Happy children at the breakfast table, cute puppies in the dewy grass or couples holding hands on a dream beach - in the B2C advertising landscape we are surrounded every day by messages that want one thing above all: to appeal to our emotional world. We are supposed to laugh, pine, sympathize. We should be moved, feel good, be motivated. We should: buy.
In the B2B sector, however, emotions have only been used sparingly up to now. Arousing emotions in a target group for complex technical solutions seems inappropriate and perhaps simply too trivial. Many people in management believe that while brand advertising works on irrational consumers, decision-making in the business world is more sober and rational. A recent study proves that this may not be true: the study by Les Binet and Peter Field on the influence of different marketing strategies on the growth of B2B companies, published by the B2B Institute of LinkedIn, shows that emotions even have a very significant influence on long-term success in B2B marketing.
B2B marketing strategies that appeal to the target group emotionally contribute 7 times more to the company's success in the long term than campaigns that rely purely on rational arguments, according to the publication mentioned above. They significantly improve sales, turnover, profit and other key performance indicators.
The results of the study are clear - and actually easy to understand in the business environment. After all, even in complex technical industries - as rational as they may seem to the outside world - business is still done with people. And people, as open as they may be to objective arguments, are never immune to their own feelings.
But don't worry: your customers don't have to burst into tears when they find out about the latest trends at your stand. Nor do they have to melt away when reading the latest sales literature or burst into loud laughter at the latest explanatory video. Appealing to people emotionally does not mean sending them into great emotional turmoil - rather, it is about imbuing your brand with a positive feeling that is relevant to the target group. People should establish an emotional connection to your brand, trust it, like it.
Emotional messages promote brand building, while rational arguments that rely on logic and the much-quoted common sense lead to purchase actions. The better known and more popular a brand is, the more likely it is that a purchase will be made. And this is where emotions come into play: they can generate significantly more leads and sales than has often been assumed.
It is easy to explain why: emotions create long-term memories and associations that influence purchasing decisions long after the advertising has been placed. After all, we can often still remember situations that have moved us emotionally years later. Strong brands play with such memories, they ensure that people have a positive attitude towards the products or solutions of a company and listen.
At SPS MARKETING, we know how to address customers with emotion - without being cheesy and without heartache, but with all the more positive and coherent impressions.
The fact that even highly technical solutions can be communicated emotionally is shown, for example, by the project "EtelligentTerrain BEV Powertrain Solution", in the context of which we at SPS MARKETING took on the development of an animated 3D product film including storyboard, 3D animation, film editing, concept and story development for our client Magna Powertrain. The result is a film for car manufacturers which - through rendering with realistic precision - impressively and emotionally conveys the high standard of EtelligentTerrain. Without any voice-over, the result is a film with high intensity and expressiveness.
Long-term brand building through emotion is often more difficult than short-term sales activation and requires much greater reach and repeated exposure. A strong B2B brand requires a B2B strategy based on evoking emotional responses from the target audience in a credible and coherent way. But in the end, the effort is worth it: brand building reduces price sensitivity and increases margins. It has a long-lasting effect and is thus the main driver for long-term growth and profit.
But even if emotions play a more important role in B2B marketing than previously assumed, facts and rational arguments must not be forgotten over and above their use. In certain moments of the customer journey, these are still of decisive importance: campaigns with rational messages generate almost twice as many short-term effects as emotional messages - such as increases in sales or an increase in the number of qualified leads. If you do not want your marketing measures to pay into long-term brand building, but want to achieve that your customers give their consent to be contacted by the sales team or provide their data for the download of a white paper, you have to provide convincing, rational reasons for this action.
A successful performance campaign therefore relies on rational messages - but builds on the emotional appeal that has already made the brand popular and familiar with its customers. Whether a potential customer fills out a contact form, subscribes to a newsletter or contacts a sales employee is not dependent on purely rational messages. On the contrary. It is the strength of the brand that determines these actions. Companies that invest time and money in building their brand are therefore more successful in terms of sales figures or lead generation. Use the power of emotions for yourself and your brand: While an emotional campaign is better suited for brand building, a rational campaign aims at short-term sales activation. But who says you have to choose? Ideally, you include both sides in your marketing activities - and are thus successful all around.
