Smash things up. Breaking the invisible conventions

of B2B marketing

Doug Kessler • @dougkessler

Two lovely, little, old, rectangular, green,

French, silver, whittling knives.

Two French, old, whittling, metal, little,

rectangular, green, lovely knives.

Adjective order

Number > Opinion > Size > Age > Shape

> Color > Origin > Material > Purpose

Adjective order

Little Red Riding Hood

Adjective order

Number > Opinion > Size > Age > Shape > Color > Origin > Material > Purpose

The Big Bad Wolf?

Adjective order

Number > Opinion > Size > Age > Shape > Color > Origin > Material > Purpose

Reduplication

Hodge-podge • Helter-skelter • Hanky-panky

Ablaut Reduplication

zig-zag • knick-knack • mingle-mangle •

criss-cross • flip-flop • sing-song

Ablaut Reduplication

i then a then o

bish-bash-bosh

Ablaut Reduplication

zig-zag • knick-knack • mingle-mangle •

criss-cross • flip-flop • sing-song •

tick-tock • Kit-Kat • King Kong • ping-pong •

ding-dong • pitter-patter • splish-splash

Ablaut Reduplication

The Big Bad Wolf.

The power of invisible conventions.

We need conventions.

But we don’t need

to be slaves to convention.

As marketers, it’s our job to expose the

hidden conventions in our markets…

…and play with them.

Marketing Defense Barrier

Your

discipline’s

Circles of Convention

Your

company’s

conventions

Your

industry’s

Your

country’s Our

species!

Marketing conventions are

deep, strong and invisible.

Marketing lies.

Lung

Cancer

Heart

Disease

Congestive

heart failure

Lost a

lung

Lung and

brain cancer

Heart

attack

Marketing lies.

Everyone hates marketing.

Marketing Defense Barrier.

Something came along and

shattered the core

conventions of marketing.

Marketing

All about the brand

Free to lie

One-sided

Sales message led Brand has power

Interrupt value

Content

Marketing

All about the brand

Free to lie

One-sided

Sales message led Brand has power

Interrupt value

audience

tell the truth

Balanced

Utility Buyer

Deliver

Content conventions

Format conventions

Style conventions

Strategy conventions

Promotion conventions

Content marketing conventions

Marketing Defense Barrier.

Let’s look at a few conventions.

@dougkessler

“Marketing hides your weaknesses.”

@dougkessler

Kessels Kramer

Kessels Kramer

Openly share the weaknesses of your products.

Openly share the weaknesses of your products. It surprises and delights

It signals confidence

It builds trust

It alienates less likely buyers

It attracts ideal prospects

It focuses you on battles you can win

Picocells: Pros and Cons

Picocells: Pros and Cons

“1. Picocells are a new thing to introduce into your network. You may prefer not to have new technology in there.”

Picocells: Pros and Cons

“3. In some places, there may be no IP available for backhaul.”

“Content marketing is all about the data.”

@dougkessler

“If SEOmoz hadn’t been a small startup that could

do whatever it wanted, it would have been very tough

to justify continuing to produce Whiteboard Friday.”

Average views: 20,000

Highest: 200,000

Engagement: 30% higher than any

other Moz tactic

Average views: 20,000

Highest: 200,000

Engagement: 30% higher than any

other Moz tactic

Data said “Kill it.”

Live and breathe data – but be prepared to follow your heart.

“Most great projects start

with belief and instinct.” – Rand Fishkin

“Hide your nerds.”

@dougkessler

GE Paths of Flight

Jenny Doan Missouri Star Quilt Co.

David Lyle, Informatica

Get your geeks into the spotlight.

B2B companies are full of smart,

eccentric, gloriously passionate

people who are great at things that no one else ever thinks about.

“Marketing is relentlessly positive.”

Rants

work

Explore charged emotions, not just the happy-slappy.

“If you don’t have anything nice to

say about anyone, come sit by me.”

– Alice Roosevelt

B2B marketing speaks ‘B2B’.

@dougkessler

The conventional B2B voice. Stiff

Serious

Uniform

Formal

The new B2B voice. Straight & simple

Confident

Conversational

Real & human

Personal

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Loosen up. Find a voice.

“Marketing never swears.”

@dougkessler

People are a bunch of sweary people.

Swear words

% o

f sp

oke

n w

ord

s

0-3.4%

The Utility and Ubiquity of Taboo Words, Timothy Jay @dougkessler

People are a bunch of sweary people.

Swear words

% o

f sp

oke

n w

ord

s

0-3.4%

1st person plural

pronouns

1.0%

The Utility and Ubiquity of Taboo Words, Timothy Jay @dougkessler

1.73 ‘fucks per minute’.

@dougkessler

-- Final season, Deadwood

We swear liberally in TV shows, movies, plays, poetry, music, fiction, non-fiction, daily speech, bar mitzvahs, visual arts, emails, Post-it® Notes, shopping lists and conferences.

@dougkessler

We swear everywhere.

@dougkessler

Everywhere but marketing.

@dougkessler

Don’t swear if your audience doesn’t like swearing.

But do aim for the things swearing can do.

Resonate with the like-minded

Be authentic

Be passionate

Be funny

Add mojo to your voice

Two techniques for breaking conventions

Content

conventions

Format

conventions

Style

conventions

Strategy

conventions

Promotion

conventions

1) The Exposé Workshop

• List the invisible conventions in your market

• Explore what the opposite could look like

2) Reasons not to buy from you

• List 10 reasons smart people may NOT choose you

• See how many really alienate great prospects

• Publish the rest

10 Reasons not to

choose us

Two lovely, little, old, rectangular, green,

French, silver, whittling knives.

The old little man.

Invisible conventions are holding you back.

Expose them.

Break them.

See what happens.

Thank you!