Practical Guide to Jobs-to-be-Done Framework for Building a B2B Content Strategy

Content has been overused and abused for too long. Don't believe me? Go to Google and type a keyword relevant to your business. What do you see? A bazillion results, mostly containing filler content written for the sole purpose of getting ranked in search results.

It got so bad that Google had to fight back with algorithm updates that stressed the importance of originality and depth to try and clean up the internet a bit. But even those major algorithm changes didn't stop the mass production of useless content.

In B2B space, there is a great difference in content that drives traffic and content that converts. Ranking for a keyword that is relevant to your business is great, but if that traffic doesn't convert into leads or customers, then what's the point?

As a B2B product, your reason for existence is to help your buyer do their job better/faster/more efficiently/etc. So your content strategy should be focused on the same thing. Yet, many B2B brands continue churning layman and beginner-oriented content that their potential buyers wouldn't be interested in in a million years. We have cybersecurity companies explaining zero-day vulnerabilities, networking giants spelling out the basics of the cloud, and construction companies writing about what cement is. Would a CISO, a CTO, or a construction project manager really be interested in that?

The answer is no. They wouldn't.

But B2B brands continue producing this type of content because it pads up vanity metrics that many marketers still use to show the success of their efforts, like traffic volume and social media followers.

The problem is that this type of content does nothing to help close deals or increase revenue. It might get you a million page views, but it won't result in new business.

To produce content that helps your B2B brand grow, you need to start thinking about what your buyers are trying to accomplish (their jobs) and produce content that helps them do that. This is where the Jobs To Be Done framework comes in.

What is the Jobs To be Done Framework?

The Jobs To Be Done framework was first introduced by Clayton Christensen in his 1997 book, The Innovator's Dilemma. It's a tool that helps companies understand their customers by looking at the progress they're trying to make in their lives (i.e., the job they're trying to do). It's based on the idea that people don't just buy products; they hire them to do a specific job.

For example, someone doesn't just buy a hammer; they hire it to help them hang a picture on their wall. Looking at B2B products this way changes the way you think about marketing and product development.

It's no longer about selling a product; it's about helping your customer achieve a specific goal. This framework has been used by some of the world's most successful companies to create products that people love.

Companies like Netflix, Slack, and Warby Parker have all used Jobs To Be Done to create products that are now household names. But its usefulness is not just limited to product development. The framework can also be an excellent device for creating interesting, original content and helpful to your target buyer.

This guide will show you how to use Jobs-to-be-Done Framework to create B2B content that is original, interesting, and helpful to your buyers.

How to Use Jobs To Be Done Framework to Create Awesome B2B Content

Define the progress your buyers are trying to make

The first step is to define the progress your target buyer is trying to make. In other words, what job are they trying to do?

Are they trying to increase sales? Are they trying to improve their website's conversion rate? Are they trying to save time on their daily commute?

The possibilities are endless, but it's important to narrow your focus so you can produce helpful and relevant content for your target buyer.

Questions to support your brainstorming:

• Who is the customer?
• What job is the customer trying to get done?
• What are the customer's desired outcomes?
• How do they measure value?
• Do segments of customers exist that have different unmet outcomes?
• What unmet outcomes exist in each segment?
• What segments and unmet outcomes should we target for growth?
• How should we define our value proposition?
• How should we position our existing and pipeline products?
• What new features or products must we create?

Notice that there is a significant overlap in the questions you need to answer for building your content strategy, as there is for product development. This is because they are two sides of the same coin. Your content should be focused on helping your buyer achieve their goal, just like your product. You will not be successful if you are not aligned with your buyer's needs.

Talk to your sales and customer success teams. They're on the front lines, dealing with your buyers daily. They should understand the jobs your buyers are trying to do and the pain points they're trying to solve.

2. Identify the main actors involved in achieving the goal

Buying decisions are usually made by a team, not an individual. To create content that resonates with your target buyer, you need to understand the different roles involved in the decision-making process.

For example, if you're selling enterprise software, there is usually a technical buyer, a business buyer, and an influencer. Each one of these buyers has different needs, and your content should be tailored to meet those needs.

To understand the difference between each type of buyer, you need to put yourself in their shoes.

• What are their main objectives?
• What pain points are they trying to solve?
• Once you've answered these questions, you can start creating content that is relevant to them.

To understand the buying decision, work with the sales team to map out the customer's journey. This will help you understand each type of buyer and their specific needs.

3. Define the key moments that matter

The next step is to define the key moments that matter. In other words, what are the critical points in the buyer's journey? This is where you need to put yourself in the buyer's shoes again.

When do they need your help the most? Your content should be focused on providing value at these key moments. It should be helpful, relevant, and interesting. If it's not, you run the risk of losing the attention of your target buyer.

Focus your content around the key moments in the buyer's journey, such as:

• When they are researching a solution to their problem
• When they are making a decision on which product to buy
• When they are ready to implement the product When they are using the product

Creating a timeline is the best way to understand the key moments that matter. Look in your CRM for closed-won deals and map out the customer's journey from start to finish. This will help you understand the buyer's journey and identify the moments when your content can make the biggest impact.

