B2B buyers are more emotional than you think

Studio LWD recently published a white paper focusing on branding in the B2B sector after a series of studies highlighted that, contrary to popular belief, branding is actually more important to business customers than consumers.

One study into the role of “emotion” in B2B buying was carried out by Google, Gartner and Motista. In summary, it found that B2B buyers’ decisions were based more on emotions and less on facts and figures than B2C buyers, and by some margin.

Basically, B2B buyers are a lot more loyal to and guided by strong brands than you might think.

So, why are so many B2B brands still so… well… boring?

I challenge you to take a look at your own brand right now. How excited does it make you feel? What emotions does it illicit? Now imagine you are a customer. How does it make them feel? Do they feel more or less excited than you?

Now consider that research has found that personal value has twice the impact of business value on B2B buyers and 90% of purchasing decisions are made subconsciously rather than logically – meaning emotions play an integral role in B2B decision-making.

The evidence is there that strong brand strategies in the B2B sphere can have a transformational impact on the fortunes of companies who sell to other businesses.

Yet B2B companies generally still focus on features, benefits and pricing, rather than the emotional brand experience that research shows actually works on customers.

Do you feel your customers are genuinely excited by your brand? If not, maybe it’s time to put some emotion into it?