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Building a strong brand is incredibly important in any business, especially as a B2B company. Most B2B marketers overlook the importance of brand loyalty.
If you’re struggling to build your brand take a look at this blog post and see how your business can build that loyal following you need to expand your business.
How can B2B businesses build brand loyalty?
Build a presence in social media platforms
Social media is the hub of any digital strategy. It’s an avenue for your company to connect with its customers and others, and it’s a way to build brand loyalty and trust.
Tackling it head-on can be daunting, though, especially when you’re in the B2B market and don’t have much time to spare.
Here are some tips on how you can use social media to build a presence that will improve brand loyalty:
Choose the right platform
It’s not necessary that you need to be present on every social media platform. Pick the ones that are relevant and where your target audience spends time.
If they’re on Facebook, you might want to be there too. However, if they’re on LinkedIn, you might want to focus more on this platform.
Be consistent in posting content
People might not notice you if you post something once in a while. They will get bored and won’t check back for new content later on because they know that there will just be another one of the same things next time.
Posting consistently is one of the best ways to build strong brand loyalty in your target audience.
Find a social voice that works for your company
You need to find an authentic voice for your company on social media platforms, without sounding like a robot or a pushy salesperson.
If you’re not sure where to start, ask your customers for feedback on how they’d like to engage with you on social media.
Join forums
Forums are often overlooked in terms of building a brand presence online but they are one of the earliest forms of social networking. They remain vibrant today and can help you get in touch with influencers in your niche as well as build your own profile.
Participate in groups
Creating groups on Facebook and LinkedIn gives you an opportunity to create active communities around topics that interest you and your target audience. This can help you drive traffic to your website, increase sales leads, and even recruit new employees.
Retaining your clients
I’ve been working with B2B companies for a few years now. In that time I’ve noticed that most of the companies are focused on attracting new clients.
This is understandable, as most businesses are growing and need new clients to sustain that growth.
In the last year or so I’ve been consulting with companies on how to retain their existing clients and improve customer loyalty.
Here are some of the tips that I share with my clients on how they can retain their clients:
Focus on the client
Having a close relationship with your customers is the foundation for building a loyal customer base. Where customer retention begins and ends is in your ability to understand what your customers want and need. If you know what they want, you’ll be able to provide it to them, resulting in more satisfied customers and repeat business.
Listen to your customers
Your customers have valuable information about your products and they’re willing to tell you if you ask them correctly.
Listening to your customers is one of the most important things you can do when it comes to retaining them as a valuable resource, which will ultimately improve the overall experience they have doing business with you.
Injecting personality into your brand
B2B companies are run by people, and if that’s true, then it follows that B2B companies can benefit from injecting personality into their efforts.
B2B companies are likely to be a little more staid than their consumer counterparts, but injecting some personality can be an effective way to stand out from the crowd.
Here are some tips for B2B businesses looking to inject some personality into their brand:
Make customer service fun
Sometimes being personal involves going out of the way to make your customers feel like they’re special – whether that’s offering early access to new features or making sure they get quick replies to any questions they might have.
Be human
If you’re worried about not having enough personality yourself, there are ways of injecting it into your brand.
While these may not always be appropriate in business-to-business relationships, they can help portray a friendly face – like using cartoons or GIFs to express ideas in the same way a consumer brand might use a celebrity endorsement.
Stay true to your brand
If you’ve got a serious brand, don’t suddenly decide that Friday is a great day for posting funny videos about kittens.
Similarly, if your brand is known for being fun and casual, don’t suddenly switch to writing long articles about the history of accounting software.
You want to stay true to who you are as a company – just be sure that who you are is someone people want to interact with on social media.
Be consistent with your messaging
Brand consistency is the foundation of brand loyalty. B2B brands can benefit from using the same style, tone, and voice across all customer touchpoints to develop brand loyalty.
In order to make your message consistent, you can use some of the following tips:
1. Apply a consistent style guide to all marketing and communication materials from social media to your website, email, and physical materials.
2. Use a consistent set of fonts for all marketing materials so that customers recognize your brand at a glance.
3. Use the same logo across all marketing collateral including print, digital, and videos.
4. Apply a consistent design template across all platforms so that there are no major variations in size or color between platforms.
5. Use a consistent set of colors and pay close attention to color schemes used in calls-to-action so that customers know how to act once they have arrived at your website or landing page from different sources like direct mail, social media or your website.
6. Create your marketing message with a consistent tone of voice that is warm and friendly so that customers perceive you as friendlier than competitors.
