Introduction
Do you want to know about B2B Marketing to make it more interesting and create an effective strategy to convert it into business? So, here are the facts?
B2B marketing is synonymous with a stiff, rigid, formal tone and marketing content filled with corporate buzzwords. Sometimes, the marketing content is just numbers and technical terms.
In this article, we will show you how can easily adopt a more effective way of B2B Marketing strategy for 2022.
While this has worked for a long time, things are changing. Take a look at what Marketo did recently. Instead of publishing an eBook about some technical and statistical findings, they published an eBook that had comics, drawings, crosswords, etc.
The content was based on marketing but presented in a fun way. This proved to be a very successful bet for them. They’re not the only ones making B2B marketing fun.
The entire B2B industry has had a revelation. Be it any business or enterprise, you’re still marketing to a human. Humanizing marketing is the way forward for B2B marketing.
Let’s understand what we have for you in B2B Marketing Interesting Facts 2022?
Why Does B2B Marketing Need To Be Fun?
A simple answer to this would be that we’re humans. We find funny things appealing and we tend to not consider boring things. That’s not convincing enough right?
I’ll list down some compelling reasons for you.
Changing Consumer Trends
The recent decade has seen a lot of change. Social media and digital marketing at large have trumped TV, radio, and print advertising.
Moving forward, digital and social media marketing will only gain more prominence.
Social platforms have different norms. You cannot be so formal, upright, precise, and to the point as in a corporate meeting.
They need you to be the real you. Someone real, unfiltered, vulnerable, emotional, expressive, and informal.
Many businesses experience startling growth and success by doing what these platforms demanded. The B2B sector was observing and taking notes.
This is why we have many B2B businesses changing their marketing approach completely. Take a look at MailChimp.
Source : b2bmarketing
A chimp delivering mails doesn’t seem like a good idea but the storytelling and humor work wonders. They’re not even holding back even on 404 errors.
Why knows? Unbound might soon get a mascot too. I’d definitely like a T-Rex!
Imagine a T-Rex chasing audiences like in Jurassic Park for converting them into leads.
Millennials and Gen-Z are taking the Main Stage
We’re amidst a demographic shift. The Millennials are taking over the big decision-making positions from the Baby Boomers and Gen-Z is following closely.
These younger generations also make up the majority of the consumers in the market now.
For all, we know “Okay Boomer” and the cancel culture phenomenon are powerful and impactful.
Millennials are an anxious generation who would not directly communicate until absolutely necessary.
Gen-Z is no different. They get anxious even while ordering food. Yes, those memes are not just funny but real too!
Source : dank meme university
Both these generations prefer transparent and informal communication. Considering how important they’re soon to be, B2B businesses need to adapt quickly.
Marketing Has Become Overly Complicated
Pick a B2B or SaaS business and chances are they’re at least using 7-10 marketing tools for various purposes.
Let’s also not forget the various complicated processes such as marketing attribution, sales projections, pipeline management, account-based marketing, etc.
Marketing wasn’t this complicated before. While a digital world necessitates the use of such complicated methods, it’s not always necessary.
B2B businesses can simplify marketing before the existing frameworks completely overwhelm them. The way to achieve this is to make marketing fun.
Why? It’s easier to ask people if something is funny rather than asking if they find your marketing content compelling.
If you’re really adding fun to marketing, your audience will come and tell you how good of a job you’re doing.
This is the whole reason why Meme Marketing has been in the spotlight recently.
Yes, I know you’re wondering how you can make B2B marketing more fun. Follow my lead, I’ll show you how to.
Ways to Make B2B Marketing Fun
Having amazing humor is a basic requirement but the offices are full of people making amazing jokes right? So rally up all the funny people in your office and pay attention to the things I’m about to tell you.
Understand Your Audience
Okay, that didn’t come out as it was supposed to but so don’t the results of your marketing campaigns. Ouch!
Understanding your audience might sound cliche but this is in a completely different context.
If you’re going to make B2B marketing fun, you need to understand what kind of humor you’re going to serve them with.
Take a look at your target audience and check the demographics.
How old are the majority of the key decision-makers? Their genders? Cultural backgrounds? Residence?
These questions will help you choose the right humor for them.
MTV, Friends, The Office, or Big Bang Theory references will work amazingly with Millennials but not with Gen-Z of Boomers. So know your audience and choose the right humor.
Create Relatable Humorous Posts
Your marketing won’t be effective by just being fun. You will have to make it more relatable.
This is the key to forming good bonds with building trust with your target audience which has multifaceted benefits.
The best way to do so is to just look around. Your workspace and colleagues can be inspirations for your next marketing campaign. You are a B2B business yourself and you run into many issues from time to time.
Try to build a fun narrative around such situations. Add in a dash of good humor and sarcasm. That’s one good recipe to win at and make B2B marketing more fun.
