Why is B2B marketing boring? And how to make it more fun

We have to say that B2B is often not fun; it is harder and less glamorous. What is more fun for marketers, selling fluffy pajamas with unicorns or promoting your custom technical infrastructure supporting the conversion funnel? What is more shocking is that marketers know B2B can sometimes be boring, but they still do what they do. 

B2B often involves technical, data-driven, and solution-focused messaging rather than emotional, lifestyle-oriented, and consumer-focused messaging. Additionally, B2B buying decisions are often made by committees, which can result in longer sales cycles and more complex marketing strategies. Still, there is “hope” that B2B marketing can also be very engaging and impactful, especially when done creatively and effectively. If you are reading this, you are one step closer to changing the cliche of “boring” B2B marketing.

Do we really mean it when we say B2B marketing is boring? Here are some numbers.

• 48% of decision-makers find B2B advertising boring.
• 49% of B2B buyers think B2B websites are not attractive and creative. 
• 82% also expect B2B marketing could have the creativity of B2C marketing.
• 81% of business buyers believe that they could make decisions faster if B2B marketing was more engaging.

Regardless of the product type, you need to realize that all buying decisions are emotional, and targeting emotions is the secret to success.   

Is your marketing boring?

Not all B2B products have boring marketing, but if you want to find out whether your marketing sounds boring or not, just ask these questions about your campaigns.
 

Do you create the right stories for the right people?

To know whether you are telling your stories to the right people, you should first know who they are, what they want, and what their fears and desires are. One mistake many marketers make is running email campaigns without segmenting customers and tailoring messages to their needs. 

How creative can your B2B marketing be?

The pursuit of not being boring sometimes pushes marketers to extremes, especially with their social media campaigns. Targeting trendy TikTok or Instagram is OK if your target customers are hanging out there, but it is a losing proposition if no one is interacting with your content. Both B2B and B2C need to build connections with customers (B2B personas) rather than focusing on innovations and trends.

Do you know your B2B marketing challenges?

Sometimes boring marketing is a result of reduced budgets or incorrect budget allocations. This can be caused by a lack of proper tracking and analytics strategies to track low performances, as well as marketing automation to deliver efficiency. 

How can you make your B2B marketing more fun?

Sorry, it won't be a tutorial or a strategy to make your marketing more fun and engaging, but rather some advice on what to do and what not to do.

Before starting with strategies or steps for revamping your marketing, maybe you can start by understanding the evolution of B2B buyers and specific buyer processes. We will skip industry-specific details and stick to general changes in the buyer's journey.

• Using different sources to research and evaluate purchases (32%).
• Using social media as one of the main channels to research vendors (31%).
• Increased number of decision-makers in a team (31%). 
• Relying more on testimonials and peer recommendations (29%).

Source: 2022 B2B Buyer Behavior Journey
 

What are B2B buyers’ specific needs?

• Easy access to relevant content that speaks directly to the company (63%).
• Easy access to pricing (62%).
• Clear demonstration of expertise and portfolio (56%).

Combining these two pieces of information, you can now work on injecting some sparkle and fun into your B2B marketing. 

Add interactive content elements

Interactive has always been something for B2C, but it's time to do some crazy stuff with your marketing. And don’t think your target customers are the C-level executives who don’t like to play or have fun. Here are things to focus on.
 

1. Interactive Content: Interactive content, such as quizzes, polls, and assessments, can help to educate potential customers about a product or service in an engaging and memorable way. For example, a B2B company that provides cloud storage solutions could create an interactive quiz to help potential customers understand which storage solution is best for their needs.
2. Virtual Events: With the rise of remote work, virtual events have become increasingly popular in B2B marketing. By incorporating interactive elements, such as gamified quizzes and virtual reality experiences, B2B marketers can create engaging and immersive experiences that educate potential customers about their products or services.
3. Personalized Experiences: The customer journey is the path a customer takes to find and engage with your brand. Map out the various touchpoints along the journey and identify opportunities to personalize the experience. For example, you could send a personalized follow-up email after a customer attends a webinar or downloads a resource.

Add personalization to brand identity

Even C-level executives and decision-makers want to see who is behind the company, so don’t try to hide behind high walls of professional terminology, wording, graphs, and spreadsheets. Show your team outside the working environment; show people and their emotions, not just coworkers. Revise your team page on the website, add photos of your parties and events, and use employee advocacy as one powerful tool to show your values.

Focus more on social media marketing

Yes, social media is a powerful tool for B2C marketing, but with the right content, you have all the chances to get the desired attention. Blend helpful content with creative visuals, humor, and memes; everyone loves memes. 

Invest in creative collaborations

One of the most effective collaborations is a podcast. Invite popular names from your industry, find interesting topics that will attract listeners, and use this opportunity to get organic advertising for your guest and your company.

Create downloadable material

Having downloadable material like templates, e-books, checklists, and typical useful content may at first seem resource-consuming, but this will become another touchpoint for customers to interact with and a chance to continue communication. 

The challenges of creativity and “fun” in marketing

Creativity in marketing can be a double-edged sword. While it is essential to stand out in a crowded market and capture customers' attention, it can also present several challenges. 

Creativity needs data

Being creative and fun is hard, and sometimes even harder, than talking with facts and in professional language. To avoid cringy creative campaigns, you should first know who your customers are, what their preferences are, and what they like and dislike. A clear buyer persona will be a guide to building new marketing campaigns.

Creativity needs more time

Again, creativity cannot pop up and rock from the very first shot. It may take time to reveal the needs and preferences of your target customers, deep dive into previous marketing campaigns and their performance to reveal the weaknesses, and glam it up with a sparkle of creativity.  

The risk of going beyond 

Creativity is always fun and games, but when it comes to B2B, there should be a line with a sign “DO NOT CROSS.” Otherwise, you can, at best, end up with a failed campaign or, even worse, lose the company's reputation. Brainstorm, discuss, and “test” your idea among team members before going live. 

Measuring success

It can be difficult to measure the success of a fun or creative campaign, as the goals may not be as straightforward as with a more traditional campaign. Creative campaigns often rely on more subjective metrics, such as brand recognition, emotional engagement, and audience engagement. This can make it difficult to determine the ROI of a campaign compared to more traditional campaigns that rely on specific metrics.

Final words: Why we still love B2B marketing

B2B isn’t easy, but it definitely can be exciting. Focus on marketing data as a core of a marketing campaign, but don’t forget about personalization. Rely heavily on your employees, leveraging employee branding as your first step to change your brand style and create multiple communication channels. Showcase your company culture often, and create excitement around new products and services. And memes! 

While this was more of a brainstorming of ideas when it comes to B2B marketing, why it's boring, and what can be a remedy, we will surely get back to you with some deep-dive research that will shed light on how to build and execute a comprehensive B2B growth strategy.

P.S. Create what you would want to see and what would help you.