1. Away with logic and bring on emotion
For the B2B brands I work for, I am always quite factual in the texts I write. I discuss the product or service, how it works, what the benefits are and of course the price and emphasize how much we would like to come by to give a demo or send you more information. Of course, a B2B consumer needs that information too, but the decision-making process is not just based on pure logic.
How will your product or service really help that customer? Will your product save that manager so much time that he will soon be able to chat with all his employees every morning? Or will your product help to perform that one annoying task much more efficiently, so that your B2B customer will still, or even really enjoy his work? As far as I'm concerned, we as B2B marketers could become a bit more 'American'. Just add it on top of how life-changing your product or service is. Of course with the Dutch substantiation.
Man appears rational, but shows emotions behind him.
2. Authenticity: guess who you really are?
B2B consumers don’t just want to see how your product or service can give them an edge over competitors. They want you to earn their trust by proving that you’re truly doing everything you can to make them even more successful. You do this by sharing authentic stories that illustrate how your company helps customers achieve their goals.
We already knew that authenticity works, but I think we need to go one step further. Who do you let speak in customer stories? The director, or manager probably? Do you ever let the administrative employee speak, who actually works with your product? Do you ever share a story in which you explain that one customer was angry, but you also gave good feedback and that you did something with it? Show honestly in the content you create who you are as a company.
If you continue with brand empathy, there is a korea telegram data big chance that your story to (potential) customers will change. Inform the sales team well about this! You can start the story from marketing, but sales can deepen that story, and then the trust and connection with your company will only increase.
But you do need to give the sales team tools. What works best for that in my humble opinion: workshops. Think together about how you are going to tackle this and what is needed. Small tip: instead of all the boring product sheets, give sales nicely formatted customer stories. Let your satisfied customers tell you which problem your product or service really solves.
Listen to the customer
All very well, but before you can do anything with the above information, you first have to get the story from your customers. You do not strengthen brand empathy with assumptions. Talk to your customer and listen to his or her story. Whether you occasionally go on sales trips to customers, call a few customers once a month to hear how things are going, or set up a customer panel. You have to constantly check your marketing assumptions with the customer. Only then can you start building real brand empathy.
Show in your marketing that you really want to understand your customers. Not customers, but partners. Sweet, but also just true.
