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From Features to Benefits

Storytelling with impact for B2B customers

In this article, we show marketing managers how they can use storytelling to make complex topics more accessible to their B2B customers without losing sight of their marketing objectives.

 

The product or service your company is offering has great added value – as a good marketing team, that's something you are already convinced of. You want to pass this enthusiasm on through your content marketing, so you publish elaborate content about technical features in the hope that the details will speak for themselves. The idea behind this: if I explain exactly what my offer can do, the customer will undeniably want to have it. Unfortunately, this is (usually) not the case.


A buying decision is a complex matter:

  • Researchers such as Alistair Rennie and Jonny Protheroe from Google's behavioural economics department have been investigating the factors that influence it for many years.
  • They have still not been able to completely unravel the intricate paths of decision-making.The study Decoding Decisions: Marketing in the messy middle calls the non-transparent area between incentives and purchasing the "messy middle".
  • However, it’s undisputed that, alongside other aspects, a customer's connection to a brand is decisive for sales success.

Creating a connection – this is possible with the help of stories or overarching thematic structures, known as narratives. People love all kinds of stories because stories evoke emotions. They make us feel joy, sadness, tension or relief.


Narratives appeal to readers in a way that goes beyond basic comprehension. They feel personally affected by the information being told, and they recognise themselves and their challenges in it. This emotional resonance can lead to the content being perceived as more meaningful or relevant and therefore being better remembered.

 

What is storytelling for content marketing?

Storytelling is a technique in which information about a product or service is embedded within a narrative framework. The aim is to communicate a central message to potential customers in the form of a story.


 

B2B Storytelling – An Effective Tool

 

At first glance, most B2B topics might not seem predestined to become moving stories. However, don't let this put you off. A good content team will find emotional moments within a topic that resonate with the reader.

Storytelling as part of B2B content strategies is an effective tool for conveying complex information in an appealing and digestible way. This is because it allows product features to be presented in such a way that the target group perceives them as concrete and tangible benefits (so-called benefit communication).

 

 

Integrating data into your content strategy for more successful content marketing.

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Aspects of Storytelling
for B2B Companies


Relevance and resonance: Stories should be specifically tailored to the needs and challenges of your target group.

Clear, authentic messages: Real stories work better. Each story should convey a clear central message that supports your brand values and objectives.

Visual elements: You can enhance emotional resonance using images, videos and infographics.

Multichannel strategy: Stories should be told consistently across different channels to generate a broad impact.

Measurability: Collecting data on target group engagement helps to continuously optimise your strategy.

Manpower steigert Unternehmenseffizienz durch standardisierte CRM-Prozesse

Acht Länder, acht unterschiedliche Marketing-Prozesse – vor dieser Situation steht Manpower. Die Folge: Uneinigkeit darüber, welche Leads Priorität haben, sowie erschwertes Benchmarking und Austausch über Best Practices.

Um internationale Vergleichbarkeit zu schaffen und Lernprozesse im Unternehmen anzuregen, will das nordeuropäische Marketing-Team um Projektleiterin Tina Hingston ein länderübergreifend konsistentes Lead Scoring und Reporting einführen. Dafür holt sie sich Unterstützung des Strategiepartners andweekly.

 

Die Marketing-Landschaft bei Manpower

Von der herausfordernden und zeitaufwendigen Rekrutierung geeigneter Fachkräfte sind Unternehmen in vielen Branchen und Regionen betroffen. Das Ziel von Manpower ist es, dem Personalmangel weltweit mit innovativen Lösungen zu begegnen. Die ManpowerGroup mit Hauptsitz in den USA und Niederlassungen in rund 80 Ländern zählt zu den weltweit führenden Unternehmen in der Personalbranche.

Kerngeschäft ist die Vermittlung von Fachkräften aus zahlreichen Branchen an Unternehmen, die sich nicht mit zeitaufwendigen Rekrutierungsprozessen beschäftigen wollen. Darüber hinaus hilft Manpower, kurzfristige Personalengpässe zu überbrücken und Produktionsspitzen mit geeigneten Human Resources auf Zeit abzufedern. Zum Unternehmen gehören zahlreiche Tochterunternehmen – darunter auch der IT-Dienstleister Experis, den wir bereits bei seiner Marketing-Strategie unterstützt haben.

andweekly-fritz--9832-workshop-1920x1080

Lokale Marketing-Vielfalt bei Manpower birgt Herausforderungen

Die ManpowerGroup unterhält in jedem Land ein eigenes Marketing-Team, das individuelle Ansätze im Online-Marketing verfolgt. Zwar wurde HubSpot als All-in-one-Plattform für Marketing in den meisten Landesgesellschaften etabliert, doch das HubSpot-Knowhow und der hinterlegte Lead-Management-Prozess sind sehr unterschiedlich.


