Why Is Brand Alignment Important For B2B Enterprise Websites?
For example, if you are asking your customer to secure their corporate network with your cybersecurity platform or rely on your AI-based software to better understand their data, your company has to reflect trustworthiness. If your customer’s initial perception of you is “startup” they start asking the wrong questions about your company background, rather than the right questions about your products and services.
The Challenge
Enterprise startups refer to themselves as best-in-class, and thought-leaders, yet their websites scream start-up.
For example, if you are asking your customer to secure their corporate network with your cybersecurity platform or rely on your AI-based software to better understand their data, your company has to reflect trustworthiness. If your customer’s initial perception of you is “startup” they start asking the wrong questions about your company background, rather than the right questions about your products and services.
Your Customer’s First Touchpoint Is Your Website
- 42% of all new revenue comes directly/indirectly through your company’s website
- 37% of customers will leave your website because of poor design
- 46% of customers assess the credibility of your business through your website
- 94% of first impressions are design-related
The first impression of your brand is crucial to the success of your website in driving sales qualified leads
Three major errors on your site:
- Your website’s visual design doesn’t reflect the maturity of your products and current or targeted customers.
- Commonly used stock photography and icons are a big no-no. If you do use them, they need to be edited or repurposed so they do not look turn-key.
- Your branding on your website doesn’t match the way you think about your brand internally. For example, internally think of ourselves as “thought-leaders”, but your website looks like you barely have a marketing team.
Why brand alignment matters
Differentiate from competitors
Enterprise buyers evaluate multiple options including your direct competitors and the current solution you are looking to disrupt. You need to be able to position yourself as a forward-thinking solution while being a mature enough company to replace the incumbent provider.
Reduce friction in the sales process
Buying software for large organizations goes beyond your target persona. Most enterprise purchases require multiple sign-offs from management. If your website does not make you look like a mature organization, your champion has to work harder internally to sell the benefits of your solution to their decision-makers.
Improve Perception
Improving the perception of your organization makes it easier to sell your products/services, recruit and retain talent, and increase valuations from investors. An enterprise-class website enables visitors to see you as a mature organization that has invested in looking the part.
Attract Larger Customers
Large enterprises are risk-averse preferring to work with organizations that have a proven track record and their first impression of you is from your website. A website built correctly can make your hundred-person organization look like a billion-dollar company.