Popeye eats spinach to become stronger. Marathon runners carbo-load with pasta before a race. People go on vacations to relax and recharge. And if you’re a B2B company, you are the spinach… the pasta… and the vacation. Your company’s mission is to make your clients feel better about themselves when they conduct business with you. B2B branding solves your clients’ problems by saving them money or improving their efficiencies. But, while your company offer special experiences, your website (or landing page) might tell a different story… It could be holding you back.
Landing Pages Vs. Websites
A landing page is a page devoted to a specific purpose or call to action (CTA). There are no distractions and no additional links other than to signup, download or purchase something. Landing pages usually go-hand-in-hand with specific promotions relating to a marketing campaign. For instance, if you did a Facebook ad campaign, you would direct people to a landing page where they could reap the benefit of a special discount. Basically, landing pages are used for sales and marketing.
A website is designed to showcase your entire business, complete with profiles, products and services, blogs, news, etc. For B2B companies, the website is usually the landing page for potential customers.
When a B2B customer lands on your website, they are not there for an impulse purchase. One of the most important distinctions between a B2B customer and B2C is that businesses take longer to make purchases.
A potential customer might visit your website several times, and they may need to present your company to the decision makers.
Therefore, it’s important that your website begin building a relationship with a potential client when they first arrive.
Be The Spinach
We advise against doing an immediate “hard sell.” Be the spinach… The opening pitch is not “I’m great, use me”… Instead it should be “here’s my experience and how I can make your company better.” Your website’s opening content might highlight recent victories or sales, customer reviews, awards and positive publicity. Now you’re starting to build a relationship with a person on the other screen.
Banners, live-chat windows and pop-ups asking visitors to enter an email and sign up for a newsletter may turn away a potential customer if they’re too aggressive or prolific. A B2B company should reflect professionalism and trustworthiness…
But these marketing tools are for selling products to an end user:
20% Off!
Buy Two Get One Free!
What represents “clickability” in one forum does not necessarily benefit B2B companies trying to build trust with a new customer.
The first page (landing page) of your website is only the beginning. Here are some other important aspects that every B2B service company should consider for its website:
Can You Be Trusted?
This is a top priority of potential B2B customers. Remember, the person first visiting your website is probably going to forward your company’s information to the decision makers.
If they don’t trust your company, there is no way they will risk their reputation within their own company. Things like spelling and grammar mistakes, controversial materials, bad reviews, outdated content, old website design, difficulty in navigating and old reviews are things that will lower your trustworthiness score in the mind of a potential customer.
Is Your Website Current?
Having a current website shows a potential customer that you are in the know with current events in your industry. Is there a new product, process or even a new legal precedent on your website? All of these express to the reader that you are meticulous and forward thinking. Furthermore, having an updated, current and content-rich website has SEO advantages when people are searching for your services.
Can People Easily Navigate Your Page?
Another purpose of your website is to allow a potential customer to move organically from page to page. In order to do this, B2B companies should know how potential customers are reviewing their website. Do you know if they are searching for specific services? Price? Availability? Your reviews? And when are they leaving your site? Conversion rates can be increased based solely upon a website’s design. Therefore, all of these questions should be considered when designing a website—and there is software that will help answer some of these questions. It is unfortunate that many B2B companies do not know the browsing habits of their customers.
Is Your Hero Page Memorable?
The “hero page” within your website shows the top services or products that you offer. But instead of listing them in words, many hero pages represent their heroes in photos, videos and other ways. There are many design options for hero pages including, but not limited to, large headers, single page designs and full screen backgrounds. Hero pages can and should leave a memorable impression for the potential customer.
where ideas take flight
At Hummingbird Creative Group, we build business value through better branding. Contact us to find out how we can build your business’s value:
919 854 9100 | info@hummingbird-creative.com