Before diving into this topic, look at this example. You walk into a supermarket to buy cookies. On any given day, you can always find multiple choices to pick from. The B2B industry is not very different from the mentioned B2C example here. Say, your company offers email marketing services. There are several options available for your client to pick from across the world.
Of course, you do stand out by providing exemplary services. But to outdo your competitors in reaching your clients, having a strong visual identity is a must. It is much more than a logo or your motto; but what the business identifies itself with. A good design creates awareness of the brand in the right circles. It helps streamline how you look across channels you are present on.
Let’s look at some figures to better establish why your company needs a visual identity.
- On average a visitor takes about 50 milliseconds to form an opinion of your website.
- A person needs on average 5 to 7 impressions to recall a brand.
- Consistent brand identity across channels improves revenue by up to 23%.
- Picking color strategically can improve brand recall by up to 80%.
Now, that the importance of visual identity is established, let’s discuss how you as a B2B business can achieve it too.
What can you achieve by having a unique visual identity?
1. Build trust
With the visual identity of the brand in place, you are essentially pitching through images and texts. If your company is inconsistent with how they look, the chance of discovery becomes significantly low. In contrast, a consistent look builds comfort and trust in your client base. Over time, the company builds a reputation, and clients would relate your look with your credibility.
2. Generate brand recall
The prime objective of creating a visual identity is targeting potential customers who can relate to you. Be careful about how you build those associations. Communicate the way you would like to be perceived. Soon, prospects will relate your brand with stability and quality of work.
3. Influence purchase decision
With the ease of access to information, thanks to the Internet, the prospective customer makes most decisions before they even approach you. You can never control their approach, but make the information available consistent. However, you can influence their perspective by showing consistent information across your website and social media platforms. Or even how your brick-and-mortar office looks can sway the purchase decision in your favor.
The main purpose is for your target audience to immediately identify with you when they see a specific combination of color, color palette, layout, image styles, and font style, among others. That’s what we’ll take you through the same in the next section.
What are brand identity elements?
The visual identity of a B2B business may include several graphic and textual elements. Following are the elements:
1. Colour palette: Colour schemes can help clients identify your company. Also, pick appropriate hues, shades, and tints of a color
2. Typography: Simply putting content in a textual manner is not enough. You also have to choose a font and layout. This will include legible text and separate (if possible) for head and body.
3. Graphics: Imagine popular brands like Linkedin, MailChimp, or Skype and you can immediately associate them with an iconic logo or icon. It can be as simple as a shape or even a full-scale animation.
4. Imagery: When it comes to visual identity, you must choose only those images/videos that accurately reflect the company’s personality.
5. Templates for documents: By sticking to pre-defined templates on social media and the website, your content looks attractive and will help people identify with the brand.
It is important to note here that once you’ve decided on the elements, ensure consistency across online and even offline presence. Inconsistency might even cost you, potential clients.
How to decide on a brand’s visual identity?
Here are a few things that you must introspect upon, before jumping into the design process:
- Why did we start this business? (Mission)
- What are the beliefs and values that are important to us as a company? (Motto)
- What do we do better than anyone else? (Vision)
- What makes us special? (How do we differentiate ourselves from the competition?)
- If we could describe our brand in three words, what would they be?
- What are the three words we would want our customers to use to describe us?
Once you’ve locked in who you’re as a brand, you can gradually build the identity that will bring the brand to life. Then you show who you are to the people who matter the most: the customers.
What to avoid in the design?
Now, that you know how to proceed with the design, here are a few off-putting elements:
- Complex design
- Unappealing design
- Busy layout
- Lack of navigation aids
- Unnecessary pop-up adverts
- Slow site loading speed
- Text-heavy design
- Poor search capabilities
Now, that you’ve gone through this article, go back to your website and social media pages. View from the lens that we shared with you. If it meets your mark, share tips in the comments. Else reach out to the website designing experts at Resolute B2B. We are a one-stop shop for all your design needs. Reach out to us on +91 – 9666769766 (India) or +1 302-664-8181 (USA). Or mail us at info@b2bresolute.com and one of us will get back to you.
