What do B2B decision makers care about? Follow the wrong path on LinkedIn and you could be forgiven for thinking that all B2B buying decisions are based entirely on data and logic. Or that B2B buyers are infinitely impressed by brands that promise to ‘maximise operational synergies’ and ‘leverage a holistic approach to unlock efficiencies’. The truth is a little different.
In this blog, Head of Content and PR Emma Crofts provides some quick tips on how to build B2B brand credibility and turn your internal experts into industry influencers.
It’s possible your carefully crafted B2B content is being ignored. I’m sorry but it’s true. There is just SO much content out there that even the good stuff will have a hard time cutting through. AI has made it faster and easier to produce high volumes of authentic-seeming (but endlessly bland) articles, blogs and reports, and your buyers are drowning in it all.
Yes, it’s always been true that B2B buying cycles are long and complex but now they are longer and more complex than ever. In the time it takes for a decision to be made, your buyers are receiving so much information, guidance and data that they can no longer discern what is real and relevant, let alone what is essential.
Don’t get me wrong; B2B buyers do love data. And as a B2B marketer, I know I do. Nothing draws me in faster than an original statistic or impressive proof point. But during these times of information overwhelm, B2B decision makers need something more. They want people they can really put their faith in. People that share their values, understand their challenges and can give depth to the data by relating it to lived experiences. People willing to put their name (and face) to a product or service. This is where real relationships between brand and audience begin to grow and where, as recently covered in The Drum, storytelling can turn trust into commercial advantage.
Here’s one of those all important statistics we all like: according to Marketing Week, more than two thirds of B2B decision makers feel trust has become more important to success, making it critical to commercial relationships. So how is that trust established? For existing customers trust is built over time, and responsibility for earning it spans all operational teams; it's achieved by proving reliability, through good communication and human interactions, and through joined up CRM systems and good data security. But first your brand needs to get the opportunity to prove itself. You need your prospects to start trusting you too.
With prospects, the responsibility for establishing trust most often sits with the marketing and PR departments. And while they’re up to the task, it's not something they can achieve without buy-in and support from other experts within the business. Your comms teams can speak with a consistent brand voice, share data and benefits, and shape communications around the specific needs of customers - but they’re not always the people B2B buyers really want to hear from. You need to give them access to your senior leaders and subject-matter experts.
A few more brand trust statistics to get your teeth into:
A clear picture is beginning to emerge. B2B buyers care about the humans behind the brand. There is power in the opinions of your leading analyst and your engineers; in statements from your R&D teams about why they feel inspired to go the extra mile; in testimonials from customers who decided to stay with you for longer. B2B buyers want to hear it all - and they want it in real words not marketing speak. This is the evidence that gives real weight to your data, and it can be turned into persuasive stories ideal for sharing across multiple channels. It’s B2B marketing gold - but it can be difficult to mine.
Here’s the problem: all of the people you need to add their voices to your marketing messages are busy. They have other jobs to do. And quite often they will have all of the information in their heads but find it difficult to relay in a clear and concise way. This is where your marketing and PR people can step in to empower them. It’s our job to make it as easy as possible for your experts, employees and advocates to share their stories.
Building B2B brand trust can’t be achieved overnight. It requires a well-considered strategy that includes elements of employee advocacy, thought leadership and customer storytelling. Ideally, it will give your audiences content across multiple channels, so that every touchpoint provides a consistent brand experience. And be sure to mix up your formats too; visuals and videos, podcasts and live Q&As all help to humanise your B2B brand, making you more believable and more buyable.
That doesn't mean you can't make some fast changes for instant impact. Here are three things you can do to start addressing your credibility challenges right away.
It’s a simple thing, but so many B2B brands neglect to do it. If you’re blogging (or vlogging) regularly - which you really should be - replace your disembodied brand voice with a real human voice and attribute your blog to someone that can be followed on social channels or contacted directly. If possible, add some strong but brand-aligned personal opinion and a headshot for extra impact.
Achieve this by interviewing your experts. A quick 15 minute call might be all it needs to get the bones of a short blog, or ask them to send you over some bullet point responses to structured questions. The important thing is that their personality shines though. Suddenly, your B2B brand is so much more relatable.
Employee advocacy on social media is an incredibly effective and cost-efficient way to increase reach, boost engagement and build brand trust. Research also suggests that it can result in a 5x increase in web traffic and 25% more leads. So what are you waiting for? The next time you put together a social media plan, make sure you add streams for employee advocacy, drawing in the people from across your business that best embody your brand values.
Support your advocates by suggesting posts and reshares, choosing a pattern that suits their schedules. Daily news scans might be useful to help experts decide what they want to comment on, and a briefing document can make sure everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet where people want to draft their own posts. Consider longer form LinkedIn articles too, to reach a wider audience than web-based blogs.
Every good content and PR plan will mix in paid, earned, shared and owned (PESO) coverage. But if budgets are tight and it’s trust you’re after, you really can’t beat earned coverage in well respected titles. This is possibly less of a ‘quick win’ if you’ve never done it before, but if you get the foundations right and put credible people at the centre of every story, it becomes easier over time to establish a drumbeat of regular placements and mentions in the press; increasing your share of voice and building the trust that will help buyers take action.
Make sure you consider both proactive and reactive PR. For reactive opportunities, having a set of agreed statements to adapt, or preparing responses to upcoming announcements in advance, can help you cut stakeholder sign-off times and be fast off the starting line. Journalists often want clear opinions from leading voices when a story breaks, but they need them fast. Discover why PR is so good at building trust and supporting sales in our recent blog from one of Pod’s PR experts Mike Nicholls.
Need a little strategic support to turn your B2B brand into a trusted expert for your industry? We can help.