B2B tech marketing is still boring. Here’s how to stop putting your prospects to sleep.
Close your eyes and think of the best ads you’ve seen this year.
Go ahead. We’ll wait.
Now, how many of them are for B2B tech companies? Because if you’re like most people, we’re guessing the answer is a big, fat zero.
And if the answer is zero, you’re in good company. Google pretty much any variation on “best marketing of the year” and you’ll get lists of 10, 20, 30 top marketing campaigns—and not a single one will be from a B2B tech brand (we know; we’ve searched).
And isn’t that ironic? That companies known for being on the cutting edge of technology are the same companies with the most cookie-cutter, boring, predictable marketing campaigns out there?
Give the average person a B2C brochure and a B2B tech brochure and I guarantee you they’d rather read the former. Not because the average person isn’t buying B2B tech, but because B2B marketing materials are about as boring and predictable as a Tom Cruise movie—and about as uncomfortable to read as 50 Shades of Grey.
Every other word is jargon. Every marketing claim is the same claim you’ll find down the street at Similar Tech Company X. Brochures read like dissertations. And customers could be forgiven for assuming that the robots your brand has been building have taken over the marketing department and are trying to masquerade as humans.
(And if you’re about to tell us that you need your jargon to speak to industry insiders, we’ve got news for you: Survey says 88% of people pretend to understand jargon at work. So all those people you think you’re communicating with? You’re probably not.)
So, what’s a B2B marketer to do?
The answer starts with ditching the status quo. No more Tom Cruise movies…err, same-ol’ marketing brochures. No more talking like the AI is in charge. No more cookie-cutter marketing strategies.
And—importantly—stop acting like B2B buyers are emotionless robots.
Because studies show that emotional connection drives 306% more lifetime value than customer satisfaction alone. Emotionally invested customers stick with brands longer. And—surprise!—that emotional connection is even more important if you’re B2B, according to a study by a little company you might have heard of, called Google.
And if emotionally-charged, jargon-free tech marketing sounds scary?
Too bad.
In marketing, it’s change or die. Get ahead or go home. Innovate or go the way of Blockbuster—knocked out by Netflix because they weren’t willing to change.
As long as your competitors aren’t taking risks, you can all float along together okay. But as soon as someone starts amping up the emotional connection, talking like a human, and innovating like a marketer, the competition is going to get stiff.
Wouldn’t you rather be the one leading the charge? The Netflix of your industry, instead of the Blockbuster?
If so, let’s talk. B2B tech marketing that isn’t boring is kind of our wheelhouse.
