Every business has a perspective that flows from the mission, vision, and values that drive the products and services they sell. That point of view can be a compelling part of the story of the business, but only if you make sure it’s told.

One of the best things about developing foundational content for any business is the act of laying out how you see the industry, your place in the industry, and how you define best practices and success within the industry. But none of this is possible if you don’t put the work into creating these types of cornerstone pieces that position your business.

What is foundational content?

A foundational marketing piece is any content asset (blog post, ebook, white paper, video, etc.) that gives an overview of core aspects that underpin your business:

• what you do,

• why you do it,

• who you do it for,

• when/why it's needed,

• the consequences of not taking action, and

• the benefits of working with you.

The best foundational pieces use storytelling or case studies to strengthen the message. Believe it or not, there are pretty successful businesses that don’t have foundational content. But in my experience, the lack of foundational content is often due to an inability to articulate the value of what a company does. And that’s not a good problem to have.

Why is foundational content important?

If so many successful businesses have no foundational content, why should you bother? Well, success is relative.

I’ve worked with businesses that went years (more than a decade for some) without putting their perspective out in the market on their core products/services. I believe businesses lose a lot of potential business when customers simply can’t figure out why they should buy.

Foundational content pieces solve this problem in a couple of ways:

1. Businesses have to take time to think critically about what they’re trying to do and how they want to communicate their purpose.

2. Customers have documentation that describes what you sell and why it should matter to them.

How does foundational content work?

This kind of content zooms in and out on your offerings. You can zoom out to give high-level overviews that show a big picture and not much detail. Or you can zoom in to provide a close-up, highly detailed summary of one or more aspects of your offering.

What’s appropriate in any given circumstance changes based on where your customer is in their journey. For customers who’ve only just become aware of you, the high-level, big-picture view is best to pique their interest.

You want to make your products and services compelling without weighing your prospects down with details they don’t yet need (or want). But buyers are savvier than ever, which is why building this kind of content for every buyer stage and making it easy to access is the ideal scenario.

How do you get started building foundational content?

I like to build a messaging framework first so there’s clear direction on what should be said and how. And if you have multiple products, you’ll need top-level messaging, as well as product messaging for each product. Messaging ensures everyone is saying the same things.

For small business or startups with only a few offerings, it can take a bit of time to land on the right words to accurately communicate your value. And it’s best to revisit the messaging when there are shifts in the offering or market to ensure messaging stays relevant.

Foundational content gives customers clarity about what you do, and whether you’re relevant to their needs.

Get clear on why your business matters

The businesses I’ve seen who have really good foundational content also have decent clarity (not always perfect clarity) of what their core purpose is in helping customers. That clarity makes it easier to build content that helps those businesses define their place in the market.

If you’re unclear about why your business matters, that’s a great place to start. And when you figure it out, start making it easy for your audience to understand with content that shares your perspective.