Episode Summary
In this episode of Tech Qualified, host Baylee Gunnell sits down with Tristan Pelligrino, Co-Founder at Marketers in Demand. They explore how B2B tech companies can build stronger content strategies by focusing first on understanding their ideal customers. Tristan explains that content isn’t just about producing blog posts or white papers—it starts with knowing exactly who you want to reach and what problems they face.
Tristan shares why small marketing teams should prioritize real conversations with customers and internal experts. He shows how these discussions reveal the challenges buyers care about and help teams create more meaningful, specific content. By gathering insights from sales calls, customer interviews, and feedback sessions, marketers can move beyond generic messaging and stand out from competitors.
The conversation wraps with practical advice for scrappy teams: start with one type of conversation, such as a podcast or video chat, and repurpose that material across channels. For Tristan, this approach helps teams stretch their resources, reach the right people, and build a content engine that actually supports growth.
Key Insights
Build Content Strategy Around Real Customer Problems
Effective content marketing starts with knowing exactly who you want to reach and what problems they need solved. Generic targeting or broad personas leave teams guessing and often lead to content that misses the mark. Instead, focus on being specific: define your ideal audience by their job roles, daily challenges, and what keeps them up at night. This clarity helps small marketing teams use their limited resources wisely and produce content that actually addresses pain points. When you align your content with real, pressing problems, you not only attract the right prospects but also set your company apart as a valuable partner. This approach moves content from a box-checking activity to a true growth driver for B2B tech firms.
Conversations Drive Better Content Than Assumptions
Strong content comes from direct input, not guesswork. The best way to uncover what matters to your audience is to listen in on real conversations—sales calls, customer interviews, and internal debriefs. These discussions surface the objections, questions, and goals that guide buying decisions. By tapping into these moments, teams gain a bank of ideas for content that speaks to real needs, not imagined ones. Even one well-prepared hour-long call can yield weeks of relevant material, from blog posts to social clips. For scrappy teams, this habit puts substance and audience insight at the center of every campaign, replacing assumptions with clear, actionable direction.
Content Is More Than Blogs—Distribution and Format Matter
In today’s B2B landscape, content is not just blog posts or white papers—it’s any message that connects your expertise to the right audience. With search habits and platforms changing fast, a single format or channel is no longer enough. Teams should start with a strong message, then adapt it for different mediums: video interviews, webinars, LinkedIn posts, or guides. A smart distribution strategy multiplies the value of every conversation and maximizes reach. By breaking down one pillar piece of content and spreading it across multiple channels, small teams can stay visible and relevant without stretching themselves thin. This approach ensures your message lands where your buyers actually spend time.
Episode Highlights
Long Quotes
Tristan Pelligrino [~00:01:00]
“If you think about content, it’s not really a channel at all. Content is really something that you distribute across a variety of channels to get your voice out into the market. So when you think about content marketing, it’s your perspective on the industry. It also ties your position as a company and the pain points that you solve. If you’re not out there communicating in a variety of ways, you’re really going to get lapped by your customers, and that’s really the biggest risk of all.”
Tristan Pelligrino [~00:16:00]
“If you want to have the best route to get the most from your team, it’s really just choosing what type of conversation foundation I can have for my team. The correct answer or the right answer is not the same for every company. You have to look at your internal resources and think about what’s the best fit. Do you have a highly engaged marketer that loves interviewing folks? Well, then you should probably do a video podcast where they interview your ideal customers.”
Short Quotes
Tristan Pelligrino [~00:05:00]
“What we do need to avoid is the jargon or the plain language, the fluffy stuff that often comes with content that’s not really deep with research and experience and true perspective.”
Tristan Pelligrino [~00:10:00]
“The time that you invested there in that 30 to 60 minute session becomes really a whole different set of content that you can use on a variety of different channels.”
Tristan Pelligrino [~00:14:00]
“The days of creating a blog post and hoping that it climbs to the first page of Google are really over. There’s really no time and place like now to create content in a lot of different ways.”