Some tips for customizing content for the buyer's journey:

• Pre-Purchase: This content helps the buyer understand their problem and realize they need your product. This is typically top-of-the-funnel content like blog posts, ebooks, webinars, etc. This content aims to educate the buyer and help them understand their problem. A lot of B2B content at this stage is complete fluff, so make sure your content is focused on the JTBD framework.

• Purchase: This content helps the buyer make a purchase decision. This is typically middle-of-the-funnel content like case studies, product demos, free trials, etc. This content aims to help the buyer understand how your product can help them solve their problem.

• Use: This content helps the buyer use your product effectively. This is typically bottom-of-the-funnel content like user guides, tutorials, FAQs, etc. This content aims to help the buyer get the most out of your product.

• Advocacy: This is the content that helps the buyer become an advocate for your product. This is typically post-purchase content like customer stories, testimonials, etc. The goal of this content is to show other potential buyers how your product has helped others.

  
  

4. Identify common objections

The final step is to identify the reasons your audience has not bought your product. In other words, what are the common objections?

To help with the buyer journey, your content should be focused on pre-emptively addressing these objections. This is a crucial part of the content strategy. If you don't address the objections, your buyers will never convert. To understand objections, (again) put yourself in the buyer's shoes. What are their main concerns? What are they afraid of?

Once you've answered these questions, you can start making sure to address these objections in your content. The best way to understand objections is to work with the sales team. Using their field experience, they can give you a good understanding of buyers' objections and will share the ways they have developed to overcome them. You can then use this information to create content that addresses these objections head-on.

You can also use customer feedback and reviews of your product to understand your customers' objections and issues. Look for patterns in the negative feedback and use that to inform your content strategy.

5. Create a content strategy that focuses on helping your buyer do their job

Now that you know what content your buyer needs, it's time to map out your content strategy. Here is a useful matrix I use; you can use this as a starting point to map out your own content strategy.

There is a column for each buyer involved in the purchase process. For B2B SaaS products, typically, there will be a technical buyer, a business buyer, and an influencer. Then, for each buyer type in the matrix, you need to identify:

• Jobs to be done
• What they care about
• Measuring success
• Common objectives
• What content will help them achieve their goals

Here is an example of what the matrix may look like:

JTBD-based content strategy Matrix Breakdown

Technical Buyer

• Jobs to be done: Solve the technical problem/need
• What they care about: Fit for the use case, Technical specs, Ease of Use, Functionality, Price, Implementation
• How they measure success: Reduction in the problem/need, Time saved, Increased productivity, Improved quality
• Common objections: We can build a solution internally; your product is too complicated; your product is not compatible with our existing systems; we don't have the budget for your product; your competitor does it better; we don't trust your product reliability
• What kind of content do they need: Product Information (specs, data sheets, case studies), Tutorials, How-tos FAQs, Product comparisons, Reviews of your product, Implementation guides

Business Buyer

• Jobs to be done: Solve the business problem/need
• What they care about: Business impact, Cost, ROI, TCO
• How they measure success: Reduction in the problem/need, Improved business metrics, Increased sales, Bottom line results
• Common Objections: We can't quantify the ROI of your product; we don't have the budget for your product; your competitor does it better; we don't trust your product's reliability
• What content they need: ROI calculator, TCO calculator, Case studies that show how your product has helped other companies improve their business metrics

Type of Buyer: Influencer

• Jobs to be done: Get management approval for a tool/solution that will make their work lives easier and help them reach their goals

• What they care about: Removing pain from a task, their career/job security, making the right decision, justifying the purchase

• How they measure success: Positive feedback from their boss/peers, Career Progression, Bottom line results that they can attribute to their decision

• Common objections: I am not a decision maker, I don't have the budget for your product

• What kind of content they need: Thought leadership articles, Whitepapers, Infographics, Datasheets, Case studies, Product comparisons

  
  

As you can see, each type of buyer has different jobs to be done, different objections, and different content needs. By mapping out your content strategy in this way, you can ensure that you are creating content that is truly helpful to your buyers and aligned with their specific needs.

6. Measure the impact of your B2B content

The final step in creating an effective B2B content strategy is measuring your content's impact. Traffic volume and social shares are not reliable indicators of success. While it can still be useful to measure traffic and leads, the focus should be on measuring your content's impact on business results.

Some indicators of success to consider:

• Sales pipeline impact: How much revenue can be attributed to your content? Look at things like Sales pipeline generated (Opportunities and Deals), Revenue generated (Closed/Won)
• Engagement rate: How engaged are users with your content? Are they reading it? Look at things like Time on the page, Scroll depth, Bounce rates
• Lead quality: How qualified are the leads that your content is generating? Look at things like Lead Score, Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs), Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs)

By measuring the impact of your content by focusing on key KPIs, you can get a clear picture of your content strategy's effectiveness and where you need to make improvements.

Creating an effective B2B content strategy is not easy, but it's essential if you want to generate results from your content marketing efforts. Following the steps outlined in this post, you can create a strategy tailored to your business goals and buyer needs.

Key Takeaways

• The Jobs To be Done framework is an effective tool for mapping out a content strategy that is focused on the buyer’s needs
• Your content strategy should be tailored to each stage of the buyer's journey.
• The type of content and the messaging will be different at each stage.
• Measure the impact of your content in terms of business results, not just traffic or leads. Sales pipeline impact, engagement rate, and lead quality are all important indicators of success.