In Part 1, we talked about mental availability — how advertising works by making your brand easy to think of when a need arises. Advertising does not force people into buying. It makes sure that when people do need something, they think of your brand instead of someone else's.
But being easy to think of is not enough.
The Second Principle: Make It Easy to Buy
Mental availability means people remember you when they need something. But if buying from you is a hassle, they will go somewhere else. Attention is worthless if it does not convert into action.
Researchers call this "physical availability" — how easy it is for people to actually buy your product or service. Coca-Cola is not just famous. It is everywhere. Supermarkets, vending machines, restaurants, petrol stations. Whenever and wherever you think of drinking a Coke, you can immediately get one. That accessibility is not incidental to Coca-Cola's success. It is central to it.
If someone wants your product and cannot get it right now, most of them will not wait. They will buy an alternative. If you are having dinner and the restaurant only has Pepsi, you are not walking out. You are ordering the Pepsi.
What This Means for B2B and Online Products
You might say: we do not sell Coke. We sell software or services online. How is physical availability relevant?
It is directly relevant. If your website is slow, your checkout process is complicated, your pricing is unclear or hidden — you are spending a significant amount on ads to send people to your competitors. You create mental availability and then throw it away at the point of purchase.
Consider how HubSpot made complex marketing automation accessible: free trial, clear pricing, self-serve onboarding. No need to book a demo, negotiate with sales, or sit through endless calls just to get started. They removed every barrier between interest and purchase. The result is one of the most successful B2B software companies in the world.
Friction kills sales. The easier it is to buy, the more people will.
The Most Common Friction Points in B2B
In almost every B2B audit I do, I find the same friction points:
- Hidden pricing. If potential buyers cannot find your pricing, many will not bother enquiring. They will go to a competitor who shows theirs.
- Forced demo calls for low-complexity products. If someone can evaluate your product in a self-serve trial, why are you making them book a 45-minute call first?
- Slow or complicated onboarding. The time between signing up and getting value from your product is a critical friction point. Every day of delay is a day they can change their mind.
- Forms with too many fields. Every field you add to a form reduces conversion rate. Ask for only what you absolutely need at the point of initial contact.
The Complete Picture
Put the two parts together and you have the full model of how advertising actually drives sales:
Make your brand easy to think of. Consistent advertising builds mental availability. When a need arises, you are one of the brands that comes to mind.
Make it easy to buy. Remove friction at every point in the purchase journey. When someone is ready to buy, make sure buying from you is the path of least resistance.
That is it. That is marketing. Not growth hacking, not hyper-personalisation, not brand purpose. Make it easy to think of. Make it easy to buy. Do both well, consistently, over time.
Everything else is a distraction.