If you thought that the branding of your B2B business just revolved around your logo, think again. In 2021, branding a B2B business has become so much more.
Most B2B businesses make the mistake of thinking that they are a service provider for a client. In reality, the success of a B2B business depends more on offering ‘solutions’ to your clients.
Can you help them decrease their expenditure? Or, how can you help them service their retail customers better are questions that you should be asking.
When it comes to successful B2B businesses, it is all about building long-term relationships with clients. This is where the need to create a strong brand arises. Branding helps create the identity, vision, and processes of what a B2B business stands for.
In this resource article, we speak to experts from a leading b2b brand agency. We request them to list down certain steps that can help in branding a B2B business. If you are a Founder, CEO, or high-ranking marketing executive in a B2B business, this article is a must-read for you.
B2B Branding: What is it all about?
B2B Branding is one single word that is all about showcasing your- ‘Vision’. It is about outlining the long-term plans for your business. The following are some questions that B2B branding seeks to address-
- What is your brand all about?
- What does it represent or stand for in your competitive landscape?
- Who are the team members that are leading the brand?
- What are you planning to address with your core offerings?
- How do you plan to reach a certain position in the market?
Any sales representative working in a B2B business will attest to the fact that selling is easier if the business is well-known. At the heart of a successful branding strategy for a B2B, business lies awareness.
Given the insane amount of online and offline channels available, identifying the ones that work for you is essential. B2B businesses need to understand that as compared to their B2C counterparts, marketing, sales, and CRM is fundamentally different.
Businesses that are buying from your brand are more informed, discerning, critical, and cost-conscious. This means that they need to be pitched differently as compared to normal retail customers. Branding is essential because it has a direct fallout on your businesses’ sales.
At the end of the day, you need to create a trustworthy brand, whose name speaks volumes. Everything from how your logo is to the attitude of the founders of the business will determine how successful you are in your branding.
List of 5 Important Tips to help you build Branding for your B2B Business
- Work on your Businesses’ Communication Skills-
In 2021, a B2B business has tons of ways to out its message across to its target audiences. You can rely on business emails, social media, website blog articles, and more to communicate to your prospects. At the heart of it all are excellent communication skills that need to be direct. You want to offer solutions to prospects. In other words, you want to address their problems. Small areas like having 24×7 Chat Support can make a world of difference to communication.
- Work on your Product and make it a Great Offering-
Every B2B business thinks that its product is great. Fair enough. However, even though you might feel the same, your prospective customers might not. Every B2B business needs to create a product that will help its target audiences with- reduction in their expenditure, time-saving in their day-to-day work, and decrease the effort of its employees. If your B2B business is not doing all three, then you need to take a long and hard look at the product.
- Identify and Delineate your Target Audiences-
Most B2B businesses make the mistake of thinking that everyone is their target audience. You can never proceed with a broad generalization. This reduces your ROI, especially your marketing. Identifying businesses in your target niche is critical for the success of your B2B branding. You want only those businesses to be aware of your presence and USP that exist in your niche. Spend time and dedicate resources towards finding your target and then address it.
- Define your B2B Businesses’ USP or Value Proposition-
At the beginning of the article, we spoke about how B2B businesses should shift their attention from offering services to solutions. This means setting in place your brand’s core USP! You need to attempt to separate your brand from the competitors at all times. Unless you are able to carve out your identity and value proposition, you will not be able to gain the attention of businesses that should buy from you. Spend time, do research, and evaluate your brand’s USP.
- Investing in your B2B Brand’s Storytelling Narrative-
Let us face it. There are tons of brands that are offering the same product or service. why would businesses buy from you? This is where leading branding experts stress the storytelling narrative. What is your brand’s story is different from the company’s history! You want your story to be engaging, personal, and educative. You want to convey to the target audience that you are not selling. Rather you are adding value, both personally and professionally.
5 Steps that can Help you Plan your B2B Brand Strategy
Step 1: Define your Vision and Goals Internally-
The first impetus of branding needs to come from the businesses’ internal team. This means that the Founder, CEO, and other ranking executives need to define the vision and goals of the brand. You do not need a branding agency to do this for you. You need to work on this on your own. Once you have the goal set out, you will be able to create the path leading to it.
Step 2: Prioritize the Interests of your Customers above everything else-
Successful B2B businesses are created on the bedrock of great customer relationships. Do whatever it takes to make your customers feel special. Impress this on your entire team and employees. Invest in great CRM tools to build your customer relationship program. Once all your strategies follow from this, you will see an increase in your sales and marketing ROIs.
Step 3: Build a Strong Internal Core Team that will Formulate and Execute-
B2B branding depends a lot on the quality of your team. For owners and founders, this means creating a stellar team of stars that can formulate and more importantly execute. Small processes on their own need to be set within larger objectives and goals. This is something that the CEO or COO cannot do on their own. They need a core team to take this through.
Step 4: Emphasis on Digital Platforms, Automation, and Tech Use-
As a B2B business, you need to move according to the times you are in. This means using technology, software, and digital platforms to your advantage. New businesses that might buy from you (especially start-ups) are very tech-savvy. Automation can help you in everything from data analytics to outreach as well as in CRM. This is something that needs emphasizing.
Step 5: Work with a Specialized Agency that has experience in B2B Branding-
There is no doubt that B2B branding is more complex than it sounds. If you are a B2B business, you cannot afford to select any and every agency that comes your way. You need an agency that has prior experience and expertise in handling B2B clients. They will be able to guide and support you in the best possible fashion. This will help you with concrete achievable results.
The Final Word
Successful B2B branding is not easy. It requires a lot of planning, support, and focus. Creating and sustaining branding is one of the toughest things ever. Optimizing the different verticals, ensuring a proper line of communication, and constantly improving your product or service are all areas that directly and indirectly affect your branding. If you have any other questions, you would like us to answer on B2B branding, let us know in the comments below.
