TOTALPERSONB2BAPPROACH:

ACCELERATINGNEWBRAND

GROWTH

Introduction

INAWORLDWHEREOURBUSINESS

ANDPERSONALLIVESHAVECONVERGED,SOSHOULD

BUSINESSCOMMUNICATIONS.

TheB2Bbuyingprocessismorecompetitivethaneverbefore,withthegapbetweenawinningand

losingbrandshrinking78%since2021.B2B

brandsareatacriticalmomentthatrequiresthemtounderstandtheircustomers’motivations,needs,behaviors,values,anddecision-driverstoearn

attentionandconsiderationintoday’sbusinessenvironment.However,toomanyB2Bbrands

focusontherationalandfunctionalmessagingandnotenoughontheemotionalandvalue-driven

brandbuildingthatcreatesrelevancyandtrustwithbusinessdecisionmakers.

B2Bbuyers’decisiondriversarebecomingmorepersonal,andemotionallyled.In2021only38%ofdecisiondriverswerepersonal-todaythatnumberis52%.WhenconsideringcompaniestohireforB2Bproductsandservices,B2Bbuyers’topconsiderationsareseekingbrandsthatare

knownasthoughtleadersintheircategory,areagoodcompanytoworkfor,andmakethemfeelsafetodobusinesswiththem.

Accordingtodentsu’s

2024SuperpowersIndex,

B2Bbrandsthatfullydeliveracrossthe

professionalandpersonaldecisiondriversseebetterperformancethanthosewhodonot,

including:

?Convertingopportunitiestosalesfasterwithaveragesalescyclesbeing27%shorter.

?Drivingnearly3timesincreasedspendfromtheircustomersinthefuture(33%versus

13%).

?Achievingalmosttwicetheadoptionratefortheirproductsandservices(41%vs23%forotherbrands).

?ReceivingsignificantlyhigherNetPromoterScores(+83vs+23forotherbrands).

So,whatshouldB2Bmarketersdotobecome

future-readyforthenewwaveofB2Btotal-personmarketing?

2.

/Introduction

Therearethreeprinciplesto

successfullybuildaTotal-PersonB2Bcommunicationsapproach:

01.Havethemostinterestingthingstosaywherepeoplearemostinterested.

02.Thinkaboutyourplatformas

muchasyouthinkaboutyourcontent.

03.Planformomentsthatmatter.

IMPLEMENTATOTAL-

PERSONB2BAPPROACH.

AtiProspect,westarteveryB2Bengagementby

firstpaintingapictureoftheTotal-PersonB2B

Buyerthatwilldrivebusinessgrowth.Weaimto

understandtheircurrentrelationshipwithyour

brand,yourcompetitors,andtheothercontentandmediathatcapturetheirattention.

WhatisTotal-PersonB2B?Simply,itislookingbeyondtitlesandjobdescriptionswhenidentifyingwaystoconnect.It’salsoanimportantfoundationforaccount-basedexperiences(ABX),deliveringone-to-onepersonalizationacrossthebuyer

journey.TheaverageB2Bbuyingdecisiontakesmorethanayear(379days)–andtokeepyourbuyer’sattentionforthatlong,personalization

throughABXandthebreadthofaTotal-PersonB2Bapproachisamust.

CombiningthepowersofMerkury,ourglobaldata,identity,andinsightsplatform,withour

SuperpowersIndex

,westartbylookingatwho

potentialandcurrentcustomersare.Welearnwhattheirroleisinthedecision-makingprocessand

ipROSPECT

whatmatterstothemintheirjob.Welearnabout

thequalitiestheyvalueinthemselvesandothers

andwhatmotivatesthemeachday.Welearnthe

otherbrandstheyhavepreferenceforandhowtheyspendtheirtime.Weanalyzetherolemediaplays

intheirlives,bothprofessionallyandpersonally.

Onlythencanweuncovertherealhumaninsights

thatleadtodistinctiveandeffectiveB2Bcampaigns.

Workday,oneofiProspect’sclients,isashiningexampleofthepowerofTotal-PersonB2B.

Workday’sRockStarcampaign,executedin

partnershipwithWPPOgilvy’screativeteam,continuestosucceedbecauseitisbuiltonandaroundnotonlyprofessionalbutalsopersonal

interests(sportsandtravel).Itacknowledgesthatbuyershavebusyprofessionalandpersonallives

andleveragesbreakthroughmediaplacementsthatbringhumanitytoB2Bmessaging.

Rightaboutnowyouarethinking:“Ok,I’msold.ButhowdoIapplyTotal-PersonB2Btomybusiness?”

3.

FutureReady

01

HAVETHEMOSTINTERESTING

THINGSTOSAYWHEREPEOPLEAREMOSTINTERESTED

AttentionhasnotbeenatopconsiderationinB2B,butitshouldbe.

