Is quality drowning under a growing sea of crap in B2B marketing?

Goodness me. Please stop it. My inbox is getting a hammering.???

If it’s not automated cold outreach, complete with multiple reminders (no, thanks), it is flimsy and shallow “thought leadership” – or increasingly desperate offers for things I don’t need complete with massive price reductions.? And that is not forgetting the deluge of daily alerts from platforms.

Amongst all of that lot, are messages from clients and my team. Somewhere.?

This is not a plea for help managing my inbox. My LinkedIn profile is as bad.? Amongst useful updates as people in my network move, change roles or contact me, my feed is swamped by click-bait headlines, vox-pops and irrelevant offers. Please stop it.?

We’re going to kill marketing effectiveness if we don’t get a grip.

Many blame AI. Me? Less so – although I can see a correlation between many early adopters of AI not using it to be smarter and more personalised, but instead to crank up the volume of crap. Or, should that be CRAP!??

The quality of the creative used is declining, too, and platforms like LinkedIn know it. They’ve released studies on the power of creativity in B2B marketing, including guidelines on how to do it well. Good. Well worth a read.?

B2B agencies, too, are united and are banging the same drum. At Velo, we’re no different, but it all adds to the noise.? Please read their studies – if only for the sake of my inbox.?

Recent obsessions with short-term demand gen over long-term brand building are making it worse.

The markets we work in are watching the US elections, the unfolding conflict in the Middle East, energy price changes, interest rate changes, budget announcements and even our own domestic Conservative Party Leadership race with interest. Each of these adds to market uncertainty.

In uncertain times, predictions and bluster appear across the media and spook the markets, preventing companies from being comfortable enough to invest to grow.? Buying slows down or even stops as significant decisions are kicked into the long grass.?

In this situation, where short-term campaigns are the only technique in use – and therefore the only way marketers can show their value to the organisation – the only lever available is the volume.? So they shout louder.? Invest in brand building too - think of my inbox.

As marketing studies show, to grow, the importance of having a higher share of voice than your market share kicks in.? So, competitors react.? And up goes the volume. Again.?

Volume creates more volume.? And much of it is crap.?

We’re going to switch off buyers unless we stop it.??

It’s already happening. Studies show slowing deal velocity, more buyers in a buying unit and even less contact with your brand until further down the buyer journey.? On average, they’re choosing 2.8 companies to be on their shortlists.?

The more noise we create, the more this will happen, as they need more time and more people to sift through it.?

Stop it. No really, stop it.???

To be void of any doubt, when I say stop, I don’t mean stop marketing completely. We just need to go back to some important principles:? ?

• Talk to me as a person, not a cell on the end of an AI cannon. As B2B marketers, our approach to personalisation should be insight-led, based on solid research and – ideally – value-led relationships. Respect my persona and role.? Personalisation is not just mail merging.?
• Powerful creative and good storytelling that connects on emotional and rational levels. As an industry, this is what we’re good at.? We’ve moved beyond features/benefits and talking about ourselves. Well, in the main. Thank goodness, as we are going to need it to stand out amongst the noise.?
• Bring back the joy of discovery. The world of work is changing – and fast. This isn’t a cliché about transformation or disruption, but it is true. B2B customers want to succeed amidst the chaos.? And, if they succeed, then so will those who supply them. Buyers want to do self-directed research and go on journeys of self-discovery. As a result, we need to concentrate on creating high-quality interactions. It builds trust, and this leads to buying. Quality pays back.?
• Balance brand building and demand-gen. Both are key to growth and mean that your business is less susceptible to drowning in the noise. Build to become a category leader and be one of those companies on that short-list for those in the market. Category leaders navigate – or even ride – macroeconomic shocks better.?
• Silence is golden. As the saying goes, if you have nothing to say worth saying, don’t say anything at all. True in life as it is in B2B marketing.?

We’re at a moment where quality seems to be secondary to volume. We need to pause and reflect. And that is my cue to shut up now, too.

Paul Crabtree, MD, Velo - www.velo-b2b.com?