DaveStevensNow

Look I’m clearly no Harrison Ford. I haven’t uncovered any implausibly powerful religious artefacts recently, fought off any Nazis, or raced through any abandoned mine shafts. But occasionally – when things are going well – the B2B Marketing profession makes me feel just like Indiana Jones.

That’s because B2B marketers are in the business of digging to uncover the story of the business or product or service that we can tell to our target markets. It’s the story that differentiates the business, product, or service from the competition. It’s the story that explains why the customer should buy.

In Indiana Jones’ profession of archaeology, excavation is the exposure and recording of remains. This process takes time. And it takes care. Sediments are extracted in very thin layers, sifted in detail, then measured and recorded. So it is with B2B marketing stories. They take time and care to create. When we start uncovering the story, we are not really sure what we are uncovering. Then we reveal a part of it. Gradually the story starts revealing itself. And we know better where and how to dig as we know more.

Not everything an archaeologist uncovers relates to the find they are working on. There are the 21st century beer bottle tops to contend with amongst the hoard. The temptation to use everything you find even if it doesn’t fit is strong. After all you worked hard to dig it up! But if you are discerning and rigorous in your analysis of each piece and if you compare it to bits you’ve already found you can see if it’s a match. So in story-telling. Not every fact you uncover should be part of the best story you can tell. However difficult it was to find the fact in the first place.

For every business, product, or service, there is a compelling story to be told. It just needs to be discovered and set free.