Omnichannel or Obsolete? How to Attract Today’s B2B Buyer
Image Credit: Salesforce and Matthew McConaughey Super Bowl Ad “Team Earth” Campaign
06.26.25
Team IVC
Omnichannel or Obsolete? How to Attract Today’s B2B Buyer
More than three years ago, Salesforce took a shot across the bow of B2B marketers everywhere when they put Oscar-winning actor Matthew McConaughey in a Super Bowl ad for their “Team Earth” campaign. While this was not the first B2B ad to air during a big sporting event (golf tournaments have featured Accenture and other B2B brand ads for years), it was a huge statement about the state of B2B marketing and storytelling.
The Big Game has always been the TV program of choice for hilarious snack chip, beer and soft drink ads. So, what was Salesforce betting on when they bought this expensive spot, with a big-name celebrity spokesperson?
They’ve probably been watching the ongoing shift in B2B consumer buying habits that began before the pandemic. In fact, according to the Harvard Business Review, the number of channels B2B buyers leverage in their purchase decisions doubled from 5 in 2016 to 10 in 2021 (an amount that’s double what a typical consumer uses). This change in how B2B consumers make buying decisions cemented the need for B2B brands to commit to an omnichannel marketing strategy.
Historically, B2B brands stayed in their lane, running ads in industry trade publications or exhibiting at industry conferences. But now the goal is to get noticed wherever customers are, even if they might not be thinking about work.
The shift in approach recognizes that customers, even B2B buyers, are “humans” before they are workers, and it meets them where they are. Additionally, large B2B brands have added tactics that have traditionally been reserved for B2C brands. For example, gamification is popping up in unexpected places to engage audiences and drive brand loyalty for brands such as IBM, Siemens, and Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Evolving to an omnichannel strategy can help your brand expand its reach and engage with target audiences in ways that drive more effective results.
What are B2B Omnichannel Campaigns?
Not every B2B consumer may be receptive to an enterprise software ad at their football viewing party. They may want to explore products and solutions in person, online, on social media, and beyond. The omnichannel marketing campaign allows your brand to serve and reach these varied customer preferences in their preferred channel. Within an omnichannel strategic framework, brands seek to personalize each consumer’s experience with the brand and create unique and lasting engagements.
Unlike B2C purchases, which are typically individual decisions, B2B purchases involve several decision makers. Omnichannel campaign tactics reach each of these decision-makers along all points of their unique purchasing journey—awareness, consideration, decision, purchase, and post-purchase retention.
These types of campaigns offer a myriad of benefits for B2B brands, including:
● Improving their customer experience
● Retaining more customers
● Building a loyal customer base
● Expanding reach
● Generating more sales
How B2B Brands Build Omnichannel Campaigns
To build an omnichannel campaign, B2B brands should bring together all the key stakeholders to understand the big picture and ultimate end goal. Once that foundation is established, there are three major steps in the process:
Start with strategy. Great creative needs to be backed by insights. This is where research comes in to really understand the audience and its needs, fears, challenges, desires and passions. Thoughtful planning and establishing a strong channel strategy to create experiences at every step of the journey makes the creation of all the elements in a large omnichannel effort more manageable.
Develop stories that work across platforms. When a B2B brand seeks to generate awareness, create demand or gain the trust of employees, the brand narrative should be placed at the heart of every audience engagement strategy and tactic. And these stories must be capable of moving audiences across platforms and formats as they move through their buying journey. Great content can help brands create positive experiences for key audiences and compel them to come back for more. It is the ticket to capturing audience attention and driving desired behaviors.
Measure success. Break down measurement into three steps— “What,” “So What,” and “Now What”. Capturing the right metrics (the “What”) is critical, but it’s only the first step in the measurement process. Those metrics must be analyzed and compared against the original goals established at the beginning of the campaign process to determine what it means (the “So What”). Finally, after analysis of the metrics, recommendations for next steps or changes should be made to address what worked and what needs improvement. That is the “Now What.”
How Invision’s Expertise in B2B Marketing Helps Clients
Invision has spent more than three decades creating dynamic event marketing campaigns. We brought vibrant, elaborate, and coordinated event experiences to life for many of the world’s most recognizable B2B brands—from Dell Technologies and Atlassian, to Siemens and Caterpillar. Along the way, we advised many clients on strategy and took those dynamic experiences out of the exhibit hall, into online spaces, and beyond.
Invision’s Strategic Solutions Team, coupled with our insight-driven creative approach, is the hallmark of a full-service brand experience agency. These insights guide B2B brands in thinking about their customer experiences from start to finish, including event marketing campaigns, brand promotions, and internal employee engagement campaigns.
We work every day with multiple business divisions within our client partner organizations, helping them come together to tell a cohesive, unified, and powerful brand story and offer unique, value-driven brand experiences.
For example, we can help the CMO introduce a new project to the market at an event, and then leverage that same story in internal channels to help the CRO build strong internal teams. Or help our client’s event team imagine a memorable way to demonstrate solutions at an industry expo while helping the digital marketing team take content from the event and repurpose it for use throughout the year.
Whatever the situation, Invision’s goal is to support our clients as they “Own Every Moment” with their customers.
Are you wondering how Invision can bring brand experiences to life for you so you can own every moment with your clients? Contact your Account Director or email us at info@iv.com for more information.