Humanizing B2B
The new truth in marketing that will transform your brand and your sales
Authors: Paul Cash & James Trezona
As research identifies, almost half of the B2B customers feel bored by the marketing they see now. Marketing leaders have to adapt and evolve, inspire others and although there is a wide variety of businesses, they all want to grow, dominate their category and become meaningful. Humanizing B2B is right on time for us.
Published in 2021 by Paul Cash and James Trezona, the book makes a bold promise right from the title, stating that it will reveal the new truth in marketing that will transform your brand and your sales. The authors are co-founders of B2B marketing agency Rooster Punk and they specialize in helping business and marketing leaders to create transformational growth, by unlocking the power of storytelling and creativity within their organizations.
The first part of the book explains why the currently employed strategies do not work and why humanizing is necessary. The second part focuses on the human approach of B2B and emotion-led marketing principles. If you are passionate about B2B marketing, no matter which hat you are wearing (the technologist, the strategist, the customer champion, the data expert, the creative leader, the analyst or the storyteller), you will be the hero of the book while reading it, as the authors guide us in this journey.
The authors identify five key principles of humanizing B2B that are simple strategies for transforming sales:
1. It's about your people, not products
2. You need a purpose that's actioned
3. Emotion is at your marketing core
4. Likeability is transformational
5. Storytelling is your vehicle
Humanizing B2B places the customer at the center of the business and highlights how important brand building is in order to attract customers. The authors suggest embracing the power of the irrational side of human nature as a way of achieving exponential growth, as this will turn the business into a problem solver rather than a sales pusher. Moreover, key elements that contribute to creating deep connections and engagement with the audience are identified. Cash and Trezona propose a story framework model and solutions for effective story-driven marketing. Humanizing B2B covers so many relevant topics, shifting the mindset from product-powered growth to people-powered growth and I would highly recommend it on your reading list for 2022.
The book is a relevant read for the current times for everyone who wants to humanize their brand, business, and marketing. The authors present easy-to-implement solutions and insights with passion and enthusiasm.
Reviewer: Monica Diana Olteanu