‘You’ve got my attention now’: How B2B brands are using emotion to cut through
Study after study shows emotion makes advertising more effective and memorable. B2B brands have been slow to join the party but many are now waking up to the benefits of using emotion to stand out.
Numerous studies have shown that emotional advertising is more effective. Recent research by brand tracking platform Tracksuit found emotional ads can boost brands’ pricing power by 40%, while a report by System1 last year revealed emotional advertising campaigns “build stronger memory structures” which “significantly” boosts ad recall.
Marketing Week columnist and Mini MBA founder Mark Ritson has also highlighted the benefits of emotion in advertising, explaining that doesn’t just mean adorable puppies that pull on the heartstrings, it can be anything from startlement, to joy, to sadness. But in order to be a really effective ad, the emotion has to be there.
In the B2C space, this emotion seems easier to find. But when it comes to B2B campaigns, finding the emotion that suits the brand seems to be trickier. It’s far harder to drum up excitement or any real emotion about workplace software or auditing. And even if an appropriate emotional response can be identified for a product or service, the complexity of the B2B buying group can make it difficult to know whose emotions the ad should attempt to appeal to.
