The common mistake most B2B marketers make is that the sale isn’t an emotional one.
Which often causes marketers and sellers to lead with lists of features, lots of talk about amenities, and little talk about results.
A few months back, I took a look at some sports teams’ premium ticketing and options websites and found one that actually captured the emotional and beneficial connection between investing in tickets and winning business and new opportunities.
But it was only one, out of about 20 that I looked at.
The question becomes, why do we fear emotion so much in B2B marketing?
First, there is the myth of the rational decision maker.
This is a false idea because as I’ve discussed often, without emotion, there is no action.
The idea that just because someone is in an executive or buying position, they are going to divorce their decision from emotions is false. Because likely the professional decision is going to be based on even more emotion that other decisions.
So don’t shy away from the emotions because you feel like the buyer is going to be rational.
Remember, no emotion, no action.
Second, too much focus on what is important to the sender and not the receiver.
If you look at too many B2B marketing materials, you see that the bias in the marketing is focused on what’s important to me.
Maybe a faster processor or higher name recognition makes sense to you and it is important, but you are also making the expectation that the person you are approaching understands that and can make the leap.
That’s a recipe to have you lose control of the conversation.
You need to focus on impact.
How much money does this help the person make?
How much time does this save the person?
Where does this help the person’s business?
Finally, the lost art of storytelling in marketing.
Data is everywhere.
We love our data.
Data is fantastic. But it is made for analysis, not connection.
When you are marketing products or services, your first job is to connect with your target audience.
You can’t do that with analysis, you do it with emotion.