A Distinct Branding for B2B Companies is More Important than Ever
Hiren Panchal, co-founder, Litmus Branding, talks about the power of correct branding for B2B companies. He also discusses relevant branding strategy for a B2B setup and also throws some light on some key aspects of a strong branding strategy.
When we think of B2B practices, our initial mental association is that of a boring sales cycle that is usually held behind closed doors. There is no excitement or colour to it. For the longest time, B2B leaders have said that intriguing marketing and branding is a thing of relevance for consumer products, and not meant for B2B organizations necessarily. And we couldn’t be more wrong about it.
A large perception of B2B sales has been that their purchases are based on functional decisions like cost, quality and availability, and not an emotional pull of brands. Wrong again. With major forces of globalization and e-commerce, people have front row seats to an unparalleled amount of businesses, and that is why distinct branding in B2B practices is more important than ever.
A 2014 study by the CEB said that 71% of buyers who see a personal value in a B2B purchase will end up buying the product or service. In fact, personal value has a 2X impact on the buyer than any business impact did.
Branding can reduce your sales cycle
A relevant branding strategy for a B2B setup can considerably reduce the sales cycle. Here’s how – B2B buyers are people, and people are emotional. People largely make decisions based on their first impressions of mental/visual images, memories and the overall brand perception. These perceptions and emotions help in tilting economic decision making. By nurturing the right kind of brand associations and brand affability in a prospect’s mind, you would have converted half of the deal even before you stepped into the selling, pitching and negotiation grounds. While pricing, quality and delivery are important aspects for any business, a prior brand affability helps enhance the deal and proposition in front of your prospect.
Branding percolates down to every last employee
When you are easy to work with, your buyers/customers feel it. It puts them at ease and makes them more efficient in turn. They’re confident with you as their partners and allies, rather than just vendors or any other third-party business. This results in a relationship of trust, ease and longevity. Your company culture guides customer relationships. It determines how your employees interact and communicate with clients, thus widening the company style, culture and values. If your culture emphasizes caring for customers and solving problems, then your employees imbibe which results in higher client/customer retention. This means that in the age of social media, every employee has the ability to tilt your conversion rates and branding.
Consistency and uniqueness drives growth
A majority of B2B chains usually entail heavy purchasing on the line, where brand consistency really helps in building a stronger pull effect for your leads and customers, compared to your competitors. When your brand communication, branding and marketing is consistent, your brand ideal echoes across all channels, which further trickles to the customer’s usage of the product or service. Further, your worth is based on how well you can differentiate yourself from your competitors. While all companies talk about what they do, how they do it, successful companies communicate the ‘why’. They always say why they’re doing what they do and that becomes their key differentiator.
That’s the enigma of brands. Instead of relying only on the business development or client servicing team to do the heavy lifting of carrying the company’s key message, a strong brand can take that burden away and do it for them before they even meet their leads. A good branding strategy is what differentiates you from your competitors who may provide the same offerings.
Companies that have realized the power of correct branding have spent a considerable amount of time, energy and resources in building a sustainable and trustworthy business in the long run. Consider companies like Adobe, Intel, HubSpot, Boeing that have created a niche for themselves using the correct branding strategy, despite being primarily B2B in nature.