TV advertising for B2B brands faces its share of naysayers. Thought to be overly expensive, broad, and impractical for a brand appealing primarily to business leaders and decision-makers, TV for B2B is unfortunately rarely given the consideration it deserves.
There’s an element of truth to these objections. Plenty of B2B brands aren’t built for TV.
But not all B2B brands are alike. Compare a startup targeting a niche group of highly trained software developers and a catalog company promoting general business supplies. B2B brands appealing to businesses across categories and industries—like the catalog company—can absolutely benefit from TV. In fact, TV’s broad reach is exactly the growth opportunity too many B2B brands are missing. Unconvinced? Check out three reasons below.
1. Digital's limits are... limiting.
A typical scenario: an office administrator searches online for your brand’s category. Your site pops up at the top of the search results. That’s great. You fought tooth-and-nail for those keywords, investing significant time and money into attaining and managing them.
But administrator’s CFO recommended a different supplier, so they navigate away and buy from the competition. It didn’t matter that the person making the purchase saw your site first. A lack of brand awareness lost you even a bottom-of-the-funnel sale that should come easily with paid search ads.
Plus, not everyone contemplating reoutfitting their office will type “desk chairs” into a search engine. Once you’ve captured those rushing online for their business needs, growth is difficult without additional advertising channels.
2. Purchase decisions are rarely made by one person.
Major business purchases involve entire chains of people at all levels of a company. As we’ve seen in the previous example, digital’s highly targeted approach can’t keep up.
Imagine your TV ad aired in the weeks before this company’s search. The CFO notices the ad while watching the evening news and recommends it to the office administrator.
The truly beautiful side of TV for B2B, however, is that you can see results even if neither the CFO nor the administrator ever see the ad. Suppose the CFO’s partner, neighbor or friend views the ad and remembers discussing the CFO’s business problem. There’s a strong chance the CFO will end up hearing about your brand regardless.
Business decisions are complex and varied, a fact your advertising channels should embrace. The countless behind-the-scenes influencers are impossible to target individually, making mass media a far more fitting solution.
3. TV builds your brand now to generate sales later.
Opponents of TV advertising for B2B commonly point to B2B’s history of achieving sales through personal relationships and long-established trust. TV, they say, is simply not how B2B deals are made.
Such claims are short-sighted. TV creates credibility for buyers with whom other marketing channels fail to connect.
First, TV is widely accepted as the top brand-building channel, known for establishing trustworthiness. Second, TV generates energy within your own company walls. With ads airing, stakeholders develop an increased sense of value and employees are excited to see evidence of their hard work on the small screen.
As your brand becomes more familiar, valued and loved, demand increases. Demand increases, sales increase. It really is that simple. TV’s mass reach allows you to forge connections with businesses just now realizing how much they really do need more office storage.
Plus, if you’re still dubious, there’s abundant evidence other channels experience lift when TV enters the picture.
TV and B2B. The two are basically peanut butter and chocolate. Salt and pepper. They complement each other in wonderful ways. Admittedly, the duo’s not for everyone, but to those who appreciate it—it’s highly prized.
Learn more about TV's impact.
Listen to CEO Chuck Hengel and VAB's Reed Kiely discuss TV's potential for brands of all types.
