Why Account-Based Advertising Really Works

The Essential Read for All Companies Embracing B2B Display Advertising and Programmatic B2B. All you need to know about the value of branding in B2B in a concise report: “The 5 principles of growth in B2B – Empirical Observations on B2B Effectiveness”

Most content published around B2B Demand Generation is generated by  martech vendors and it is basically product oriented; covering short-term, bottom-of-the-funnel tactics. However, big picture reports on the value of brand building in business-to-business relationships are in short supply when compared to B2C.

As budgets are scrutinized and with marketers needing to show business value: how much credit should go to advertising as contribution to revenue?

“The 5 principles of growth in B2B – Empirical Observations on B2B Effectiveness” is a report published by The B2B Institute—a think tank, funded by LinkedIn-.

It makes use of the UK IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) Databank, containing data from almost 1500 marketing and advertising campaigns, with details of business, targeting and creative strategies, budgets, media and—crucially—business results.

In this paper, five key principles that drive growth in B2C are shown to also work for B2B:

1. Invest on Share of Voice. In B2B, brands that set their share of voice (SOV) above their share of market (SOM) tend to grow.

2. Balance Brand and Activation. In B2B, brands should balance the budget between long-term brand building and short term sales activation with a 50/50 split.

3. Expand your customer base. In B2B, customer acquisition strategies tend to be much more effective than loyalty strategies.

4. Invest in Mental Availability. In B2B, campaigns that aim to increase a firm’s share of mind are the most effective, and the more famous they make the company, the better the business results: given a choice between several options, people tend to prefer the one that comes to mind most easily.

5. Harness the Power of Emomtion. In B2B, emotional messaging is more effective in the long-term, and rational messaging is more effective in the short-term.

At AccountInsight we support the view that Account-Based Advertising is the most effective way B2B companies can build an effective brand activation strategy in digital media. Want to know more? Do contact us or pick from free the report from the B2B Institute.