CES, I Miss You. 3 B2B Lessons from a Recovering B2C Marketer

Dear CES,

It's been a while. You hurt me so bad the last few times we were together. What you and Blu Ray did to me and HD DVD, back on the eve of CES 2008, still hurts. It hurts, damn it. Every time I pop in my Bourne Ultimatum 2-disc HD DVD + DVD pack into my Playstation 4 Blu Ray player, it's not just the irony that kills me, it's the memory of what could have been. I still can't watch Shrek, and I blame you for that. If HD DVD had won that war, CES, you and me would be in a far different place. Instead, I left you that year with my tail between my legs and a one-way ticket to a new business unit.

After that show, I said we were done. We went our separate ways. I watched others come and go. You and your eye candy. C'mon. Wearables. Virtual reality. Connected TVs. 3D printing. 4K. Streaming boxes. Blah, blah, blah. You'll chew them up, and spit them out, too. Oh, everyone thinks they're different, but they're not. But, I'm not bitter.

Anyway in 2010, I thought you'd changed. I went back for one more taste. Boy, that was a mistake. I guess you (and apparently the entire world) weren't ready for KIN either.

It's been 4 years. I'm in B2B now. I was just tired of your games. Your fickle, love me today, leave me tomorrow behavior. I needed some stability. Predictability. But, the grass isn't always greener. B2B is looking more like B2C, and I'm constantly reminded of you.

Baby, I miss you.

My industry thinks you're irrelevant. You're just for the cool kids. A place for Taylor Swift to do an onstage demo of her working out with an Oculus Rift while she tracks her body rhythms with a Fit Bit. I know better. That's what happens as you get older. You don't realize a good thing until it's gone. I think someone famous once said that.

You see, I think CES and the marketing extravaganza around it is really about what B2C approaches can teach B2B companies. You see, it's even more important now that we B2B marketers understand consumer marketing practices because our customers are consumers. The strategies that work in B2C from experience-driven marketing to brand partnerships and sponsorships, are even more applicable to B2B. So, here are 3 B2C lessons I picked up over the years and try to apply daily in my work as a B2B marketer:

1. Sell to Both Head and Heart: B2B companies sell to the head, meaning they overly focus on rational buying triggers. Better price, better feature set, bigger this, faster that. All of this matters, but don't forget to also sell to the heart. Give your customers something to believe in. Show them why they should buy something and show them in terms of why it should matter to them. Get this right and you'll sell a bunch more stuff. Simon Sinek wrote, "People don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it."
2. Press the Flesh: the quant geeks back in marketing automation will tell you that the economics of events just don't make sense. Sure they don't. But, the economics of one perfect live customer experience don't make a whole lot of sense either. You can't put a number on positive word of mouth. Continue to invest in strategic live events where you can get up close with customers. You'll be surprised what you'll learn about yourself, and your customers, after 3 days on a show floor.
3. Forget the Funnel: B2B marketers have been so fixated on the illogical marketing funnel for years. The funnel assumes linearity. It assumes that customers (in the case of B2B) move systematically through buying stages, when the truth for some time has been, prospects can enter in any stage, bounce between stages etc., creating less of a funnel, and more of what I describe as a circular system built around an experience. Customers are on a journey and are looking for guidance along the way. The guidance can come from anywhere, making the role of brands to seed experiences in multiple touch points to help customers reach a decision that's right for them. Consumer marketing has thrown out the funnel. B2B should too.

CES, we won't be getting together this year, again. But, your impact on me is deep. I'll be watching you.

Take care.