# Steve Prior

Steve Prior writes about B2B marketing, especially for defence and security. The posts focus on making technical messages clearer, tailoring them to different buyers, and using stories, humour and emotion to help marketing stand out.

- Profile: https://b2binfluencer.marketing/creators/steve-prior/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevejohnprior
- LinkedIn followers: 2,592
- Topics: b2b-marketing
- Based on 13 dated posts, latest 2026-10-07

## Summary

Steve Prior is most useful for clearer technical B2B messaging, audience-specific framing and more human defence marketing.

- Best for: Brands or campaigns needing thought leadership on simplifying technical messaging for defence and industrial clients.
- Not for: Broad-reach paid sponsorship for generic enterprise software aimed at all B2B decision-makers.
- Check first: Confirm commercial terms, audience demographics, engagement data and a business contact route.

### Takeaways

- Defence buying chains are not one audience; each role has different concerns.
- SUV signals a benefit even if buyers do not know the letters.
- B2B facts still need story and emotion for professional buyers.

## Main ideas

- **Make technical language meaningful to people outside the industry**: Prior says shorthand familiar to insiders can leave buyers unclear about what a product does or why it matters. They don’t object to every acronym: the test is whether the audience already understands the benefit it signals.
- **Adapt the message to each audience in the buying chain**: One all-purpose message cannot answer the different questions raised by users, procurement, government and local communities. Prior’s proposed answer is to keep the core assets but change the context for each audience—not to rebuild the whole story every time.
- **B2B facts still need story and emotion**: Prior pushes back against the idea that business buyers want only exhaustive, rational detail. Facts matter, they argue, but need to be presented in a way that gives people a reason to notice and remember them.
- **Take creative risks—and recognise the people who approve them**: Prior praises B2B work that is playful and memorable, drawing attention not just to the creative idea but to the client willing to sign it off. The example is from insurance, not a defence campaign.
- **Defence is also a personal subject, not just a marketing category**: A more personal post shows a reflective register alongside Prior’s marketing arguments. It connects service with the care and support of loved ones, giving readers a sense of their range of writing.

## Work to read

- [Wtf is it with all the acronyms?](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stevejohnprior_wtf-is-it-with-all-the-acronyms-over-time-activity-7381710708545310720-vzvl)
- [One of the most persistent myths in defence marketing](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stevejohnprior_one-of-the-most-persistent-myths-in-defence-activity-7404807243470172160-9xjP)
- [Why does B2B always sound the same?](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stevejohnprior_why-does-b2b-always-sound-the-same-honestly-activity-7351521209047498752-fhdn)
- [Take a look around LinkedIn. How often are you moved by what you see? How much do you remember?](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stevejohnprior_take-a-look-around-linkedin-how-often-are-activity-7415413970360336384-BVzu)
- [I really didn't expect my first post from #DSEI this week to be about insurance…](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stevejohnprior_dsei-greatmarketing-b2bmarketing-activity-7371186976844120065-nSV6)
- [This week in the UK it's Armed Forces Week.](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stevejohnprior_armedforcesweek-love-service-activity-7475893328316661760-wCHN)

## Brand relationships

- **DSEI** (mention)

## Partnerships

Steve Prior's posts offer editorial commentary and examples about B2B and defence marketing, but do not document sponsorships, paid collaborations, partnership formats, commercial terms or an official route for brands to inquire. Ask for a media kit, sponsorship or collaboration page, rate card or direct business contact to confirm whether opportunities are available.

## Alternatives

- Albina Kolomiets: For a campaign aimed at simplifying technical messaging for defence and industrial clients, Albina Kolomiets is the stronger choice when the client's problem is route-to-market clarity rather than word choice. The two posts address how small and medium-sized companies enter UK Defence and how defence technology companies build the commercial capability to scale. One turns a list of defence programmes into a 'where do I start?' guide covering UK Defence Innovation, the Defence Office for Small Business Growth, the MOD Defence Export Team, the SME Defence Export Faculty, the Defence and Security Seed Fund, and the National Security Strategic Investment Fund. The other argues that once the technology works, the harder problem is selling it: companies need people who understand the customer, open the right doors, handle procurement and capture, build relationships with primes, and lead a commercial organisation. If the series needs to help a technical defence or industrial client understand which buying route to take and which commercial roles to add, Kolomiets brings that navigation and business-building angle.
- Carly Macmeikan: For a thought leadership series on simplifying technical messaging for defence and industrial clients, Carly Macmeikan is the better choice when the agency wants an enterprise-scale AI and supply-chain angle with a live event hook. One post cites Accenture research that generative AI has the potential to automate or augment 58% of supply chain processes across design, engineering, planning, sourcing, procurement, production, and fulfilment. The other announces Accenture's team at Farnborough International Airshow, with live demos on generative AI for supply chain resilience, engineering, manufacturing, aftermarket operations, and business development. If the series needs to show a large consultancy's current AI position in defence and industrial supply chains and tie its message to a showcase or airshow, Macmeikan provides that branded, event-linked frame.
- Winston Hewitt: For a campaign about simplifying technical messaging for defence and industrial clients, Winston Hewitt is the better choice when the campaign needs a personal-development narrative about technical and commercial skills converging, or an explanation of the mid-market warehouse-automation market. One post argues that AI is changing the economics of knowledge work, that job boundaries between sales, engineering, security, and finance are eroding, and that professionals should cross skill borders; it cites passing the CompTIA Security+ exam as part of that effort. The other explains why mid-market companies are adopting high-end warehouse automation, pointing to modular robotics, easier ERP and WMS integration, and faster time-to-value. If the series needs to motivate a technical audience to broaden its commercial understanding, or explain an industrial automation shift to mid-market buyers, Hewitt brings those arguments.

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AI-assisted summary of public posts. Audience demographics are not available. Engagement appears only where we checked recent posts. Method: https://b2binfluencer.marketing/methodology/