right customer stories while accomplishing your business goals all at the same time. I love the philosophy and the insights. Nick, for anyone who's sitting there and listening today thinking, wow, I'd love to connect with Nick, how and where can they find you online? Nick Centera (19:27) Sure. Yeah. Well, first off Ben, thanks for the opportunity. You can find me on LinkedIn, ⁓ Nick Centera with the C and I have a podcast called Renewable Storytellers. May not be for everyone, but if you're in the utility scale energy space, it's where I love to kind of talk to people and your nebula.com is where you can kind of learn more. yeah, thanks. Reach out. I'd love to talk to you. I love talking marketing. I love venting about marketing. Any day, any time. There's so much and the more we get out of our own echo chambers and our own companies and spread out and talk to each other. I think the better that we all become. Benjamin Ard (20:00) I love it. For you as the listener, go ahead and scroll down, look in the show notes, regardless of what platform you're on. We will have all those links right there in the description. So you can find Nick right there. Go ahead and click on the links, connect with Nick, say hi, say you came from the podcast. That would be awesome. Nick, again, thank you so much for the time and insights today. It has been absolutely amazing. Nick Centera (20:21) And thank you again. It's been a fantastic conversation. Looking forward to And best of luck on hitting your next 100 episodes after this. Benjamin Ard (20:29) Thank you, appreciate it.