Stop trying to reach everyone. Start trying to reach someone.
Most B2B brands treat content like a megaphone—shouting broadly, hoping someone, somewhere will listen. But that scattershot approach not only exhausts your team, it also weakens your brand’s presence.
Marketing legend Seth Godin has spent years championing a counterintuitive idea: the smallest viable audience. Not the biggest possible reach. Not the widest net. The smallest group of people who will actually care enough to change their behavior because of what you create.
Here’s the truth: You’re not creating content for everyone in your industry. You’re creating it for the three people who will actually lean in, take notes, and do something different tomorrow because of what you said.
Find them. Speak directly to them. Let everyone else overhear.
Why Bigger Isn’t Better
Most companies still think like vendors: They show up when it’s time to pitch. They talk about themselves. They publish content that reads like a brochure. And then they wonder why nobody’s listening.
The problem isn’t your message. It’s your aim.
When you write for “procurement professionals in manufacturing,” you’re writing for no one. When you write for “the plant manager at a mid-sized automotive supplier who’s drowning in manual inventory processes and knows there has to be a better way”—now you’re writing for someone.
That specificity doesn’t limit your reach. It sharpens your resonance.
The Media Mindset Approach
Media companies figured this out decades ago. They don’t chase clicks; they build audiences. They don’t run campaigns; they run shows. They don’t speak broadly to everyone; they speak clearly and consistently to the people who care.
Your smallest viable audience isn’t a demographic slice. It’s a mindset. It’s the people who are already asking the questions you can answer. Who are already feeling the pain you can solve. Who are already looking for a voice that sounds like they think.
Journalists don’t just know that teachers are busy and underpaid. They know which issues are spiking tensions at school board meetings. They know the local union reps. They know the open secrets, the shared frustrations, the things people won’t say on the record but always say off it.
That’s the depth you need.
How to Find Your Three People
- Stop segmenting. Start listening. Your smallest viable audience is already talking—in Reddit threads, LinkedIn comments, industry Slack channels. Go where they complain, question, and share war stories.
- Interview like a journalist. A single customer interview can yield more usable insights than a month’s worth of analytics. It doesn’t just give you data. It gives you language. Context. A window into how your buyers actually think, talk, and make decisions.
- Write like you’re replying to one person. Write like a newsletter editor, not a copywriter. Lead with the insight, not the setup. Say the quiet part out loud. Make it skimmable but meaningful.
The Compound Effect of Specificity
Here’s what happens when you get specific: The right people feel seen. They save your post. They forward it to their team. They remember you when the buying moment arrives.
And the people who weren’t your audience? They move on. Which is exactly what you want.
Authority is the compound interest of content. It’s what happens when your brand consistently shows up with value, clarity, and credibility—until you’re not just a source, you’re the source.
But you can’t build that by trying to be everything to everyone.
Your Action Step
Look at your last five pieces of content. Ask yourself: Who are the three specific people I wrote this for? Not “CFOs” or “engineers.” Actual people with actual struggles.
If you can’t name them, you’re still writing for everyone. Which means you’re connecting with no one.
The shift is yours to make. And it starts now.
Find your smallest viable audience. The three people who will actually care. Speak to them like you’re sitting across the table. Give them something so useful they can’t help but share it.
Let everyone else overhear.
That’s not a limitation. That’s leverage.