4.

Havethemostinterestingthingstosaywhere

peoplearemostinterested

Considerationsformarketers.

Thechannelsandformatsthatdrivethemostattentionwithpeoplealsoworkforbusinesspeople–build

yourcreativetostandoutinthoseenvironments.

ThirtypercentofB2Bbuyersareeliminatingthe

second-placedbrandbeforeevencontactingthem.

Grabbingbuyers’attentionearlywithakeypoint-of-differencecanmakeorbreakapotential

contract.

Seventy-onepercentofB2Bmarketersbelievethattheirdistinctbrandpositioningperforms

stronglyinthemarket.Sixty-eightpercentofB2Bbuyersthinkmostofthecommunicationstheyseefrombrandslooksthesame.

Whydoesthisdisconnectexist?Itcomesdowntothis:whatwe(marketers)findinterestingisnot

alwaysthesamethingthatthey(B2Bbuyers)findinteresting.

Justbecauseyouaresellingbusinessproductsandservicesdoesn’tmeanthatyouronly

competitionisotherbusinessproductsand

services.Thethingsyourbusinesshastosay

needtobemoreinterestingthaneverythingvyingforyourcustomer’sattention.Afterall,youare

mostlikelycompetingwithaTikToktheirwork

bestiejustsentthem,whattheofficecrewwantstoorderforlunch,oranoldboss-turned-LinkedIn-

influencer'srecentPOV.Youarecompetingwith

peoplewonderingwhytheDuolingoowlissad(anyone?).Youareinabattleforpeople’s

attention,andnotjustintheirworkenvironment.

ipROSPECT

SomeB2Bcompaniesshyawayfromsocialand

culturalrelevanceforfearthattheircompanywon’tbetakenseriouslyenough.Anaddoesn’tneedtobeserioustobebrandsafe.ManyB2Bbrands

havefoundsuccessbyleaningintocultureanddevelopingcontentthatisrelatabletothe

businesspersonastheirtotalself.Thetrickis

knowingwhereattentionisgoingtoworkhardestforyourbrand.Infact,whenyoubalancechannelreachandachannel’simpacttoabrand’s

Superpowersscore,social,experts,and

influencersdrivegreaterattentionwithinthemediamix.

Gettingpeople’sattentiontakesmorethanjusta

cleverad.AtiProspectanddentsu,weareleadersinattention.Ourongoing

AttentionEconomy

workhashelpeddemystifytheage-oldadvertisingquestion:“Whatpartofmyadvertisingworksand

whatdoesn’t?”Whatweknowdoesn’tworkis

advertisingthatdoesn’tgetlookedat.Wefound

that,onaverage,adsarelookedatdirectlyforonlyone-thirdofthetimetheyappear.Themajorityarelookedatperipherallywhileothersarenotseenatall.Thatdoesn’tmeanthatonlyone-thirdofads

areeffective–adsthatareseenintheperipheral

cananddodrivesalesimpact,albeitlessthan

thosethatreceivefullattention.Whatmattersmostwhenitcomestoeffectivenessisthatyourcreativeisstrongandclearlybranded,thatitisfully

viewableintherightcontext,andthatitkeeps

peoplethereaslongaspossible.5.

6.

FutureReady

02

THINKABOUTYOURPLATFORM

ASMUCHASYOUTHINKABOUTYOURCONTENT

WhetheryouaredevelopinganadforB2BorB2C,thecontextin

whichthatadisviewedmatters.Gonearethedayswhenyoucouldcopy/pasteonecampaignassetintoallyourchannelsandexpect

yourcampaigntoperformamazingly.

Thinkaboutyourplatformasmuchasyouthink

aboutyourcontent

Considerationsformarketers.

Don’tcopy/pastecreative!Identifytheplatformsyourbuyersusemost

andworkwiththoseplatformstobuildcontentthatisbespoketothe

placementwhilestillreinforcingyouroverallbrandstory.

Whenplanningforcampaigns,youmust

considerthechannels,platforms,andformatsthatwillbethebuildingblocksofyourbrand

storyandexploittheirbenefitstoyouradvantage.

LookingbackatourAttentionEconomy

research,wefoundthatvideoadsonSocial(in-feedmobile)andMobile(pre-roll)receivedfullergazewhenviewingcomparedtoTVads.Thesemobilevideoformatscanbebetterat

communicatingsomeofyourcompany’sunique

sellingpropositions(USPs)andbenefits,especiallyifusingconsecutiveadunits.

Merkury,plusouriProspectplatformhyper-

specialists,canhelpcreateuniquesolutionsforB2Bmarketers.Whereverpossible,weliketoworkwithourplatformpartnerstoidentifyandinnovatetheformatsweuseforbrands.

