Hi Reader,

When growth slows down, most scaling B2B companies make the same mistake. They widen the target audience. It feels like ambition. It looks like a strategy for scale. But in reality, it is the fastest way to make your marketing invisible.

What I'm seeing

When I review the target audience definitions of scaling companies, they usually read like a wish list. They want to sell to enterprise, but also mid-market. They target the CIO, but also the VP of Operations and the Head of Sustainability. They list five different industries as "core focus areas".

The homepage tries to speak to five different buyers at the same time, so nobody feels addressed directly. Every stakeholder sees a slightly different version of the company, depending on which page they land on or who they talk to.

The logic is understandable. A bigger market means more potential revenue.

But when I look at the execution, the cost of that broad focus becomes obvious. The website messaging is watered down so it does not alienate anyone. The content is generic because it has to speak to five different industries at once. The sales team struggles to build conviction because the value proposition is not sharp enough for the specific person sitting across the table.

By trying to be relevant to everyone, you become essential to no one.

The dilution of conviction

Marketing does not work by reaching the maximum number of people. It works by creating the maximum amount of conviction in the right people.

Conviction requires specificity. A buyer needs to feel that you understand their exact problem, in their exact context, better than anyone else. You cannot create that feeling with generic messaging.

When you broaden your audience without increasing resources, you dilute everything.

Your budget spreads thinner. Your messaging weakens. Your content becomes generic. And you never build enough momentum in one segment to dominate it.

Your competitors who chose to focus on just one of those segments will out-execute you. Their messaging will be sharper. Their case studies will be more relevant. Their sales conversations will be more specific. They will win the deals, even when their product is not better, because their focus allowed them to build more conviction.

Focus is not about thinking smaller. It is about creating enough momentum to actually win.

How I'd approach it

When I ask founders what is not working, they say leads. When I look at the actual problem, it is almost always focus.

Stop treating your target audience definition as a list of everyone who could potentially buy your product. Instead, define the segment where you have the highest right to win right now. Who has the most urgent pain? Where is your product an absolute necessity rather than a nice-to-have? Where do your current case studies carry the most weight?

Pick one segment. Two at most. And consciously decide to ignore the rest for now.

That decision will feel uncomfortable. It will feel like you are leaving money on the table. But it is the only way to build a marketing system that actually cuts through the noise.

When you focus, everything gets easier. Your messaging becomes sharp. Your content becomes highly relevant. Your sales team knows exactly what story to tell. You stop spending money on channels that do not matter.

You build authority in one space before you earn the right to expand into the next.

If you want to work through this for your own company, I use emOS to identify where focus is leaking and what needs fixing first. Reply to this email, and we’ll schedule 30 minutes.

Your perspective

If you had to cut your target audience in half tomorrow, which half would you keep, and why?

See you in two weeks!
Theo

Theo Reichgelt
Fractional CMO & Advisor
Founder, Nexxt Industry

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