Businesses are People Too! Wait, What?
In the marketing and advertising world, B2B brands get a bad rep. Some people hear B2B marketing and they think that it’s boring, cold, and horrible to work on. And the reason why is that most of it is. I feel that about 80% of B2B work is pretty terrible. It’s focused on pushing product features down peoples’ throats, surrounded by cliché stock images, and filled with miles and miles of ‘business’ copy that is centered more on the writer sounding smart than getting a message across.
I’ll admit B2B marketing has its own unique challenges. It’s notorious for long sales cycles, the products are often utilitarian and expensive, and most buying decisions are made by a committee. But don’t use the fact that it’s a B2B brand as an excuse for why the work isn’t good.
Any creative agency can work with Nike, for instance, and envision the outcome of the work as something jaw droopingly cool. But here’s the thing…it’s Nike! It’s already cool. And the level the work has to live up to has already been set by default.
We need to hold that same level of enthusiasm for brands that don’t have such an exciting foundation. This is the only way they ever will. Nike wasn’t always cool, but marketing has pushed it to become so over the years (Just a side note, I can’t tell you how much I hate using Nike or Apple as an example about marketing).
The challenge of B2B marketing is to get past the B2B label. To not project onto the brand your own preconceived idea of what “healthcare marketing should look like” based on what other marketers have done in the past. Respect the brand enough to ask what it could be.
What’s the greatest reason for challenging what’s expected in the world of B2B marketing? Businesses are people too!
Well, maybe not exactly, but inside businesses are regular, everyday people who make decisions just like other regular, everyday people and not like faceless corporations. People don’t respond to cold, boring marketing. Challenging the expectations of B2B marketing not only helps you stand out from the crowd, it also connects with your audience in a way that they will appreciate and remember.
I personally love working with brands that aren’t supposed to be cool. That aren’t supposed to aspire to be something bigger or challenge the thinking of the past. The only way you can go is up. It’s rewarding to take something that has such a stigma and make it relatable and inspiring not only for its target audience, but for regular, everyday people.
Just do it.
