Fixing the Invisible B2B Marketing Mistake Costing You Revenue
Add emotions to end the unbalanced marketing approaches
Oh I know. I said the last newsletter would likely be my last. Consider this an addendum. I’m only writing because I can’t keep something from you that I feel may help you, no matter the stage, size, or resources at your B2B company, and no matter your role, background, or budget.
Will you walk with me outside the box of B2B PR for two minutes?
Embrace the Emotional Brain of B2B Buyers
B2B tech companies rely on rational marketing but brush off emotional marketing. It makes no sense. Just as a cake 🎂 must have the right balance between wet and dry ingredients, in B2B marketing, balance is vital.
What confuses me is while B2B tech companies are data-driven, they ignore studies telling them how deploying an emotional marketing strategy can generate more revenue. Science shows that B2B buyers are not purely rational or as logical as some like to think. 🤔
With every touchpoint, marketers are trying to build a relationship with someone, so why the cold, boring, logical B2B sales and marketing messages? I swear marketers forget that humans read things. It’s sad that B2B tech companies, SaaS businesses especially, only think of org charts and job titles on the other end.
Let’s carry this product detail-driven approach to the process of buying a car. Do you only choose a car because of its high-tech features or because it moves? No. You may respect others who own that car (credibility). You may care what others say about it (trust).
Ironically, B2B tech companies want prospects to trust them, which is why customer testimonials, media coverage, and analyst rankings are coveted and waved about. Umm, those all create and shape feelings about a company, which is why I feel B2B tech marketing’s future will be led by emotions. Yet time and time again, in B2B ads and on landing pages, we see, 'our market-leading thing improved conversion rates by 394,291%. Book a demo.' That lameness fails to offer an emotional triumph or educate anyone, two tell-tale signs of solid B2B ads.
Cleaning Up This B2B Tech Marketing Mess
So you ask, "why do many B2B company founders not feel the need to make a human connection and instead go for dull, rational B2B tech marketing promoting product details?"
The most common reason I see is they can name B2B tech businesses with a product they feel thrived without emotional marketing. They think of numbers like ARR, not how the company makes its users feel when they chose it or use it. Was it a safe bet? Well, that’s a feeling.
An entirely different answer comes from B2B marketers. They know their bosses don't want to play to their audience's emotions or believe emotions matter in a B2B purchase decision.
“Talk about our product, not this marketing fluff.”
Ahh, the words of a marketing-clueless CEO some of you have heard.
In the B2B space, tech marketers must stop ignoring how emotions influence the decision-making process. It's long overdue for B2B tech companies to leverage emotive branding and convey emotion.
If you want to grab a landmark book on emotional branding, check out Marc Gobé's Emotional Branding: The New Paradigm for Connecting Brands to People.
So we back together or nah?
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-John