Attention B2B marketers! B2B buyers make decisions just like anyone else: with their hearts as well as their minds. So by creating an authentic message and telling it in a strong brand voice, storytelling can become an important tool to bolster your marketing efforts and boost brand loyalty.
Here’s how your brand can benefit from storytelling.
Even the most logical B2B buyers love a good story. As humans, we have an easy time digesting, following, and remembering narratives. Brand storytelling allows you to start a conversation with your audience, rather than talking at them. This helps them feel connected to your brand and its story, purpose, and values.
Suddenly, supporting your brand becomes more than just purchasing your products and services. That can lead to far greater loyalty and commitment in your B2B partnerships.
Key takeaway: B2B buyers are people—and people relate to stories. They’re more likely to choose your brand if you tell a good one.
Traditional B2B branding and marketing tends to take a more logical approach, sticking to the safety of businesslike messaging. While certain emotions targeted at individual lifestyles do work better for B2C audiences, you can still pull at the heartstrings in the B2B world.
Research from Google and CEB’s Marketing Leadership Council supports emotional connections in B2B marketing, including two promising statistics:
The trick is to pick up on the emotions that are most likely to sway B2B buyers. Feelings of trust, credibility, dependability, positive results, and partnership tend to sit well with B2B audiences. They’re responsible for making important decisions for an entire company—so their main concern is whether their decisions will improve business efficiency and success. And they also want to make confident decisions that lead to personal career advancement or successful partnerships.
Key takeaway: B2B decision-makers are just as emotional as consumer buyers. You just have to tap the right set of emotions.
Along with an overarching brand story, narratives are key to producing relevant content to engage your audience—and they must be tailored for each channel and platform while complementing the overall brand strategy.
Key takeaway: Storytelling is important in all types of communications, but your narratives must be tailored to each one.
It’s important to tell consistent stories across all communications channels. Your brand story is the cornerstone that should anchor all of your other content, establishing their tone and ensuring that your brand personality shines through in every touchpoint.
Key takeaway: Tell a consistent story to keep your audience on board during all interactions with your brand.
