“The longer term is already right here — it’s simply not evenly distributed but.”
That implausible quote, normally attributed to writer William Gibson, completely captures the state of generative AI and automation in advertising and marketing.
As we method what I hope will likely be a greater 12 months, I’m optimistic that AI’s advantages will turn into extra evenly distributed.
However I additionally fear that this may lead us to neglect this significant reality: The iterative work of technique and the inventive course of are inherently filled with friction. And that friction is efficacious.
I believe friction additionally performs an necessary position within the experiences entrepreneurs create for potential patrons and prospects.
Let me clarify.
The no-friction pizza order
I ordered Domino’s pizza not way back. Sure, I do know. However stick with me for a second.
Bear in mind the scene in Actuality Bites the place Lelaina, performed by Winona Ryder, orders Domino’s and asks, “Do they take checks?”
I hadn’t ordered Domino’s since that film got here out. That’s proper — it’s been practically 30 years.
Within the mid-Nineteen Nineties, there have been no apps, web sites, or pizza trackers. As a substitute, somebody would depart a Domino’s magnet menu in your doorknob, and also you’d stick it in your fridge. If you known as to order, the menu was easy: pizza. Massive or small. Thick or common crust. Eleven toppings. Performed.
In 1994, ordering Domino’s was all about effectivity. You’d name, select your pizza, and half-hour later, it confirmed up at your door.
The model grew to become synonymous with common, environment friendly pizza.
After a number of neighbors advised me I used to be “lacking out,” I gave Domino’s one other attempt. I approached the 2024 expertise with my 1994 expectations: common, environment friendly pizza.
To Domino’s credit score, its iPhone app nailed the environment friendly half.
The menu has exploded over the previous many years to incorporate rooster, tater tots, sandwiches, pasta, salads, desserts, and pizza with 5 sorts of crust.
The app walked me by the ordering course of shortly and painlessly. I chosen a couple of pizzas and threw in some tacky tater tots (don’t choose). The GPS-suggested supply handle was eerily correct. My order was in movement.
Lower than half-hour later, my pizzas and tots arrived.
How had been they?
Meh. It is perhaps one other 30 years earlier than I attempt once more.
After I shared my expertise with my neighbors, they had been horrified. “You didn’t do it proper,” they stated. “It’s important to customise and ask for double cheese. Add garlic! And the cheddar bacon tots — these are the actual deal.”
I used to be fascinated. Of their eyes, my “meh” expertise was my fault. I hadn’t taken the time to dive into the limitless customization choices and curate the optimum expertise.
And truthfully? They weren’t improper.
However my Domino’s expertise holds an necessary lesson for entrepreneurs: Friction is usually a good factor in complicated gross sales.
Wait. Actually?
Isn’t the entire level of selling to take away friction from the customer’s journey?
Possibly not.
The “proper manner” to purchase
For the final 20 years, entrepreneurs have been bombarded with this message: Remove friction.
You’ve most likely carried out tech that guarantees to “take away friction from the client journey.” You’ve streamlined web sites, stripped down product touchdown pages, and constructed gross sales enablement scripts so hermetic they depart no room for a rep to learn the room.
However right here’s the factor: B2B services are inherently complicated. Your limitless “toppings” and “sides” set you aside and make your resolution really beneficial.
Take “advertising and marketing cloud” and “advertising and marketing hub” merchandise from HubSpot, Oracle, Salesforce, or Adobe. They provide so many choices that even I can’t inform you each element they embody — and I’ve spent over a decade analyzing this house.
This complexity presents a big problem: How do you give prospects significant selections with out overwhelming them?
The reply? You introduce friction — strategic, intentional friction that slows the customer’s journey simply sufficient so as to add worth and improve their general expertise.
I’ve seen a couple of trendy B2B corporations nail this method utilizing a number of of the next approaches.
1. Use content material knowledge so as to add context, not simply precision
Most B2B corporations gather first-party knowledge to personalize their choices, however they usually miss the mark. They focus an excessive amount of on who the customer is and gloss over the why or what behind their selections.
A wiser technique? Tag your content material with attributes that refine and prioritize your suggestions. Spotlight distinctive options or mixtures that immediate the client to pause, decelerate, and say, “Oh, that’s completely different than I believed. That is perhaps precisely what I want.”
2. Function bundles promote higher than limitless potentialities
I realized this one the laborious manner years in the past. As CMO for an enterprise net content material administration software program firm, I used to be happy with our “we will do something” flexibility for translation and localization workflow capabilities. We thought eliminating objections — any friction in any respect — would seal offers.
Seems, we had been improper. Prospects didn’t need a clean slate. They wished to listen to precisely how we might clear up translation issues. They wished to check strategies as a result of their present course of wasn’t working. Saying “Sure, something you need” gave them no confidence that we had a viewpoint on an answer.
By recommending particular choices like “Most prospects select this,” “Really helpful for you,” or “Editor’s alternative,” you gradual the decision-making course of — however you information it towards higher outcomes.
Prospects really feel supported, not overwhelmed.
3. Flip the “lifeless zone” into an engagement zone
There’s a section in each B2B purchaser’s journey I name the “lifeless zone.” It’s that awkward hole after the client says “sure” however earlier than the contract is signed and the answer is delivered, onboarded, or carried out.
Right here’s what normally occurs: The gross sales group backs off, afraid to rock the boat, whereas the client will get anxious. Contracts, supply, and onboarding could make them second-guess their determination earlier than even utilizing the product.
Slowing issues down right here — including intentional, beneficial friction — could make all of the distinction. Share thought management, useful assets, or onboarding content material that will get them able to succeed. As a substitute of silence, give them causes to really feel excited and ready.
Invaluable engagement throughout this “lifeless zone” reduces purchaser’s regret and makes new prospects loyal advocates. It’s not about upselling; it’s about delivering confidence.
Including friction isn’t about making the method tougher — it’s about making the outcomes higher.
Friction may be good
The B2B marketer’s job isn’t to grease a purchaser’s journey so completely that they miss alternatives to pause and rethink. Generally, that pause creates actual worth.
Take my Domino’s expertise. The app was a marvel of effectivity: Establish the supply location, set the time, and choose objects. Pizza? Massive. Crust? Skinny. Toppings? Pepperoni, onions. The rest? Tots. Checkout. Performed.
However think about if the app had slowed me down after I chosen the primary few choices. Possibly with a message like, “Maintain up — most prospects in your space swear by double cheese. Wish to attempt it?” Or, “Welcome again! Do you know this particular combo is trending proper now?”
That second of friction might have made me rethink my selections and benefit from the expertise (and maybe the pizza) extra.
Usually, prospects don’t know precisely what they need. Or, worse, their assumptions result in subpar selections.
You and your rivals may supply practically an identical merchandise, however the distinction lies in the way you information your prospects by the decision-making course of.
By introducing intentional pauses, you assist prospects uncover the mixtures that make your resolution stand out.
As you concentrate on constructing extra beneficial, loyal prospects who stick round and evangelize your model, bear in mind: Generally it’s higher to decelerate and assist them make the best alternative than to hurry them into the improper one.
It’s your story. Inform it nicely.
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Cowl picture by Joseph Kalinowski/Content material Advertising and marketing Institute