Brands are wasting 95% of their B2B marketing: business marketing in a personal world

"With no commutes, wardrobe changes, or illusions of work-persona perfection, we've all learned one key lesson. That even when we're getting paid to do something, we're still people. People with real lives. Real dreams, fears, insecurities. And we don't - we never did - magically shed these human qualities just because we walked through the doors of an office. It's for this very reason that I have real hope that we can stop marketing to business buyers differently from how we market to consumers."

"Great marketing - consumer or B2B - is at its core, great storytelling. And every great story begins the same way, with the protagonist wanting something. Cinderella wanted freedom. Odysseus wanted to get home. Romeo wanted to marry Juliet. In great marketing, it's the same. It's about what the customer - not the brand - wants. And more importantly, what the customer wants to feel."

"People want to feel creative. So, they pay more for Apple, even if it's to perform the most mundane of digital tasks. People want to feel like good parents. So, they pay more for Pampers, even when P&G sells Luvs as the brand to buy once you've gotten over the need to overspend to feel like a perfect parent. People want to feel free. So, they pay a premium for a Harley Davidson motorcycle, even though most of them will not ride it regularly."

People remain human at work, carrying real lives, dreams, fears, and insecurities that do not disappear when entering the office. Marketing should stop treating business buyers differently from consumers and instead use storytelling that centers on what the customer wants and how they want to feel. Emotional motivations drive most decisions—Harvard's Gerald Zaltman estimates 95% of decisions rely primarily on emotion. Brands that tap into desired feelings command premiums, while much B2B marketing relies on technical briefs, bland product imagery, and copy that fails to engage customers emotionally. Examples include Apple, Pampers, and Harley Davidson, which sell feelings of creativity, parenting, and freedom.

Read at The Drum