Eight ways to fix your boring B2B marketing

When I worked at a PR agency, I used to find myself taking a slightly apologetic tone to new starts who were about to embark on a spell of working with lawyers, accountants, banks, utility firms, insurance brokers and esoteric science clients. With further apologies to all of the foregoing.

It always struck me that, despite the eager faces and assurances that, oh yes, the updated Companies Act is really interesting stuff, no-one really got into the creative industries to try to sell that kind of thing.

But I loved it. OK, it’s not the sort of stuff you excitedly tell your other half about over dinner (not more than once, anyway), but there’s real satisfaction in taking something like, oooh, the UK government Budget, and coming up with a line which could turn the mundane into an interesting idea.

B2B, for me, has always been a fascinating place for any marketer to work – it’s challenging, rewarding and… well, quite honestly, most B2B companies are crap at marketing. But hey, when it’s such a low bar the only way is up, right?

This is certainly the finding from a report recently published by The B2B Institute, a B2B marketing think tank funded by LinkedIn.

They’ve collated insights from 435 top-drawer B2B marketing campaigns between 2010 and 2021, and come up with a pithy 50-page report, which I have read several times so you don’t have to. You’re quite welcome.

The database from which these examples are drawn are compiled by WARC and Lions, with which, if you’re not a marketer and possibly even if you are, you probably won’t be familiar. WARC is a marketing insights business, and Lions is responsible for the famous Cannes Lions festival, which celebrates the most effective marketing campaigns of the year. Which quite simply wouldn’t work unless it took place in Cannes, obviously. The Wakefield Lions would just sound like a second-rate rugby league team.

In any case, it’s a pretty comprehensive study from three very credible organisations so its findings make for interesting reading.

There are eight main points that I’ve picked out, which I’ll cover over the space of a couple of posts in the coming weeks. But there are a few headlines to note.

Now, I suspect many marketers reading this will be nodding their heads at the list below, while just as many non-marketers might be muttering something along the lines of ‘what a load of old marketing bollocks’.

The key point here for me is that these finding are based on a detailed body of evidence and insight which shouldn’t be ignored. If marketing, particularly in B2B circles, has a reputation for being commercially lightweight, then all parts of the organisation have to take responsibility for that.

Marketing, done well, helps businesses to grow. Unfortunately, it’s often done pretty badly, either because it’s not given the internal status which enables its success, or because it’s left to people who don’t know what they’re doing.

Here’s my rapid-fire summary of how B2B marketing can be more effective, according to the report:

1.      Build brand as well as promoting sales – the idea of ‘brand’ makes plenty of B2B companies squeamish but so much of a buying decision is based on it; even if your audience wouldn’t always articulate it that way.

2.      Tap into audience emotions – in B2B it might not be about who has the biggest tearjerker ad at Christmas, but emotions come in a whole range of flavours and they’re more interesting than bullet point lists of features and benefits.

3.      Invest in creative. Chances are your business is actually pretty boring. Sorry. But a little injection of creative panache can make it look pretty damn sexy against your dullard competitors.

4.      There’s no simple answer. Marketing of any kind is a complex and multi-faceted beast. If you imagine it can be sorted in the space of a few weeks by hiring someone fresh out of uni and letting them get on with it, you’re in for disappointment

5.      Be more patient. The best campaigns ran for a long time (sometimes several years) but were demonstrably effective in driving growth. Rome wasn’t built in a day and all that.

6.      Go multichannel. Successful brands are built on awareness and understanding, basically. So just whacking an ad in the business section of your favourite paper isn’t going to cut the mustard. Invest in as many channels as you can and you’ll see the rewards multiply.

7.      Pony up. The more you spend, the better the return. Every business will have its limit, but having the confidence to invest in longer-term brand campaigns deliver greater growth benefits than short-term sales activations.

8.      Brand IS a commercial driver. Long-term brand work also improves short-term sales performance, according to the report. However, the same doesn’t hold true in reverse.

I’ll dig into these areas a bit more, drawing from the research and my own experience, over the coming weeks.

I’d also like to speak to some people about this, marketers and non-marketers, to find out about your experience of these things. So if this rings your bell, or even if you think it’s cobblers, email me at bryan.garvie@mainbracemarketing.co.uk