Specific > Generic

I met with the founder of a 9-year-old B2B SaaS business who has:

> a vastly superior and differentiated product

> extremely loyal customers

> a deep desire to scale growth

She's doing $5M in a $165B market, and revenue growth has flatlined.

Why?

There are likely several factors.

But one that stood out to me is that they've been doing "horizontal marketing."

Meaning they target their buyer based on their title across verticals.

For example, they market broadly to "sales managers."

As a result, they now have 104 customers across 19 different verticals.

This is a marketing problem.

19 different verticals mean 19 different buyers with 19 variations of a problem they want solved.

They've taken a broad-market, peanut butter messaging, spray and pray approach to their marketing.

And use generic messaging like "we solve X problem for everyone!".

Here's a different approach:

Isolate her best-fit vertical segment within her current customers and spend 80% of their focus on getting more of them.

This will positively impact her marketing by:

Being more targeted 👉 Using specific messaging 👉 Resonating better 👉 Improve CAC and volume

Why?

Specific > Generic

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did revenue flatline for a business with a superior product and loyal customers?

Because of "horizontal marketing," targeting buyers by title, like "sales managers," across many different verticals rather than focusing on one specific market, resulting in generic messaging that didn't resonate deeply anywhere.

What does having 104 customers across 19 different verticals actually reveal?

That the business is serving 19 different types of buyers, each facing their own variation of the problem, without a shared vertical context that would allow for specific, resonant messaging across the board.

Why is generic messaging like "we solve X problem for everyone" a marketing problem?

Because it fails to speak specifically to any one type of buyer's actual situation, spreading effort thin across 19 different variations of a problem instead of concentrating on solving one version deeply and well.

What's the recommended fix for this kind of flatlined growth?

Isolating the best-fit vertical segment already present within current customers, then spending 80% of focus on getting more of that specific segment, rather than continuing to serve all 19 verticals equally.

How does concentrating on one best-fit vertical actually improve marketing performance?

By becoming more targeted, using specific messaging that resonates better, and ultimately improving both CAC and volume, all outcomes flowing from the principle that specific beats generic every time.