People love a good story. A hero. A challenge. A journey to redemption. A victory. As observers, we get caught up in the emotion as the drama unfolds. We invest in the outcome. We care. Dare I say it? We buy.
Since the dawn of time, stories have been used to connect with people by creating a shared experience. Stories are a way of framing our world, a way of explaining and remembering things, a way of putting, often at times, complex ideas into simple, relatable pockets of information. And stories are a way of building trust.
The book, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari, discusses the importance of storytelling in building trust within human societies. According to Harari, storytelling is one of the key factors that allowed Homo sapiens to become the dominant species on the planet. In the book, Harari explains that humans are able to cooperate with one another on a large scale because of their ability to create and share stories. These stories allow humans to form common beliefs, values, and norms, which in turn help to build trust between individuals and within groups.
The use of storytelling in marketing is nothing new, particularly in B2C communication, where it is accepted that the decision-making process is driven by emotion. But, while that is true, what isn’t true is that B2B purchase decisions aren’t any less emotionally motivated.
Traditionally, B2B marketing has been focused on creating strong and rational reasons for purchase. Conversations revolve around performance-orientated features and services. And price, of course. But the belief that the people making B2B purchase decisions are robots and are not influenced by emotion, brand association, and sentiment is flawed. Now we are learning that while rational arguments have their place, people don’t connect with them. Business decision-makers are human too, after all. Studies undertaken by Google show that B2B customers are substantially more emotionally connected to their service providers than consumers might be to their brands. It makes sense when you consider what the impact of their business decision could be – to their company, their budget, perhaps, even to their own reputation and career. A consumer can simply return a bad purchase or, at worst, brush the experience off as a lesson learnt. Not so with business purchasing decisions. Today, marketers are realising that B2B decisions are no less emotionally charged or influenced by the consumer experience.
At Demographica, we have pioneered the use of social science, utilising Business Anthropology in our strategic and creative solutions. Anthropology is the study of humanity – concerned with human behaviour, culture, societies, as well as linguistics. When applied in a marketing and business context, it considers that decision-makers are humans who are influenced by factors beyond product, price, and purpose. Understanding the client’s world on a human level, rather than a purely functional level, provides the context within which B2B businesses can reach out to their clients and cater to their human and professional needs.
So, if storytelling is the way to a decision-maker’s pocket, how do you craft the stories that truly resonate with your target market?
Know your audience
Demographica believes in the business of connections and emotions. To ignore the humanness of business interactions is to do a disservice to your clients, as well as your own business. However, there are differences between the B2C and B2B emotional components. The complexities in the business decision-making process necessitates the unpacking of the relationships between business and brands while increasing our understanding on how people spend company money. Whether the final decision-maker is one or many individuals, it is important to understand all the influences, biases, and perceptions that come into play when making a decision.
Find the emotional hook
Being able to make people care about the protagonist is crucial to any great story. Identify what the customer truly cares about and then reach out to them in an unexpected but meaningful way. At Demographica, we use our combination of Business Anthropology and creative insight to find the conversation that will get the customer to pay attention and care. By working to connect with the customer, we help our clients to become a part of their customers’ stories.
Once you’ve earned your client’s trust, keep it!
Nothing is worse than a disappointing, lazy, or unauthentic end to a great story. Creating great stories includes leaving room for a blockbuster sequel.
Maintaining a position of trust in your client’s emotional space requires:
- Authenticity – the ability to stay true to yourself as a brand while empowering your client to do the same.
- Maintain understanding over time – to be able to walk the road with your client and be physically, mentally, and emotionally present for someone at all stages of their journey.
- Relationships are built on understanding – knowing what the other party feels, what they need, and how they will react, at any given time. And them knowing the same of you.
- A relationship that is more transformational, less transactional – relationships are about mutual benefit. They require that both parties get something out and that trust is valued over financial gain.
Storytelling is a powerful tool. But not any story will do. To resonate in a B2B context, the story has to be informed by a deeper understanding of who you are talking to and what they need out of any relationship. It can’t just be a story about your business, it needs to put the client at the centre in order to build connection and trust.
