The importance of branding for B2B businesses

Is branding important for B2B businesses? Or is it one of those fluffy, “nice to have” things to add on if you have the time, budget, or inclination?

All too often, we hear B2B businesses dismiss branding as something for B2C companies to focus on. Many B2B leaders believe branding is an unnecessary or frivolous thing to consider as a B2B business.

In fact, this couldn’t be further from the truth.

As a B2B business, you’re still selling human to human. We hear a lot about emotions being the driving force behind a sale, but this doesn’t mean your brand has to evoke tears or laughter. 

The emotional response you trigger could be trust, reassurance, or pride – all extremely valid ways to sell to B2B clients.

So, emotions are still the trigger and driving force behind a purchase, even if it’s a piece of software rather than a pair of shoes.

Here are some interesting statistics about B2B branding for you to consider:

• A Google study showed B2B buyers are more emotionally connected to the brands they buy from than B2C customers 
• The study revealed B2B brands had strong emotional connections with more than 50% of their customers, compared to 10-40% of B2C brands
• 71% of buyers who perceive a personal value in a B2B purchase will invest in it
• Personal value has two times the impact of business value on B2B buyers
• 90% of purchasing decisions are made subconsciously rather than logically – meaning emotions play an integral role 

It’s fair to say B2B firms are still behind B2C companies when it comes to leading with emotion in their branding and marketing. 

So, what are the advantages of using your branding to create emotional responses in your audience if you’re a B2B business owner?

If we take our lead from industry innovators, it’s clear to see the direction things are heading.

Over the past decade, we’ve seen the consumerisation of SaaS invite a more user-driven, intuitive, personalised, and “fun” style to their branding and marketing.

Brands like Zoom, Mailchimp, Dropbox, and Hubspot create a memorable experience for users that changes the way we view – and use – software. 

Using branding, B2B businesses have discovered they can offer more than functionality: their customers can have a colourful and enjoyable experience with their services. 

And, more and more, the modern B2B buyer now expects this – so if you’re not offering it, someone else will.

Although it clearly works, not every B2B brand is agile enough to adapt to shifts like this. This means there’s a huge opportunity to get ahead of your competition by tapping into the power of branding to create a better experience for your customers, just like industry innovators have done. 

Branding isn’t purely for your customers’ benefit.

In fact, creating a strong brand allows you to instil and reinforce a clear narrative and vision for your business to your employees, demonstrating a positive culture and ensuring everyone understands their role and takes pride in their work.

Companies with a powerful brand attract and retain top talent and create an environment where people want to come to work and do their best every day.

And this kind of positivity internally reflects out externally, too. Happier employees are more productive, energetic, and driven to work harder and smarter and give higher levels of customer service.

All of this begins with your branding. Without that, your foundations are shaky, and you risk your team not understanding – or caring – where they stand within the business. This, in turn, projects a negative or conflicting image to the outside world, harming your reputation and results.

Being honest, how many times have you invested in marketing efforts that ended up being money down the drain? Sporadic Google Ads campaigns, the odd print advert, or infrequent attempts at content marketing that were met with tumbleweed.

Despite your best intentions, marketing only works if you have a clear strategy. And your marketing strategy is born through your brand and brand strategy.

During the branding process, you learn so much about yourself, your business, your customers, your industry, and your USPs.

When you have this enlightening and pragmatic perspective, it allows you to build a brand that connects with customers where they’re at and delivers what they need when they need it.

And once that’s nailed down, you can understand which type of marketing will work best for you and your customers to secure the outcomes you want. Then, you have a crystal-clear view of where to channel your budgets and where to take a step back to avoid wastage.

Ultimately, investing in branding is your first step towards marketing campaigns that land every time and cement your reputation and growth, rather than falling flat and chalking it up to experience.

You likely hear the word consistency a lot in advice about how to steer your business to the next stage of growth. Yet you may be left wondering what it actually means and how it manifests in a successful B2B business.

Your first thought may be consistency in terms of image, specifically your visual assets like logo and social media graphics. And while this absolutely plays an important part in presenting a consistent image of your business to the outside world, it’s only one element of a successful brand.

Brand consistency comes in many forms, including – but not limited to:

• Values
• Logo and visual assets
• Fonts
• Style guidelines
• Colours
• Tone of voice
• Messaging
• Images
• Personality

Consistency builds awareness, recall, authority, and trust in your target audience, and it all starts by establishing who you are and how you want to present your business to the world.

Plus, it makes life simpler for your employees and saves time creating everything from scratch, clarifying basic details, or making avoidable mistakes, as you have explicit guidelines and boundaries from which to work.

Are you ready to build your brand and reach the next stage of growth in your business? 

Studio LWD is a specialist branding and design agency building impactful brands for B2B businesses, from startups to multinationals. 

Contact us for an informal chat to discuss how we’ll be the vehicle for your business success – email hello@studiolwd.co.uk or call us on 01253 829031.