Technical specifications have their place in automotive marketing, but they usually fail to resonate with the majority of your audience’s core needs and desires. The reason?
We’re human beings.
We understand the world through stories. Our brains naturally organise everything we see and experience into sequences of events. A narrative has a beginning, middle, and end. This is how we make sense of things. The story begins when a challenge arises, and it moves the story forward toward a resolution.
Stories engage our emotions, create connections, and enhance memory. Facts and figures, on the other hand, are processed by a different part of the brain and are often quickly forgotten. Stories create neural coupling, where the listener’s brain activity mirrors the storyteller’s, leading to deeper engagement and understanding.
Is it surprising that the London School of Business found that people retain 5-10% of information when given through statistics, but 65-70% when shared within a story?
Meanwhile, Stanford University found that the brain recalls stories 22 times better than simple facts.
What does this mean for B2B advertising?
For decision-makers in the automotive industry, understanding the intricacies of a new material’s tensile strength is less important than understanding how this feature translates into tangible benefits. For instance, increased fuel efficiency for their customers needs or enhanced safety ratings.
The question then becomes, how do you approach storytelling for automotive marketing so that it’s relevant to your business? Where do you even begin? At h2o creative, we start by focusing on the ‘why’ behind the technology. We ask questions:
- What problem does this product or service solve for the manufacturer?
- How does it improve their operations, their products, or their bottom line?
- What impact does it have on the end-user, the driver?
And does jargon really help your cause? Only if you’re talking to a very small audience.
To learn more, download our free eBook, Why marketing technical solutions can be tricky.
Create a human connection
Bring your technical details to life by showing how they impact real people or businesses. Instead of focusing on the mechanics of your electric vehicle technology, share a brand story about how it enabled a delivery company to cut emissions while meeting customer demands for faster shipping.
The point is to focus on the human element. This is how we can craft compelling narratives that resonate on an emotional level.
Here are a few examples of areas to focus on within your automotive storytelling strategies:
Innovation and progress - Highlight the journey of innovation behind your product, showcasing the challenges overcome and the breakthroughs achieved. This can resonate with the automotive industry’s constant pursuit of progress.
Safety and reliability - Emphasise how your offering contributes to enhanced safety features or improved vehicle reliability. This addresses a core concern for both manufacturers and consumers.
Performance and efficiency - Showcase how your technology improves vehicle performance, fuel efficiency, or reduces emissions. This speaks to the growing demand for sustainable and high-performing vehicles.
Potential customer experience - Focus on how your product enhances the overall driving experience, from comfort and convenience to connectivity and entertainment.
From technical specs to stories
Understand your audience’s pain points and goals. Before crafting a compelling story, get clear on what matters to them. They’ll naturally want to know how your product will help their business succeed. For example:
- A fleet operator prioritises efficiency and cost savings.
- A parts supplier looks for reliability and ease of integration.
Differentiating in B2B markets means focusing on how your product solves their specific problems.
Highlight outcomes over product features
Shift your messaging from what your product does to why it matters. Use this framework:
- Feature → Benefit → Value
- Example: Don’t just say, ‘Our sensors are 99.8% accurate’ and leave it at that. Say, ‘Our sensors detect issues early, reducing downtime and saving you thousands annually.’
Use visual and emotional hooks
Storytelling in b2b marketing involves helping your audience visualise the story with relatable analogies and clear examples. For instance, compare a product’s function to something familiar:
- 'Our braking system acts like a safety net, ensuring smooth stops even under extreme conditions.’
Examples of successful storytelling for automotive B2B marketing
Automotive storytelling strategies work, pure and simple. Here are a few examples.
1. Hella: Social media works for B2B technology communications
Hella is an automotive technology innovator and major OEM parts supplier. They asked us to revamp their social media strategy, which wasn’t working. We leveraged social listening to understand their target audience and create relatable and targeted content across LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. By implementing automated campaign syndication and analytics, the campaign achieved a 1600% increase in impressions and a 4000% jump in engagements within the first year.
Why it worked: We used a data-driven approach to storytelling, ensuring content was relevant to the audience. Automation kept messaging consistent, while analytics allowed for ongoing optimisation, maximising results within a limited budget.
You can check out the case study here.
2. Cadonix: Engaging storytelling for automotive marketing
Cadonix offers cloud-based CAD software for the automotive industry. We tackled brand awareness and lead generation challenges through a data-driven digital marketing campaign, designed to address their audience’s pain points. By focusing on PPC campaigns with high-intent keywords, engaging social media marketing strategies, and SEO optimisation, Cadonix achieved a 583.5% increase in organic traffic, 193.7% growth in ranked keywords, and generated 350+ leads.
Why it worked: The campaign succeeded due to its multi-faceted approach, integrating PPC, social media, and SEO to target their audience. Real-time performance analytics ensured continuous optimisation. Looking at the human side of the technical subject matter helped drive measurable growth.
Get the whole story. You can see the case study here.
3. If you’ve got the budget, get Jean Claude Van Damme
Volvo Trucks turned heads with their “Epic Split” video, featuring Jean-Claude Van Damme performing a split between two moving trucks. While entertaining, the campaign did an outstanding job of demonstrating the precision and stability of Volvo’s Dynamic Steering technology.
Why it worked: The story made a technical feature riveting, thrilling both B2B and general audiences.
Final thoughts
Technical specifications are part of B2B content marketing. But it’s storytelling that’ll give your campaign the competitive edge. It allows you to clarify your offerings, stand out from competitors, and build deeper connections with your audience.
By using a technical storytelling framework, you can make a lasting impression, ensuring your audience sees the value you bring to their business. Need help getting started? We specialise in advertising strategies and B2B storytelling that transforms technical expertise into compelling marketing content. Learn more about us. And when you’re ready, get in touch.