Hey B2B marketers: It's okay to have fun!

Why is so much business-to-business marketing dreadfully boring?

I think it's because the marketers involved think "business" as in "I am marketing to a business" and this results in an overly serious tone. After all, if you are marketing to, say, technology companies that’s different than consumer marketing, right?

Wrong.

B2B marketers seem to forget that what all marketers need to do is communicate to people. People want to do business with people and the companies that understand that in the B2B world develop a following.

National Instruments is a B2B supplier of measurement and automation equipment used by engineers and scientists. The tried-and-true marketing from companies like National Instruments is to focus on feeds-and-speeds, technical data sheets, specs, and so on. After all its the engineering community, right?

While National Instruments does provide product specs, they also realize that their buyers are human.

"We've always had the motto, both internally and externally, that 'It's OK to have fun," says John M. Graff, VP, Marketing & Customer Operations at National Instruments. That fun-loving attitude has produced many ways to communicate with the technical audience that buys NI products.

For example a video blog done by Todd Sierer, an engineer at NI, called an An Engineering Mind is really great. In the episode I chose below, he talks about the meaning of the word "Marketecture." Direct link here.

"We first debuted these videos two years ago at our annual user conference held in Austin, TX where over 3000 engineers and scientists gather to see and discuss latest technologies for measurement and automation," John says.

"In addition to the usual technical product demonstrations, we also try to have some fun, including inviting an engineer from the Spike TV show, Deadliest Warriors to the stage. We've found that our audience greatly appreciates this approach to communication (as they get plenty of examples of the drab, "speeds and feeds" technical fire hose). We believe it's greatly enhanced our reputation."

Are you a B2B marketer? Are you treating your buyers like humans? Are you having some fun?

Really, it's okay to have some fun. I dare you.

Comments

[Kurt W. Welch]

This is great. Another good example of B2B marketers having fun might be the Intermec Technologies' Mike and Larry warehouse video and website (http://www.mikeandlarry.com/) featuring Intermec's bar code scanners. It's truly fun and in my opinion is a great example of how to have fun with B2B marketing.

Thanks for the article Scott!

[Brian Joosse]

If you want to see B2B marketers having fun, you should check out www.crackthegcode.com or www.cnceyeteam.com (also on www.youtube.com/darkcover09). Siemens Machine Tool controllers spinning out a whole conspiracy theory storyline!

[David Meerman Scott]

Kurt and Brian - thanks for the additional examples!
David

[joe]

You might also want to check out www.engineerawesome.com and www.waterloolabs.com for more fun!

[Keith Jennings]

It's almost as if we (marketers, engineers, etc.) believe that appearing smart is more important than being human and sharing a story. Which is the same reason we use jargon too.

Thanks for the reminder that the goal of marketing is to CONNECT with prospective customers.

[David Meerman Scott]

Keith - Great way to look at it -- We believe that appearing smart is more important than being human and sharing a story."

Thanks so much for this brilliant quote.

[Amanda O'Donovan]

David,

This is music to my ears. Have never understood the great B2B/B2C divide. We're all human, and we all respond to emotional connections. So why speak in a different language when you're marketing to a business audience? A business writer should be just as passionate about a watch as a widget.

[Blazing Articles - Submit your unique articles free]

Wonderful post, It's not a job when you enjoy doing it :D

[Amelia Vargo]

Good Points (as always, David!) However I would add that it's a good idea to get the balance right - bit of fun, and bit of seriousness in equal measures.

[twitter.com/Jericles]

David,

Thanks for this. That video was hilarious. And unlike "Crystal Pepsi" I hope my comments are not a marketer's bad idea.

I think this idea of having fun needs to carry over into content writing of products as well. Informational doesn't need to completely take over in marketing materials. If I'm sleeping 2 minutes into looking at your material, I won't care how smart your organization is, or could be.

Make it interesting, people!

[Rick Braddy]

Well, now I feel like I have permission to have fun again in marketing!

I’ve been saying for years that the Sargent Friday Marketing mode of “Just’ the facts, ma’am” doesn’t cut it online. Maybe that stuffed shirt marketing still works deep inside enterprise cubbyholes somewhere, but for the rest of us, as David says, we’re dealing with humans here. And everyone likes to have some fun!

Thanks David!

Read more: Product launch and email marketing blog http://conxentric.com/blog/#ixzz0X3xx3jUZ

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=4714299]

As our company name (Gibson Design Management) contains the name of a martini (Gibson) and many of us in the office are "professional" martini drinkers, we've started using a martini theme for our e-newsletters and posting a martini of the month on our blog.

This is actually what people remember and often comment on. I can't count how many times people start a call with "When are we going to get together for a martini!" or "I have a great recipe to send you." I guess it's good that we are memorable at all, but do you think it's okay that people are remembering something about us that is just for fun and not linked directly to our services?

Alexandra Gibson
http://leftbrainsforrightbrains.com
http://twitter.com/gibsondm