In this week's member guest blog post we hear from Callum Smith, Head of Marketing Solutions EUI at TikTok, as he explores the power of creativity in B2B marketing, and why it’s time to ditch dull for impactful.
Every August, Edinburgh transforms into a creative playground. The Fringe is the world’s
largest arts festival ‒ a living, breathing celebration of bold ideas, unexpected moments, and
unforgettable performances. For audiences, it’s a fantastic place to discover new voices and to
be immersed in the best of culture and the arts. But for performers? It’s something else
entirely.
With over 4,000 acts performing more than 50,000 shows, competition is fierce. There are no
guarantees. No pre-booked seats. Just a sea of hopeful performers trying to stand out and
capture attention. To succeed, they must be memorable, engaging, and ‒ critically ‒ uniquely
themselves. Sound familiar?
Because in many ways, TikTok is the Royal Mile of the digital world. Every scroll is a decision:
watch or skip, engage or move on. And much like the Fringe, audiences come to TikTok looking
for serendipitous discovery, inspiration, and entertainment.
But in B2B marketing, we're facing a problem. Read on to find out what it is ‒ and how we fix it.
In the B2B marketing world, a lot of ads are really dull and boring. Recent research from Peter
Field and System1 titled The Cost of Dull revealed that:
And I get it, I’m a B2B marketer. I understand most of the stuff that we do is boring. But
there’s a problem to that: it costs us money. Data suggests that uninspired creative could mean
spending up to £10 million extra each year just to match the results you could have achieved
with more creative impact. To put that in perspective: that’s the equivalent of two Super Bowl
spots or nearly two billion TikTok impressions ‒ lost to mediocrity.
So, creativity isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s essential to making a real impact and seeing a
return.
And there's an even bigger problem facing short-form video advertisers. Let me introduce you to
the arch-nemesis, the boss at the end of the game, the person that you have to consistently fight
against: the finger. Because if you make really really boring advertising that someone has the
ability to skip right past, then it may as well have not existed in the first place.
System1’s recent research proves that better creative equals better ROI. Not marginally better
‒ exponentially better. The more emotionally engaging your ad, the more effective it is. That’s
why creativity is absolutely mission critical in B2B advertising. [2]
Every great piece of content starts with one question: What’s in it for the viewer? Whether it’s
a 15-second ad or a Fringe flyer handed out on the Royal Mile, success lies in value exchange. If
we can surprise, delight, entertain or resonate ‒ we earn attention.
TikTok is unique because it offers intimacy and active attention. Users are incredibly leaned in ‒
it's not a second screen; it's an immersive full-screen, sound-on platform ‒ and that gives B2B
brands an incredible opportunity to connect, but only if we deliver content that truly captivates.
We need fleshed-out characters. Jeopardy. Emotion. Storytelling. These aren’t just tools of
theatre ‒ they’re the tools of effective short-form video creative.
When you embrace a broader perspective on just how effective creative can be, you can better
understand the true return on your creative investments and use this knowledge to create more
impactful content ‒ and with less. That’s what we call Return on Creative.
This is a piece of work we developed with IAB Europe as an antidote to the relentless pursuit of
ROI. Don't get me wrong: ROI is fantastic ‒ we all know how vital profit is ‒ but when we make
ROI the only metric that matters, we sometimes sacrifice the bigger picture, which can be really
powerful.
Return on Creative expands the definition of value. It’s not just about conversions. It’s about:
And much, much more.
It’s a path to ROI ‒ not a departure from it. So let’s raise the bar for B2B. Let’s stop settling
for dull. And let’s start treating creativity as the performance lever it truly is. Dive into the
thought paper here to learn more and to step into your brand's creative era.
Sources
