Business to business (B2B) sales and marketing success used to be built on a combination of in-person meetings, follow-up calls and sponsored conferences. These tactics still have their place, but the new sales and marketing journey relies heavily on engaging core audiences early and often with digital tools. Ignoring this seismic shift is a serious mistake, no matter how much success a company has had with legacy marketing practices.
And it’s a bigger shift than meets the eye. Effective use of digital tools demands their use as engagement platforms, not inexpensive distribution. Engagement means that buyers get to sellers much more intimately, which means that authenticity matters more than ever.
Every Person Is Purpose-Driven, And So Is Every Buyer
Marketing and sales teams today need to assume that every buyer — not just in the consumer space but increasingly in the B2B space — is driven by purpose. That’s why it is essential for companies, especially B2B companies, to connect to buyers and key stakeholders in a way that clearly tells the story of a brand’s impact.
Twenty years ago, a company could win in the marketplace without a brand that buyers found compelling because sales and marketing relied more on individual performance in face-to-face sales contact. The salesperson had to come across as authentic, much more than the brand did. But now consumers rely on digital tools to make more of their early-stage purchase decisions. It’s through the digital tools that consumers must relate to the company, which means buyers should find the brand genuinely connecting with their purpose.
The Digital Revolution In B2B Sales
Many companies seem to think that because business to consumer (B2C) and B2B sales are different, that the digital revolution didn’t disrupt B2B behavior the same way it did B2C. But look at the daily habits of modern-day professionals: smartphones, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter — the list is long. People are on their social media pages an average of 136 minutes a day, and surfing the internet on average 6.5 hours a day. There’s no excuse for B2B sales and marketing programs to ignore this reality.
The Challenges Of Companies Finding Their Voices
It’s often difficult for companies to find their voice and articulate a captivating story about their purpose. Why? Many companies are bureaucratic places where alignment and agreement aren’t easy.
As established in an ANA playbook on brand purpose that I, along with other industry professionals, weighed in on, marketing with a purpose requires defining and articulating what that purpose is, which is an acknowledgment that companies have a larger role to play than just their commercial success. And that hasn’t always been important to consumers and buyers alike. Although some companies make products that benefit the greater public, many still don’t see their public benefits as part of their business message. They’re missing a great opportunity.
It is true that telling the story of a company’s purpose does require the business to be more transparent and engage people about their products more often. But for marketers working with companies tackling climate change or other major, global problems, creating a values connection with buyers is even more important.
Create Your New Marketing Path With Purpose
The journey to marketing with purpose and transparency can take many paths. I joined my present company just over three years ago. I leaped at the opportunity to transform a manufacturing company with high-quality, sustainable products toward a company with a purpose. The products were already delivering solutions for a climate-safe future, so there was no need to challenge the portfolio. But the compelling story about the multiple benefits of the company’s raison d’être had not been taken to a broader audience.
You cannot create a corporate purpose that is not true to the company DNA. I approached my journey with three simple steps:
1. Run an audit of your company’s brand.
• Gather input from key stakeholders.
• Review existing customer surveys or in-depth interviews to unlock difficult pain points.
• Get an overview of what’s working or not.
2. Identify brand inconsistencies that can be harmonized.
• Compile compelling customer stories.
• Identify key messages that can be leveraged, and identify ones that need to be tossed.
3. Host a message development session with key internal staff.
• Ask yourself and others important questions like: How and why has my company endured as a business? And how can I best articulate that out in the world? What is our legacy?
Even though this process can be boiled down to three main steps on paper, this is a significant process that requires a sizable time investment in a structured, methodical effort. This is no simple undertaking, so when you get to work, be sure to keep these three points in mind:
1. It is critical to focus on a purpose that is true to the company’s product. This will allow buy-in among all stakeholders and will keep the corporate narrative authentic. Always ask yourself if your purpose is unique to your company or could it be picked up and used by any organization.
2. Everyone in the company must believe in the direction. The marketing team should not “create” a purpose in a silo. It should be embraced by the company leadership and cascade to the entire organization. It is the promise that every employee can really commit to.
3. When it comes to internal and external marketing today, truth and transparency are essential if a company is to move forward with resolve and purpose.
The World Is Changing, And So Should Your Marketing
Marketers, especially those working in sustainable B2B companies, need to adapt to changes in the marketing landscape. As I mentioned in the playbook, “Its evolution is not merely where corporate narratives are heading in the branding sphere; it is the direction that consumers and key stakeholders expect companies to take in their business and operations.” If purpose-driven companies get this right, not only will they and their customers be better off, but everyone who indirectly benefits from their products will be, too.