From One-Off Claims to Strategic Assets: How to Build a Claims Portfolio
Part 2 of 3 in the B2B Marketer’s Guide to Crafting Powerful Claims
If you’ve ever spent time to develop copy for product brochures or build a sales presentation deck and struggled to explain why your solution matters or the Reasons to Believe (RTBs) in the benefits your solution provides—chances are you don’t have a claims portfolio.
Oftentimes, B2B marketers focus just on the features of their solutions or rely on using vague differentiators, such as “industry-leading” or “trusted partner”. But in high-value, high-consideration categories—especially those involving complex technology, healthcare, or compliance-sensitive buyers—you need more than puffery and adjectives. You need claims that are clear, credible, and compelling.
In Part 1 of this series, we explored what claims are and the different types—marketing, performance, comparative, clinical and more. We’re now going to go deeper and share the basics on how to build a claims portfolio that works as a strategic advantage, not just a set of disjointed bullet points.
What Is a Claims Portfolio—And Why Do You Need One?
A claims portfolio is a structured, validated collection of statements that articulate the value, performance, credibility, and impact of your product or solution—each backed by evidence. It is a strategic asset that powers how your brand builds trust, defends differentiation, and fuels buyer decision-making across every stage of the customer buying journey.
Where your messaging framework defines what your brand says, and your value proposition articulates why it matters—your claims portfolio proves it. Here are four practical steps to start building your portfolio.
Step 1: Audit the Claims You’re Already Making
Before you start creating new claims you need to understand what you’re already saying. Organizations may be sitting on a patchwork of claims scattered across marketing assets, sales decks, clinical documentation, and product spec sheets. These claims may have been written by different people, for different audiences, at different times—without a unified strategy, proper evidence, and in some cases without legal review. The result? Inconsistent messages, unsubstantiated claims, and major gaps in proof where it’s needed most.
This is why the claims audit is the critical first step. It helps you spot the strongest proof points you already have, identify gaps, uncover risk, and start organizing around buyer needs.
How to Conduct a Claims Audit
Start by assembling a cross-functional team or working session to review all public-facing and customer-facing content where claims might appear.
Look across:
Website pages, sales decks and pitch materials
Case studies and white papers
Press releases and ads
Clinical summaries, validation data, regulatory filings, or issued patents
Product spec sheets and comparison charts
For each document or asset, identify and extract any statements that assert value, differentiation, performance, safety, compliance, or outcomes.
Organize Your Findings in a Claims Audit Matrix
Use a spreadsheet to catalog each claim you extract. Set up columns like these:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Claim Text | The exact language used |
| Claim Type | Categorize as marketing, performance, clinical, comparative, regulatory, emotional, etc. |
| Supporting Evidence | Link to or describe what backs this claim (data, case study, third-party validation) |
| Audience Fit | Who it’s likely relevant for (e.g., IT buyer, clinician, procurement) |
| Funnel Stage | When it’s likely most persuasive (awareness, evaluation, decision, post-sale) |
| Status | Flag as "Strong," "Weak," "Needs Review," or "Unsupported" |
| Notes | Any context about effectiveness, inconsistencies, or risk concerns |
Step 2: Gather New Claim Inputs from Across the Business
Your best claims may already be hiding inside your company—you just need to extract and elevate them. To build a well-rounded claims portfolio, marketers must become detectives—proactively sourcing raw material from all corners of the organization. This step is about turning internal knowledge into external proof.
To create a truly strategic portfolio, you’ll need to break out of the marketing bubble and work across different core areas. Here’s a guide on where to look and what types of claims each function might yield:
Product & Engineering Teams
What they know: Specifications, benchmarks, engineering test results, scalability and reliability metrics.
Potential claim types:
Performance claims (e.g. speed, accuracy, throughput)
Technical differentiation claims (e.g. “first to offer X integration”)
Innovation proof points (e.g., patents, proprietary algorithms)
Clinical, Scientific, or Technical Experts (for healthcare and other regulated industries)
What they know: Published or unpublished studies, regulatory filings, clinical endpoints, trial protocols, validation methods.
Potential claim types:
Clinical claims (safety, efficacy, outcomes)
Third-party validation claims
Legal, Regulatory, and Compliance Teams
What they know: What you’re allowed to say, under what circumstances, and what needs to be supported. They also know what not to say.
