Dispatches from BMA14: a Series of Short Reports from the Tell Your Story Team at #BMA14 in Chicago

Karen Walker, SVP of Cisco, presented on the art and science of creating emotional connections with customers this morning. As the b2b buying process continues to change, emotions are playing an integral role in the customer journey. Karen noted that nearly 60% of b2b buyers go to social communities to find information on a brand or product and nearly 85% use social media during the buying process.

A brand is really an emotional connection someone has with a product or service and surprisingly, b2b buyers are more emotionally connected to brands than b2c customers. This makes sense when you consider the risk, time, money and overall consequences involved in a b2b purchase.

What does this mean for marketers? Many things but the bottom line: we need to speak human. As Karen said, this is a no-brainer in theory, but in practice it’s actually very difficult. How many of us have read (and created) marketing literature that we don’t fully understand?

Successful marketers know that brands need to create personal value for the buyer, and they do this by creating meaningful and impactful conversations with their audience on all channels. These conversations achieve the ultimate goal: bringing humanity to a brand’s image.

Now that’s truly an art and a science!