Without the much-lauded impulse purchase (think Ferrero Rocher at Christmas or a strawberry Cornetto on a summer’s day), shopkeepers across the land would be throwing their hands up in despair. ‘Don’t think about it, just buy it!’ they’d cry, dancing around maniacally while offering up their unwanted stock to perplexed customers.
But it’s clearly not just consumer purchases that have the propensity to get our hearts racing: cliché though it undoubtedly is, B2B buyers are equally torn between head and heart, and while brands logic will get so far, gut feel is what often pushes customers over the line. So how can you make sure you’re tapping into their emotional subconscious? And why is hitting an emotional nerve so crucial during the marketing (and sales) process?
The psychologist’s assessment
“A great product or service, regardless of its benefits, is more likely to be bought if it’s framed inside a narrative structure,” explains Dr Peter Hughes, writer, psychologist, entrepreneur and broadcaster. “This is because the brain is hardwired to connect to stories before facts. Most of us, for instance, will believe that ‘the King died and then the Queen died of grief’ is more likely to be true than ‘the King died then the Queen died’, because the first statement is one continuous piece of information and tells a story. The second statement is, of course, far more likely to be true because it contains the first statement within it together with almost endless other reasons why the Queen died.”
Oh, the beauty of the written word! Storytelling, in its many forms and facets, remains an undeniably powerful way to engage with prospects. By placing them within a compelling narrative thread you can capture their interest and attention, making sure they see the human rather than corporate side of your organisation
And now for the science bit…
It seems strange to analyse the body’s organs in terms of the fuel they require, but Dr Hughes highlights a rather interesting fact about the brain, which is that it consumes a third of our blood glucose and a fifth of our oxygen, making it pretty expensive to run. “Even the most analytical buyer operates on the principle of cognitive sufficiency,” he explains. “Essentially a decision will be made once the minimum amount of information has been gathered to make what the buyer believes is the right decision. Therefore those brands that research their buyer’s personas most thoroughly and make the most relevant information easily accessible will make the strongest emotional connection.”
Put crudely, our brains are busy and complex organs, fizzing away and working hard to process great reams of information on a regular basis. So while telling a story will capture your prospect’s attention, you’ve also got to make sure it’s relevant too.
Sense the tone
Brands that strut around the internet puffing out their chests and telling us how brilliant they are do little to engage an audience on any kind of emotional level. After all, nobody likes a show off. But what about instilling in your prospects or customers negative emotions such as worry or fear? It might work with emotive charity advertising, but will it have the same impact in B2B? Dr Hughes thinks so. “It’s well evidenced in psychology that human beings give more emotional weight to losses than they do gains,” he says. “This means that a brand that instils negative emotions such as worry or fear – and, crucially, the means of alleviating them – is more likely to make a stronger emotional connection with their customers than a brand that just focuses on either the positive or negative.”
Richard Dunn, chief strategy officer EMEA of Wunderman, is in agreement. “Nobody wants to be the bearer of bad news, but instilling negative emotion can work. Playing on doubt, for instance, has effectively worked to help customers understand their needs by questioning their current situation. Direct Line’s Landlord Insurance helped people better protect their second property by finding out what they might have missed in terms of public liability cover – but businesses need to approach negativity with empathy, rather than fearmongering.”
The human touch
Content can go a long way in forging an emotional connection, but the behaviour of your team and wider organisation is also critically important. “A brand is a living entity and is enriched or undermined cumulatively over time, the product of a thousand small gestures,” Disney’s CEO Michael Eisner once said – and he’s right. Your people are the lifeblood of your organisation and will be making decisions every day that have emotional repercussions on your customers or prospects.
“Every email they send and every conversation they have with customers either enriches or undermines the brand,” explains Dr Hughes, “and in doing so, either weakens or strengthens the emotional connection.” So make sure they’re aware of the impact of consistent tone of voice and language on customer communications – it could go a long way.
Conventional marketing wisdom told us long ago that buyers don’t make decisions based purely on logic and reason; likeability alone can go a long way, turning prospects into customers and customers into brand advocates and eventual champions. And while the phrase ‘B2B is really just ‘human to human’’ is overused in certain circles, it’s rooted in a great deal of truth and is worth remembering as you shape any kind of marketing strategy or campaign in the future.
So who’s doing it best and why?
Sophos, Microsoft and HP
“Sophos has made great use of video to engage with customers in a different way,” says Laura Lilienthal, marketing director EMEA at Spiceworks. “And brands like Microsoft and HP regularly engage with customers on our platform, either by answering questions or just striking up conversations. The most successful brands are those that engage with prospects (in this case, IT professionals) as people and not as numbers or roles.”
Evernote and Caterpillar
Evernote does exactly as Dr Hughes recommends, using fear as a motivating factor to grab the attention of its prospects and customers, while Caterpillar plays on our memories of childhood with a video that shows tractors as giant machines playing Jenga, as Jessica Sundström, VP digital marketing at Jahia, points out.
