They used to say branding didn’t matter to B2B, that price was everything. This perception has changed in recent times, and B2B websites are adapting the B2C lessons to their own particular needs.
However, there are important differences – so here’s our guide to getting it right, avoiding getting it wrong, and guarding your most powerful asset: your brand.
Popular pitfalls
The most frequently made mistake is believing emotion doesn’t apply to B2B as it does to B2C, and that price alone sells. Price is key, but neglecting other aspects of how we buy overlooks the importance of the human being in any transaction, whether business-to-consumer or business-to-business. B2B, just as B2C, is ultimately about business-to-person transactions.
Secondly, don’t underestimate brand. Like B2B websites, intranets tended to be the poorer cousins of their website counterparts, often characterised by an unappealing user interface experience. Companies are learning that intranets need clear, succinct brand communication which in turn creates better brand ambassadors of the employees. For B2B sites, just like intranets, the challenge is to harness the power of brand to build trust and affinity.
A third crucial mistake is forgetting to adapt – rather than reapply – B2C techniques for B2B. B2C branding can often be focused on broadcasting and extending reach; ‘the more the better’. Of course, in a B2B context, this is very often inappropriate. Successful B2B businesses know the customer incredibly well and how to communicate with and to them; for example, knowing when information overload will lose rather than gain business, and understanding how seasonal spending patterns affect buying decisions.
In creating online brand trust, remember the following ‘seven saving virtues’:
1. Professional design
Online design is not about pretty pictures, but enabling and empowering potential and returning customers to interact with the information they need and to enjoy the experience of doing so. Visually, the attention to detail should match that of a quality B2C website, so avoid outdated corporate clichés like clocks, cogs in wheels and handshakes.
2. High quality information
Make sure all the information that a customer will need is presented, in context, and – most of all – readable! Content should be written specifically for the web, not brochure content dropped onto the site. Remember that supporting customers over a long period of time requires that the information adapts to their needs. In many B2B environments personalisation is a highly effective tool.
3. Usability
Supporting the customer involves getting the right information, at the right time, in the right format. Do this and you will have a usable site. Use focus groups to test usability of your site during site production. This does not have to be a major investment – it can simply be gaining feedback from a group of end users. Take care to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act and take reasonable steps to make your site accessible to all – it makes business sense to widen your audience as far as possible.
4. Interactivity
Does your site engage the customer in a meaningful two-way interaction? Sites that push messages, services and products out to the customer but which do not engage in a two-way dialogue are perceived to be less trustworthy and will attract less repeat visits. Avoid gimmicks and remember it’s about more than feedback forms!
5. Functionality
B2B sites can make more use of technology, not only through conventional content management systems but also CRM systems and integration into call centre or legacy systems. Technology in these circumstances can often become the driver rather than the enabling layer and business focus is often lost. Ensure that the business goals are defined first and insist that the technology delivers tangible benefits to you and the customer.
6. Availability
Centre your contact mechanisms on the needs of your suppliers rather than your own, blending offline and online as appropriate. For example, on complex ordering functionality, if you can offer a telephone helpline or a call back feature for customers, do so. Make it simple for them to give you their business.
7. Brand representation
Ten years ago branding was perceived by many as ‘that creative thing that you do with the logo’. Today, brands are the sum total of all the images that people have in their heads about a particular company.
Online, a well-guarded brand is the sum total of the experience as defined in the individual elements above. Getting it right involves a multi disciplinary team and significant planning while not losing sight of the business objectives and overall strategy. A challenge certainly, but a challenge more companies are rising to.