We’re heading into the last few quarters of 2022, so we thought it’d be fun to look at what’s really happening in the B2B marketing world right now.
We pull back the curtain in this episode of Demand Gen U, featuring Mark Huber, Head of Brand & Product Marketing, and Silvio Perez, with a brand new job title – Head of Product Innovation at Metadata.
Silvio and Mark chat about what’s changing in the B2B marketing space, the challenges of promoting free trials, what type of content goes viral, and design tips for ads.
For more insights into how the B2B marketing world is changing, tune in to the full episode or keep reading for our top takeaways.
Three top takeaways:
Takeaway 1: Awareness-based advertising > demand creation
Are we seeing a shift from the traditional demand creation approach in B2B marketing? Mark and Silvio say yes. We’re seeing a clear shift to more awareness-based advertising, which is shaking up the status quo.
The thing is, brands that decide to put their content front and center must make sure that the content is strong enough. In a lot of cases it’s not, because these brands are new to a content-first approach.
Silvio’s advice is to remember that good advertising content needs to highlight a pain point and build awareness around that.
Takeaway 2: Free trial/demo adverts often miss the mark
The truth is that people scrolling on LinkedIn aren’t looking for a random free trial.
People will only sign up for a free trial or a demo if it meets a specific need or offers a solution to a pain point. And so, your content, design, and the focus of your adverts need to factor that in.
Advertising free trials and demos is tough, but Silvio believes that the key to a successful advert is to include these three things:
- A focus on pain points – How this tool can solve problems
- Urgency – Why this is the solution now and why you should jump on it
- Social proof – What others are saying about the product
By leading with those three things and highlighting a super specific use case for the product, you can capture the attention you need.
Takeaway 3: Make way for authentic content
What type of content goes viral on social media? Believe it or not, it’s not the super polished, corporate marketing shoots. It’s often the iPhone-recorded, raw, authentic videos that do well these days.
So why not apply that to your ads?
While you need to keep brand guidelines in mind, Mark and Silvio have seen a rise of more flexible, raw, and authentic content with everything from Loom recordings to footage with the mistakes kept in. And people are responding to this fresh approach to B2B content.
Now, this depends on your brand voice and what you’re trying to achieve. But if it’s possible, try out some of those unpolished pieces of content. If they don’t do as well as you’d hoped, you can always go back to the polished stuff. The important thing is to try something different because it could be just what’s needed to breathe new life into your marketing.
