Why B2B Marketers need to be great storytellers

Great marketers don't lose their story in the MarTech trees.

Today there are so many shiny objects to distract marketers from remembering their roots. Every day I receive scores of emails from MarTech companies promising to deliver turbo charged conversions, unprecedented engagement, and all sorts of buzzy insights about my funnel. 

Sprinkle in our modern obsession with dashboards and analytics, and a marketer can easily forget about building and validating the most critical component of a successful program and campaign – a great story. 

We tell a story to build trust by proving we understand our customer’s world and have the goods to make them the hero. Too often in Account-based Marketing (ABM) we forget we are still people selling to people. And people need to see themselves in your story and trust the journey your solution will take them on. 

Marketers live in an enlightened age with digital tools getting us closer to the promised land of accurately measuring return-on-investment and predicting conversion rates. The variety of relatively low cost channels enable us to quickly test and improve our assumptions to more effectively engage with our target customers. Marketing technology has automated personalization and keeps dripping long after we have shut off the lights. 

A perfectly executed B2B campaign will fall flat if the story is not right.

We need to feed these systems with quality content that tells a thoughtful, emotional, and resonant story that speaks directly to our customer’s transformation and success. Pairing a great story with today’s advanced delivery and analytical marketing technology is the winning combination.

Next time you have a campaign with disappointing results, don’t go running to the MarTech well for the cure. Instead, validate whether you delivered a compelling story grounded in a deep understanding of your customer’s internal reasons for buying (such as how does your customer want to be viewed by colleagues, leadership, and other personally motivated outcomes).

While ABM buyers are triggered by an event or company need, don't forget they still make decisions based on internal motivations. Companies who successfully tap into buyer's internal motivations find themselves rewarded with higher conversion rates and pipeline acceleration. Data points that will look great on any marketer's next dashboard.

Holly is a veteran B2B marketer and a storytelling evangelist. For an example of how to simplify a complex solution and develop a creative story, you can view a recent Authentix campaign, "Authentication- The Beautiful Game". https://youtu.be/IcGHMiyHwyE