Blog Post

Two Powerful Rules Of Simplicity For Better Industrial Marketing

  • By Mark Baker
  • 23 Oct, 2015

"Simplicity" has become a marketing buzzword. Sparse ad campaigns and a preference for minimalistic UX designs have made it clear that simplicity and concision are the future of B2B marketing.

In a recent interview with B2B Marketing Insider, Margaret Molloy, the Global CMO and Head of Business Development at the strategic-branding firm Siegel + Galein discussed the company’s focus on simplicity as a major strategic principle:

“We conducted [a] study to quantify what we believed intuitively to be the case—simplicity pays. In addition to the qualitative and quantitative information on brands around the globe, we developed a ranking of each brand on the simplicity/complexity of their interactions and communications relative to their industry peers. Our research indicates that consumers are not only seeking simpler brand experiences, but they’re actually willing to pay more for them.”
 
Research shows that simplicity sells. But in the B2B industry, in which customers generally require a lengthy process of approvals before they can green light a purchase, simplicity looks different. The B2B industry is a much different jungle from the typical B2C market that relies on impulse purchases, and in different jungles, different rules apply.
 
In industrial marketing, a good marketing campaign focuses on identifying pain points, making a believable connection between those pain points and your product, and building long-term trust. Here are two rules of simplicity for effective B2B industrial marketing that will help you do all of those:

1. ADDRESS THE CUSTOMER’S PROBLEM WITH CONCISE CAUSE-AND-EFFECT STATEMENTS.

The primary goal of your marketing efforts is to communicate to buyers why they need your product. Make it clear to them what it will cost them if they don’t take action, and give simple and practical examples of what will happen if they don’t use your product. But don’t begin by talking about your solution. Begin byaddressing the customer’s problem with a clear and simple message.

In a recent article from Industrial Marketing Today, Achinta Mitra makes this telling observation:

“I see industrial marketers assume that their audience is aware of the problem and is actively seeking a solution, presumably theirs. Their entire content marketing strategy is based on that assumption...[but] your industrial content marketing isn’t going to be very successful if it is all about selling a solution in search of a problem. As contrarian as this may sound, industrial marketers ought to first focus on raising awareness of the problem before they can sell their solution.”

How do you do this? Keep your message simple and effective by using concise statements that clearly illustrate what happens if the customer doesn’t use your product. Boil your message down to a powerful one-liner—something concise and sharp as a razor. Use cause-and-effect statements that cut to the chase immediately: If this, then that.

If you keep using your current product, you will lose this amount of profit.”

In this example, the customer might not even know that they have a pain point until you show them what’s at stake for maintaining his status quo.

As eager as you are to talk about your product, in the end it's not really  about you or your product. From the vantage point of the customer's bottom line, it's all about their pain points and what you can do to relieve them. If you make a clear connection between your product and your customer's pain point, then you have an interested buyer.

2. HELP FIRST, THEN SELL.

Make your website a helpful resource for those in your industry by filling it with engaging content and relevant data that can help visitors boost their bottom line. Give thorough information about your product so that visitors can do the research they need without having to call someone. Keep that content simple and streamlined, and easy to access.

Take into consideration the telling data that Mitra cites:

“According to Acquity Group’s annual State of B2B Procurement study, “Although supplier websites are the most popular channels for conducting research online (according to 83 percent of respondents), buyers are not satisfied with the level of information offered—only 37 percent of B2B buyers who conduct research through a supplier’s website said it was the most helpful channel for this purpose.”

The problem here is simple: if you assume your site visitors will be moved to contact your sales people over the phone, and if that assumption causes you to skimp on the helpfulness and thoroughness of your site, you will lose leads. Buyers like to research a product on their own without the forceful personality of a salesperson breathing down their collar when all they want is thorough information about how your product can reduce their pain points.

In other words, make your website as helpful as possible. Mitra recommends the 80/20 rule: 80 percent helping, 20 percent selling.

Mitra notes how powerful this can be in building trust with your buyers:

"In my experience, the best way to build stronger relationships based on trust is with industrial content marketing where your Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) are in the forefront. One engineer to another is a very effective method for gaining trust."

When people begin to associate a sense of trust when they see your name or logo, you are doing some powerful brand-building.

Mark Baker

Mark Baker is a natural artist. Since starting his first business hand painting graphics onto vehicles in high school, Mark gained experience in the entertainment, sports, and retail industries before founding this company in 1993. Honest and pragmatic, Mark knows that anything can be accomplished with a great communication plan and creative thinking. 

Geared Up to Market Blog

By Mark Baker 26 May, 2017
Creating and executing a marketing campaign is challenging, no doubt. But follow this process, and you’ll watch your campaign soar.
By Mark Baker 09 May, 2017
Your brand is your company’s identity. Better make it a good one.
By Mark Baker 06 Apr, 2017
People often confuse the terms advertising and public relations. Here’s the difference and how use them both to your advantage.
More Posts
Share by: