Brand building for B2B companies

How often do you think about your brand and its equity? Over the years that you’ve been building your company, your brand has started to mean something - to you, to your customers, and to your prospects. 

The challenge, however, is getting your brand to mean something to people that don’t fit into that category, and to carve out the time and budget to do that - especially if you don’t have a dedicated brand manager or chief marketing officer.  

To build your brand beyond only being recognised by the people mentioned above, you’re going to need to take a strategic approach - not a tactical one, and not a piecemeal one. 

The strategy of brand building

Currently the strength of your brand is drawn from two places: the first is the equity you’ve built over the course of your company’s life, and the second is the quality of your product or service.

Where the first falls over is that it exists only among the people who know about you - your customers, or people close to them. This means that you’re sitting almost entirely on point two: the quality of your product or service.

Unfortunately, while you can talk about case studies and use testimonials, getting this brand equity to transfer to people who haven’t heard of you is going to be a challenge. In a sense, you’re starting from scratch - you may have strong assets but your awareness in your target market is down.

Therefore, your brand building strategy should focus around these components:

Differentiation: what separates your business from the rest in its category? In your brand building, focus on your difference.

Niche: A lot of B2B companies are unfocused. They don’t have a clear niche and they’ll take on any work that comes their way. Your brand strategy should include your niche, and look at how you can stand out in it.

Market positioning: Where does your business fit in the market? Have a clear market position in mind which ties into your niche and differentiation, so it’s clear in your brand strategy where you sit in relation to your competitors.

The tactics of building your brand

Now that you have the anchor for a clear strategy and a solid understanding of where your strengths are across your differentiation, niche, market positioning, and hero product or service, it’s worth looking at the best ways to get your brand out there.

Tell your story: People buy from people, and this means they want something to connect with. Your story is your brand story - so get out there and tell it. Go to the conferences, networking events, and trade shows where your prospects are, and start booking speaking slots.

Engage with your niche, where they are: One of the best ways to build your brand is by dominating your market. If your product or service is perfect for curtain manufacturers, then you need to be building your brand in front of those people, whether that’s at industry events or on LinkedIn, make sure your audience matches your niche.

A strong advertising message: Advertising is so often overlooked, but it’s one of the most powerful things you can do to build your brand. Having a strong advertising message (for example: ‘you only pay when we get results’) served up to your audience builds recognition and familiarity. Research shows that ads get more effective over time - so don’t worry about serving the same ads and messaging to your audience repeatedly.

By having a strong brand within your niche, you’re able to attract more prospective clients and dominate your market through brand recognition, trust, and have an excess share of voice gained through advertising, networking, and speaking events.