Why has creativity in B2B marketing taken center stage in 2023 like no other year?
With the rapid increase in the use of generative AI technologies, creativity is at the forefront more than ever, as it represents the essence of what humans bring to marketing that AI alone cannot.
While some AI tools can certainly help B2B marketers better execute their creative endeavors, the power of the human touch is undeniable and is increasingly serving as the differentiator between mediocre marketing efforts and five-star creative endeavors that excite and delight brand audiences.
Let’s take a look at how creativity in B2B marketing will blossom in 2023.
1 – Creativity and ideas reign supreme in the B2B marketing team
B2B marketers want to capitalize on the dynamics of competition and use creativity to focus conversations while remaining candid when it comes to brand activism, while making sure to avoid any signs of opportunism.
Some marketers and brands are also retreating from overinvestment in technology, which has diverted some focus from creativity.
“I think in marketing you are only as good as your team’s creativity and your ideas,” noted Judy Tian, Senior Brand Marketing Manager at LinkedIn*. “The more voices we bring to the table, and the more proactive and willing everyone is to contribute their ideas, the better your marketing campaigns will be,” added Judy.
“I think in marketing you are only as good as your team’s creativity and ideas.” – Judy Tian of @LinkedIn Click to tweet
As post-pandemic energy swept into the world of B2B marketing, the floodgates of creativity opened up, leading to an increased focus on the kinds of campaigns that connect brand and customer in deeper and more meaningful ways — and creativity through storytelling plays a part an important role in these efforts.
Powerful storytelling in B2B only succeeds when marketers tell their stories for their audience and not for them – ideally with empathy, creativity, authenticity and heart, as told by Miri Rodriguez, Senior Storyteller Future of Work at Microsoft, in “Microsoft’s Miri Rodriguez on How B2B Marketers Use Empathy for Better Customer Storytelling”.
2 – Differentiation through creativity relevant to B2B audiences
Raja Rajamannar, Mastercard’s Chief Marketing and Communications Officer and President, shared the company’s endorsement of radical shifts in marketing and advertising, explaining how the human elements that include influence are driving the differentiation needed more than ever in 2023 is needed.
“Since the beginning of digital marketing, the reliance on technology and data has become so strong that people have started to see anything creative as unnecessary or superfluous,” Rajamannar told the Association of National Advertisers (ANA).
“But the reality is that technology and data create a level playing field so that a company can no longer compete solely on the basis of product features or benefits, price or distribution network. “One must excel in creativity that is relevant to the human being,” suggested Rajamannar.
Additionally, the most successful companies that use content marketing tend to place a higher value on the trait of creativity. 92 percent of top content marketers said their company helps create successful content, while only 63 percent of underperforming companies value such creativity in content marketing, according to data from the Content Marketing Institute ( CMI).
In fact, according to LinkedIn data, 56 percent of marketers said creativity was the most important skill for navigating uncertain times.
“AI opens the door to new ideas, new executions and new visual elements that I might not have thought of on my own. It expands my creative palette and not only saves me time.” — Chris Lavigne @crlvideo Click to tweet
With the B2B sector accounting for over 50 percent of the economy and B2B brands increasingly starting to leverage more B2C-like marketing efforts, the role and importance of creativity in B2B has naturally increased.
“Even though some may think that B-to-B is all about technology and targeting, our research suggests that creativity is the biggest competitive advantage.” — Peter Weinberg & @JonLombardo Click to tweet
3 – AI can play a role in B2B marketing creativity
Our own CEO, Lee Odden, recently delivered an intriguing keynote on the impact of AI on B2B marketing, presenting “Human vs. Machine: The Future of B2B Content Marketing” during the BtoB Summit Paris 2023 conference.
Lee explained how generative AI essentially “makes you more of what you already are,” where bad content is simply turned into even lower-quality content when a marketer brings it to the AI table, while those that are creative instead and presenting imagination that AI tools do will be rewarded with even more high-quality B2B marketing content that is creative and imaginative.
As the Think With Google team pointed out in their weekly “big topic,” It’s more about AI plus creativity and not AI versus creativity.
Creativity plays an even more important role in B2B marketing in the age of generative AI, while also helping to increase brand awareness and increase profitability.
Tyrona Heath, director of market engagement at the B2B Institute at LinkedIn, discussed some of the many ways creativity adds value to today’s B2B marketing efforts: “B2B advertising doesn’t have to be boring: Why creativity is a key driver of profitability.” “
“Creativity plays an important role in building and growing your brand size,” suggested Heath.
“It leads to greater brand awareness, differentiation, customer loyalty and ultimately greater market exposure. And investing in creativity has a positive impact on financial performance because it serves as a multiplier,” added Heath.
4 – Take B2B marketing to the next level with creativity
In 2023, generative AI and creativity may initially appear as two vastly different endeavors, yet both offer compelling justifications for employing B2B marketers, especially when both are incorporated into each other’s strategy.
The future of B2B marketing features a unique human touch enhanced with AI for creative storytelling, and as new tools proliferate at breakneck speed, it will be the marketers, leveraging both AI and creativity, that will be in the The year 2023 and beyond will see the greatest successes.
“The future of B2B marketing features a unique human touch enhanced with AI for creative storytelling.” — Lane R. Ellis @lanerellis Click to tweet
We hope that some of the insights we’ve shared here about the increasing role of creativity in B2B marketing have been helpful to you, and that you can use these insights in your own B2B endeavors.
Developing creative B2B marketing that highlights talent, gives them a voice and gives them authenticity takes more time and effort than ever. That’s why more and more brands are choosing to work with a top digital marketing agency like TopRank Marketing. Contact us today to learn how we can help you, as we have been doing for over 20 years for companies ranging from LinkedIn, Dell and 3M to Adobe, Oracle, monday.com and many more.
* LinkedIn is a client of TopRank Marketing.
About the author
Lane R. Ellis has over 39 years of experience working with and writing about the Internet. He writes and manages all posts on the award-winning TopRank B2B marketing blog. Before joining the team here as social media and content marketing manager, Lane spent more than a decade as senior editor for renowned conference company Pubcon. When he’s not writing about B2B marketing trends, Lane enjoys long-distance running (he’s completed 11 marathons, including two ultramarathons), genealogy research, cross-country skate-skiing, vegetarian cooking, and spending time with his wonderful wife, Julie Ahasay, and theirs friends cats Kukla, Twister and Arlo in beautiful Duluth, Minnesota.
