Strong B2B websites - A Playbook to Step-Up your Business’ Page
In our competitive world, website design has to deliver more than just easy navigation and be visually pleasing. In fact, there are many aspects companies should focus on to successfully reach their target audience, in the most effective and efficient way.
Know your Business and your Audience
A company must understand its value proposition, so the marketing strategy adequately delivers the business objectives. While B2C businesses usually focus on designing lavish and alluring websites to convert viewers into immediate sales, the B2B’s industry approach is different. The market audience of B2B companies is composed by knowledgeable experts from multiple fields, who are able to measure product or service’s performance.
Therefore, a fancy video or swish design is unlikely to convert a professional into a client. So, how should B2B businesses approach this challenge? In our view, it’s achieved through establishing a relationship grounded in trust and professionalism, which can lead to sales in the future.
Professionalism and Delivering Value
That professionalism should be reflected in the website design and appearance. In the case of j2 Aircraft Dynamics’ website, apart from making corrections which turned the page fully functional across all screens (mobile phone, tablet, laptop etc.), easy to navigate and user-friendly, Appetite Creative also adjusted the guidelines and rules for the brand. As well as updating the colour palette and typography to ensure they were all matching harmoniously.
Combining a good-looking page with useful content is key from the viewers' point of view. Remember that the posts on your website should always benefit the visitors, so they close the tab knowing more about your business, its value and proposition than before visiting the website.
They want to know what they are buying, don’t just fill the website with useless information that leaves potential customers feeling confused and unsure about moving forward with your company.
Humanise the Brand
When designing a B2B homepage, keep in mind that the prospective clients are visiting the website with one goal: solving their own problems. They don’t want to know about what your business is doing unless that is helpful for them.
So, in order to catch their attention, the website should be designed so the prospective clients understand how their business is benefiting from yours. This can be emphasised using validated claims and testimonials, which increase the credibility of the service or product you are trying to sell.
We’ve all experienced visiting a website and closing it 10 minutes later without understanding anything about the business. So check that you’re speaking the same language as your target audience and ensure that it’s easy to understand.
Just like in Arishi’s case, there was no need to change the business fundamentals, or core beliefs. They needed to present the business as being more human and less techie to instill confidence and facilitate engagement between the website’s visitors and the company.
Localised Messaging
If your B2B business has a multi-national dimension, then you should always keep that in mind. Customers’ and businesses’ cultures vary across countries and regions. For instance, when deciding to enter the European market through Spain and Portugal, the US-based renewable energy company Clearview needed to consider impact of the European culture. It is much more averse to constant transformation and innovation than the American market. Also, green energy is more widely accepted in the US compared to the European market.
Given those cultural differences, Clearview could not just translate the content it was promoting to the American audiences into Spanish and Portuguese. Instead, localised messaging had to be developed.
While the original US version of the website emphasised the innovative, renewable and green aspect of the energy, the Spanish and Portuguese versions of the website provided European customers with details about the new energy. The aim was to eliminate the fear of switching to an unknown energy type.
So if you are going to build a strong B2B brand website, always consider that your audience is likely to be knowledgeable. They will not be fooled by glittering but meaningless marketing moves. Be sure to speak your audience’s language and, if needed, adapt the message region or audience. The clearer and more credible your message, the higher the probability of converting them into customers.