Virality is overrated (what you need instead)
And the 3 strategic foundations that actually drive revenue
Hello, welcome to this edition! 👋
Too many brands start from "let's go viral".
They want reach. They want impressions. They want engagement.
But in the process of “going viral”, they skip the 3 strategic foundations that make content convert into opportunities. As a result, their content is not generating any revenue and so they’re cancelling the program after a few months.
This edition will give you the keys to turn content into revenue.
So here’s what you’ll learn in this edition:
Why “let’s go viral” is the wrong starting point
The 3 strategy foundations every content team needs first
The mindset to turn content marketing into a revenue channel
👋 If you want to go further and work with me, here’s how I can help you;
1. The Authority-first Framework: My complete course to help you create your content strategy and turn your expertise into content (for LinkedIn™, Newsletter, and YouTube).
2. My LinkedIn™ visual content agency: Work with me and my team to turn your expertise into infographics, carrousels, videos, and text posts. Plus, we help you on your social selling to close deals.
3. Sponsor this newsletter: Promote your brand to my audience on this newsletter (and possibly elsewhere). Send me an email at hello@pierreherubel.com
1.Chasing virality won’t grow your business because it’s unpredictable and not correlated to revenue
When B2B founders and marketers start working with me, their first question is often usually something like:
“What hook should I use?”
“What content type works best?”
“Should we do reels or carrousels?”
And finally “how can we get a viral post?”
But most of the times, they haven’t answered the basics yet:
Who are we talking to? | What do they care about? | Why are we uniquely positioned to help?
Plus here’s the truth about viral content:
Viral content not following any strategy → Random eyeballs on irrelevant content → No positive impact on business and revenue
If you’re optimizing your thumbnails and CTAs before you’ve nailed down your offer and positioning, you’re wasting your time. Before you even think about writing content, you need to nail the three strategic tasks of B2B content.
2. You need 3 strategic foundations before publishing so your content can actually drive revenue
First, you’ll need a business strategy with "offer-market fit"
Before creating any content, you need clarity on one thing:
Does your offer solve a real problem for a real buyer?
Too many marketers jump into content without talking to actual customers. Or they rely on “intuition” rather than real market research.
If your offer is vague, overly broad, or doesn’t solve a PURE (painful, urgent, recognized, and expensive) problem, then no amount of content will help.
Here’s what you should do instead:
Interview customers to understand their pain points in their own words
Clarify what your offer is really solving for your prospects (value prop)
Define your ICP in detail: industry, role, size, stage, and challenges
For example:
Let’s say you sell a sales enablement tool for mid-market SaaS companies.
Your offer-market fit isn’t “we help sales team close deals”. There are a million products and services out there doing the exact same thing.
Your offer-market fit is “We help RevOps leaders at $50k+ MRR SaaS companies cut ramp time by 40% through automated playbooks and buyer intent insights.”
Now that’s something your content can build from.
Second, you’ll need A positioning strategy with clear messaging
Positioning answers the question:
“Why should someone choose us over all other options?”
You can’t just say you’re ‘better’ than your competitors… you need to say why and for whom.
This is where many brands get stuck. They either copy what others are saying or they stay generic so as not to alienate anyone.
But, in doing so, they become forgettable.
Positioning helps your content stand out.
Here’s what you need to define to nail your positioning:
Your brand’s ‘identity’ and ‘enemy’ (who/what are you fighting against)
Your messaging
Your market differentiation
Your USP
Your positioning statement
For example, if you’re a recruiting platform, don’t say “we help you hire better”.
Say, “we eliminate the 80% of interviews that never should’ve happened with AI-powered pre-vetting”.
That fresh angle becomes the backbone of your content.
Third, you’ll need a roadmap to turn (1) and (2) into content
Now, and only now, do you start thinking about content execution.
You start working on the 3rd circle of the equation:
This is where you build your content roadmap.
But instead of chasing the latest ‘viral hooks’ and other useless content trends, you’re grounding your content in your:
Offer (business strategy) and;
Messaging and POV (positioning strategy)
What you do now is:
Define 3-5 content pillars tied to your messaging
Decide elements like tone of voice, formats, channels, narrative, etc.
Build systems to publish, repurpose, and analyze content consistently
For example:
One of your content pillars might be “Onboarding Efficiency”.
So you begin to make content around that pillar:
A LinkedIn carrousel showing how you reduced ramp time at XYZ Ltd. by 40%
A video breakdown of your onboarding process
A blog detailing a full case study with metrics and a CTA to demo
Each piece of content serves a purpose in building your business (and not trying to go viral and attract random followers).
So here’s a recap infographic of those 3 strategic foundations:
But don’t get me wrong, creating great content in 2025 still requires top-tier execution:
3. To turn content into a revenue channel, you need a radical mindset switch
First mindset switch: Move from “planning mode” to “test & learn mode” because velocity is key to growth
Far too many B2B marketing plans are just PowerPoints. They’re full of long strategy decks with campaign calendars and endless personas. In other words, far too much ‘planning’.
ROI-obsessed marketers instead find out what actually works by testing ideas in the marketplace, and iterating on the best ones. Rather than asking, “Is this campaign aligned with our Q3 content theme?”, they ask, “Did this email generate sales conversations?”
Here’s what “test and learn” can look like in practice:
The key here is velocity.
The more experiments you run, the faster you see what’s working… and the faster you’re able to double down on what’s working.
Second mindset switch: Ditch the Inbound vs Outbound debate; build an “Allbound” approach to maximize opportunities
The “Allbound method” combines outbound, inbound, and nearbound marketing.
And each part has a "multiplier effect" on each other.
Inbound makes your outbound better: Your cold DM lands better if they’ve seen your content on LinkedIn.
Outbound makes your inbound better: Your DMs and cold calls tell you what messaging resonates with prospects. You then apply that to content.
Nearbound multiplies both: When a trusted partner or community refers you, both your content and your cold pitch convert better.
Every action you take feeds the other. That's why you need to test things and assess your marketing system holistically.
In this video, I show you exactly how to combine content and outbound:
Third mindset switch: Align content with business strategy and leadership to be (finally) understood
When all you tell your CEO / CFO / Board is…
“CTR’s are up!” … “We sent a bunch of MQL’s!” … or “Engagement is strong!” ...
All they’re thinking is:
“Ok, but is this moving the needle on our business goals?”
But when you align your marketing with revenue, the conversation changes:
“This campaign sourced $185K in qualified pipeline”
“This new outbound sequence has an 11% reply rate and 5 SQLs in 2 weeks”
“Our podcast interviews led to 3 new partnership opportunities, one of which already closed”
Suddenly, leadership stops questioning marketing and you get a seat at the table on strategic decisions.
👋 If you want to go further and work with me, here’s how I can help you;
1. The Authority-first Framework: My complete course to help you create your B2B content strategy and turn your expertise into content (for LinkedIn™, Newsletter, and YouTube).
2. My LinkedIn™ visual content agency: Work with me and my team to turn your expertise into infographics, carrousels, videos, and text posts. Plus, we help you on your social selling to close deals.
3. Sponsor this newsletter: Promote your brand to my audience on this newsletter (and possibly elsewhere). Send me an email at hello@pierreherubel.com