7. Apply a consistent set of symbols and icons in your marketing materials to create an easily identifiable brand logo mark or symbol.
Be transparent about pricing and services
B2B Marketers are always looking for new techniques to improve brand loyalty as well as revenue
1. Be clear about your products, services, and prices. Customers should have a clear idea about the products, services that you offer, and the pricing structure. Give them enough information about your products, services, and pricing so that they can make an informed decision. Do not hide information from your customers.
2. Provide detailed product specifications and explanations of terms and conditions of sale on your website in easy to understand language.
3. Give sufficient information on the features, advantages, and benefits of your products including the unique selling propositions of your products.
4. Explain clearly how the customer will benefit by using or purchasing your products or services.
5. Make it simple for customers to compare different options available. Help them to choose the best-suited product for their needs.
6. Provide details on how customers can contact you regarding any queries or feedback. This will help you to improve your customer service and build loyalty among your customers in the long run.
7. Be flexible with pricing and services. Sometimes, a client may not be able to afford your services at full cost or may wish for you to provide a discount on certain services. You do not need to compromise on the quality of your work; instead, you can offer flexible payment terms for a period of time in order to maintain healthy cash flow for the business.
Earn trust by delivering value
The world of B2B is different from B2C. In B2C, the marketing strategy is often based on emotional responses and personal connections.
On the contrary, in B2B, trust and brand loyalty are earned by delivering real value to stakeholders.
In order to earn long-term trust and create loyal customers, it’s necessary to deliver genuine value.
Here are some tips to help your company win brand loyalty:
1. Know the customer. Before you try to win a buyer’s trust, learn about them. The more you know about your buyers and what they need, the better you’ll be able to serve them and meet their expectations.
2. Be honest and direct. Your buyers can tell if you’re being evasive or vague when answering their questions, so don’t beat around the bush with them. Instead, give them clear answers as often as possible.
3. Always over-deliver. Go out of your way to help your buyers solve their problems in any way that you can, even if it doesn’t directly pertain to your product or service.
4. Be responsive and responsible when a buyer has an issue that requires a response from your company or team members. Turnaround time matters in earning trust, so be sure to respond quickly whenever possible to demonstrate that you’re dedicated to helping them resolve the issue at hand in a timely manner.
5. Acknowledge mistakes and apologize for them if necessary, but don’t dwell on them for too long once they’re resolved. All businesses make mistakes from time to time, but showing that you can fix the problem in the first place is much more important for building trust than pointing out how terrible it was.
Innovation
B2B companies have some unique opportunities to innovate on their brands and their products.
B2B customers are more likely to be business decision-makers, so they’re a great audience for introducing new ideas and techniques.
Here are some ways how you can be innovative as a B2B company in order to improve your brand loyalty:
Offer custom solutions
If you’re selling something that’s one-size-fits-all, you’re missing an opportunity to stand out from the crowd. Every industry has its high-volume, low-price players, but there’s always room for a company that offers customized partnerships or services.
Once you’ve established yourself as the go-to supplier in your niche, it’s time to start offering high-value add-ons.
Immerse customers in a unique experience
Don’t just rely on your website or marketing team to bring in loyal customers – instead, provide an experience that allows them to connect with your brand and purchase without even thinking about it!
Mobile apps
B2B companies are increasingly turning to mobile apps as a way to engage with customers anytime and anywhere. Mobile apps allow businesses to offer real-time interaction with their customers and clients even when they’re away from the office.
Host webinars
From the perspective of a B2B company, webinars are an excellent means to keep customers informed of the latest trends and technology in a given industry.
At the same time, it’s also a great way for the company to reach out to its existing customer base and attract new business opportunities.
Trying to decide whether webinars are right for your company?
Here are some benefits of hosting webinars:
Lower sales cycle
Hosting webinars can serve as an effective lead generation tool for sales teams because it allows them to shorten the sales cycle and close deals faster.
In fact, according to MarketingSherpa , 71% of marketing professionals rank “content-on-demand” as one of the most effective lead generation methods today.
Generate leads
According to CMI, 65% of marketers said that lead generation was their top priority in 2014, but only 35% think that their lead generation efforts were successful.
Better brand awareness
One of the most important reasons why a business should host webinars is that it can increase brand awareness and create more opportunities to generate leads.
Webinars boost your search engine rankings
When you host a live webinar, Google indexes the content and puts it in search results, which helps drive traffic to your event page and website — increasing brand awareness and improving your SEO strategy overall.
