When B2B brands make a promise to their customers, their brand metrics are more likely to be positive, according to new research from LinkedIn B2B Institute and Warc.
According to LinkedIn B2B Institute and Warc, B2B brands that make clear promises to their customers are nearly three times more likely to drive market share growth than those that don't.
A new study of 703 award winners and B2B campaign winners found that 18% of them made clear promises to their customers, and 82% made no promises.
speak at Advertising Week Europe 2024 takes place today (May 15th).Paul Stringer, editor-in-chief of Research and Insights at Arc, says data shows that B2B marketing promises “much less” than B2C marketing, and perhaps even worse, “big, bold, brand-name There was a lack of leading ideas.” ”.
He argued that most communications boil down to the “product first” mentality that many B2B brands embrace. Stringer also lamented the company's focus on “short-term strategies” rather than adopting a more long-term brand strategy.
As a result, B2B brands that deliver on promises to customers are 2.5 times more likely to drive brand health (48% with promises vs. 19% without promises) and more likely to drive market share growth We found that the sex was 2.9 times more likely (20% vs. 7%). 1.2 times more likely to increase market penetration (44% vs. 36%);
This work, Continuation of research Introduced last year, we looked at the benefits of making promises to customers across B2C and B2B campaigns. Expansion paper scheduled for release in September.
Last year's research found that B2C brands that delivered on their promises were 1.5 times more likely to improve brand health, 1.6 times more likely to drive market share growth, and 1.2 times more likely to similarly drive market penetration. It was shown that high
B2B companies that make clear promises are 48% more likely to improve brand health
“In B2B, the idea is that branding is optional if you can afford it,” says Mimi Turner, head of EMEA at LinkedIn's B2B Institute.
“But I'm a firm believer that brand is 100 times more important in B2B than in B2C. There are often tiebreakers when all else is equal, but what we've seen What we're seeing is a group of buyers choosing bigger brands.”
LinkedIn and Warc wanted to focus exclusively on B2B brand campaigns in their research last year, but simply didn't have a large enough dataset to draw accurate conclusions. At the beginning of 2023, he said, there were only 435 B2B Award entry campaigns, but that number has since “more than doubled.” This can also be attributed to his introduction of Creative B2B Lions in 2022.
Original research shows that a promise to a customer boils down to one of three things: better value and quality, easier to use, or a product that makes them feel something.
Or, as Turner said on Marketing Week in June, whether it's “valuable, achievable, and memorable.”
The most reassuring thing about the promise to customers is that it's “free,” Turner said. Because it's just strategic thinking, and even brands with small budgets can create a “competitive advantage.”
“We've talked in the past about how customer promises can be a way to reframe a brand to explain it to the board,” Stringer added. “This is also a good test to determine how market-oriented a company is. If they are making promises, it means they are taking the time to diagnose what their customers want. Because I spent it.”
