There's a fallacy that business decision-making isn’t driven by emotions.
All decision-making in our lives is emotional, so when it comes to B2B sales, it's about connecting with people on a level that doesn't feel fake or forced.
Check the 41st episode of the DesignRush Podcast to learn:
- Why you shouldn’t believe a common myth that B2B purchases aren’t driven by emotions
- What to focus your marketing on when 95% of your buyers aren’t in the mindset to make a purchase
- Which challenge do B2B companies face the most when seeking media advertising
DesignRush editor Vianca Meyer had the chance to talk to B2B marketing leader Kandace Barker about this and many other topics!
Who Is Kandace Barker?
With over a decade of experience, Kandace has led Initiative's B2B marketing efforts to create and execute effective campaigns that drive user engagement since 2023. Previously, she worked as a team lead at Facebook and LinkedIn marketing departments.
When we look at B2C giants such as Nike, Under Armour, or any other consumer brand, industry professionals will say you have to connect with consumers emotionally.
But in B2B, the approach is often more complex than that – It's understanding the psychology behind people's decisions that drives purchases.
"For example, the buying committee is aging down and diversifying, which means there are a lot more people of color that are on these committees," Kandace explains.
"The way people make decisions when they're the only person that looks like them in the room is very different than someone who may have historically been accustomed to this type of environment."
Understanding who you're talking to and the psychology behind how they make decisions will impact the campaigns that you're creating.
"We have to understand the psychology behind it and then connect with that. If you don't do that work in advance and you try to target African-American decision-makers, it's not gonna feel authentic and will fall flat."
Fame & Flow Should Be in Sync for Marketing Success
When we talk about marketing KPIs, it's crucial to understand how we deliver on a client's business objectives.
"We're talking about goals such as increasing sales or driving qualified leads. Within B2B, we've historically pivoted to this flow side of things by spending all of our dollars there," Kandace notes.
However, we mustn't forget the ability to connect with customers emotionally through brand storytelling.
"Within the B2B marketplace at any given time 95% of your buyers aren't in the mindset of making a purchase – They're not even in the market for what you're trying to sell."
If you're only focused on flow for 5% of your audience, you're missing out on a huge opportunity.
"You have to spend time, effort, and energy on making your brand famous so that by the time people get to making a buying decision, they’re familiar with your suite of products."
How Do We Showcase the Media Impact on Marketing KPIs
The number one challenge that clients face is how to showcase the impact of the media on their business objectives, Kandace tells Vianca.
"It's not typical for someone to just go online and make a B2B purchase – we have longer buying cycles."
It can take up to two years to make a single B2B decision.
"Much of that cycle you can't track, making it difficult to know where people are at any point of the stage you were driving a lead. This also makes it difficult to know how they're moving through the sales pipeline."
There are proxies for this, Kandace concludes, but there's no all-in-one solution on the market right now.
Create Partnerships – Don’t Make It Transactional
When we talk about innovation, it could mean things like showcasing emotion instead of focusing on the transactional aspect of the business.
Asking questions is a good starting point:
- What are the problems we're trying to solve? It could be looking at partners that were traditionally consumer-focused.
- What does it mean for a B2B brand to show up on TikTok? How do we do that in a way that feels authentic?
- Is it about working with existing partners, but looking at different ad formats or contextual placements that we haven't explored before?
The way we try to look at it is by splitting our marketing budget in a 70-20-10 ratio.
Kandace explains how she splits her marketing budget:
- 70% of the dollars that we spend should be focused on things that we know
- 20% should be focused on different things partners that work for us can do. For example, how can we tap into beta programs, new ad formats, and new ways to measure our media?
- 10% of our budget goes to what's just never been done, new partners, and ways that we are most certainly going to fail, but can turn into an amazing success
"We have to push ourselves to try it out, to see what works – We dedicate 10% of the budget toward that," she concludes.
If we want to be impactful, we have to be willing to fail.
