More than (key)words: A better approach content strategy for 2025 and beyond

In partnership with

Welcome to another fine edition of Marketing Under The Influence

You know that feeling when a clean utensil accidentally falls out the dish rack and back into the dirty sink?

That flash of annoyance and sense of “Oh come on!” is the same feeling I get when I see marketers claim the "old" way of approaching content marketing started with keywords.

If you've worked in content marketing as long as I have, you might remember the "before times" — before keyword research platforms and SEO tools like Clearscope that give you an A+ for stuffing every imaginable word or phrase into a draft. Back then, the process was more intuitive, messier, and rooted in hard-won insights about what audiences actually cared about.

I'm not sure exactly when but somewhere along the way, these tools led content marketers astray and keyword-first content strategies became the dominate practice. This evolution reduced content marketing to a deceptively simple tactic: research what people search for, craft content around it, optimize for search engines, and call it a strategy.

On the surface, keyword-first content strategies seem logical. People need answers and search engines were where they got them.

But in this era of abundance — where content flows like water and attention is more fleeting than ever — a keyword-first approach ignores a fundamental truth: search engines don't close deals. People do.

Customers enter the market with preconceptions, shaped by years of exposure to brands that have built mindshare in their categories. And those brands win their business 8 out of 10 times.

This isn't to say SEO and keyword research are irrelevant. Search engines remain a powerful tool for discovery. And ranking the top of SERPs for relevant search queries is a bona fide way to build mindshare. But if your entire content strategy is research what people searched for, craft content around it, optimize for search engines, and voilà — you're playing to lose.

So, what's the alternative? Brand narratives

Keywords might bring customers to your doorstep. But it's your brand narratives that gets them to step inside.

Brand narratives are the stories and ideas that link your value propositions to what Jenni Romaniuk at the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute calls category entry points (CEPs) — a term describing the moments when customers start thinking about products and services.

These narratives aren't just taglines. They guide your content strategy, giving it depth keyword-first strategies lack. They ensure that even tangential topics serve a purpose, reinforcing the value your brand offers so customers remember your solutions when it matters most.

Take, for example, Eventbrite. When I joined in 2016, our mandate was clear: transform the brand from a backyard BBQ invite tool to a legitimate ticking and registration platform for event businesses. After conducting research, we landed on trifecta of brand narratives: Eventbrite helps organizers make more money, reach more people, and scale their events.

These narratives were the lens through which we evaluated everything we produced and published. They forced the content team to ask important questions. Does this align with the outcomes our customers care about? Does this amplify the ways Eventbrite helps them succeed?

When content is tuned to brand narratives and not just hellbent on ranking for the right keywords, it becomes part of a bigger story — the kind of story that builds lasting memories before customers start typing in the search bar.

Let's break down how to craft your brand narratives.

Step 1: Define your value propositions

In today’s crowded B2B landscape, where competitors are often offering similar solutions, vague claims simply don’t stick. Customers want clarity, credibility, and relevance — and that’s exactly what a strong value proposition delivers.

Value propositions aren't features or benefits. They're a clear articulation of the tangible outcomes your solutions enable. And, when done right, they don't just describe what your business does but make it unmistakeable why that matters to your customers.

I recommend applying Harry Dry's three rules for good copy to put your value propositions to the test.

1. Can you visualize it? If the value isn’t clear enough to picture, it’s not clear enough to matter.

2. Can you falsify it? If anyone could claim the same thing, it’s not differentiating you.

3. Can nobody else say this? If your competitors can plausibly claim it, it’s just noise.

Good value propositions are specific, defensible, and rooted in your audience’s reality. Think beyond product specs. What’s the human impact? How does it make someone’s job easier, their results better, or their life more manageable?

Step 2: Identify customer category entry points

Category entry points are the mental cues that customers use to recall brands in a given situation. These include but aren’t limited to:

• Who: Which roles are involved in the decision?

• Why: What problems or goals drive the search for solutions?

• When: Are there specific times or conditions that make this need urgent?

• Where: Does the context (remote work, global teams, etc.) influence the decision?

• How: What emotions — stress, ambition, fear — frame the buying journey?

For example, if you sell a project management tool, the CEP isn’t just “when they need a tool.” It’s when a team is drowning in missed deadlines or when an executive needs transparency to make decisions faster. Mapping these moments helps you craft content that aligns with your audience's real-world experiences, not just the keywords they type.

Step 3: Craft your brand narrative ecosystem

Brand narratives connect the dots between your value propositions and CEPs. These aren’t one-off campaigns or one-size-fits-all messaging—they’re the guiding force for your entire content strategy. When done well, they ensure your content resonates with customers long before they’re ready to buy.

Think of narratives as a layering process:

1. Start with your value propositions to clarify what makes your brand unique.

2. Map these to relevant CEPs to anchor your messaging in real buying situations.

3. Use consistent themes and stories to build memory links that stick.

Over time, this approach does what keywords alone can’t: it makes your brand the first thing customers think of when they hit that trigger moment. And that’s how you win, not just the search rankings, but the deal.

From keywords to mindshare

A keyword-driven strategy assumes customers find you when they’re looking for answers. A brand narrative strategy ensures they’re thinking of you long before they’re asking questions.

For 2025, the stakes couldn’t be higher. B2B customers complete nearly 70% of their journey before ever contacting a seller. If you’re not already in their mental shortlist by then, your chances are slim.

Bottom line: Keywords may help you get found, but brand narratives help you get chosen.

So, the next time someone suggests content for the algorithm, ask yourself: does it build memories, or does it just game the system? Only one will matter when it’s time to close the deal.

You just read another fine edition of