Branding in B2B – Does it really matter?

Branding – good branding that is – should set you apart from your competitors and make it easy for a customer to use that differentiation to make a purchase decision. B2C brands are renowned for developing their branding to create fierce customer loyalty – think Coca Cola or Nike.  B2B brands, for the most part, appear more functional as they try to appeal to their rational business brained buyers. However, stand out B2B branding matters more now, in an increasingly busy and fragmented market, than perhaps it has ever done.

Rise above the beige

There are a lot of very boring products and companies out there aimed at the B2B market. The default marketing of these companies is beige leaflets with dull lists of samey benefits. Widget Company A looks, certainly on paper, indistinguishable from Widget Company B. So, if you are Widget Company C, there is a real opportunity to rise above this baseline beige and create a strong, unique brand. As it would be the exception, rather than the rule, buyers take notice.

B2B buying decisions are based on emotion

B2B procurement processes are often tightly controlled. They have to be. With huge amounts of money riding on orders or contracts, the right decision has to be made first time. Even so, with procedure followed to the letter, emotional responses creep in to the decision making process. Ultimately, in marketing we use brands to elicit emotion in a consumer – whether they are B2B or B2C. Be that a love – or hate – of meerkats when choosing your comparison site, or emotionally attaching yourself to being a Mac or a PC. (By the way, at Matizmo we are Mac)

This emotional response is just as real in B2B marketing as it is in B2C. Strong branding helps you leverage that emotional response.

Make the decision easy for buyers

Look, someone buying from a B2B company is not just a nameless, faceless person in an office. Their purchase decision has consequences. Your branding is how you position yourself in the market for this buyer. Make yourself as safe and trustworthy as possible and the decision becomes easier. A strong and recognisable brand, with strong selling points helps buyers make their decision, and furthermore justify it if needs be.  Brands are known quantities. B2B buyers want to know their decision will be seen as “decisive” rather than “brave”.

Branding is distinction

Branding is only part of the jigsaw. To be a successful as a B2B marketer you have to deliver on the promise that the branding has made.  That means ensuring everything downstream from the sale adheres to strict brand and customer service guidelines. This may mean that the whole after sales process needs to be looked at internally. While this may mean short term pain, for your brand to remain distinctive, it has to remain congruent.

Not all B2B marketers accept the fact that strong brands drive business. That being so, working on developing your brand and branding can have considerable impact in a B2B environment.

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