B-to-B Thought Leadership Content Needs to Do More than Make You Think
Steve Rubel
Former Edelman exec. Advisor to Fortune 500s. Media analyst. Innovation catalyst. Comms strategist.
Think about the last big purchase you made, such as a house, a car or a boat. What was that process like?
If you are like most people, logic was not the only factor. Emotion played a role as well. In other words, how the purchase made you feel was just as or more important as what it made you think.
In consumer marketing circles, the interplay of emotion and logic is a timeless and celebrated art.
In b-to-b marketing, especially when it comes to thought leadership content, programs are more Spock-like. They tend to over index on logic and are devoid of any emotion.
Perhaps this is why, according to our new study, just 14 percent of sales people say thought leadership content helps them close business. Emotion is key in sales and they need more of it to be better enabled.
A perfect example of this was the catch phrase "Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM." Sure, it made people think the IBM PC was the logical purchase. More importantly, it made people feel that buying IBM would make them more secure during a time of high unemployment.
More b-to-b thought leadership programs need to map the business buyer's hierarchy of needs. They should introduce emotional elements in their programs that will keep prospects intrigued over a long sales cycle.
There are many ways to put this into practice. One way is to look at how Hollywood uses deep-rooted and common beliefs.
In his new book The Best Story Wins, former Pixar and Simpsons animator Matthew Luhn suggests using common relatable themes like the fear of failure, abandonment, or not belonging, or the desire for love, safety, and freedom. These can work well in b-to-b too and they don't have to dilute the logical message.
Emotion drives many purchases in business and in life. The more b-to-b thought leadership programs include some sort of emotional elements, the more they will be embraced by sales.
senior advisor | freelance marketing communications | relentlessly curious | word wrangler
6 年Jorgen Solberg, Oddleif Halvorsen, Fredrik Sandin, Very good read as we talk about driving the messages of value and creating a sense of urgency.?
AIPP Commissioner | Freelancer | PR Practitioner | Nonprofit Pro
6 年Steve Rubel, I'm moved to comment here -- which is likely among your goals. As you say, marketing effectiveness hinges on stirring feelings while supplying substance to move people to do something. Hence, you've moved me enough by your words to make me condone your message! Good work.?
Expert freelance thought leadership writer for enterprise B2B technology brands. Niches: GovTech, AI/ML, cloud services, ecommerce, cybersecurity, modernization.
6 年Excellent points. Too many companies think their target audience wants dry, official-sounding content because it sounds "businesslike." As if business is anything but a life-and-death scrum for survival.? Stories are driven by conflict, contrast, novelty and relevance to the reader's everyday life. Logic may form the structure of a story, but emotion makes people want to read it.?