How can creativity keep up with experience?

Think of your favourite day out. What do you remember about it? The sights, the sounds, the smells, the feeling? When it comes to your customer experience, you want to replicate this feeling and creativity gives you the tools to do so. A creative idea speaks to all the senses to lay the foundation for a positive, memorable experience.

Forbes reported that 74% of consumers are at least somewhat likely to buy based on experience alone, providing irrefutable evidence that customer experience (CX) should be the north star that guides every business. Experience is everything to B2B brand success, yet creativity remains at its core. But if buyers continually expect the ‘next best experience’, how can creativity possibly keep delivering?

The answer lies in a single truth – by focusing on the customer as well as their experience. In fact, it’s all about the C-words when it comes to CX.

Centre on the individual story

Creativity is the showcase – where all of your customer data, hooks, and messaging are blended, visually shaped and released into the B2B wild. The trick is to balance the what and why with the wow, using the insight and strategy to craft an intelligent story that speaks to target audiences and meets their individual expectations:

• Mirror their real world – no stock imagery or cookie-cutter approaches
• Clear understanding and guidance – what’s now, what’s next, and how to get from A to B
• Maximise reach and impact – multiple content formats and channels to suit different people and their specific preferences
• Use customer insight to drive and measurable outcomes to deliver – use data to show that you know them and are making a real difference FOR them
  

Courage to be bolder in B2B

The majority (82%) of B2B marketing leaders globally say creative confidence is growing, with more than two-thirds (69%) agreeing that B2B purchasing decisions are just as emotionally driven as B2C (LinkedIn research, 2022). However, we really need to keep that needle moving for B2B to be everything it can be:

• Intuition and imagination – always be brave and try something new, fresh, and distinctively right for your audience
• Inquisitive evolution – ask customers what works for them, where you can improve, and never stop listening
• Approachable conversation – express your vision as you would in person, with sentiment, light humour, and even comedic messaging
• Lean into emotion – showing empathy and making people feel something is where B2B marketing can really stand out
  

Consistent is memorable

A lack of creative identification across customer communications can be damaging to the brand. Whatever the creative application, consistency is critical to create brand associations and memories. However, this goes far beyond following identity guidelines. Instead, treat every customer touchpoint as an opportunity to express ongoing value and act on your brand promise:

• Regular, ongoing communication – your customer’s experience begins and ends with the brand, not with marketing, sales, or customer service
• Be distinctive – your brand voice should always be loud, clear and identifiable
• Help is mandatory – where to go for help and advice should be readily available and easy to find on every communication
• Relationships are developed, not made – provide engaging experiences throughout the buyer journey to better nurture customers
  

According to a Forbes Insight study, 65% of consumers today say a consistently positive brand experience would make them a longer-term customer.

Creativity is key to bringing customer preferences to life – turning individual-level data into distinctive personalisation, human conversation, and a clear value story. All delivered through an identifiable personality and based on your brand promise.

It’s no wonder then that B2B marketing leaders believe that innovation, customer insights, and data analytics are the top skills needed for creativity today (LinkedIn research, 2022).