Source : Business insider
Just take a look at what Slack did. They took a relatable issue and turned it into a fun marketing campaign. Relatability makes marketing more fun and impactful!
Follow Pop Culture for References
Irrespective of what generation one belongs to, pop culture events influence one’s life a lot.
The world of fame, glamor, and stardom has always created a lot of buzz in the media and society.
Something or the other is always happening in the world of showbiz and it gets a lot of attention.
You can capitalize on such situations by posting something along the lines of the incident. You stand to benefit from the buzz and gain extended exposure.
Pop culture references are easy to understand and make your brand look “cool”. Being perceived as “cool” adds a lot to your brand value.
People take notice of how creative you are and this is especially beneficial if your competitors aren’t doing this.
B2C businesses have already been doing so and experiencing success.
It’s about time B2B businesses step out of their comfort zones and do what is necessary to market better.
Provide Market’s Factual Data
Whenever talk about B2B Marketing then you must have data to show and approach. It will help you to build trust and make more effective communication between you and your ideal clients.
Source : Marketingcharts
Use Gifs
Long-form content is a staple when it comes to B2B marketing. However, isn’t it unpleasant to read a wall of text?
Yes, you can insert relevant images and infographics but that is like serving the same food in a different container.
Sure, it breaks the monotony but does it make the reader’s experience pleasurable? I think not! So gifs? How do they help?
First of all, they’re not static images. Their motion breaks the monotony of static texts better than other media besides videos.
Gifs are visual snippets from movies, tv shows, cartoons, etc. This makes them relatable to a lot of users if you choose the right ones.
The humor part would depend on the context and manner in which you place the gif within the content. You can create GIFs that perfectly align with your message, making them even more engaging.
You can use a gif to imply an opinion, express something or make a point. All while being funny and relatable.
Capitalize on Events that go Viral
Be it showbiz, world politics, some scientific or technological achievement, or something else entirely. A lot of events go viral these days.
While there are many reasons why events become sensational news, that’s not what we’re here for.
There are ways you can capitalize on the attention a particular event is receiving and come up with a humorous marketing take on it.
How does it work? Well, there are already a lot of eyes on the event so coming up with a fun narrative will give you a portion of that attention.
It’s time the B2B brethren stop being conservative and being left behind by our B2C counterparts.
Source : Indian express.
Take a look at what McDonald’s did. The sudden appearance of a monolith made headlines and they took the opportunity and turned it into a fun marketing post.
Source : marketing
Remember the 2013 Super Bowl power outage? Here’s Oreo seizing the moment in a fun way. This post went viral along with the news of the power outage.
Use Memes
Yes, those simple edited images young people share on social media. Those are not only easy to craft but effective at communication and funny.
I know you’re thinking if I’m in my senses to pitch something so casual as memes for B2B marketing but hear me out.
The younger generations are already taking over and they love memes. Both Millennials and Gen-Z use memes in their day-to-day lives.
Source : Marketing-memes
As far as I’m aware, B2B firms are yet to experiment with memes for marketing. Your B2C counterparts have already tasted a lot of success with memes.
There’s no reason why a B2B firm shouldn’t use memes.
Your audiences love them, they’re relatable, humorous, can be inspired by pop culture or viral events, and also be made using gifs.
Source : passionate in marketing
So basically, memes incorporate all the points we talked about before this one. That should make it clear how effective they can be.
Besides, you already have young interns who love making memes. Let them be in charge of making memes for you.
Gamification
Games and fun are synonymous! Be it computer games or physical ones, everyone loves games.
Except for the team building games the HRs conduct. Yeah, those aren’t fun at all! But why use gamification in B2B marketing?
Besides it being fun, you can easily generate leads, generate positive impressions, educate clients more effectively while entertaining them, etc.
Moreover, a lot of us already play games while in the office. So why not give this opportunity a try? Your audience will be entertained and you’ll complete your goals.
SAP is an industry leader when it comes to data analysis. They utilized gamification and created the SAP Data Challenge.
They had data analysts work from the perspective of detectives trying to uncover frauds to save Casinos in the game and it worked!
The gamification approach generated over 6X more free trial downloads compared to any other equivalent program.
Conclusion
We have given you the B2B Marketing Interesting Facts 2022 and the steps to make more interesting B2B Marketing now it’s up to you, to how much value you can create for yourself or for your business and organization.
The B2B market demographic is changing and the younger generations prefer the informal way of communication and marketing.
The B2C sector is already on pace with the change and the B2B sector has a lot of catching up to do. We already have a blueprint so it’s not as difficult.
It’s going to be difficult to step away from the old ways but a change is necessary. We’re marketing to humans so let’s market in a manner humans like and enjoy.
Make more engaging steps and strategies to talk to your prospects and convert them into ideal clients for your business.
So, tell us which strategy will you try first? And keep connected for more knowledge!
Gaurav Roy
13 July 2022
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