Das Problem bei Manpower: Die uneinheitlichen Marketing-Prozesse der Landesgesellschaften führen zu inkonsistenter Lead-Qualifizierung: Ein Lead, der in einer Landesgesellschaft als Sales Ready eingestuft wird, kann in einer anderen als Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) eingestuft werden.
Daraus ergeben sich für Manpower folgende Herausforderungen:
Mangelnde Vergleichbarkeit. Unterschiedliche Definitionen und Prozesse machen es schwierig, die Leistung und Effektivität von Marketing-Aktivitäten zwischen verschiedenen Landesgesellschaften zu vergleichen. Ohne einheitliche Standards können sie Best Practices nicht identifizieren und erfolgreiche Strategien kaum replizieren.


Schwierigkeiten bei Zusammenarbeit und Kommunikation. Inkonsistente Definitionen führen immer wieder zu Missverständnissen und Fehlkommunikation zwischen Marketing- und Vertriebsteams, insbesondere wenn diese länderübergreifend zusammenarbeiten.
Verpasste Verkaufschancen. Unterschiedliche und nicht immer optimale Definitionen von MQLs und SQLs bewirken, dass Mitarbeitende bestimmte Leads unter- oder überschätzen. Falsche Prioritäten in der Lead-Bearbeitung kosten wiederum wertvolle Ressourcen.

5 erreichte Projektziele

Standardisierung der Marketing-Automatisierungsprozesse für eine nahtlose Customer Journey in den verschiedenen Manpower-Landesgesellschaften

Entwicklung homogener Dashboards auf globaler Ebene zur einheitlichen Erfassung, Analyse und Vergleich der Performances von Marketing-Kampagnen

Optimierung der CRM-Strategie durch Implementierung von Best Practices für Lead-Erfassung, -Qualifizierung, -Scoring und Reporting mithilfe des HubSpot Marketing Hub

Erzielung von Effizienzgewinnen durch Reduzierung von Inkonsistenzen zwischen den Landesgesellschaften

Erhöhung der Transparenz zwischen den Landesgesellschaften hinsichtlich Lead-Generierung, Lead-Qualität und Marketing-Performance zur Verbesserung der Entscheidungsfindung und Performance

1. The Target Group

 

If you want to be a storyteller, you need to know your audience. Otherwise, the impact of your stories may be limited or even fail altogether.

A target group analysis is always the first step towards storytelling. Using customer surveys, market research and social listening, you can identify the needs, pain points and goals of your B2B customers.

At andweekly, we develop these basics as part of a comprehensive Go-to-Market Strategy: 

  • Value Matrix: We use this to visualise the value of a product or service from the customer's perspective. The value matrix shows the content team how your offer is addressing the specific needs and pain points of your target group and what unique benefits it offers.
  • Persona development: We create detailed buyer personas and profiles of your ideal customers based on collected data. This gives the content team important insights into the work environment, goals and challenges of your readership, which will enable you to better align your storytelling.

 

 

 

2. Messaging

 

The attention span of most people on the Internet is a maximum of 2.5 seconds. That's not a lot of time to attract potential customers. 

That's why the message that your narrative conveys must be correspondingly clear. Well-planned storytelling is driven by data, using it to derive coherent, consistent narratives that support your company's goals.

 

On the topic of authenticity: B2B companies telling stories about real (or true-to-life) people and real (or plausible) situations increases customer trust and identification.

 

 

 

3. Visuals

 

Storytelling isn't just a matter of text. A design team is always involved in content marketing too. This team provides graphics that can convey emotions and messages even more strongly and quickly than words. AI-generated images and stock images are of no help here – authentic images have the greatest impact.

 

 

 

4. Channels

 

In the B2B sector, stories must be told coherently across different channels in order to maximise reach and impact. This consistency helps to strengthen your brand message and build trust with your target group.


Channels relevant for the B2B sector:

  • LinkedIn: Ideal for networking, sharing content and strengthening the corporate brand.
  • Specialist forums and blogs: For further discussions and sharing specialist articles.
  • Email newsletters: For regular updates and detailed insights straight to decision-makers' inboxes.
  • Webinars and online events: For demonstrating expertise and interacting with potential customers.

The choice and integration of these channels should be based on the preferences and behaviour of your target group.

 

 

 

5. Tracking

 

Nobody should have to play a guessing game for whether a story is going to work or not. Relying on data-based approaches to storytelling means you can measure the success of your content objectively.

  • Analysing user interactions and engagement makes it easier to understand which elements of a story appeal most to your customers.
  • Modern analytics tools can be used to measure not only the reach, but also the emotional impact of your narratives.
  • A content strategy that is optimised using this data allows you to communicate even more effectively with your target group and achieve your business goals.

 

 

From Data to Decisions: How Analytics is Transforming B2B Marketing.

Find out more

Content Marketing
at andweekly

A successful content strategy with good storytelling doesn’t happen by chance – it’s the result of thorough analysis, experience and consistency. In most cases, this requires working together with an external team. The andweekly team is your strategic partner for strategy, content, campaigns and technology.
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