Inthesemoments,makesurethatyou,yourmediaagency,andyourcreativeteamssharea“one

team,onedream”mentality.Itisessentialfor

activatingworkthatisbespoketoyourbrandandisinnovativeinthemarket.

Gettingtoformat-firstecosystemplanning

requiresadeepknowledgeofthechannels,

platforms,andpartnersandthebehaviorsthatpeopleexhibitonthem.

ipROSPECT7.

8.

FutureReady

03

PLANFORMOMENTS

THATMATTER

SimilartoB2Cbrands,B2Bmarketingrequiresadeepunderstandingof

theconsumerjourneytoidentifythebestmomentsforconnection

betweenabuyer,theirpanelofstakeholders,andyourbrand.However,B2Bbrandshavemorecomplexityinthekeyinfluencersanddecision

makersateachstageofthatjourneyanditdoesn’talwaysgetnarrowerthecloseryougettothepointofsale.

/Planforthemomentsthatmatter

Considerationsformarketers.

Don’tfalltraptotheoldmarketingfunnelandthinkitwillworkthesamewayforB2B.Ensureyouknowthe

coreinfluencersanddecisionmakersandknowthatsometimes,theyare

NOTthebuyer.

Buyingteams,onaverage,includesixtoseven

members.Understandingeachindividual,and

reachingthemviaasoundABXstrategy,makesahugedifferenceinbeingabletoeffectivelyspeaktothepersonversusthecompanyatthetimesthat

mattermost.

Capturingtheactualleadisnottheonlymoment

thatmatters.AccordingtoLinkedIn’sB2BInstitute,inpartnershipwiththeEhrenberg-Bassinstitute,

only2%ofB2Bbuyersareactivelyin-marketfor

yourproductsorservicesatanygiventime,whichmeansyourbusinessneedsthesamereachand

mentalavailabilitytobeconsideredwhenin-marketinterestistriggered.

Withsuchalongbuyingcycle,it’simportanttotakeafullbrand-to-demandapproachthatappropriately

plansfor,measures,andoptimizesthekey

inflectionpointsacrossthebuyerjourney.Too

often,weseebrandsfocustheirKPIs(and,

therefore,investments)heavilyontheendofthebuyingjourney.

Ameasurementframeworkthatevaluatessuccessacrossallstagesofdecision-makingcanfuelsalesandmarketingteamswiththedatatheyneedto

engageeffectivelywitheachpersononthebuyingteam.Thattranslatestomessagingandmedia

that’strulytailoredaroundyourkeybuying

ipROSPECT

situations,orthemomentsthatmatterinyour

buyer’sjourney,sothatyouarereadyinmarketwiththebestsolutionwhentheyare.

AtiProspect,wehaveindustry-leading,proprietarytoolsandresearchthathelpusunderstandyour

buyers’journeysbetterandwhatmatterstothem

eachstepoftheway.Dentsu’s

Superpowers

Index

helpsuspinpointtheattributesthatarethe

mostinfluentialateachstage,andourMerkury

B2BConnectdataensureswearereachingthem

atthehighestopportunity.Thisallowsustoplanforthekeymomentsinthejourneyandcreate

experiencesthattelllayeredbrandstoriesthataligntobroadreachinitiatives.

It'snotjustaboutfindingthemomentsthatmatter

butalsoensuringyouaredeliveringanexcellent

experienceinthatmoment.ThisiswheremostB2Bbrandsfallflat.Infact,since2022,thepositive

experiencesthatbuyershadateachstepofthe

journeywithbrandshasfallensignificantly.Thereisagreatopportunityforbrandstogettheexperiencerightfortheircustomers.

However,everyB2Bcategoryisdifferentandhasbuyerswithdifferentneeds.It’simportanttodotheworkupfronttounderstandwhatmomentsmattermostandwhatwillmakeabuyerchooseyouoverthecompetition.

9.

/FuturereadyB2Bstrategychecklist

Settingthefoundation:

oAreyouconductingacompetitiveanalysistounderstandthecurrentlandscapeandwhat’snext?

oDoyouhaveacomprehensiveunderstandingofthebiggestchallengesyourmarketingteamis

facing?

Creatingaseamlesscustomerjourneyandexperience:

oHowdoyoumapandoptimizethecustomerjourney?

oDoyouutilizeaudiencesegmentationtoinform

campaigndevelopment,targetingspecificgroupsratherthanageneralaudience?

Implementingacomprehensivecontentstrategy:

oIsthereacontentdevelopmentstrategyinplaceforallcurrentchannels?

oIsyourcontentdevelopmentstrategydrivenbyperformancemetrics?

Defininginternalfunctionalalignment:

oIsthereaconnectionbetweenSalesEnablementandMarketing?

oIfso,howdothesedivisionscollaboratetoachievebusinessgoals?

Implementingtechnologya