How We Stole the B2C Playbook and Made It Work for B2B
I’ve been thinking a lot this week while struck with the "Great flu of 2025", about how we got to where we are today with content-led selling over the past 2.5 years. Honestly, it feels like we took a few pages from the B2C playbook, threw away everything that wasn't working, tested the hell out of what was working across multiple clients and multiple verticals, and then put systems behind to scale.
What’s the hefty Million Dollar secret?
It’s showing up where your audience is, adding consistent value, giving, and not taking in a way that feels 100% authentic.
Sounds like a drag, right?
Stick with me.
It's about to get fun in here.
From Billboards to Doorknocking
Let me paint a picture for you. I’ve spent a fair amount of time staring at billboards. Whether I’m cruising across the country, catching a flight with Melissa and the kids, or walking through the city, billboards are everywhere. Most of them are big, bold, and let’s be honest—often irrelevant. But here’s the kicker: they work.
Billboards don’t need to be personal, and they don’t need to speak directly to everyone. If they’re seen enough, they stick. The magic is in repetition.
Now, let’s take this a step further and talk about something timely: Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show at the NFL.
Whether you liked it, loved it, or hated it, there surely was one sound that has been sabotaging everyone's every thought ever since.
"Beem bop boom boom boop bop bam"
That's what they call viral.
Virality = exposure.
A hook that suddenly becomes an anthem for that moment in time.
The sound plays, and it's now Pavlovian. Estimated shelf life? 6 weeks.
The B2B Adaptation: LinkedIn as Our Testing Ground
In the B2B world, we can do something similar, but with a little more finesse. LinkedIn is the only platform allowing us to scale this idea precisely. It’s a treasure trove of dynamic data and has one of the best filtering systems to help us find the right audience.
This allowed us to use LinkedIn as our digital billboard—throwing out content that doesn’t need to be hyper-personalized, but when it’s seen enough, it builds awareness. And just like the billboard, it sticks.
But here’s where we added our twist: the door knock. The DM. We used LinkedIn to do what traditional sales calls once did—open a conversation. Our content wasn’t just passive; it was an invitation for a deeper discussion. Often, we were the ones starting that conversation.
The content allowed for trust to be built over an extensive period of time.
That's how it should be.
The Magic of Content-Led Selling
Now, let’s talk about what makes this really work: the psychology behind it. Content-led selling is all about playing the long game and building awareness. But it’s not just about broadcasting your message—it's about weaving stories. And here’s where we’ve learned to get into the minds of our audience: we use their words. We speak to their pain points actively and recap our conversations and learnings with them in posts on Linkedin, and suddenly, they say, "Oh my god, that sounds just like me."
That's exactly where you want to meet them.
Think of it like this: every piece of content we put out is like a digital billboard that keeps appearing in your feed. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it has to be consistent. Over time, people start to see you as the answer to their problems. And when the time is right, they’ll come to you.
Oh yes, they will come to you.
B2B’s ‘Billboards’ and ‘Doorknocking’ in the Digital Age
The big missing piece in traditional marketing has always been forcing the action. That’s why salespeople exist. So, we borrowed that concept, but we did it through LinkedIn DMs. The goal wasn’t to sell but to start a conversation.
To share a little more value.
It’s about the give, not the get.
Think of it like this: every piece of content that we share becomes a billboard on someone’s feed.
It wasn’t about forcing the conversation—it was about opening the door to a dialogue and planting the idea that you are the solution to their problems.
And if you want to see this principle in action, look no further than ambulance chasers. They’re experts at getting in front of you when it matters most.
They show up, they’re consistent, and they always have a way of staying top-of-mind when the time comes.
The Takeaway: It’s All About Consistency and Value
So, what’s the lesson here? How can we go from billboards to doorknocking, from B2C to B2B?
Content-led selling isn’t about reinventing the wheel. It’s about learning from what’s worked in the past—billboards, mailers, or telesales—and adapting it for the digital age.
The key is consistency. You have to meet your audience where they are, offer them real value, and keep at it.
In the end, it’s all about creating a space where people can trust you and get to know you. When they’re ready, they’ll be the ones knocking on YOUR door.
Sound nice?