PART 3 : B2B SUCCESS
The following article is part of an ongoing series from J.Schmid with the critical elements and insights you need to strategize, execute and launch successful omnichannel campaigns. Watch your email and follow #CampaignBuildingBlocks on social media to keep up with the full story.
When we first think of brand campaigns, what immediately comes to mind are all the greats. You know the ones. Got Milk. Just Do It. But there have been some great B2B campaigns, too. Remember Staples’ That Was Easy? So simple it was brilliant. It tied Staples directly to the solution, and everyone from CEOs to summer interns had one on their desk. B2B marketers can and should consider campaigns as powerful tools in their arsenal. If done well, they build brand awareness; they can galvanize all your marketing channels around a specific hook, idea and goal; and provide the steady drumbeat of a consistent message to the right audience. To that end, the building blocks of a successful B2B campaign follow the same tenets as a B2C campaign. But there are some considerations to keep in mind when developing a campaign for a business audience.
Rational? Or Emotional?
Even if your goal is brand awareness, be sure to go to the heart of the problem you’re solving.
Just like B2C campaigns, B2B campaigns can very be creative. They can be full of personality—as long as it fits your brand—and start with a human need. But a successful B2B campaign is also grounded in the very real solution you are providing. Business purchases solve specific problems; they fill critical needs, improve efficiencies or increase sales. These are not emotional purchases, or personal ones, but rational decisions that are usually tied to a bottom line somewhere. Even if your goal is brand awareness, be sure to go to the heart of the problem you’re solving for businesses, and use facts to help make your point. Do Fortune 500 companies turn to you for your expertise? Have hotels around the world been relying on your wrinkle-free uniforms since 1937? Go ahead and compare yourself against the competition. If you have stats, put them out there. If you have science to back you up, use it.
A great example of this – one close to our hearts – is a brilliant omni-channel campaign the paper company Sappi produced. Bringing in neuroscience and haptic research, Sappi delivers scientific proof to the emotive connection of touch and — ultimately — the critical impact that paper choice can have on a brand. It’s engaging, accessible and appeals to both left- and right-brained decision-makers. (The campaign is across multiple channels, but here is enough to give a good sense of it: https://sappipops.com/science-of-touch/)
Decision by Committee.
Plan a long run for your campaign, so it spans the time it may take your business customer to make the right group decision.
Keep in mind that purchases made on behalf of a business – whether it’s products, software, services or something else – often require a group decision. Response and/or sales may take longer in the B2B world, as the purchase is considered by multiple users, or is put off until the next fiscal quarter. Plan a long run for your campaign, so it spans the time it may take your business customer to make the right group decision. The good news? Multiple decision makers also means a wider audience. You can (and should) cast a broad net with your business campaign, as it might get equal notice from the CEO reading Forbes Magazine on an airplane, to the tech guy surfing the web over his lunch break, or the Administrative Assistant opening up the office mail.
Businesses Are People, Too.
How do you convey the human-ness of your brand, to show that you are a business that other businesses want to do business with?
Keeping these considerations in mind, remember that you’re still marketing to people. And that is when all the same building blocks for B2C campaigns come in. How will you disrupt, drive and delight with your campaign? Keep them engaged and entice them to learn more, dig deeper or pick up the phone? How do you convey the human-ness of your brand, to show that you are a business that other businesses want to do business with? What did “That Was Easy” really conjure up? The relief that a problem is solved, the fulfillment that comes from finishing up a project. A great B2B campaign has to speak to the solution, but also needs to convey that your brand understands your customer.
A great B2B campaign says, “We get you. Here’s how we can help.”
Need help developing a breakout B2B campaign? You can reach me at micheled@jschmid.com
Tags: #campaignbuildingblocks, #campaigncontent, B2B, B2B campaigns, campaigns, Michele Drohan