Demographica, in partnership with Labyrinth Behaviour Collective, have released a whitepaper on key insights taken from over 8 years of human-centred research – namely four key types of human connection, in a 4-Part series, that influence buying in B2B.
“Business Anthropology is the heart of what we do at Demographica. We use anthropology to make informed choices about the kinds of messages we send to our client’s customers, but we also use it because it encourages marketers to look at the whole value chain and understand the role of communication, marketing, and sales in enabling a particular kind of B2B customer experience,” says Warren Moss, CEO of Demographica.
B2B marketing is often thought of as purely rational decision-making, and we often forget the role of the environment, learnt behaviour, and personal experiences in shaping how people in businesses buy on behalf of their companies. Our whitepaper delves into this thinking in an attempt to help new and existing customers understand the role that an anthropological approach can play in helping them design better marketing and produce more creative, emotive B2B marketing.
The research will benefit companies, specifically CMOs, marketing managers, marketing directors, CSOs, or B2B sales people, as well as CEOs or heads/managers of B2B brands by assisting them to understand the importance of human insights, including the 4 most powerful and foundational kinds of human connections that play a role in shaping B2B buying.
The 4-Part series includes:
- Part 1: Shared experiences – How B2B marketers create shared experiences in B2B marketing and sales initiatives, onboarding the whole Decision-Making Unit (DMU), not only homing in on the buyer.
- Part 2: Mutual authenticity – What kinds of creative are ‘allowed’ in B2B? Learning to be honest, open, and vigorous in your pursuit and defence of what you stand for, enabling your customer to be the same.
- Part 3: Holding space – How to show up along the value chain for people, journeying alongside B2B buyers as they navigate their online and offline lives.
- Part 4: Reciprocity of Spirit – Where to be positioned in the client experience to have the most impact, while creating new, meaningful value dimensions at every touch point.
“The insights are by no means exhaustive, but we wanted to lay a strong foundation for the B2B work that South Africa and world can produce through understanding the complex human landscape of B2B decision-making. By no means is B2B boring or less creative than B2C – it simply needs the right framing with a powerful insight that tells a relatable human story,” comments Claire Denham-Dyson, Head of Anthropology at Demographica and Founder of Labyrinth Behaviour Collective.
“Part 1: Shared experiences” is available to download here. Parts 2, 3 and 4 of the series coming soon.
