B2B Branding is still working in the Industrial Sector

B2B Branding for the Industrial Sector

If you’re not connecting your B2B Branding plans and tactics to your target market – the industrial sector, you’re missing the opportunity to strengthen engagement levels and your share of wallet from existing customers.

From our research, we know that B2B Branding matters for industrial companies and the customers they serve. One important revelation for industrial companies is to determine how important the “emotional function” your brand demonstrates is to your customers, employees, and key stakeholders.

Capabilities and value propositions matter, such as industry expertise, product availability, and service depth; but the emotional function is a core B2B Branding element when customers consider a brand to work with. Emotional functions such as: “does this supplier really connect with our core values and beliefs,” “are they one of us” and “do they get us, our culture and people’.

This reflects a critical part of our research, which is core messages that industrial companies create about their brands are often different from the characteristics their customers and sectors value most. Topics such as corporate governance and global reach, which many large-scale B2B industrial companies communicate as part of their brand messaging, deliver minimal impact on their buyers’ decision-making and perceptions of their brand. On the other hand, two of the most important themes we have identified for B2B branding success in the industrial sector include efficient logistics and supply chain management, and technical / engineering support — and these are the two elements least mentioned by B2B industrial companies.

To help with your B2B Branding efforts – here are three tips:

Tip 1 – Configure and Improve Your B2B Branding Touchpoints

Think carefully about your industrial brand’s touchpoints. These are all the points of contact your customers deal with when connecting with your organisation. Also known as “moments of truth” from your customer’s perspective – your brand is being represented and judged on a daily basis.

So what are you doing to tweak and improve these touchpoints? From that first call to reception, a call centre, or an automated service. To then a salesperson, operations supervisor, storeman, office manager, credit, safety – the list goes on. These are all human/personal touchpoints. Your website, brochures, social media presence, business proposals, quotes, order confirmations, emails – are all communications representing your brand.

Today it’s also about the customer experience your B2B Branding develops. Is it memorable and superior to the alternatives?

2 – Do the Research

If you don’t know the answer to the question above – do the research and find out. Ask your customers – work with your marketing team to design a B2B Branding Research Study. Our advice is to execute the research with an independent third party. This way the research will be conducted in an unbiased manner and all findings will be represented accurately.

To learn more about conducting a powerful research study download our Industrial Marketing Research Guide

3 – Tell Your Story

Make your story personal – strengthen your brand’s emotional function and make all your messaging about your customer. They are the HERO – ensure you connect with them, their challenges, needs, aspirations, and vision.

Take a step back and examine where you are in your brand’s story. Listen to better understand your customers. And then build that connection – draw them in with relevance and engagement.

The Final Word

These 3 tips will help your B2B Branding efforts.

If you’d like some help with your approach to B2B marketing, let’s chat.

Related: The B2B Brand Activation Guide for 2021

Related: Communicate your Brand Promise

INDUSTRIAL BRAND ACTIVATION GUIDE

Learn how to activate your brand, increase brand awareness and engagement levels. You’ll need to consider 5 key questions to be customer driven, enhance customer experience and set your brand up to win for the long-term. It’s the brands that challenge, create change and have the ability to inspire the people around them who will win with their Brand Activation Strategy.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Peter Zafiris is an industrial marketer and founder of Industrial Ideas. Having built his experience in B2B marketing from the ground up, Peter understands what it takes to succeed with your marketing strategy. All client projects are personally managed by Peter to help industrials like you get the return on investment you deserve. Peter and team, work hard to become an extension of your business, to help you get the most out of your marketing efforts. Get your free 30 minute marketing consultation to learn more.