Potential claim types:
Regulatory and compliance claims (FDA clearance, CE mark)
Approved comparative language
Step 3: Categorize and Map Your Claims
At this point, you’ve completed your claims audit and gathered a broader set of inputs from across the organization. Now it’s time to turn that raw material into a structured, strategic portfolio—one that’s aligned to your messaging framework, your buyer journey, and your commercial goals.
This is where your claims begin to move from “things we say” to “assets we deploy.”
Step 3 ensures that your claims portfolio is balanced, purposeful, and buyer-relevant. This is what gives your messaging weight and precision—and helps your sales team deliver the right message at the right moment.
Categorize by Claim Type
First, organize your claims into core categories based on function and use case. This creates clarity around what role each claim plays in influencing your audience.
| Claim Type | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Performance Claims | Prove speed, accuracy, scalability, or reliability |
| Comparative Claims | Differentiate from competitors or legacy solutions |
| Regulatory & Compliance Claims | Reduce perceived risk and signal approval or certification |
| Clinical Claims | Demonstrate efficacy, safety, or scientific validation |
| Marketing Claims | Establish social proof or broad credibility (e.g., market share, customers served) |
Map to the Buyer Journey
Next, assign each claim to a stage in the buyer journey, based on where it provides the most influence:
| Stage | Ideal Claim Type |
|---|---|
| Awareness | Marketing, compliance (establish trust & fit) |
| Consideration | Performance, comparative, clinical (show how you solve their problem better) |
| Decision | Outcome, regulatory, technical (prove ROI, safety, and readiness) |
| Post-Sale | Operational, onboarding, expansion claims (reassure buyers, support renewals) |
Map to Personas or Stakeholders
In more complex B2B environments, you may want to layer your claims by audience segment. For example:
| Persona | Claim Focus |
|---|---|
| Procurement | Risk reduction, total cost of ownership, compliance claims |
| IT / Security | Technical performance, integration, data handling standards |
| Clinical / Scientific | Outcomes, validation, peer-reviewed evidence |
| Executive / CFO | Business impact, ROI, strategic differentiation |
This mapping ensures that your messaging supports multi-stakeholder buying processes, where each decision-maker needs a different kind of proof.
By the end of this step, you’ll have a clear view of:
How each claim supports your broader value proposition
Where claims are missing or overrepresented
Which claims are most useful for specific buyers or funnel stages
How to prioritize claims in content creation, sales enablement, and campaign planning
Step 4: Create a Governance and Validation Process
By now, you’ve identified, collected, categorized, and mapped your claims. You’ve built a powerful portfolio of statements that prove your value, back up your differentiation, and inspire buyer confidence. But there’s one more essential step—and it’s often the one B2B marketers skip:
Governance.
Without a clear system to manage, validate, and update claims, even the most compelling proof points become a liability. Outdated data, unsubstantiated language, or inconsistent use across teams can erode trust with buyers—and introduce legal or compliance risks, especially in regulated industries.
That’s why it’s critical to treat your claims portfolio as a living system, not a static document.
Set Up a Centralized Claims Repository
First, move your claims out of scattered documents and into a centralized, accessible source of truth. This could be:
A structured spreadsheet or database
A module in your digital asset management (DAM) system
A purpose-built claims library in your CMS
Assign Roles and Responsibilities
Effective governance requires clear ownership. Define who is responsible for:
| Role | Responsibility |
|---|---|
| Procurement | Claims Steward (typically in marketing or product marketing) |
| Legal/Compliance Lead | Reviews and approves claims |
| Cross-functional Contributors | Supply new claim inputs and evidence |
| Content Creators | Use the approved claims in assets |
Establish a simple review workflow—ideally integrated into your broader content or GTM planning cycle.
From Fragmented Proof to Strategic Messaging
A strong claims portfolio is more than a compliance checklist—it’s a strategic asset that can drive buyer confidence, shorten sales cycles, and reinforce your brand’s promise in the most tangible way possible.
When done right, your claims will:
Match the right message to the right moment
Deliver both rational and emotional value
Build trust with legal, clinical, and technical buyers
Give sales teams the credibility they need to win
Next up in the series:
In Part 3, we’ll explore how to vet your claims for credibility, risk, and compliance—and share a checklist to avoid the most common pitfalls.