Webinars help you connect with decision-makers
Live webinars allow you to connect directly with customers in real-time, which is helpful when trying to sell products or services directly to them
Use content marketing
Content marketing is a great way to improve brand loyalty and generate leads. If you’re looking for ways to improve your ROI, then content marketing could be the answer.
Content marketing is the process of using content (which can consist of anything from videos or infographics to blog posts) to promote your business and build an audience.
Let’s look at 10 tips B2B companies can use content marketing for increasing brand loyalty and generating leads:
Start with a solid foundation
It’s important that you understand your audience before you start your marketing campaign. What are their interests? What sort of content do they like?
What do they want from you? The better you know your target audience, the easier it will be to create engaging content that resonates with them.
Audience engagement doesn’t happen overnight. It has to be nurtured with time and effort.
Have a plan
Defining your goal at the beginning of your campaign is crucial in determining if you achieve success or not. If you want followers on Twitter, then make sure that your posts have hashtags or links that people can use in order to follow you.
If you want brand awareness, then try focusing on guest posting or interviews with industry influencers.
Don’t focus on sales
The goal of content marketing isn’t to make a sale; it’s to establish yourself as a credible and reliable source of information within your industry. Make sure that everything you publish is educational, informative, and relevant for your audience.
Find the right mix of content
Your business may have a myriad of products and services, but you can create effective content by focusing on one or two areas at a time.
Start with your buyer persona in mind
Determine who you’re targeting and how to reach that audience most effectively. You can do this through surveys, focus groups, or even a simple Google search — just be sure to use the right keywords so you can find the kinds of prospects you’re looking for.
Include testimonials in advertising
Testimonials are one of the best ways to improve brand loyalty, According to WebpageFX, B2B companies are likely to see a 203% increase in conversion rates with testimonials.
Furthermore, 84% of customers trust recommendations from other buyers and will be influenced by their reviews. Testimonials can influence your marketing campaign in two important ways.
First, they encourage potential customers to purchase through social proof. Second, they build trust and credibility for your brand.
Below are some tips on how to include testimonials in advertising that can improve brand loyalty:
Focus on your product’s benefits
Testimonials should focus on the results or benefits of using your product. Avoid claims like “this is the best” or “the best product ever.”
Testimonials should be realistic goals
People want to know that you’re not selling something that cannot be achieved by them.
Avoid fake images or models
Consumers can spot fake images and models easily, so it’s better to use real people in your ads or videos.
However, make sure they look professional and don’t have any distractions in the background that would draw attention away from the product being advertised.
Testimonials should include background information
It’s important to include background information about the people in your testimonials that can be found on your websites, such as their name and job title. This will help your audience relate to your testimonial more easily, and they’ll feel like they know the person giving it.
Influencer marketing
There are lots of benefits that your business can reap from influencer marketing, as it can help you achieve your marketing goals in a much more efficient way.
It is true that B2B marketers might not be able to gain the same kind of exposure with influencer marketing, but if you know the right strategy for this particular marketing technique, your chances of success will increase greatly.
Because of this, here are some tips on how B2B businesses can use influencer marketing to build brand loyalty:
1. Know your target audience and where they hang out. You need to know what makes them tick so you can find influencers who will resonate with them.
2. Don’t hesitate to reach out to influencers who have a smaller following. Sometimes, it’s better to focus on quality instead of quantity – so don’t be discouraged if the influencers you want to work with don’t have millions of followers yet.
3. Create content that’s interesting and informative for your target audience. This way, they’ll be more likely to engage with your content and share it with their friend networks, which will help spread the word about your business and increase awareness about your brand on social media platforms.
4. Research online for influencers who are relevant to your brand and product.
5. Set clear goals for your campaign. Do you want increased followers, sales, or leads?
6. Make sure you have enough budget to pay influencers for their work. You can’t expect them to promote your brand or product if they don’t get paid!
7. Create a budget that fits your campaign goals and get the influencers involved early on so they can start promoting at the right time.
8. Introduce influencers to each other so they can connect with one another and engage with customers by collaborating on posts, videos and social media messaging that will interest followers of all of them.
9. Host an event where influencers can meet in person and collaborate on a video or blog post together while they’re there.
Final Thoughts
B2B companies may have to get creative with their promotional tactics, but the methods listed above can help grow brand loyalty and create lasting impressions for your business or organization.
Implementing these ideas can be a great way to build a valuable brand that keeps your customers coming back for more.
