Insights: Creativity and Effectiveness in B2B Marketing

The B2B Effectiveness Code

Creativity and effectiveness in B2B marketing from 2010-2021

To help B2B brands be more effective in marketing, the B2B Institute at LinkedIn, in partnership with WARC, and Lions, has published “The B2B Effectiveness Code”, a white paper. It will help brands to better understand the types of effects their advertising generates, and the types of creativity that best lead to those effects.

Following the success of The Effectiveness Code, one of the largest ever studies of marketing effectiveness in recent years released in 2020 by WARC and Lions, this new major research explores whether the principle of Creative Commitment holds true in B2B marketing and introduces the B2B Effectiveness Ladder.

The B2B Institute has analyzed 435 B2B cases from the WARC and Lions effectiveness databases, between 2010 and 2021.

Level 1: Response Trigger
Response Trigger campaigns are designed to generate some form of response or interaction from their audience. Rather than just being ‘seen’, these campaigns aim to provoke an action, such as visiting a website, downloading content, or signing up for an event.

Level 2: Lead Generator 
Lead Generator campaigns are designed to increase the quantity or quality of sales leads flowing through to the sales team. They benefit sales pipelines by generating inbound enquiries, reducing the cost of leads, or improving the quality of leads.

Level 3: Sale Closer
Sale Closer campaigns are designed to generate immediate or near-term sales. Some do this directly and without the help of a sales team. Others measure the success of sales leads converting to actual revenue.

Level 4: Fame Maker
Fame Maker campaigns are designed to generate widespread awareness of the brand, by exploiting creative ideas that captivate consumers and the media in a way that sees them spread contagiously and result in ‘fame’ for their brands.

Level 5: Brand Builder
Brand Builder campaigns are designed to improve the fundamental measures of brand health – including awareness, consideration, preference, purchase intent and image attribute ownership.

Level 6: Strategic Asset
Strategic Asset campaigns are those that grow the brand and business over the long term – versatile and enduring creative platforms that are re-purposed again and again, over successive years, to continue telling the story of their brand and contributing to revenue and profit growth.